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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.12.12.00*END* + + + + + +This etext was produced by Charles Franks and the +Distributed Proofreaders Team + + + + + +*********** +This E-text is missing paper pages 457-472. +*********** + + + + + +THE IRISH RACE IN THE PAST AND THE PRESENT + +by Rev. Aug. J. Thebaud, S.J. + + + + +PREFACE + + + +COUNT JOSEPH DE MAISTRE, in his "Principe Generateur des Constitutions +Politiques" (Par. LXI.), says: "All nations manifest a particular +and distinctive character, which deserves to be attentively considered." + +This thought of the great Catholic writer requires some development. + +It is not by a succession of periods of progress and decay only +That nations manifest their life and individuality. Taking any +one of them at any period of its existence, and comparing it with +others, peculiarities immediately show themselves which give it a +particular physiognomy whereby it may be at once distinguished +from any other; so that, in those agglomerations of men which we +call nations or races, we see the variety everywhere observable +in Nature, the variety by which God manifests the infinite activity +of his creative power. + +When we take two extreme types of the human species--the Ashantee +of Guinea, for instance, and any individual of one of the great +civilized communities of Europe-the phenomenon of which we speak +strikes us at once. But it may be remarked also, in comparing +nations which have lived for ages in contiguity, and held constant +intercourse one with the other from the time they began their +national life, whose only boundary-line has been a mountain-chain +or the banks of a broad river. They have each striking peculiarities +which individualize and stamp them with a character of their own. + +How different are the peoples divided by the Rhine or by the +Pyrenees! How unlike those which the Straits of Dover run between! +And in Asia, what have the conterminous Chinese and Hindoos in +common beyond the general characteristics of the human species +which belong to all the children of Adam? + +But what we must chiefly insist upon in the investigation we are +Now undertaking is, that the life of each is manifested by a +special physiognomy deeply imprinted in their whole history, +which we here call character. What each of them is their history +shows; and there is no better means of judging of them than by +reviewing the various events which compose their life. + +For the various events which go to form what is called the +history of a nation are its individual actions, the spontaneous +energy of its life; and, as a man shows what he is by his acts, +so does a nation or a race by the facts of its history. + +When we compare the vast despotisms of Asia, crystallized into +forms which have scarcely changed since the first settlement of +man in those immense plains, with the active and ever-moving +smaller groups of Europeans settled in the west of the Old World +since the dispersion of mankind, we see at a glance how the +characters of both may be read in their respective annals. And, +coming down gradually to less extreme cases, we recognize the +same phenomenon manifested even in contiguous tribes, springing +long ago, perhaps, from the same stock, but which have been +formed into distinct nations by distinct ancestors, although they +acknowledge a common origin. The antagonism in their character is +immediately brought out by what historians or annalists have to +say of them. + +Are not the cruelty and rapacity of the old Scandinavian race +Still visible in their descendants? And the spirit of organization +displayed by them from the beginning in the seizure, survey, and +distribution of land--in the building of cities and castles--in +the wise speculations of an extensive commerce--may not all these +characteristics be read everywhere in the annals of the nations +sprung from that original stock, grouped thousands of years ago +around the Baltic and the Northern Seas? + +How different appear the pastoral and agricultural tribes which +have, for the same length of time, inhabited the Swiss valleys and +mountains! With a multitude of usages, differing all, more or less, +from each other; with, perhaps, a wretched administration of +internal affairs; with frequent complaints of individuals, and +partial conflicts among the rulers of those small communities--with +all these defects, their simple and ever-uniform chronicles reveal +to us at once the simplicity and peaceful disposition of their +character; and, looking at them through the long ages of an obscure +life, we at once recognize the cause of their general happiness in +their constant want of ambition. + +And if, in the course of centuries, the character of a nation has +changed--an event which seldom takes place, and when it does is +due always to radical causes--its history will immediately make +known to us the cause of the change, and point out unmistakably +its origin and source. + +Why is it, for instance, that the French nation, after having lived +for near a thousand years under a single dynasty, cannot now find +a government agreeable to its modern aspirations? It is insufficient +to ascribe the fact to the fickleness of the French temper. During +ten centuries no European nation has been more uniform and more +attached to its government. If to-day the case is altogether +reversed, the fact cannot be explained except by a radical change +in the character of the nation. Firmly fixed by its own national +determination of purpose and by the deep studies of the Middle +Ages--nowhere more remarkable than in Paris, which was at that +time the centre of the activity of Catholic Europe--the French +mind, first thrown by Protestantism into the vortex of controversy, +gradually declined to the consideration of mere philosophical +utopias, until, rejecting at last its long-received convictions, +it abandoned itself to the ever-shifting delusions of opinions and +theories, which led finally to skepticism and unbelief in every +branch of knowledge, even the most necessary to the happiness of +any community of men. Other causes, no doubt, might also be assigned +for the remarkable change now under our consideration. The one we +have pointed out was the chief. + +To the same causes, acting now on a larger scale throughout Europe, +we ascribe the same radical changes which we see taking place in +the various nations composing it: every thing brought everywhere +in question; the mind of all unsettled; a real anarchy of intellect +spreading wider and wider even in countries which until now had +stood firm against it. Hence constant revolutions unheard of +hitherto; nothing stable; and men expecting with awe a more +frightful and radical overturning still of every thing that makes +life valuable and dear. + +Are not these tragic convulsions the black and spotted types +wherein we read the altered character of modern nations; are they +not the natural expression of their fitful and delirious life? + +These considerations, which might be indefinitely prolonged, show +the truth of the phrase of Joseph de Maistre that "all nations +manifest a particular and distinctive character, which deserves +to be attentively considered." + +The fact is, in this kind of study is contained the only possible +philosophy of history for modern times. + +With respect to ages that have passed away, to nations which have +run their full course, a nobler study is possible--the more so +because inspired writers have traced the way. Thus Bossuet wrote +his celebrated "Discours." But he stopped wisely at the coming of +our Lord. As to the events anterior to that great epoch, he spoke +often like a prophet of ancient times; he seemed at times to be +initiated in the designs of God himself. And, in truth, he had +them traced by the very Spirit of God; and, lifted by his elevated +mind to the level of those sublime thoughts, he had only to touch +them with the magic of his style. + +But of subsequent times he did not speak, except to rehearse +the well-known facts of modern history, whose secret is not yet +revealed, because their development is still being worked out, +and no conclusion has been reached which might furnish the key +to the whole. + +There remains, therefore, but one thing to do: to consider +each nation apart, and read its character in its history. Should +this be done for all, the only practical philosophy of modern +history would be written. For then we should have accomplished +morally for men what, in the physical order, zoologists accomplish +for the immense number of living beings which God has spread +over the surface of the earth. They might be classified according +to a certain order of the ascending or descending moral scale. +We could judge them rightly, conformably with the standard of +right or wrong, which is in the absolute possession of the Christian +conscience. Brilliant but baneful qualities would no longer +impose on the credulity of mankind, and men would not be led +astray in their judgments by the rule of expediency or success +which generally dictates to historians the estimate they form and +inculcate on their readers of the worth of some nations, and the +insignificance or even odiousness of others. + +In the impossibility under which we labor of penetrating, at +the present time, the real designs of Providence with respect to +the various races of men, so great an undertaking, embracing the +principal, if not all, modern races, would be one of the most +useful efforts of human genius for the spread of truth and virtue +among men. + +Our purport is not of such vast import. We shall take in +these pages for the object of our study one of the smallest and, +apparently, most insignificant nations of modern Europe--the +Irish. For several ages they have lost even what generally +constitutes the basis of nationality, self-government; yet they have +preserved their individuality as strongly marked as though they +were still ruled by the O'Neill dynasty. + +And we may here remark that the number of a people and the +size of its territory have absolutely no bearing on the estimate +which we ought to form of its character. Who would say that +the Chinese are the most interesting and commendable nation +on the surface of the globe? They are certainly the most ancient +and most populous; their code of precise and formal morality is +the most exact and clear that philosophers could ever dictate, +and succeed in giving as law to a great people. That code +has been followed during a long series of ages. Most discoveries +of modern European science were known to them long before +they were found out among us; agriculture, that first of arts, +which most economists consider as the great test whereby to +judge of the worth of a nation, is and always has been carried by +them to a perfection unknown to us. Yet, the smallest European +nationality is, in truth, more interesting and instructive than +the vast Celestial Empire can ever be--whose long annals +are all compassed within a few hundred pages of a frigid +narrative, void of life, and altogether void of soul. + +But why do we select, among so many others, the Irish nation, +which is so little known, of such little influence, whose history +occupies only a few lines in the general annals of the world, +and whose very ownership has rested in the hands of foreigners +for centuries? + +We select it, first, because it is and always has been thoroughly +Catholic, from the day when it first embraced Christianity; +and this, under the circumstances, we take to be the best proof, +not only of supreme good sense, but, moreover, of an elevated, +even a sublime character. In their martyrdom of three centuries, +the Irish have displayed the greatness of soul of a Polycarp, +and the simplicity of an Agnes. And the Catholicity which +they have always professed has been, from the beginning, of a +thorough and uncompromising character. All modern European +nations, it is true, have had their birth in the bosom of the +Church. She had nursed them all, educated them all, made +them all what they were, when they began to think of emancipating +themselves from her; and the Catholic, that is, the Christian +religion, in its essence, is supernatural; the creed of the +apostles, the sacramental system; the very history of Christianity, +transport man directly into a region far beyond the earth. + +Wherever the Christian religion has been preached, nations +have awakened to this new sense of faith in the supernatural, +and it is there they have tasted of that strong food which made +and which makes them still so superior to all other races of men. +But, as we shall see, in no country has this been the case so +thoroughly as in Ireland. Whatever may have been the cause, the +Irish were at once, and have ever since continued, thoroughly +impregnated with supernatural ideas. For several centuries after +St. Patrick the island was "the Isle of Saints," a place midway +between heaven and earth, where angels and the saints of heaven +came to dwell with mere mortals. The Christian belief was +adopted by them to the letter; and, if Christianity is truth, +ought it not to be so? Such a nation, then, which received such +a thorough Christian education--an education never repudiated +one iota during the ages following its reception--deserves a +thorough examination at our hands. + +We select it, secondly, because the Irish have successfully +refused ever since to enter into the various currents of European +opinion, although, by position and still more by religion, they +formed a part of Europe. They have thus retained a character of +their own, unlike that of any other nation. To this day, they +stand firm in their admirable stubbornness; and thus, when Europe +shall be shaken and tottering, they will still stand firm. In +the words of Moore, addressed to his own country: + +"The nations have fallen and thou still art young; + Thy sun is just rising when others are set; +And though slavery's cloud o'er thy morning hath hung, + The full noon of freedom shall beam round thee yet." + +That constant refusal of the Irish to fall in with the rapid torrent +of European thought and progress, as it is called, is the strangest +phenomenon in their history, and gives them at first an outlandish +look, which many have not hesitated to call barbarism. We hope +thoroughly to vindicate their character from such a foul aspersion, +and to show this phenomenon as the secret cause of their final +success, which is now all but secured; and this feature alone of +their national life adds to their character an interest which we +find in no other Christian nation. + +We select it, thirdly, because there is no doubt that the Irish +is the most ancient nationality of Western Europe; and although, +as in the case of the Chinese, the advantage of going up to the +very cradle of mankind is not sufficient to impart interest to +frigid annals, when that prerogative is united to a vivid life +and an exuberant individuality, nothing contributes more to render +a nation worthy of study than hoariness of age, and its derivation +from a certain and definite primitive stock. + +It is true that, in reading the first chapters of all the various +histories of Ireland, the foreign reader is struck and almost +shocked by the dogmatism of the writers, who invariably, and with +a truly Irish assurance, begin with one of the sons of Japhet, and, +following the Hebrew or Septuagint chronology, describe without +flinching the various colonizations of Erin, not omitting the +synchronism of Assyrian, Persian, Greek, and Roman history. A +smile is at first the natural consequence of such assertions; and, +indeed, there is no obligation whatever to believe that every thing +happened exactly as they relate. + +But when the large quartos and octavos which are now published from +time to time by the students of Irish antiquarian lore are opened, +read, and pondered over, at least one consequence is drawn from +them which strikes the reader with astonishment. "There can be no +doubt," every candid mind says to itself, "that this nation has +preceded in time all those which have flourished on the earth, with +the exception, perhaps, of the Chinese, and that it remains the same +to-day." At least, many years before Christ, a race of men inhabited +Ireland exactly identical with its present population (except that +it did not enjoy the light of the true religion), yet very superior +to it in point of material well-being. Not a race of cannibals, as +the credulous Diodorus Siculus, on the strength of some vague +tradition, was pleased to delineate; but a people acquainted with +the use of the precious metals, with the manufacture of fine tissues, +fond of music and of song, enjoying its literature and its books; +often disturbed, it is true, by feuds and contentions, but, on the +whole, living happily under the patriarchal rule of the clan system. + +The ruins which are now explored, the relics of antiquity which +are often exhumed, the very implements and utensils preserved by +the careful hand of the antiquarian--every thing, so different +from the rude flint arrows and barbarous weapons of our North +American Indians and of the European savages of the Stone period, +denotes a state of civilization, astonishing indeed, when we reflect +that real objects of art embellished the dwellings of Irishmen +probably before the foundation of Rome, and perhaps when Greece +was as yet in a state of heroic barbarism. + +And this high antiquity is proved by literature as well as by art. +"The ancient Irish," says one of their latest historians, M. +Haverty, "attributed the utmost importance to the accuracy of their +Historic compositions for social reasons. Their whole system of +society--every question as to right of property--turned upon the +descent of families and the principle of clanship; so that it cannot +be supposed that mere fables would be tolerated instead of facts, +where every social claim was to be decided on their authority. A +man's name is scarcely mentioned in our annals without the addition +of his forefathers for several generations--a thing which rarely +occurs in those of other countries. + +"Again, when we arrive at the era of Christianity in Ireland, we +find that our ancient annals stand the test of verification by +science with a success which not only establishes their character +for truthfulness at that period, but vindicates the records of +preceding dates involved in it." + +The most confirmed skeptic cannot refuse to believe that at the +introduction of Christianity into Ireland, in 432, the whole island +was governed by institutions exactly similar to those of Gaul when +Julius Caesar entered it 400 years before; that this state must +have existed for a long time anterior to that date; and that the +reception of the new religion, with all the circumstances which +attended it, introduced the nation at once into a happy and social +state, which other European countries, at that time convulsed by +barbarian invasions, did not attain till several centuries later. + +These various considerations would alone suffice to show the real +importance of the study we undertake; but a much more powerful +incentive to it exists in the very nature of the annals of the +nation itself. + +Ireland is a country which, during the last thousand years, has +maintained a constant struggle against three powerful enemies, +and has finally conquered them all. + +The first stage of the conflict was that against the Northmen. +It lasted three centuries, and ended in the almost complete +disappearance of this foe. + +The second act of the great drama occupied a period of four Hundred +years, during which all the resources of the Irish clans were arrayed +against Anglo-Norman feudalism, which had finally to succumb; so +that Erin remained the only spot in Europe where feudal institutions +never prevailed. + +The last part of this fearful trilogy was a conflict of three centuries +with Protestantism; and the final victory is no longer doubtful. + +Can any other modern people offer to the meditation, and, we must +say, to the admiration of the Christian reader, a more interesting +spectacle? The only European nation which can almost compete with +the constancy and never-dying energy of Ireland is the Spanish in +its struggle of seven centuries with the Moors. + +We have thought, therefore, that there might be some real interest +and profit to be derived from the study of this eventful national +life--an interest and a profit which will appear as we study it +more in detail. + +It may be said that the threefold conflict which we have outlined +might be condensed into the surprising fact that all efforts to +drag Ireland into the current of European affairs and influence +have invariably failed. This is the key to the understanding of +her whole history. + +Even originally, when it formed but a small portion of the great +Celtic race, here existed in the Irish branch a peculiarity of its +own, which stamped it with features easy to be distinguished. The +gross idolatry of the Gauls never prevailed among the Irish; the +Bardic system was more fully developed among them than among any +other Celtic nation. Song, festivity, humor, ruled there much more +universally than elsewhere. There were among them more harpers and +poets than even genealogists and antiquarians, although the branches +of study represented by these last were certainly as well cultivated +among them as among the Celts of Gaul, Spain, or Italy. + +But it is chiefly after the introduction of Christianity among +them, when it appeared finally decreed that they should belong +morally and socially to Europe, it is chiefly then that their +purpose, however unconscious they may have been of its tendency, +seems more defined of opening up for themselves a path of their +own. And in this they followed only the promptings of Nature. + +The only people in Europe which remained untouched by what is +called Roman civilization--never having seen a Roman soldier on +their shores; never having been blessed by the construction of +Roman baths and amphitheatres; never having listened to the +declamations of Roman rhetoricians and sophists, nor received the +decrees of Roman praetors, nor been subject to the exactions of +the Roman fisc--they never saw among them, in halls and basilicas +erected under the direction of Roman architects, Roman judges, +governors, proconsuls, enforcing the decrees of the Caesars +against the introduction or propagation of the Christian religion. +Hence it entered in to them without opposition and bloodshed. + +But the new religion, far from depriving them of their characteristics, +consecrated and made them lasting. They had their primitive traditions +and tastes, their patriarchal government and manners, their ideas of +true freedom and honor, reaching back almost to the cradle of mankind. +They resolved to hold these against all comers, and they have been +faithful to their resolve down to our own times. Fourteen hundred years +of history since Patrick preached to them proves it clearly enough. + +First, then, although the Germanic tribes of the first invasion, +as it is called, did not reach their shore, for the reason that +the Germans, as little as the Celts, never possessed a navy--although +neither Frank, nor Vandal, nor Hun, renewed among them the horrors +witnessed in Gaul, Spain, Italy, and Africa--they could not remain +safe from the Scandinavian pirates, whose vessels scoured all the +northern seas before they could enter the Mediterranean through +the Straits of Gibraltar. + +The Northmen, the Danes, came and tried to establish themselves +among them and inculcate their northern manners, system, and +municipal life. They succeeded in England, Holland, the north of +France, and the south of Italy; in a word, wherever the wind had +driven their hide-bound boats. The Irish was the only nation of +Western Europe which beat them back, and refused to receive the +boon of their higher civilization. + +As soon as the glories of the reign of Charlemagne had gone down +in a sunset of splendor, the Northmen entered unopposed all the +great rivers of France and Spain. They speedily conquered England. +On all sides they ravaged the country and destroyed the population, +whose only defence consisted in prayers to Heaven, with here and +there an heroic bishop or count. In Ireland alone the Danes found +to their cost that the Irish spear was thrust with a steady and +firm hand; and after two hundred years of struggle not only had +they not arrived at the survey and division of the soil, as wherever +else they had set foot, but, after Clontarf, the few cities they +still occupied were compelled to pay tribute to the Irish Ard-Righ. +Hence all attempts to substitute the Scandinavian social system +for that of the Irish septs and clans were forever frustrated. +City life and maritime enterprises, together with commerce and trade, +were as scornfully rejected as the worship of Thor and Odin. + +Soon after this first victory of Ireland over Northern Europe, the +Anglo-Norman invasion originated a second struggle of longer +duration and mightier import. The English Strongbow replaced the +Danes with Norman freebooters, who occupied the precise spots +which the new owners had reconquered from the Northmen, and never +an inch more. Then a great spectacle was offered to the world, +which has too much escaped the observation of historians, and +to which we intend to draw the attention of our readers. + +The primitive, simple, patriarchal system of clanship was +Confronted by the stern, young, ferocious feudal system, which +was then beginning to prevail all over Europe. The question was, +Would Ireland consent to become European as Europe was then +organizing herself? The struggle, as we shall see, between the +Irish and the English in the twelfth century and later on, was +merely a contest between the sept system and feudalism, involving, +it is true, the possession of land. And, at the end of a contest +lasting four hundred years, feudalism was so thoroughly defeated +that the English of the Pale adopted the Irish manners, customs, +and even language, and formed only new septs among the old ones. + +Hence Ireland escaped all the commotions produced in Europe by +the consequences of the feudal system: + +I. Serfdom, which was generally substituted for slavery, never +existed in Ireland, slavery having disappeared before the entry +of the Anglo-Normans. + +II. The universal oppression of the lower classes, which caused +the simultaneous rising of the communes all over Europe, never +having existed in Ireland, we shall not be surprised to find no +mention in Irish history of that wide-spread institution of the +eleventh and following centuries. + +III. An immense advantage which Ireland derived from her isolation, +on which she always insisted, was her being altogether freed from +the fearful mediaeval heresies which convulsed France particularly +for a long period, and which invariably came from the East. + +For Erin remained so completely shut off from the rest of Europe, +that, in spite of its ardent Catholicism, the Crusades were never +preached to its inhabitants; and, if some individual Irishman +joined the ranks of the warriors led to Palestine by Richard Coeur +de Lion, the nation was in no way affected by the good or bad +results which everywhere ensued from the marching of the Christian +armies against the Moslem. + +The sects which sprang from Manicheism were certainly an evil +consequence of the holy wars; and it would be a great error to +think that those heresies were short-lived and affected only for +a brief space of time the social and moral state of Europe. It may +be said that their fearfully disorganizing influence lasts to this +day. If modern secret societies do not, in point of fact, derive +their existence directly from the Bulgarism and Manicheism of the +Middle Ages, there is no doubt that those dark errors, which Imposed +on all their adepts a stern secrecy, paved the way for the conspiracies +of our times. Hence Ireland, not having felt the effect of the former +heresies, is in our days almost free from the universal contagion now +decomposing the social fabric on all sides. + +But it is chiefly in modern times that the successful resistance +offered by Ireland to many wide-spread European evils, and its +strong attachment to its old customs, will evoke our wonder. + +Clanship reigned still over more than four-fifths of the island +when the Portuguese were conquering a great part of India, and +the Spaniards making Central and South America a province of +their almost universal monarchy. + +The poets, harpers, antiquarians, genealogists, and students of +Brehon law, still held full sway over almost the whole island, +when the revival of pagan learning was, we may say, convulsing +Italy, giving a new direction to the ideas of Germany, and +penetrating France, Holland, and Switzerland. Happy were the +Irish to escape that brilliant but fatal invasion of mythology +and Grecian art and literature! Had they not received enough of +Greek and Latin lore at the hands of their first apostles and +missionaries, and through the instrumentality of the numerous +amanuenses and miniaturists in their monasteries and convents? +Those holy men had brought them what Christian Rome had purified +of the old pagan dross, and sanctified by the new Divine Spirit. + +Virgin Ireland having thus remained undefiled, and never having +even been agitated by all those earlier causes of succeeding +revolutions, Protestantism, the final explosion of them all, could +make no impression on her--a fact which remains to this day the +brightest proof of her strength and vigor. + +But, before speaking of this last conflict, we must meet an objection +which will naturally present itself. + +To steadily refuse to enter into the current of European thought, +and object to submit in any way to its influence, is, pretend many, +really to reject the claims of civilization, and persist in refusing +to enter upon the path of progress. The North American savage has +always been most persistent in this stubborn opposition to civilized +life, and no one has as yet considered this a praiseworthy attribute. +The more barbarous a tribe, the more firmly it adheres to its +traditions, the more pertinaciously it follows the customs of its +ancestors. They are immovable, and cannot be brought to adopt +usages new to them, even when they see the immense advantages +they would reap from their adoption. Hence the greater number of +writers, chiefly English, who have treated of Irish affairs, +unhesitatingly call them barbarians, precisely on account of their +stubbornness in rejecting the advances of the Anglo-Norman invaders. +Sir John Davies, the attorney-general of James I., could scarcely +write a page on the subject without reverting to this idea. + +We answer that the Irish, even before their conversion to +Christianity, but chiefly after, were not barbarians; they never +opposed true progress; and they became, in fact, in the sixth, +seventh, and eighth centuries, the moral and scientific educators +of the greater part of Europe. What they refused to adopt they +were right in rejecting. But, as there are still many men who, +without ever having studied the question, do not hesitate, even +in our days, to throw barbarism in their teeth, and attribute to +it the pitiable condition which the Irish to-day present to the +world, we add a few further considerations on this point. + +First, then, we say, barbarians have no history; and the Irish +certainly had a history long before St. Patrick converted them. +Until lately, it is true, the common opinion of writers on Ireland +was adverse to this assertion of ours; but, after the labors of +modern antiquarians--of such men as O'Donovan, Todd, E. O'Curry, +and others--there can no longer be any doubt on the subject. If +Julius Caesar was right in stating that the Druids of Gaul +confined themselves to oral teaching--and the statement may very +well be questioned, with the light of present information on the +subject--it is now proved that the Ollamhs of Erin kept written +annals which went back to a very remote age of the world. The +numerous histories and chronicles written by monks of the sixth +and following centuries, the authenticity of which cannot be denied, +evidently presuppose anterior compositions dating much farther back +than the introduction of our holy religion into Ireland, which the +Christian annalists had in their hands when they wrote their books, +sometimes in Latin, sometimes in old Irish, sometimes in a strange +medley of both languages. It is now known that St. Patrick brought +to Ireland the Roman alphabet only, and that it was thenceforth +used not merely for the ritual of the Church, and the dissemination +of the Bible and of the works of the Holy Fathers, but likewise +for the transcription, in these newly-consecrated symbols of thought, +of the old manuscripts of the island; which soon disappeared, in +the far greater number of instances at least, owing to the favor +in which the Roman characters were held by the people and their +instructors the bishops and monks. Let those precious old symbols +be called Ogham, or by any other name--there must have been something +of the kind. + +If any one insists that such was not the case, he must of necessity +admit that the oral teaching of the Ollamhs was so perfect and so +universally current in the same formulas all over the island, that +such oral teaching really took the place of writing; and in this +case, also, which is scarcely possible, however, Ireland had an +authentic history. This last supposition, certainly, can hardly +be credited; and yet, if the first be rejected, it must be admitted, +since it cannot be imagined that subsequent Irish historians, +numerous as they became in time, could have agreed so well +together, and remained so consistent with themselves, and so +perfectly accurate in their descriptions of places and things in +general, without anterior authentic documents of some kind or other, +on which they could rely. Any person who has merely glanced at +the astonishing production called the "Annals of the Four Masters," +must necessarily be of this opinion. + +In no nation in the world are there found so many old histories, +annals, chronicles, etc., as among the Irish; and that fact alone +suffices to prove that in periods most ancient they were truly a +civilized nation, since they attached such importance to the +records of events then taking place among them. + +But the Irish were, moreover, a branch of the great Celtic race, +whose renown for wisdom, science, and valor, was spread through +all parts, particularly among the Greeks. The few details we +purpose giving on the subject will convince the reader that among +the nations of antiquity they held a prominent position; and not +only were they possessed of a civilization of their own, not +despicable even in the eyes of a Roman--of the great Julius +himself--but they were ever most susceptible of every kind of +progress, and consequently eager to adopt all the social benefits +which their intercourse with Rome brought them. At least, they +did so as soon as, acknowledging the superior power of the enemy, +they had the good sense to feel that it was all-important to +imitate him. Hence sprang that Gallo-Roman civilization which +obtained during the first five or six centuries of the Christian +era--a civilization which the barbarians of the North endeavored +to destroy, but to which they themselves finally yielded, by +embracing Christianity, and gradually changing their language +and customs. + +Everywhere--in Gaul, Italy, Britain, and Ireland--did the Celts +manifest that susceptibility to progress which is the invariable +mark of a state antagonistic to barbarism. In this they totally +differed from the Vandals and Huns, whom it took the Church such +a dreary period to conquer, and whom no other power save the +religion of Christ could have subdued. + +These few words are sufficient for our present purpose. We proceed +to show that, in their stubborn opposition to many a current of +European opinion, they acted rightly. + +They acted rightly, first of all, in excluding from their course +of studies at Bangor, Clonfert, Armagh, Clonmacnoise, and other +places, the subtleties of Greek philosophy, which occasioned +heresies in Europe and Asia during the first ages of the Church, +and were the cause of so many social and political convulsions. +By adhering strictly---a little too strictly, perhaps--to their +traditional method of developing thought, they kept error far from +their universities, and presented, in the sixth, seventh, and eighth +centuries, the remarkable spectacle in Ireland, France, Germany, +Switzerland, and even Northern Italy, of numerous schools wherein +no wrangling found a place, and whence never issued a single +proposition which Rome found reason to censure. They were at that +time the educators of Christian Europe, and not even a breath of +suspicion was ever raised against any one of their innumerable +teachers. If their mind, in general, did not on that account +attain the acuteness of the French, Italians, or Germans, it was +at all times safer and more guarded. Even their later hostility +to the English Pale, after the eleventh century, was most useful, +from its warning against the teachings of prelates sent from the +English Universities of Oxford and Cambridge; and Rome seems to +have approved of that opposition, by using all her power in +appointing to Irish sees, even within the Pale, prelates chosen +from the Augustinian, Dominican, Franciscan, and Carmelite orders, +in preference to secular ecclesiastics educated in the great seats +of English learning. + +Thus the Irish, by opening their schools gratuitously to all Europe, +but chiefly to Anglo-Saxon England, were not only of immense service +to the Church, but showed how fully they appreciated the benefits +of true civilization, and how ready they were to extend it by their +traditional teaching. Nor did they confine themselves to receiving +scholars in their midst: they sent abroad, during those ages, armies +of zealous missionaries and learned men to Christianize the heathen, +or educate the newly-converted Germanic tribes in Merovingian and +Carlovingian Gaul, in Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian England, in +Lombardian Italy, in the very hives of those ferocious tribes +which peopled the ever-moving and at that time convulsed Germany. + +II. They were right in refusing to submit to the Scandinavian yoke, +and accept from those who would impose it their taste for city life, +and the spirit of maritime enterprise and extensive commerce. We +shall see that this was at the bottom of their two centuries of +struggle with the Danes; that they were animated throughout that +conflict by their ardent zeal for the Christian religion, which +the Northmen came to destroy. There is no need of dwelling on this +point, as we are not aware that any one, even their bitterest +enemies, has found fault with them here. + +III. They were right in opposing feudalism, and steadily refusing +to admit it on their soil. Feudal Europe beheld with surprise the +inhabitants of a small island on the verge of the Western Continent +level to the ground the feudal castles as soon as they were built; +reject with scorn the invaders' claim to their soil, after they +had signed papers which they could not understand; hold fast to +their patriarchal usages in opposition to the new-born European +notions of paramount kings, of dukes, earls, counts, and viscounts; +fight for four hundred years against what the whole of Europe had +everywhere else accepted, and conquer in the end; so that the Irish +of to-day can say with just pride, "Our island has never submitted +to mediaeval feudalism." + +And hence the island has escaped the modern results of the system, +which we all witness to-day in the terrible hostility of class +arrayed against class, the poor against the rich, the lower orders +against the higher. The opposition in Ireland between the oppressed +and the oppressor is of a very different character, is we shall see +later. But the fact is, that the clan system, with all its striking +defects, had at least this immense advantage, that the clansmen did +not look upon their chieftains as "lords and masters," but as men +of the same blood, true relations, and friends; neither did the +heads of the clans look on their men as villeins, serfs, or chattels, +but as companions-in-arms, foster-brothers, supporters, and allies. +Hence the opposition which exists in our days throughout Europe +between class and class, has never existed in Ireland. Let a son +of their old chiefs, if one can yet be found, go back to them, +even but for a few days, after centuries of estrangement, and +they are ready to welcome him yet, as a loyal nation would welcome +her long-absent king, as a family would receive a father it esteemed +lost. We knowing what manner a son of a French McMahon was lately +received among them. + +All hostility is reserved for the foreigner, the invader, the +oppressor of centuries, because, in the opinion of the natives, +these have no real right to dwell on a soil they have impoverished, +and which they tried in vain to enslave. This, at least, is their +feeling. But the sons of the soil, whether rich or poor, high or +low, are all united in a holy brotherhood. This state of things +they have preserved by the exclusion of feudalism. + +IV. The Irish were right in not accepting from Europe what is +known as the "revival of learning;" at least, as carried almost +to the excess of modern paganism by its first promoters. + +This "revival" did not reach Ireland. Many will, doubtless, +attribute this fact to the almost total exclusion then supposed +to exist of Ireland from all European intercourse. It would be +a great error to imagine such to have been the cause. Indeed, at +that very time, Ireland was more in daily contact with Italy, +France, and Spain, than had been the case since the eighth century. + +If the Irish were right in holding steadfast to the line of their +traditional studies, in rejecting the city life and commercial +spirit of the Danes, in opposing Anglo-Norman feudalism, and, +finally, in not accepting the more than doubtful advantages flowing +from the literary revival of the fifteenth century; if, in all +this, they did not oppose true progress, but merely wished to +advance in the peculiar path opened up to them by the Christianity +which they had received more fully, with more earnestness, and +with a view to a greater development of the supernatural idea, +than any other European nation--then, beyond all other modes, did +they display their strength of will and their undying national +vitality in their resistance to Protestantism--a resistance which +has been called opposition to progress, but the success of which +to-day proves beyond question that they were right. + +It was, the reader may remark, a resistance to the whole of +Northern Europe, wherein their island was included. For, the +whole of Northern Europe rebelled against the Church at the +beginning of the sixteenth century, to enter upon a new road of +progress and civilization, as it has been called, ending finally +in the frightful abyss of materialism and atheism which now gapes +under the feet of modern nations--an abyss in whose yawning womb +nullus ordo, sed sempiternus horror habitat. The end of that +progress is now plain enough: political and social convulsions, +without any other probable issue than final anarchy, unless nations +consent at last to retrace their steps and reorganize Christendom. + +But this was not apparent to the eyes of ordinary thinkers in the +sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Only a few great minds saw +the logical consequences of the premises laid down by Protestantism, +and predicted something of what we now see. + +The Irish was the only northern nation which, to a man, opposed +the terrible delusion, and, at the cost of all that is dear, waged +against it a relentless war. + +"To a man;" for, in spite of all the wiles of Henry VIII., who +brought every resource of his political talent into play, in order +to win over to his side the great chieftains of the nation--in +spite of all the efforts of Elizabeth, who either tried to overcome +their resistance by her numerous armies, or, by the allurements +of her court, strove her best, like her father, to woo to her +allegiance the great leaders of the chief clans, particularly O'Neill +of Tyrone--at the end of her long reign, after nearly a hundred +years of Protestantism, only sixty Irishmen of all classes had +received the new religion. + +At first, the struggle assumed a character more political than +religious, and Queen Elizabeth did her best to give it, apparently, +that character. But for her, religion meant politics; and, had the +Irish consented to accept the religious changes introduced by her +father and herself, there would have been no question of +"rebellion," and no army would have been sent to crush it. The +Irish chieftains knew this well; hence, whenever the queen came +to terms with them, the first article on which they invariably +insisted was the freedom of their religion. + +But, under the Stuarts, and later on, the mask was entirely thrown +aside, and the question between England and Ireland reduced itself, +we may say, to one of religion merely. All the political +entanglements in which the Irish found themselves involved by their +loyalty to the Stuarts and their opposition to the Roundheads, never +constituted the chief difficulty of their position. They were +"Papists:" this was their great crime in the eyes of their enemies. +Cromwell would certainly never have endeavored to exterminate them +as he did, had they apostatized and become ranting Puritans. One of +our main points in the following pages will be to give prominence to +this view of the question. If it had been understood from the first, +the army of heroes who died for their God and their country would +long ere this have been enrolled in the number of Christian martyrs. + +The subsequent policy of England, chiefly after the English +Revolution of 1688 and the defeat of James II., clearly shows the +soundness of our interpretation of history. The "penal code," under +Queen Anne, and later on, at least has the merit of being free from +hypocrisy and cant. It is an open religious persecution, as, in +fact, it had been from the beginning. + +We shall have, therefore, before our eyes the great spectacle of +a nation suffering a martyrdom of three centuries. All the +persecutions of the Christians under the Roman emperors pale +before this long era of penalty and blood. The Irish, by numerous +decrees of English kings and parliaments, were deprived of every +thing which a man not guilty of crime has a right to enjoy. Land, +citizenship, the right of education, of acquiring property, of +living on their own soil--every thing was denied them, and death +in every form was decreed, in every line of the new Protestant +code, to men, women, and even children, whose only crime consisted +in remaining faithful to their religion. + +But chiefly during the Cromwellian war and the nine years of the +Protector's reign were they doomed to absolute, unrelenting +destruction. Never has any thing in the whole history of mankind +equalled it in horror, unless the devastation of Asia and Eastern +Europe under Zengis and Timour. + +There is, therefore, at the bottom of the Irish character, hidden +under an appearance of light-headedness, mutability of feeling--nay, +at times, futility and even childishness--a depth of according to +the eternal laws which God gave to mankind. Nothing else is in +their mind; they are pursuing no guilty and shadowy Utopia. Who +knows, then, whether their small island may not yet become the +beacon-light which, guiding other nations, shall at a future day +save Europe from the universal shipwreck which threatens her? +The providential mission of Ireland is far from being accomplished, +and men may yet see that not in vain has she been tried so long in +the crucible of affliction. + +Another part of the providential plan as affecting her will show +itself, and excite our admiration, in the latter portion of the +work we undertake. + +The Irish are no longer confined to the small island which gave +them birth. From the beginning of their great woes, they have +known the bitterness of exile. Their nobility were the first to +leave in a body a land wherein they could no longer exist; and, +during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, they made the +Irish name illustrious on all the battle-fields of Europe. At the +same time, many of their priests and monks, unable longer to labor +among their countrymen, spent their lives in the libraries, of +Italy, Belgium, and Spain, and gave to the world those immense +works so precious now to the antiquarian and historian. Every one +knows what Montalembert, in particular, found in them. They may be +said to have preserved the annals of their nation from total ruin; +and the names of the O'Clearys, of Ward and Wadding, of Colgan and +Lynch, are becoming better known and appreciated every day, as +their voluminous works are more studied and better understood. + +But much more remarkable still is the immense spread of the people +itself during the present age, so fruitful in happy results for +the Church of Christ and the good of mankind. We may say that the +labors of the Irish missionaries during the seventh and eighth +centuries are to-day eclipsed by the truly missionary work of a +whole nation spread now over North America, the West India Islands, +the East Indies, and the wilds of Australia; in a word, wherever +the English language is spoken. Whatever may have been the visible +causes of that strange "exodus," there is an invisible cause clear +enough to any one who meditates on the designs of God over his +Church. There is no presumption in attributing to God himself what +could only come from Him. The catholicity of the Church was to be +spread and preserved through and in all those vast regions colonized +now by the adventurous English nation; and no better, no more +simple way of effecting this could be conceived than the one whose +workings we see in those colonies so distant from the mother-country. + +This, for the time being, is the chief providential mission of +Ireland, and it is truly a noble one, undertaken and executed in +a noble manner by so many thousands, nay millions, of men and +women--poor, indeed, in worldly goods when they start on their +career, but rich in faith; and it is as true now as it has ever +been from the beginning of Christianity, that haec est victoria +nostra, fides vestra. + +These few words of our Preface would not suffice to prepare the +reader for the high importance of this stupendous phenomenon. We +We purpose, therefore, devoting our second chapter to the subject, +as a preparation for the very interesting details we shall furnish +subsequently, as it is proper that, from the very threshold, an +idea may be formed of the edifice, and of the entire proportions +it is destined to assume. + +We have so far sketched, as briefly as possible, what the following +pages will develop; and the reader may now begin to understand +what we said at starting, that no other nation in Europe offers so +interesting an object of study and reflection. + +Plato has said that the most meritorious spectacle in the eyes of +God was that of "a just man struggling with adversity." What must +it be when a whole nation, during nine long ages, offers to Heaven +the most sublime virtues in the midst of the extremest trials? Are +not the great lessons which such a contest presents worthy of study +and admiration? + +We purpose studying them, although we cannot pretend to render +full justice to such a theme. And, returning for a moment to the +considerations with which we started, we can truly say that, in +the whole range of modern history, it would be difficult, if not +impossible, to find a national life to compare with that of poor, +despised Ireland. Neither do we pretend to write the history itself; +our object is more humble: we merely pen some considerations +suggested naturally by the facts which we suppose to be already +known, with the purpose of arriving at a true appreciation of the +character of the people. For it is the people itself we study; +the reader will meet with comparatively few individual names. + +We shall find, moreover, that the nation has never varied. Its +history is an unbroken series of the same heroic facts, the same +terrible misfortunes. The actors change continually; the outward +circumstances at every moment present new aspects, so that the +interest never flags; but the spirit of the struggle is ever the +same, and the latest descendants of the first O'Neills and +O'Donnells burn with the same sacred fire, and are inspired by +the same heroic aspirations, as their fathers. + +Happily, the gloom is at length lighted up by returning day. The +contest has lost its ferocity, and we are no longer surrounded +by the deadly shade which obscured the sky a hundred years ago. +Then it was hard to believe that the nation could ever rise; her +final success seemed almost an impossibility. We now see that +those who then despaired sinned against Providence, which waited +for its own time to arrive and vindicate its ways. And it is +chiefly on account of the bright hope which begins to dawn that +our subject should possess for all a lively interest, and fill the +Catholic heart with glowing sympathy and ardent thankfulness to God. + + + + + +CONTENTS + + + + I The Celtic Race + + II The World Under The Lead Of European Races.--Mission Of The + Irish Race In The Movement + + III The Irish Better Prepared To Receive Christianity Than Other Nations + + IV How the Irish received Christianity + + V The Christian Irish and the Pagan Danes + + VI The Irish Free-Clans and Anglo-Norman Feudalism + + VII Ireland separated from Europe.--A Triple Episode + +VIII The Irish and the Tudors.--Henry VIII. + + IX The Irish and the Tudors.--Elizabeth.--The Undaunted Nobility.--The + Suffering Church + + X England prepared for the Reception of Protestantism--Ireland not + + XI The Irish and the Stuarts.--Loyalty and Confiscation + + XII A Century of Gloom.--The Penal Laws + +XIII Resurrection.--Delusive Hopes + + XIV Resurrection.--Emigration + + XV The "Exodus" and its Effects + + XVI Moral Force all-sufficient for the Resurrection of Ireland + + + +CHAPTER I + + +The Celtic Race. + + +Nations which preserve, as it were, a perpetual youth, should be +studied from their origin. Never having totally changed, some of +their present features may be recognized at the very cradle of +their existence, and the strangeness of the fact sets out in bolder +relief their actual peculiarities. Hence we consider it to our +purpose to examine the Celtic race first, as we may know it from +ancient records: What it was; what it did; what were its distinctive +features; what its manners and chief characteristics. A strong light +will thus be thrown even on the Irish of our own days. Our words +must necessarily be few on so extensive a subject; but, few as +they are, they will not be unimportant in our investigations. + +In all the works of God, side by side with the general order +resulting from seemingly symmetric laws, an astonishing variety +of details everywhere shows itself, producing on the mind of man +the idea of infinity, as effectually as the wonderful aspect of a +seemingly boundless universe. This variety is visible, first in +the heavenly bodies, as they are called; star differing from star, +planet from planet; even the most minute asteroids never showing +themselves to us two alike, but always offering differences in +size, of form, of composition. + +This variety is visible to us chiefly on our globe; in the infinite +multiplicity of its animal forms, in the wonderful insect tribes, +and in the brilliant shells floating in the ocean; visible also +in the incredible number of trees, shrubs, herbs, down to the most +minute vegetable organisms, spread with such reckless abundance +on the surface of our dwelling; visible, finally, in the infinity +of different shapes assumed by inorganic matter. + +But what is yet more wonderful and seemingly unaccountable is that, +taking every species of being in particular, and looking at any two +individuals of the same species, we would consider it an astonishing +effect of chance, were we to meet with two objects of our study +perfectly alike. The mineralogist notices it, if he finds in the same +group of crystals two altogether similar; the botanist would express +his astonishment if, on comparing two specimens of the same plant, +he found no difference between them. The same may be said of birds, +of reptiles, of mammalia, of the same kind. A close observer will +even easily detect dissimilarities between the double organs of the +same person, between the two eyes of his neighbor, the two hands +of a friend, the two feet of a stranger whom he meets. + +It is therefore but consistent with general analogy that in the moral +as well as in the physical faculties of man, the same ever-recurring +variety should appear, in the features of the face, in the shape of +the limbs, in the moving of the muscles, as well as in the activity +of thought, in the mobility of humor, in the combination of passions, +propensities, sympathies, and aversions. + +But, at the same time, with all these peculiarities perceptible in +individuals, men, when studied attentively, show themselves in +groups, as it were, distinguished from other groups by peculiarities +of their own, which are generally called characteristics of race; +and although, according to various systems, these characteristics +are made to expand or contract at will, to serve an _a priori_ +purpose, and sustain a preconcerted theory, yet there are, with +respect to them, startling facts which no one can gainsay, and +which are worthy of serious attention. + +Two of these facts may be stated in the following propositions: + +I. At the cradle of a race or nation there must have been a type +imprinted on its progenitor, and passing from him to all his +posterity, which distinguishes it from all others. + +II. The character of a race once established, cannot be eradicated +without an almost total disappearance of the people. + +The proofs of these propositions would require long details altogether +foreign to our present purpose, as we are not writing on ethnology. +We will take them for granted, as otherwise we may say that the +whole history of man would be unintelligible. If, however, writers +are found who apply to their notion of race all the inflexibility +of physical laws, and who represent history as a rigid system of +facts chained together by a kind of fatality; if a school has +sprung up among historians to do away with the moral responsibility +of individuals and of nations, it is scarcely necessary to tell +the reader that nothing is so far from our mind as to adopt ideas +destructive, in fact, to all morality. + +It is our belief that there is no more "necessity" in the leanings +of race with respect to nations, than there is in the corrupt +instincts of our fallen nature with respect to individuals. The +teachings of faith have clearly decided this in the latter case, +and the consequence of this authoritative decision carries with +it the determination of the former. + +According to the doctrine of St. Augustine, nations are rewarded +or punished in this world, because there is no future existence +for them; but the fact of rewards and punishments awarded them +shows that their life is not a series of necessary sequences such +as prevail in physics, and that the manifestations or phenomena +of history, past, present, or future, cannot resolve themselves +into the workings of absolute laws. + +Race, in our opinion, is only one of those mysterious forces which +play upon the individual from the cradle to the grave, which affect +alike all the members of the same family, and give it a peculiarity +of its own, without, however, interfering in the least with the moral +freedom of the individual; and as in him there is free-will, so also +in the family itself to which he belongs may God find cause for +approval or disapproval. The heart of a Christian ought to be too +full of gratitude and respect for Divine Providence to take any +other view of history. + +It would be presumptuous on our part to attempt an explanation of +the object God proposed to himself in originating such a diversity +in human society. We can only say that it appears He did not wish +all mankind to be ever subject to the same rule, the same government +and institutions. His Church alone was to bear the character of +universality. Outside of her, variety was to be the rule in human +affairs as in all things else. A universal despotism was never +to become possible. + +This at once explains why the posterity of Japhet is so different +from that of Sem and of Cham. + +In each of those great primitive stocks, an all-wise Providence +introduced a large number of sub-races, if we may be allowed to +call them so, out of which are sprung the various nations whose +intermingling forms the web of human history. Our object is to +consider only the Celtic branch. For, whatever may be the various +theories propounded on the subject of the colonization of Ireland, +from whatever part of the globe the primitive inhabitants may be +supposed to have come, one thing is certain, to-day the race is +yet one, in spite of the foreign blood infused into it by so many +men of other stocks. Although the race was at one time on the verge +of extinction by Cromwell, it has finally absorbed all the others; +it has conquered; and, whoever has to deal with true Irishmen, feels +at once that he deals with a primitive people, whose ancestors dwelt +on the island thousands of years ago. Some slight differences may +be observed in the people of the various provinces of the island; +there maybe various dialects in their language, different appearance +in their looks, some slight divergence in their disposition or manners; +it cannot be other wise, since, as we have seen, no two individuals +of the human family can be found perfectly alike. But, in spite +of all this, they remain Celts to this day; they belong undoubtedly, +to that stock formerly wide-spread throughout Europe, and now almost +confined to their island; for the character of the same race in +Wales, Scotland, and Brittany, has not been, and could not be, +kept so pure as in Erin; so that in our age the inhabitants of +those countries have become more and more fused with their British +and Gallic neighbors. + +We must, therefore, at the beginning of this investigation, state +briefly what we know of the Celtic race in ancient times, and examine +whether the Irish of to-day do not reproduce its chief characteristics. + +We do not propose, however, in the present study, referring to +the physical peculiarities of the Celtic tribes; we do not know +what those were two or three thousand years ago. We must confine +ourselves to moral propensities and to manners, and for this view +of the subject we have sufficient materials whereon to draw. + +We first remark in this race an immense power of expansion, when +not checked by truly insurmountable obstacles; a power of expansion +which did not necessitate for its workings an uninhabited and wild +territory, but which could show its energy and make its force felt +in the midst of already thickly-settled regions, and among adverse +and warlike nations. + +As far as history can carry us back, the whole of Western Europe, +namely, Gaul, a part of Spain, Northern Italy, and what we call +to-day the British Isles, are found to be peopled by a race +apparently of the same origin, divided into an immense number of +small republics; governed patriarchally in the form of clans, +called by Julius Caesar, "Civitates." The Greeks called them Celts, +"Keltai." They do not appear to have adopted a common name for +themselves, as the idea of what we call nationality would never +seem to have occurred to them. Yet the name of Gaels in the British +Isles, and of Gauls in France and Northern Italy, seems identical. +Not only did they fill the large expanse of territory we have +mentioned, but they multiplied so fast, that they were compelled +to send out armed colonies in every direction, set as they were +in the midst of thickly-peopled regions. + +We possess few details of their first invasion of Spain; but Roman +history has made us all acquainted with their valor. It was in the +first days of the Republic that an army of Gauls took possession +of Rome, and the names of Manlius and Camillus are no better known +in history than that of Brenn, called by Livy, Brennus. His celebrated +answer, "Vae victis," will live as long as the world. + +Later on, in the second century before Christ, we see another army +of Celts starting from Pannonia, on the Danube, where they had +previously settled, to invade Greece. Another Brenn is at the head +of it. Macedonia and Albania were soon conquered; and, it is said, +some of the peculiarities of the race may still be remarked in many +Albanians. Thessaly could not resist the impetuosity of the invaders; +the Thermopylae were occupied by Gallic battalions, and that +celebrated defile, where three hundred Spartans once detained the +whole army of Xerxes, could offer no obstacle to Celtic bravery. +Hellas, sacred Hellas, came then under the power of the Gauls, and +the Temple of Delphi was already in sight of Brenn and his warriors, +when, according to Greek historians, a violent earthquake, the work +of the offended gods, threw confusion into the Celtic ranks, which +were subsequently easily defeated and destroyed by the Greeks. + +A branch of this army of the Delphic Brenn had separated from +the main body on the frontiers of Thrace, taken possession of +Byzantium, the future Constantinople, and, crossing the straits, +established itself in the Heart of Asia Minor, and there founded +the state of Galatia, or Gallo-Greece, which so long bore their +name, and for several centuries influenced the affairs of Asia +and of the whole Orient, where they established a social state +congenial to their tastes and customs. But the Romans soon after +invading Asia Minor, the twelve clannish republics formerly +founded were, according to Strabo, first reduced to three, then +to two, until finally Julius Caesar made Dejotar king of the +whole country. + +The Celts could not easily brook such a change of social relations; +but, unable to cope against Roman power, they came, as usual, to +wrangle among themselves. The majority pronounced for another +chieftain, named Bogitar, and succeeded in forming a party in +Rome in his favor. Clodius, in an assembly of the Roman people, +obtained a decree confirmatory of his authority, and he took +possession of Pessinuntum, and of the celebrated Temple of Cybele. + +The history of this branch of the Celts, nevertheless, did not +close with the evil fortunes of their last king. According to +Justinus, they swarmed all over Asia. Having lost their autonomy +as a nation, they became, as it were, the Swiss mercenaries of +the whole Orient. Egypt, Syria, Pontus, called them to their defence. +"Such," says Justinus, "was the terror excited by their name, and +the constant success of their undertakings, that no king on his +throne thought himself secure, and no fallen prince imagined himself +able to recover his power, except with the help of the ever-ready +Celts of those countries." + +This short sketch suffices to show their power of expansion in +ancient times among thickly-settled populations. When we have +shown, farther on, how to-day they are spreading all over the +world, not looking to wild and desert countries, but to large +centres of population in the English colonies, we shall be able +to convince ourselves that they still present the same characteristic. +If they do not bear arms in their hands, it is owing to altered +circumstances; but their actual expansion bears a close resemblance +to that of ancient times, and the similarity of effect shows +the similarity of character. + +We pass now to a new feature in the race, which has not, to our +knowledge, been sufficiently dwelt upon. All their migrations in +old times were across continents; and if, occasionally, they crossed +the Mediterranean Sea, they did so always in foreign vessels. + +The Celtic race, as we have seen, occupied the whole of Western +Europe. They had, therefore, numerous harbors on the Atlantic, +and some excellent ones on the Mediterranean. Many passed the +greater portion of their lives on the sea, supporting themselves +by fishing; yet they never thought of constructing and arming +large fleets; they never fought at sea in vessels of their own, +with the single exception of the naval battle between Julius +Caesar and the Veneti, off the coast of Armorica, where, in one +day, the Roman general destroyed the only maritime armament which +the Celts ever possessed. + +And even this fact is not an exception to the general rule; for +M. de Penhouet, the greatest antiquarian, perhaps, in Celtic lore +in Brittany, has proved that the Veneti of Western Gaul were not +really Celts, but rather a colony of Carthaginians, the only one +probably remaining, in the time of Caesar, of those once numerous +foreign colonies of the old enemies of Rome. + +Still this strange anomaly, an anomaly which is observable in no +other people living on an extensive coast, was not produced by +ignorance of the uses and importance of large fleets. From the +first they held constant intercourse with the great navigators of +antiquity. The Celtic harbors teemed with the craft of hardy seamen, +who came from Phoenicia, Carthage, and finally from Rome. Heeren, +in his researches on the Phoenicians, proves it for that very early +age, and mentions the strange fact that the name of Ireland with +them was the "Holy Isle." For several centuries, the Carthaginians, +in particular, used the harbors of Spain, of Gaul, even of Erin +and Britain, as their own. The Celtic inhabitants of those countries +allowed them to settle peaceably among them, to trade with them, +to use their cities as emporiums, to call them, in fact, +Carthaginian harbors, although that African nation never really +colonized the country, does not appear to have made war on the +inhabitants in order to occupy it, except in a few instances, when +thwarted, probably, in their commercial enterprises; but they always +lived on peaceful terms with the aborigines, whom they benefited by +their trade, and, doubtless, enlightened by the narrative of their +expeditions in distant lands. + +Is it not a strikingly strange fact that, under such circumstances, +the Celts should never have thought of possessing vessels of their +own, if not to push the enterprises of an extensive commerce, for +which they never showed the slightest inclination, at least for +the purpose of shipping their colonies abroad, and crossing directly +to Greece from Celtiberia, for instance, or from their Italian colony +of the Veneti, replaced in modern times by maritime Venice? Yet +so it was; and the great classic scholar, Heeren, in his learned +researches on the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, remarks it with +surprise. The chief reason which he assigns for the success of +those southern navigators from Carthage in establishing their colonies +everywhere, is the fact of no people in Spain, Gaul, or the British +Isles, possessing at the time a navy of their own; and, finding it so +surprising, he does not attempt to explain it, as indeed it really +remains without any possible explanation, save the lack of inclination +springing from the natural promptings of the race. + +What renders it more surprising still is, that individually they +had no aversion to a seafaring life; not only many of them +subsisted by fishing, but their _curraghs_ covered the sea all +along their extensive coasts. They could pass from island to +island in their small craft. Thus the Celts of Erin frequently +crossed over to Scotland, to the Hebrides, from rock to rock, and +in Christian times they went as far as the Faroe group, even as +far as Iceland, which some of them appear to have attempted to +colonize long before the Norwegian outlaws went there; and some +even say that from Erin came the first Europeans who landed on +frozen Greenland years before the Icelandic Northmen planted +establishments in that dreary country. The Celts, therefore, and +those of Erin chiefly, were a seafaring race. + +But to construct a fleet, to provision and arm it, to fill it with +the flower of their youth, and send them over the ocean to plunder +and slay the inhabitants for the purpose of colonizing the countries +they had previously devastated, such was never the character of +the Celts. They never engaged extensively in trade, or what is +often synonymous, piracy. Before becoming christianized, the Celts +of Ireland crossed over the narrow channel which divided them from +Britain, and frequently carried home slaves; they also passed +occasionally to Armorica, and their annals speak of warlike +expeditions to that country; but their efforts at navigation were +always on an extremely limited scale, in spite of the many inducements +offered by their geographical position. The fact is striking when +we compare them in that particular with the Scandinavian free-rovers +of the Northern Ocean. + +It is, therefore, very remarkable that, whenever they got on board +a boat, it was always a single and open vessel. They did so in pagan +times, when the largest portion of Western Europe was theirs; they +continued to do so after they became Christians. The race has always +appeared opposed to the operations of an extensive commerce, and +to the spreading of their power by large fleets. + +The ancient annals of Ireland speak, indeed, of naval expeditions; +but these expeditions were always undertaken by a few persons in +one, two, or, at most, three boats, as that of the sons of Ua Corra; +and such facts consequently strengthen our view. The only fact +which seems contradictory is supposed to have occurred during +the Danish wars, when Callaghan, King of Cashel, is said to have +been caught in an ambush, and conveyed a captive by the Danes, +first to Dublin, then to Armagh, and finally to Dundalk. + +The troops of Kennedy, son of Lorcan, are said to have been +supported by a fleet of fifty sail, commanded by Falvey Finn, a +Kerry chieftain. We need not repeat the story so well known to +all readers of Irish history. But this fact is found only in the +work of Keating, and the best critics accept it merely as an +historical romance, which Keating thought proper to insert in his +history. Still, even supposing the truth of the story, all that we +may conclude from it is that the seafaring Danes, at the end of +their long wars, had taught the Irish to use the sea as a battlefield, +to the extent of undertaking a small expedition in order to +liberate a beloved chieftain. + +It is very remarkable, also, that according to the annals of Ireland, +the naval expeditions nearly always bore a religious character, never +one of trade or barter, with the exception of the tale of Brescan, +who was swallowed up with his fifty curraghs, in which he traded +between Ireland and Scotland. + +Nearly all the other maritime excursions are voyages undertaken +with a Christian or Godlike object. Thus our holy religion was +carried over to Scotland and the Hebrides by Columbkill and his +brother monks, who evangelized those numerous groups of small +islands. Crossing in their skiffs, and planting the cross on +some far-seen rock or promontory, they perched their monastic +cells on the bold bluffs overlooking the ocean. + +No more was the warrior on carnage bent to be seen on the seaboards +of Ulster or the western coast of Albania, as Scotland was then +called; only unarmed men dressed in humble monastic garb trod those +wave-beaten shores. At early morning they left the cove of their +convent; they spread their single sail, and plied their well-worn +oars, crossing from Colombsay to Iona, or from the harbor of Bangor +to the nearest shore of the Isle of Man. + +At noon they may have met a brother in the middle of the strait +in his shell of a boat, bouncing over the water toward the point +they had left. And the holy sign of the cross passed from one +monk to the other, and the word of benison was carried through +the air, forward and back, and the heaven above was propitious, +and the wave below was obedient, while the hearts of the two +brothers were softened by holy feelings; and nothing in the air +around, on the dimly-visible shores, on the surface of the heaving +waves, was seen or heard save what might raise the soul to heaven +and the heart to God. + +In concluding this portion of our subject, we will merely refer +to the fact that neither the Celts of Gaul or Britain, nor those +of Ireland, ever opposed an organized fleet to the numerous hostile +naval armaments by which their country was invaded. When the Roman +fleet, commanded by Caesar, landed in Great Britain, when the +innumerable Danish expeditions attacked Ireland, whenever the +Anglo-Normans arrived in the island during the four hundred years +of the colony of the Pale, we never hear of a Celtic fleet opposed +to the invaders. Italian, Spanish, and French fleets came in +oftentimes to the help of the Irish; yet never do we read that the +island had a single vessel to join the friendly expedition. We +may safely conclude, then, that the race has never felt any +inclination for sending large expeditions to sea, whether for +extensive trading, or for political and warlike purposes. They +have always used the vessels of other nations, and it is no +surprise, therefore, to find them now crowding English ships +in their migrations to colonize other countries. It is one of +the propensities of the race. + +A third feature of Celtic character and mind now attracts our +attention, namely, a peculiar literature, art, music, and poetry, +wherein their very soul is portrayed, and which belongs exclusively +to them. Some very interesting considerations will naturally flow +from this short investigation. It is the study of the constitution +of the Celtic mind. + +In Celtic countries literature was the perfect expression of the +social state of the people. Literature must naturally be so +everywhere, but it was most emphatically so among the Celts. With +them it became a state institution, totally unknown to other +nations. Literature and art sprang naturally from the clan system, +and consequently adopted a form not to be found elsewhere. Being, +moreover, of an entirely traditional cast, those pursuits imparted +to their minds a steady, conservative, traditional spirit, which +has resulted in the happiest consequences for the race, preserving +it from theoretical vagaries, and holding it aloof, even in our days, +from the aberrations which all men now deplore in other European +nations, and whose effects we behold in the anarchy of thought. +This last consideration adds to this portion of our subject a +peculiar and absorbing interest. + +The knowledge which Julius Caesar possessed of the Druids and of +their literary system was very incomplete; yet he presents to his +readers a truly grand spectacle, when he speaks of their numerous +schools, frequented by an immense number of the youths of the +country, so different from those of Rome, in which his own mind +had been trained--"Ad has magnus adolescentium numerus disciplinae +causa concurrit:" when he mentions the political and civil subjects +submitted to the judgment of literary men--"de omnibus controversiis +publicis privatisque constituunt. ... Si de hereditate, si de +finibus controversia est, iidem decernunt:" when he states the +length of their studies--"annos nonnulli vicenos in disciplina +permanent:" when he finally draws a short sketch of their course +of instruction-- "multa de sideribus atque eorum motu, de mundi +ac terrarum magnitudine, .... disputant juventutique tradunt." + +But, unfortunately, the great author of the "Commentaries" had +not sufficiently studied the social state of the Celts in Gaul +and Britain; he never mentions the clan institution, even when +he speaks of the feuds--factiones--which invariably split their +septs--civitates--into hostile parties. In his eleventh chapter, +when describing the contentions which were constantly rife in +the cities, villages, even single houses, when remarking the +continual shifting of the supreme authority from the Edui to the +Sequani, and reciprocally, he seems to be giving in a few phrases +the long history of the Irish Celts; yet he does not appear to +be aware of the cause of this universal agitation, namely, the +clan system, of which he does not say a single world. How could +he have perceived the effect of that system on their literature +and art? + +To understand it at once it suffices to describe in a few words +the various branches of studies pursued by their learned men; +and, as we are best acquainted with that portion of the subject +which concerns Ireland, we will confine ourselves to it. There +is no doubt the other agglomerations of Celtic tribes, the Gauls +chiefly, enjoyed institutions very similar, if not perfectly alike. + +The highest generic name for a learned man or doctor was "ollamh." +These ollamhs formed a kind of order in the race, and the +privileges bestowed on them were most extensive. "Each one of +them was allowed a standing income of twenty-one cows and their +grasses," in the chieftain's territory, besides ample refections +for himself and his attendants, to the number of twenty-four, +including his subordinate tutors, his advanced pupils, and his +retinue of servants. He was entitled to have two hounds and six +horses, . . . and the privilege of conferring a temporary sanctuary +from injury or arrest by carrying his wand, or having it carried +around or over the person or place to be protected. His wife also +enjoyed certain other valuable privileges.--(Prof. E. Curry, Lecture I.) + +But to reach that degree he was to prove for himself, purity of +learning, purity of mouth (from satire), purity of hand (from +bloodshed), purity of union (in marriage), purity of honesty (from +theft), and purity of body (having but one wife). + +With the Celts, therefore, learning constituted a kind of priesthood. +These were his moral qualifications. His scientific attainments +require a little longer consideration, as they form the chief +object we have in view. + +They may at the outset be stated in a few words. The ollamh was +"a man who had arrived at the highest degree of historical +learning, and of general literary attainments. He should be an +adept in royal synchronisms, should know the boundaries of all +the provinces and chieftaincies, and should be able to trace the +genealogies of all the tribes of Erin up to the first man.--(Prof. Curry, +Lecture X.) + +Caesar had already told us of the Druids, "Si de hereditate, si de +finibus controversia est iidem decernunt." In this passage he gives +us a glimpse of a system which he had not studied sufficiently to +embrace in its entirety. + +The qualifications of an ollamh which we have just enumerated, that +is to say, of the highest doctor in Celtic countries, already prove +how their literature grew out of the clan system. + +The clan system, of which we shall subsequently speak more at +length, rested entirely on history, genealogy, and topography. The +authority and rights of the monarch of the whole country, of the +so-called kings of the various provinces, of the other chieftains in +their several degrees, finally, of all the individuals who composed +the nation connected by blood with the chieftains and kings, +depended entirely on their various genealogies, out of which grew +a complete system of general and personal history. The conflicting +rights of the septs demanded also a thorough knowledge of topography +for the adjustment of their difficulties. Hence the importance to +the whole nation of accuracy in these matters, and of a competent +authority to decide on all such questions. + +But in Celtic countries, more than in all others, topography was +connected with general history, as each river or lake, mountain +or hill, tower or hamlet, had received a name from some historical +fact recorded in the public annals; so that even now the geographical +etymologies frequently throw a sudden and decisive light on disputed +points of ancient history. So far, this cannot be called a literature; +it might be classed under the name of statistics, or antiquarian lore; +and if their history consisted merely of what is contained in the old +annals of the race, it would be presumptuous to make a particular +alllusion to their literature, and make it one of the chief +characteristics of the race. The annals, in fact, were mere +chronological and synchronic tables of previous events. + +But an immense number of books were written by many of their authors +on each particular event interesting to each Celtic tribe: and even +now many of those special facts recorded in these books owe their +origin to some assertion or hint given in the annals. There is no +doubt that long ago their learned men were fully acquainted with +all the points of reference which escape the modern antiquarian. +History for them, therefore, was very different from what the Greeks +and Romans have made it in the models they left us, which we have +copied or imitated. + +It is only in their detached "historical tales" that they display +any skill in description or narration, any remarkable pictures of +character, manners, and local traditions; and it seems that in many +points they show themselves masters of this beautiful art. + +Thus they had stories of battles, of voyages, of invasions, of +destructions, of slaughters, of sieges, of tragedies and deaths, of +courtships, of military expeditions; and all this strictly historical. +For we do not here speak of their "imaginative tales," which give +still freer scope to fancy; such as the Fenian and Ossianic poems, +which are also founded on facts, but can no more claim the title of +history than the novels of Scott or Cooper. + +The number of those books was so great that the authentic list of +them far surpasses in length what has been preserved of the old +Greek and Latin writers. It is true that they have all been saved +and transmitted to us by Christian Irishmen of the centuries +intervening between the sixth and sixteenth; but it is also +perfectly true that whatever was handed down to us by Irish monks +and friars came to them from the genuine source, the primitive +authors, as our own monks of the West have preserved to us all +we know of Greek and Latin authors. + +So that the question so long decided in the negative, whether +the Irish knew handwriting prior to the Christian era and the +coming of St. Patrick, is no longer a question, now that so much +is known of their early literature. St. Patrick and his brother +monks brought with them the Roman characters and the knowledge of +numerous Christian writers who had preceded him; but he could not +teach them what had happened in the country before his time, events +which form the subject-matter of their annals, historical and +imaginative tales and poems. For the Christian authors of Ireland +subsequently to transmit those facts to us, they must evidently +have copied them from older books, which have since perished. + +Prof. E. Curry thinks that the Ogham characters, so often mentioned +in the most ancient Irish books, were used in Erin long before the +introduction of Christianity there. And he strengthens his opinion +by proofs which it is difficult to contradict. Those characters are +even now to be seen in some of the oldest books which have been +preserved, as well as on many stone monuments, the remote antiquity +of which cannot be denied. One well-authenticated fact suffices, +however, to set the question at rest: "It is quite certain," says +E. Curry, "that the Irish Druids and poets had written books before +the coming of St. Patrick in 432; since we find THAT VERY STATEMENT +in the ancient Gaelic Tripartite life of the Saint, as well as in +the "Annotations of Tirechan" preserved in the Book of Armagh, which +were taken by him (Tirechan) from the lips and books of his tutor, +St. Mochta, who was the pupil and disciple of St. Patrick himself." + +What Caesar, then, states of the Druids, that they committed every +thing to memory and used no books, is not strictly true. It must +have been true only with regard to their mode of teaching, in that +they gave no books to their pupils, but confined themselves to +oral instruction. + +The order of Ollamh comprised various sub-orders of learned men. +And the first of these deserving our attention is the class of +"Seanchaidhe," pronounced Shanachy. The ollamh seems to have been +the historian of the monarch of the whole country; the shanachy +had the care of provincial records. Each chieftain, in fact, down +to the humblest, had an officer of this description, who enjoyed +privileges inferior only to those of the ollamh, and partook of +emoluments graduated according to his usefulness in the state; so +that we can already obtain some idea of the honor and respect paid +to the national literature and traditions in the person of those +who were looked upon in ancient times as their guardians from age +to age. + +The shanachies were also bound to prove for themselves the +moral qualifications of the ollamhs.1 + +(1 "Purity of hand, bright without wounding, + Purity of mouth, without poisonous satire, + Purity of learning, without reproach, + Purity of husbandship, in marriage." +Many of these details and the following are chiefly derived from +Prof. E. Curry +--(Early Irish Manuscripts.) ) + +A shanachy of any degree, who did not preserve these "purities," +lost half his income and dignity, according to law, and was +subject to heavy penalties besides. + +According to McFirbis, in his book of genealogies, "the historians +were so anxious and ardent to preserve the history of Erin, that +the description they have left us of the nobleness and dignified +manners of the people, should not be wondered at, since they did +not refrain from writing even of the undignified artisans, and of +the professors of the healing and building arts of ancient times +--as shall be shown below, to prove the fidelity of the historians, +and the errors of those who make such assertions, as, for instance, +that there were no stone buildings in Erin before the coming of the +Danes and Anglo-Normans. + +"Thus saith an ancient authority: `The first doctor, the first +builder, and the first fisherman, that were ever in Erin were-- + + Capa, for the healing of the sick, + In his time was all-powerful; + And Luasad, the cunning builder, + And Laighne, the fisherman.'" + +So speaks McFirbis in his quaint and picturesque style. + +The literature of the Celts was, therefore, impressed with the +character of realistic universality, which has been the great boast +of the romantic school. It did not concern itself merely with the +great and powerful, but comprised all classes of people, and tried +to elevate what is of itself undignified and common in human +society. This is no doubt the meaning of the quotation just cited. + +Among the Celts, then, each clan had his historian to record the +most minute details of every-day history, as well as every fact +of importance to the whole clan, and even to the nation at large; +and thus we may see how literature with them grew naturally out +of their social system. The same may not appear to hold good at +first sight with the other classes of literary men; yet it would +be easy to discover the link connecting them all, and which was +always traditional or matter-of-fact, if we may use that expression. + +The next SUB-ORDER was that of File, which is generally translated +poet, but its meaning also involves the idea of philosophy or +wisdom added to that of poetry. + +The File among the Celts was, after all, only an historian writing +in verse; for all their poetry resolved itself into annals, "poetic +narratives" of great events, or finally "ballads." + +It is well known that among all nations poetry has preceded prose; +and the first writers that appeared anywhere always wrote in verse. +It seems, therefore, that in Celtic tribes the order of File was +anterior in point of time to that of Shanachy, and that both must +have sprung naturally from the same social system. Hence the +monarch of the whole nation had his poets, as also the provincial +kings and every minor chieftain. + +In course of time their number increased to such an extent in +Ireland, that at last they became a nuisance to be abated. + +"It is said that in the days of Connor McNassa--several centuries +before Christ--there met once 1,200 poets in one company; another +time 1,000, and another 700, namely, in the days of Aedh McAinmire +and Columcille, in the sixth century after our Saviour. And +between these periods Erin always thought that she had more of +learned men than she wanted; so that from their numbers and the +tax their support imposed upon the public, it was attempted to +banish them out of Erin on three different occasions; but they +were detained by the Ultonians for hospitality's sake. This is +evident from the Amhra Columcille (panegyric of St. Columba). He +was the last that kept them in Ireland, and distributed a poet to +every territory, and a poet to every king, in order to lighten the +burden of the people in general. So that there were people in their +following, contemporary with every generation to preserve the +history and events of the country at this time. Not these alone, +but the kings, and, saints, and churches of Erin preserved their +history in like manner." + +From this curious passage of McFirbis, it is clear that the Celtic +poets proposed to themselves the same object as the historians did; +only that they wrote in verse, and no doubt allowed themselves more +freedom of fancy, without altering the facts which were to them of +paramount importance. + +McFirbis, in the previous passage, gives us a succinct account +of the action of Columbkill in regard to the poets or bards of +his time. But we know many other interesting facts connected +with this event, which must be considered as one of the most +important in Ireland during the sixth century. The order of poets +or bards was a social and political institution, reaching back in +point of time to the birth of the nation, enjoying extensive +privileges, and without which Celtic life would have been deprived +of its warmth and buoyancy. Yet Aed, the monarch of all Ireland, +was inclined to abolish the whole order, and banish, or even outlaw, +all its members. Being unable to do it of his own authority, he +thought of having the measure carried in the assembly of Drumceit, +convened for the chief purpose of settling peacefully the relations +of Ireland with the Dalriadan colony established in Western +Scotland a hundred years before. Columba came from Iona in behalf +of Aidan, whom he had crowned a short time previously as King +of Albania or Scotland. It seems that the bards or poets were +accused of insolence, rapacity, and of selling their services +to princes and nobles, instead of calling them to account for +their misdeeds. + +Columba openly undertook their defence in the general assembly of +the nation. Himself a poet, he loved their art, and could not +consent to see his native country deprived of it. Such a deprivation +in his eyes would almost have seemed a sacrilege. + +"He represented," says Montalembert, "that care must be taken not +to pull up the good corn with the tares, that the general exile +of the poets would be the death of a venerable antiquity, and of +that poetry so dear to the country, and so useful to those who +knew how to employ it. The king and assembly yielded at length, +under condition that the number should be limited, and their +profession laid under certain rules." + +Dallan Fergall, the chief of the corporation, composed his "Amhra," +or Praise of Columbkill, as a mark of gratitude from the whole +order. That the works of Celtic poets possessed real literary merit, +we have the authority of Spenser for believing. The author of the +"Faerie Queene" was not the friend of the Irish, whom he assisted +in plundering and destroying under Elizabeth. He could only judge +of their books from English translations, not being sufficiently +acquainted with the language to understand its niceties. Yet he +had to acknowledge that their poems "savoured of sweet wit and +good invention, but skilled not of the goodly ornaments of poetry; +yet were they sprinkled with some pretty flowers of their natural +device, which gave good grace and comeliness to them." + +He objected, it is true, to the patriotism of their verse, and +pretended that they "seldom choose the doings of good men for the +argument of their poems," and became "dangerous and desperate in +disobedience and rebellious daring." But this accusation is high +praise in our eyes, as showing that the Irish bards of Spenser's +time praised and glorified those who proved most courageous in +resisting English invasion, and stood firmly on the side of their +race against the power of a great queen. + +A poet, it seems, required twelve years of study to be master of +his art. One-third of that time was devoted to practising the +"Teinim Laegha," by which he obtained the power of understanding +every thing that it was proper for him to speak of or to say. The +next third was employed in learning the "Imas Forosnadh," by which +he was enabled to communicate thoroughly his knowledge to other +pupils. Finally, the last three years were occupied in "Dichedal," +or improvisation, so as to be able to speak in verse on all subjects +of his study at a moment's notice. + +There were, it appears, seven kinds of verse; and the poet was +bound to possess a critical knowledge of them, so as to be a judge +of his art, and to pronounce on the compositions submitted to him. + +If called upon by any king or chieftain, he was required to relate +instantly, seven times fifty stories, namely, five times fifty +prime stories, and twice fifty secondary stories. + +The prime stories were destructions and preyings, courtships, +battles, navigations, tragedies or deaths, expeditions, elopements, +and conflagrations. + +All those literary compositions were historic tales; and they +were not composed for mere amusement, but possessed in the eyes +of learned men a real authority in point of fact. If fancy was +permitted to adorn them, the facts themselves were to remain +unaltered with their chief circumstances. Hence the writers of the +various annals of Ireland do not scruple to quote many poems or +other tales as authority for the facts of history which they relate. + +And such also was heroic poetry among the Greeks. The Hellenic +philosophers, historians, and geographers of later times always +quoted Homer and Hesiod as authorities for the facts they related +in their scientific works. The whole first book of the geography +of Strabo, one of the most statistical and positive works of +antiquity, has for its object the vindication of the geography +of Homer, whom Strabo seems to have considered as a reliable +authority on almost every possible subject. + +Our limits forbid us to speak more in detail of Celtic historians +and poets. We have said enough to show that both had important +state duties to perform in the social system of the country, and, +while keeping within due bounds, they were esteemed by all as men +of great weight and use to the nation. Besides the field of genealogy +and history allotted to them to cultivate, their very office tended +to promote the love of virtue, and to check immorality and vice. +They were careful to watch over the acts and inclinations of their +princes and chieftains, seldom failing to brand them with infamy +if guilty of crimes, or crown them with honor when they had deserved +well of the nation. In ancient Egypt the priests judged the kings +after their demise; in Celtic countries they dared to tell them +the truth during their lifetime. And this exercised a most salutary +effect on the people; for perhaps never in any other country did +the admiration for learning, elevation of feeling, and ardent love +of justice and right, prevail as in Ireland, at least while enjoying +its native institutions and government. + +From many of the previous details, the reader will easily see +That the literature of the Celts presented features peculiar to +Their race, and which supposed a mental constitution seldom found +among others. If, in general, the world of letters gives expression +In some degree to social wants and habits, among the Celts this +expression was complete, and argued a peculiar bent of mind given +entirely to traditional lore, and never to philosophical speculations +and subtlety. We see in it two elements remarkable for their +distinctness. First, an extraordinary fondness for facts and +traditions, growing out of the patriarchal origin of society +among them; and from this fondness their mind received a particular +tendency which was averse to theories and utopias. All things +resolved themselves into facts, and they seldom wandered away into +the fields of conjectural conclusions. Hence their extraordinary +adaptation to the truths of the Christian religion, whose dogmas +are all supernatural facts, at once human and divine. Hence have +they ever been kept free from that strange mental activity of other +European races, which has led them into doubt, unbelief, skepticism, +until, in our days, there seem to be no longer any fixed principles +as a substratum for religious and social doctrines. + +Secondly, we see in the Celtic race a rare and unique outburst +of fancy, so well expressed in the "_Senchus Mor_," their great law +compilation, wherein it is related, that when St. Patrick had +completed the digest of the laws of the Gael in Ireland, Dubtach, +who was a bard as well as a brehon, "put a thread of poetry +round it." Poetry everywhere, even in a law-book; poetry +inseparable from their thoughts, their speech, their every-day +actions; poetry became for them a reality, an indispensable necessity +of life. This feature is also certainly characteristic of the +Celtic nature. + +Hence their literature was inseparable from art; and music and +design gushed naturally from the deepest springs of their souls. + +Music has always been the handmaid of Poetry; and in our modern +languages, even, which are so artificial and removed from primitive +enthusiasm and naturalness, no composer of opera would consent to +adapt his inspirations to a prose _libretto_. It was far more so +in primitive times; and it maybe said that in those days poetry +was never composed unless to be sung or played on instruments. But +what has never been seen elsewhere, what Plato dreamed, without +ever hoping to see realized, music in Celtic countries became +really a state institution, and singers and harpers were necessary +officers of princes and kings. + +That all Celtic tribes were fond of it and cultivated it thoroughly +we have the assertion of all ancient writers who spoke of them. +According to Strabo, the Third order of Druids was composed of +those whom he calls _Umnetai_. What were their instruments is not +mentioned; and we can now form no opinion of their former musical +taste from the rude melodies of the Armoricans, Welsh, and Scotch. + +From time immemorial the Irish Celts possessed the harp. Some +authors have denied this; and from the fact that the harp was +unknown to the Greeks and Romans, and that the Gauls of the time +of Julius Caesar do not seem to have been acquainted with it, they +conclude that it was not purely native to any of the British islands. + +But modern researches have proved that it was certainly used in +Erin under the first successors of Ugaine Mor, who was monarch. +--Ard-Righ--about the year 633 before Christ, according to the +annals of the Four Masters. The story of Labhraid, which seems +perfectly authentic, turns altogether on the perfection with +which Craftine played on the harp. From that time, at least, the +instrument became among the Celts of Ireland a perpetual source +of melody. + +To judge of their proficiency in its use, it is enough to know to +what degree of perfection they had raised it. Mr. Beauford, in +his ingenious and learned treatise on the music of Ireland, as +cultivated by its bards, creates genuine astonishment by the +discoveries into which his researches have led him. + +The extraordinary attention which they paid to expression and +effect brought about successive improvements in the harp, which +at last made it far superior to the Grecian lyre. To make it +capable of supporting the human voice in their symphonies, they +filled up the intervals of the fifths and thirds in each scale, +and increased the number of strings from eighteen to twenty-eight, +retaining all the original chromatic tones, but reducing the +capacity of the instrument; for, instead of commencing in the lower +E in the bass, it commenced in C, a sixth above, and terminated +in G in the octave below; and, in consequence, the instrument +became much more melodious and capable of accompanying the human +voice. Malachi O'Morgair, Archbishop of Armagh, introduced other +improvements in it in the twelfth century. Finally, in later times, +its capacity was increased from twenty-eight strings to thirty-three, +in which state it still remains. + +As long as the nation retained its autonomy, the harp was a universal +instrument among the inhabitants of Erin. It was found in every house; +it was heard wherever you met a few people gathered together. Studied +so universally, so completely and perfectly, it gave Irish music in +the middle ages a superiority over that of all other nations. It is +Cambrensis who remarks that "the attention of these people to musical +instruments is worthy of praise, in which their skill is, beyond +comparison, superior to any other people; for in these the modulation +is not slow and solemn, as in the instruments of Britain, but the +sounds are rapid and precipitate, yet sweet and pleasing. It is +extraordinary, in such rapidity of the fingers, how the musical +proportions are preserved, and the art everywhere inherent among +their complicated modulations, and the multitude of intricate notes +so sweetly swift, so irregular in their composition, so disorderly +in their concords, yet returning to unison and completing the melody." + +Giraldus could not express himself better, never before having +heard any other music than that of the Anglo-Normans; but it is +clear, from the foregoing passage, that Irish art surpassed all +his conceptions. + +The universality of song among the Irish Celts grew out of their +nature, and in time brought out all the refinements of art. Long +before Cambrensis's time the whole island resounded with music +and mirth, and the king-archbishop, Cormac McCullinan, could not +better express his gratitude to his Thomond subjects than by +exclaiming-- + + "May our truest fidelity ever be given + To the brave and generous clansmen of Tal; + And forever royalty rest with their tribe, + And virtue and valor, and music and song!" + +Long before Cormac, we find the same mirthful glee in the Celtic +character expressed by a beautiful and well-known passage in the +life of St. Bridget: Being yet an unknown girl, she entered, by +chance, the dwelling of some provincial king, who was at the time +absent, and, getting hold of a harp, her fingers ran over the +chords, and her voice rose in song and glee, and the whole family +of the royal children, excited by the joyful harmony, surrounded +her, immediately grew familiar with her, and treated her as an +elder sister whom they might have known all their life; so that +the king, coming back, found all his house in an uproar, filled +as it was with music and mirth. + +Thus the whole island remained during long ages. Never in the +whole history of man has the same been the case with any other +nation. Plato, no doubt, in his dream of a republic, had something +of the kind in his mind, when he wished to constitute harmony as +a social and political institution. But he little thought that, +when he thus dreamed and wrote, or very shortly after, the very +object of his speculation was already, or was soon to be, in +actual existence in the most western isle of Europe. + +Before Columba's time even the Church had become reconciled to +the bards and harpers; and, according to a beautiful legend, +Patrick himself had allowed Oisin, or Ossian, and his followers, +to sing the praises of ancient heroes. But Columbkill completed +the reconciliation of the religious spirit with the bardic +influence. Music and poetry were thenceforth identified with +ecclesiastical life. Monks and grave bishops played on the harp +in the churches, and it is said that this strange spectacle +surprised the first Norman invaders of Ireland. To use the words +of Montalembert, so well adapted to our subject: "Irish poetry, +which was in the days of Patrick and Columba so powerful and so +popular, has long undergone, in the country of Ossian, the same +fate as the religion of which these great saints were the apostles. +Rooted, like it, in the heart of a conquered people, and like it +proscribed and persecuted with an unwearying vehemence, it has +come ever forth anew from the bloody furrow in which it was +supposed to be buried. The bards became the most powerful allies +of patriotism, the most dauntless prophets of independence, and +also the favorite victims of the cruelty of spoilers and conquerors. +They made music and poetry weapons and bulwarks against foreign +oppression; and the oppressors used them as they had used the +priests and the nobles. A price was set upon their heads. But +while the last scions of the royal and noble races, decimated +or ruined in Ireland, departed to die out under a foreign sky, +amid the miseries of exile, the successor of the bards, the +minstrel, whom nothing could tear from his native soil, was pursued, +tracked, and taken like a wild beast, or chained and slaughtered +like the most dangerous of rebels. + +"In the annals of the atrocious legislation, directed by the +English against the Irish people, as well before as after the +Reformation, special penalties against the minstrels, bards, and +rhymers, who sustained the lords and gentlemen, . . . are to be +met with at every step. + +"Nevertheless, the harp has remained the emblem of Ireland, even +in the official arms of the British Empire, and during all last +century, the travelling harper, last and pitiful successor of the +bards, protected by Columba, was always to be found at the side of +the priest, to celebrate the holy mysteries of the proscribed worship. +He never ceased to be received with tender respect under the thatched +roof of the poor Irish peasant, whom he consoled in his misery and +oppression by the plaintive tenderness and solemn sweetness of the +music of his fathers." + +Could any expression of ours set forth in stronger light the Celtic +mind and heart as portrayed in those native elements of music and +literature? Could any thing more forcibly depict the real character +of the race, materialized, as it were, in its exterior institutions? +We were right in saying that among no other race was what is +generally a mere adornment to a nation, raised to the dignity of +a social and political instrument as it was among the Celts. Hence +it was impossible for persecution and oppression to destroy it, +and the Celtic nature to-day is still traditional, full of faith, +and at the same time poetical and impulsive as when those great +features of the race held full sway. + +Besides music, several other branches of art, particularly +architecture, design, and calligraphy, are worthy our attention, +presenting, as they do, features unseen anywhere else; and would +enable us still better to understand the character of the Celtic +race. But our limits require us to refrain from what might be +thought redundant and unnecessary. + +We hasten, therefore, to consider another branch of our +investigation, one which might be esteemed paramount to all others, +and by the consideration of which we might have begun this chapter, +only that its importance will be better understood after what has +been already said. It is a chief characteristic which grew so +perfectly out of the Celtic mind and aptitudes, that long centuries +of most adverse circumstances, we may say, a whole host of contrary +influences were unable to make the Celts entirely abandon it. We +mean the clan system, which, as a system, indeed, has disappeared +these three centuries ago, but which may be said to subsist still +in the clan spirit, as ardent almost among them as ever. + +It is beyond doubt that the patriarchal government was the first +established among men. The father ruled the family. As long as he +lived he was lawgiver, priest, master; his power was acknowledged +as absolute. Hiis children, even after their marriage, remained +to a certain extent subject to him. Yet each became in turn the +head of a small state, ruled with the primitive simplicity of +the first family. + +In the East, history shows us that the patriarchal government +was succeeded immediately by an extensive and complete despotism. +Millions of men soon became the abject slaves of an irresponsible +monarch. Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt, appear at once in history as +powerful states at the mercy of a despot whose will was law. + +But in other more favored lands the family was succeeded by the +tribe, a simple development of the former, an agglomeration of +men of the same blood, who could all trace their pedigree to the +acknowledged head; possessing, consequently, a chief of the same +race, either hereditary or elective, according to variable rules +always based on tradition. This was the case among the Jews, among +the Arabs, with whom the system yet prevails; even it seems +primitively in Hindostan, where modern research has brought to +light modes of holding property which suppose the same system. + +But especially was this the case among the Celts, where the system +having subsisted up to recently, it can be better known in all its +details. Indeed, their adherence to it, in spite of every obstacle +that could oppose it, shows that it was natural to them, congenial +to all their inclinations, the only system that could satisfy and +make them happy; consequently, a characteristic of the race. + +There was a time when the system we speak of ruled many a land, +from the Western Irish Sea to the foot of the Caucasus. Everywhere +within those limits it presented the same general features; in +Ireland alone has it been preserved in all its vigor until the +beginning of the seventeenth century, so rooted was it in the +Irish blood. Consequently, it can be studied better there. What +we say, therefore, will be chiefly derived from the study of +Irish customs, although other Gaelic tribes will also furnish +us with data for our observations. + +In countries ruled by the clan system, the territory was divided +among the clans, each of them occupying a particular district, +which was seldom enlarged or diminished. This is seen particularly +in Palestine, in ancient Gaul, in the British islands. Hence their +hostile encounters had always for object movable plunder of any +kind, chiefly cattle; never conquest nor annexation of territory. +The word "preying," which is generally used for their expeditions, +explains their nature at once. It was only in the event of the +extinction of a clan that the topography was altered, and frequently +a general repartition of land among neighboring tribes took place. + +It is true, when a surplus population compelled them to send abroad +swarms of their youth, that the conquest of a foreign country became +an absolute necessity. But, on such occasions it was outside of Celtic +limits that they spread themselves, taking possession of a territory +not their own. They almost invariably respected the land of other +clans of the same race, even when most hostile to them; exceptions +to this rule are extremely rare. It was thus that they sent large +armies of their young men into Northern Italy, along the Danube, +into Grecian Albania and Thrace, and finally into the very centre +of Asia Minor. The fixing of the geographical position of each tribe +was, therefore, a rule among them; and in this they differed from +nomadic nations, such as the Tartars in Asia and even the North +American Indians, whose hold on the land was too slight to offer any +prolonged resistance to invaders. Hence the position of the Gallic +_civitates_ was definite, and, so to speak, immovable, as we may see +by consulting the maps of ancient Gaul at any time anterior to its +thorough conquest by the Romans; not so among the German tribes, +whose positions on the maps must differ according to time. + +We have already seen that so sacred were the limits of the clan +districts, that one of the chief duties of ollamhs and shanachies +was to know them and see them preserved. + +But if territory was defined in Celtic nations, the right of +holding land differed in the case of the chieftain and the +clansman. The head of the tribe had a certain well-defined portion +assigned to him in virtue of his office, and as long only as he +held it; the clansmen held the remainder in common, no particular +spot being assigned to any one of them. + +As far, therefore, as the holding of land was concerned, there +were neither rich nor poor among the Celts; the wealth of the +best of them consisted of cattle, house furniture, money, jewelry, +and other movable property. In the time of St. Columba, the +owner of five cows was thought to be a very poor man, although +he could send them to graze on any free land of his tribe. There +is no doubt that the almost insurmountable difficulty of the land +question at this time originated in the attachment of the people +to the old system, which had not yet perished in their affections; +and certainly many "agrarian outrages," as they are called, have +had their source in the traditions of a people once accustomed +to move and act freely in a free territory. + +It is needless to call the attention of the reader to another +consequence of that state of things, namely, the persistence of +territorial possessions. As no individual among them could alienate +his portion, no individual or family could absorb the territory to +the exclusion of others; no great landed aristocracy consequently +could exist, and no part of the land could pass by purchase or in +any other way to a different tribe or to an alien race. The force +of arms sometimes produced temporary changes, nothing more. It is +the same principle which has preserved the small Indian tribes +still existing in Canada. Their "reservations," as they are called, +having been legalized by the British Government at the time of +the conquest from the French, the territory assigned to them would +have remained in their occupancy forever in the midst of the +ever-shifting possessions of the white race, had not the Ottawa +Parliament lately "allowed" those reservations to be divided +among the families of the tribes, with power for each to dispose +of its portion, a power which will soon banish them from the +country of their ancestors. + +The preceding observations do not conflict in the least with what +is generally said of inheritance by "gavel kind," whereby the +property was equally divided among the sons to the exclusion of +the daughters; as it is clear that the property to be thus divided +was only movable and personal property. + +But after the _land_ we must consider the _persons_ under the +clan-system. Under this head we shall examine briefly: + +I. The political offices, such as the dignities of Ard-Righ or +supreme monarch, of the provincial kings, and of the subordinate +chieftains. + +II. The state of the common people. + +III. The bondsmen or slaves. + +All literary or civil offices, not political, were hereditary. +Hence the professions of ollamh, shanachy, bard, brehon, physician, +passed from father to son--a very injudicious arrangement apparently, +but it seems nevertheless to have worked well in Ireland. Strange +to say, however, these various classes formed no castes as in +Egypt or in India, because no one was prevented from embracing +those professions, even when not born to them; and, in the end, +success in study was the only requisite for reaching the highest +round of the literary or professional ladder, as in China. + +But a stranger and more dangerous feature of the system was that +in political offices the dignities were hereditary as to the +family, elective as to the person. Hence the title of Ard-Righ +or supreme monarch did not necessarily pass to the eldest son of +the former king, but another member of the same family might be +elected to the office, and was even designated to it during the +lifetime of the actual holder, thus becoming _Tanist_ or heir-apparent. +Every one sees at a glance the numberless disadvantages resulting +from such an institution, and it must be said that most of the +bloody crimes recorded in Irish history sprang from it. + +At first sight, the dignity of supreme monarch would almost seem +to be a sinecure under the clan system, as the authority attached +to it was extremely limited, and is generally compared in its +relations to the subordinate kings, as that of metropolitan to +suffragan bishops in the Church. Nevertheless, all Celtic nations +appear to have attached a great importance to it, and the real +misfortunes of Ireland began when contention ran so high for the +office that the people were divided in their supreme allegiance, +and no Ard-Righ was acknowledged at the same time by all; which +happened precisely at the period of the invasion under Strongbow. + +Some few facts lately brought to light in the vicissitudes of +various branches of the Celtic family show at once how highly all +Celts, wherever they might be settled, esteemed the dignity of +supreme monarch. It existed, as we have said, in all Celtic +countries, and consequently in Gaul; and the passage in the +"Commentaries" of Julius Caesar on the subject is too important +to be entirely passed over. + +After having remarked in the eleventh chapter, "De Bello Gallico," +lib. vi., that in Gaul the whole country, each city or clan, and +every subdivision of it, even to single houses, presented the +strange spectacle of two parties, "factiones," always in presence +of and opposed to each other, he says in Chapter XII.: --at the +arrival of Caesar in Gaul the _Eduans_ and the _Sequanians_ were +contending for the supreme authority--"The latter civitas--clan-- +namely, the Sequanians, being inferior in power--because from +time immemorial the supreme authority had been vested in the +Eduans--had called to its aid the Germans under Ariovist by the +inducement of great advantages and promises. After many successful +battles, in which the entire nobility of the Eduan clan perished, +the Sequanians acquired so much power that they rallied to +themselves the greatest number of the allies of their rivals, +obliged the Eduans to give as hostages the children of their +nobles who had perished, to swear that they would not attempt +any thing against their conquerors, and even took possession of +a part of their territory, and thus obtained the supreme command +of all Gaul." + +We see by this passage that there was a supremacy resting in the +hands of some one, over the whole nation. The successful tribe +had a chief to whom that supremacy belonged. Caesar, it is true, +does not speak of a monarch as of a person, but attributes the +power to the "civitas," the tribe. It is well known, however, +that each tribe had a head, and that in Celtic countries the +power was never vested in a body of men, assembly, committee, or +board, as we say in modern times, but in the chieftain, whatever +may have been his degree. + +The author of the "Commentaries" was a Roman in whose eyes the +state was every thing, the actual office-holder, dictator, consul, +or praetor, a mere instrument for a short time; and he was too apt, +like most of his countrymen, to judge of other nations by his own. + +We may conclude from the passage quoted that there was a supreme +monarch in Gaul as well as in Ireland, and modern historians of +Gaul have acknowledged it. + +But there is yet a stranger fact, which absolutely cannot be +explained, save on the supposition that the Celts everywhere held +the supreme dignity of extreme if not absolute importance in their +political system. + +To give it the preeminence it deserves, we must refer to a subsequent +event in the history of the Celts in Britain, since it happened +there several centuries after Caesar, and we will quote the words +of Augustin Thierry, who relates it: + +"After the retreat of the legions, recalled to Italy to protect +the centre of the empire and Rome itself against the invasion +of the Goths, the Britons ceased to acknowledge the power of the +foreign governors set over their provinces and cities. The forms, +the offices, the very spirit and language of the Roman administration +disappeared; in their place was reconstituted the traditional +authority of the clannish chieftains formerly abolished by Roman +power. Ancient genealogies carefully preserved by the poets, +called in the British language _bairdd_ - bards - helped to discover +those who could pretend to the dignity of chieftains of tribes +or families, tribe and family being synonymous in their language; +and the ties of relationship formed the basis of their social +state. Men of the lowest class, among that people, preserved in +memory the long line of their ancestry with a care scarcely known +to other nations, among the highest lords and princes. All the +British Celts, poor or rich, had to establish their genealogy in +order fully to enjoy their civil rights and secure their claim of +property in the territory of the tribe. The whole belonging to a +primitive family, no one could lay any claim to the soil, unless his +relationship was well established. + +"At the top of this social order, composing a federation of small +hereditary sovereignties, the Britons, freed from Roman power, +constituted a high national sovereignty; they created a chieftain +of chieftains, in their tongue called _Penteyrn_, that is to say, +a _king of the whole_, in the language of their old annals. And +they made him elective.--It was also formerly the custom in Gaul. +--The object was to introduce into their system a kind of +centralization, which, however, was always loose among Celtic +tribes."--(_Conquete de l'Angleterre_, liv. i.) + +It is evident to us that if the Britons _constituted_ a supreme +power, when freed from the Roman yoke, it was only because they +had possessed it before they became subject to that yoke. It is, +therefore, safe to conclude that there was a supreme monarch in +Britain and in Gaul as well as in Ireland; and since the Britons, +after having lost for several centuries their autonomy of government, +thought of reestablishing this supreme authority as soon as they +were free to do so, it is clear that they attached a real +importance to it, and that it entered as an essential element +into the social fabric. + +But what in reality was the authority of the Ard-Righ in Ireland, +of the Penteyrn in Britain, of the supreme chief in Gaul, whose +name, as usual, is not mentioned by Caesar? + +First, it is to be remarked that a certain extent of territory was +always under his immediate authority. Then, as far as we can gather +from history, there was a reciprocity of obligations between the +high power and the subordinate kings or chieftains, the former +granting subsidies to the latter, who in turn paid tribute to +support the munificence or military power of the former. + +We know from the Irish annals that the dignity of Ard-Righ was +always sustained by alliances with some of the provincial kings, +to secure the submission of others, and we have a hint of the +same nature in the passage, already quoted, from Caesar, as also +taking place in Gaul. + +We know also from the "Book of Rights" that the tributes and stipends +consisted of bondsmen, silver shields, embroidered cloaks, cattle, +weapons, corn, victuals, or any other contribution. + +The Ard-Righ, moreover, convened the _Feis_, or general assembly +of the nation, every third year; first at Tara, and after Tara +was left to go to ruin in consequence of the curse of St. Ruadhan +in the sixth century, wherever the supreme monarch established +his residence. + +The order of succession to the supreme power was the weakest point +of the Irish constitution, and became the cause of by far the +greatest portion of the nation's calamities. Theoretically the +eldest son--some say the eldest relative--of the monarch succeeded +him, when he had no blemish constituting a radical defect: the +supreme power, however, alternating in two families. To secure +the succession, the heir-apparent was always declared during the +life of the supreme king; but this constitutional arrangement +caused, perhaps, more crimes and wars than any other social +institution among the Celts. The truth is that, after the +heir-apparent, sustained by some provincial king, supplanted the +reigning monarch, one of the provincial chieftains claimed the +crown and succeeded to it by violence. + +Yet the general rule that the monarch was to belong to the race +of Miledh was adhered to almost without exception. One hundred +and eighteen sovereigns, according to the moat accredited annals, +governed the whole island from the Milesian conquest to St. Patrick +in 432. Of these, sixty were of the family of Heremon, settled +in the northern part of the island; twenty-nine of the posterity +of Heber, settled in the south; twenty-four of that of Ir; three +issued from Lugaid, the son of Ith. All these were of the race of +Miledh; one only was a _firbolg_, or plebeian, and one a woman. + +It is certainly very remarkable that for so long a time--nearly +two thousand years, according to the best chronologists--Ireland +was ruled by princes of the same family. The fact is unparalleled +in history, and shows that the people were firmly attached to their +constitution, such as it was. It extorted the admiration of Sir +John Davies, the attorney-general of James I, and later of Lord Coke. + +The functions of the provincial kings of Ulster, Munster, +Leinster, and Connaught, were in their several districts the same +as those which the Ard-Righ exercised over the whole country. They +also had their feuds and alliances with the inferior chieftains, +and in peaceful times there was also a reciprocity of obligations +between them. Presents were given by the superiors, tributes by +the inferiors; deliberations in assembly, mutual agreement for +public defence, wars against a common enemy, produced among them +traditional rules which were generally followed, or occasional +dissensions. + +Sometimes a province had two kings, chiefly Munster, which +was often divided into north and south. Each king had his +heir-apparent, the same as the monarch. Indeed, every hereditary +office had, besides its actual holder, its Tanist, with right of +succession. Hence causes of division and feuds were needlessly +multiplied; yet all the Celtic tribes adhered tenaciously to all +those institutions which appeared rooted in their very nature, and +which contributed to foster the traditional spirit among them. + +For these various offices and their inherent rights were all +derived from the universally prevailing family or clannish +disposition. Genealogies and traditions ruled the whole, and gave, +as we have seen, to their learned men a most important part and +function in the social state; and thus what the Greek and Latin +authors, Julius Caesar principally, have told us of the Celtic +Druids, is literally true of the ollamhs in their various degrees. + +But the clannish spirit chiefly showed itself in the authority and +rights of every chieftain in his own territory. He was truly the +patriarch of all under him, acknowledged as he was to be the head +of the family, elected by all to that office at the death of his +predecessor, after due consultation with the files and shanachies, +to whom were intrusted the guardianship of the laws which governed +the clan, and the preservation of the rights of all according to +the strict order of their genealogies and the traditional rules +to be observed. + +The power of the chieftain was immense, although limited on every +side by laws and customs. It was based on the deep affection of +relationship which is so ardent in the Celtic nature. For all the +clansmen were related by blood to the head of the tribe, and each +one took a personal pride in the success of his undertakings. No +feudal lord could ever expect from his vassals the like self-devotion; +for, in feudalism, the sense of honor, in clanship, family affection, +was the chief moving power. + +In clanship the type was not an army, as in feudalism, but a +family. Such a system, doubtless, gave rise to many inconveniences. +"The breaking up of all general authority," says the Very Rev. Dean +Butler (Introduction to Clyn's "Annals"), "and the multiplication +of petty independent principalities, was an abuse _incident_ on +feudalism; it was _inherent_ in the very essence of the patriarchal +or family system. It began, as feudalism ended, with small independent +societies, each with its own separate centre of attraction, each +clustering round the lord or the chief, and each rather repelling +than attracting all similar societies. Yet it was not without its +advantages. If feudalism gave more strength to attack an enemy, +clanship secured more happiness at home. The first implied only +equality for the few, serfdom or even slavery for the many; the +other gave a feeling of equality to all." + +It was, no doubt, this feeling of equality, joined to that of +relationship, which not only secured more happiness for the Celt, +but which so closely bound the nobility of the land to the inferior +classes, and gave these latter so ardent an affection for their +chieftains. Clanship, therefore, imparted a peculiar character +to the whole race, and its effect was so lasting and seemingly +ineradicable as to be seen in the nation to-day. + +Wherever feudalism previously prevailed, we remark at this time +a fearful hatred existing between the two classes of the same +nation; and the great majority of modern revolutions had their +origin in that terrible antagonism. The same never existed, and +could not exist, in Celtic Countries; and if England, after a +conflict of many centuries, had not finally succeeded in destroying +or exiling the entire nobility of Ireland, we should, doubtless, +see to this very day that tender attachment between high and low, +rich and poor, which existed in the island in former ages. + +This, therefore, not only imparted a peculiar character to the +people, but also gave to each subordinate chieftain an immense +power over his clan; and it is doubtful if the whole history of +the country can afford a single example of the clansmen refusing +obedience to their chief, unless in the case of great criminals +placed by their atrocities under the ban of society in former +times, and under the ban of the Church, since the establishment +of the Christian religion among them. + +The previous observations give us an insight into the state of +the people in Celtic countries. Since, however, we know that +slavery existed among them, we must consider a moment what kind +of slavery it was, and how soon it disappeared without passing, +as in the rest of Europe, through the ordeal of serfdom. + +At the outset, we cannot, as some have done, call slaves the +conquered races and poor Milesians, who, according to the ancient +annals of Ireland, rose in insurrection and established a king of +their own during what is supposed to be the first century of the +Christian era. The _attacotts_, as they were called, were not +slaves, but poor agriculturists obliged to pay heavy rents: their +very name in the Celtic language means "rent-paying tribes or +people." Their oppression never reached the degree of suffering +under which the Irish small farmers of our days are groaning. For, +according to history, they could in three years prepare from their +surplus productions a great feast, to which the monarch and all +his chieftains, with their retinue, were invited, to be treacherously +assassinated at the end of the banquet. The great plain of Magh Cro, +now Moy Cru, near Knockma, in the county of Galway, was required +for such a monster feast; profusion of meats, delicacies, and +drinks was, of course, a necessity for the entertainment of such +a number of high-born and athletic guests, and the feast lasted +nine days. Who can suppose that in our times the free cottiers +of a whole province in Ireland, after supporting their families +and paying their rent, could spare even in three years the money +and means requisite to meet the demands of such an occasion? But +the simple enunciation of the fact proves at least that the attacotts +were no slaves, but at most merely an inferior caste, deprived of +many civil rights, and compelled to pay taxes on land, contrary +to the universal custom of Celtic countries. + +Caesar, it is true, pretends that real slavery existed among the +Celts in Gaul. But a close examination of that short passage in +his "Commentaries," upon which this opinion is based, will prove +to us that the slavery he mentions was a very different thing from +that existing among all other nations of antiquity. + +"All over Gaul," he says, "there are two classes of men who enjoy +all the honors and social standing in the state--the Druids and +the knights. The plebeians are looked upon almost as slaves, having +no share in public affairs. Many among them, loaded with debt, +heavily taxed, or oppressed by the higher class, give themselves +in servitude to the nobility, and then, _in hos eadem omnia sunt +jura quoe dominis in servos_, the nobles lord it over them as, with +us, masters over their slaves." + +It is clear from this very passage that among the Celts no such +servile class existed as among the Romans and other nations of +antiquity. The plebeians, as Caesar calls them, that is to say, +the simple clansmen, held no office in the state, were not summoned +to the councils of the nation, and, on that account, were nobodies +in the opinion of the writer. But the very name he gives them - + _plebs_ - shows that they were no more real slaves than the Roman +plebs. They exercised their functions in the state by the elections, +and Caesar did not know they could reach public office by application +to study, and by being _ordained_ to the rank of file, or shanachy, +or brehon, in Ireland, at least: and this gave them a direct share +in public affairs. + +He adds that debt, taxation, and oppression, obliged a great many +to give themselves in servitude, and that then they were among +the Celts what slaves were among the Romans. + +This assertion of Caesar requires some examination. That there +were slaves among the Gaels, and particularly in Ireland, we know +from several passages of old writers preserved in the various +annals of the country. St. Patrick himself was a slave there in +his youth, and we learn from his history and other sources how +slaves were generally procured, namely, by piratical expeditions +to the coast of Britain or Gaul. The Irish _curraghs_, in pagan +times, started from the eastern or southern shores of the island, +and, landing on the continent or on some British isle, they captured +women, children, and even men, when the crew of the craft was strong +enough to overcome them; the captives were then taken to Ireland +and sold there. They lost their rights, were reduced to the state +of "chattels," and thus became real slaves. Among the presents +made by a superior to an inferior chieftain are mentioned bondsmen +and bondsmaids. We cannot be surprised at this, since the same +thing took place among the most ancient patriarchal tribes of the +East, and the Bible has made us all acquainted with the male and +female servants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who are also called +bondsmen and bondswomen. Among the Celts, therefore, slaves were +of two kinds: those stolen from foreign tribes, and those who +had, as it were, sold themselves, in order to escape a heavier +oppression: these latter are the ones mentioned by Caesar. + +The number of the first class must always have been very small, +at least in Ireland and Britain, since the piratical excursions +of the Celtic tribes inhabiting those countries were almost +invariably undertaken in curraghs, which could only bring a +few of these unfortunate individuals from a foreign country. + +As to the other class, whatever Caesar may say of their number +in Gaul, making it composed of the greatest part of the plebeians +or common clansmen, we have no doubt but that he was mistaken, +and that the number of real slaves reduced to that state by +their own act must have always been remarkably small. + +How could we otherwise account for the numerous armies levied by +the Gaulish chieftains against the power of Rome, or by the British +and Irish lords in their continual internecine wars? The clansmen +engaged in both cases were certainly freemen, fighting with the +determination which freedom alone can give, and this consideration +of itself suffices to show that the great mass of the Celtic tribes +was never reduced to slavery or even to serfdom. + +Moreover, the whole drift of the Irish annals goes to prove that +slavery never included any perceptible class of the Celtic population; +it always remained individual and domestic, never endangering the +safety of the state, never tending to insurrection and civil disorder, +never requiring the vigilance nor even the care of the masters +and lords. + +The story of Libran, recorded in the life of St. Columbkill, is +so pertinent to our present purpose, and so well adapted to give +us a true idea of what voluntary slavery was among the Celtic +tribes, that we will give it entire in the words of Montalembert: + +"It was one day announced to Columba in Iona that a stranger +had just landed from Ireland, and Columba went to meet him in +the house reserved for guests, to talk with him in private and +question him as to his dwelliing-place, his family, and the cause +of his journey. The stranger told him that he had undertaken this +painful voyage in order, under the monastic habit and in exile, +to expiate his sins. Columba, desirous of trying the reality of +his repentance, drew a most repulsive picture of the hardships +and difficult obligations of the new life. 'I am ready,' said the +stranger, 'to submit to the most cruel and humiliating conditions +that thou canst command me.' And, after having made confession, +he swore, still upon his knees, to accomplish all the requirements +of penitence. 'It is well,' said the abbot: 'now rise from thy +knees, seat thyself, and listen. You must first do penance for +seven years in the neighboring island of Tirce, after which I +will see you again.' 'But,' said the penitent, still agitated by +remorse, 'how can I expiate a perjury of which I have not yet +spoken? Before I left my country I killed a poor man. I was about +to suffer the punishment of death for that crime, and I was already +in irons, when one of my relatives, who is very rich, delivered me +by paying the composition demanded. I swore that I would serve +him all my life; but, after some days of service, I abandoned him, +and here I am notwithstanding my oath.' Upon this the saint added +that he would only be admitted to the paschal communion after his +seven years of penitence. + +"When these were completed, Columba, after having given him the +communion with his own hand, sent him back to Ireland to his patron, +carrying a sword with an ivory handle for his ransom. The patron, +however, moved by the entreaties of his wife, gave the penitent +his pardon without ransom. 'Why should we accept the price sent +us by the holy Columba? We are not worthy of it. The request of +such an intercessor should be granted freely. His blessing will +do more for us than any ransom.' And immediately he detached the +girdle from his waist, which was the ordinary form in Ireland for +the manumission of captives or slaves. Columba had, besides, +ordered his penitent to remain with his old father and mother +until he had rendered to them the last services. This accomplished, +his brothers let him go, saying, 'Far be it from us to detain a +man who has labored seven years for the salvation of his soul with +the holy Columba!' He then returned to Iona, bringing with him the +sword which was to have been his ransom. 'Henceforward thou shaft be +called Libran, for thou art free and emancipated from all ties,' said +Columba; and he immediately admitted him to take the monastic vows." + +Servitude, therefore, continued in Ireland after the establishment +of Christianity; but how different from the slavery of other +European countries, which it took so many ages to destroy, and +which had to pass through so many different stages! Although we +cannot know precisely when servitude was completely abolished +among the Celts, the total silence of the contemporary annals on +the subject justifies the belief that the Danes, on their first +landing, found no real slaves in the country; and, if the Danes +themselves oppressed the people wherever they established their +power, they could not make a social institution of slavery. It +had never been more than a domestic arrangement; it could not +become a state affair, as among the nations of antiquity. + +In clannish tribes, therefore, and particularly among the Celts, +the personal freedom of the lowest clansman was the rule, deprivation +of individual liberty the exception. Hence the manners of the people +were altogether free from the abject deportment of slaves and +villeins in other nations--a cringing disposition of the lower +class toward their superiors, which continues even to this day +among the peasantry of Europe, and which patriarchal nations have +never known. The Norman invaders of Ireland, in the twelfth century, +were struck with the easy freedom of manner and speech of the +people, so different from that of the lower orders in feudal +countries. They soon even came to like it; and the supercilious +followers of Strongbow readily adopted the dress, the habits, the +language, and the good-humor of the Celts, in the midst of whom +they found themselves settled. + +And it is proper here to show what social dispositions and habits +were the natural result of the clan system, so as to become +characteristic of the race, and to endure forever, as long at least +as the race itself. The artless family state of the sept naturally +developed a peculiarly social feeling, much less complicated than +in nations more artificially constituted, but of a much deeper and +more lasting character. In the very nature of the mind of those +tribes there must have been a great simplicity of ideas, and on +that account an extraordinary tenacity of belief and will. There +is no complication and systematic combination of political, moral, +and social views, but a few axioms of life adhered to with a most +admirable energy; and we therefore find a singleness of purpose, +a unity of national and religious feeling, among all the individuals +of the tribe. + +As nothing is complicated and systematized among them, the political +system must be extremely simple, and based entirely on the family. +And family ideas being as absolute as they are simple, the political +system also becomes absolute and lasting; without improving, it is +true, but also without the constant changes which bring misery +with revolution to thoughtful, reflective, and systematic nations. +What a frightful amount of misfortunes has not logic, as it is +called, brought upon the French! It was in the name of logical +and metaphysical principles that the fabric of society was destroyed +a hundred years ago, to make room for what was then called a more +rationally-constituted edifice; but the new building is not yet +finished, and God only knows when it will be! + +The few axioms lying at the base of the Celtic mind with respect +to government are much preferable, because much more conducive +to stability, and consequently to peace and order, whatever may +have been the local agitation and temporary feuds and divisions. +Hence we see the permanence of the supreme authority resting in +one family among the Celts through so many ages, in spite of +continual wrangling for that supreme power. Hence the permanence +of territorial limits in spite of lasting feuds, although territory +was not invested in any particular inheriting family, but in a +purely moral being called the clan or sept. + +As for the moral and social feelings in those tribes, they are +not drawn coldly from the mind, and sternly imposed by the external +law, in the form of axioms and enactments, as was the case chiefly +in Sparta, and as is still the case in the Chinese Empire to-day; +but they gush forth impetuously from impulsive and loving hearts, +and spread like living waters which no artificially-cut stones +can bank and confine, but which must expand freely in the land +they fertilize. + +Deep affection, then, is with them at the root of all moral and +social feelings; and as all those feelings, even the national and +patriotic, are merged in real domestic sentiment, a great purity +of morals must exist among them, nothing being so conducive +thereto as family affections. + +Above all, when those purely-natural dispositions are raised to +the level of the supernatural ones by a divinely-inspired code, by +the sublime elevation of Christian purity, then can there be found +nothing on earth more lovely and admirable. Chastity is always +attractive to a pure heart; patriarchal guilelessness becomes +sacred even to the corrupt, if not altogether hardened, man. + +Of course we do not pretend that this happy state of things is +without its exceptions; that the light has no shadow, the beauty +no occasional blemish. We speak of the generality, or at least of +the majority, of cases; for perfection cannot belong to this world. + +Yet mysticism is entirely absent from such a moral and religious +state, on account, perhaps, of the paucity of ideas by which the +heart is ruled, and perhaps also on account of the artless +simplicity which characterizes every thing in primitively-constituted +nations. And, wonderful to say, without any mysticism there is +often among them a perfect holiness of life, adapting itself to +all circumstances, climates, and associations. The same heart of +a young maiden is capable of embracing a married life or of +devoting itself to religious celibacy; and in either case the +duties of each are performed with the most perfect simplicity and +the highest sanctity. Hence, how often does a trifling circumstance + +determine for her her whole subsequent life, and make her either +the mother of a family or the devoted spouse of Christ! Yet, the +final determination once taken, the whole after-life seems to +have been predetermined from infancy as though no other course +could have been possible. + +There is no doubt that sensual corruption is particularly engendered +by an artificial state of society, which necessarily fosters +morbidity of imagination and nervous excitability. A primitive +and patriarchal life, on the contrary, leads to moderation in all +things, and repose of the senses. + +Herein is found the explanation of the eagerness with which the +Celts everywhere, but particularly in Ireland, as soon as +Christianity was preached to them, rushed to a life of perfection +and continence. St. Patrick himself expressed his surprise, and +showed, by several words in his "Confessio," that he was scarcely +prepared for it. "The sons of Irishmen," he says, "and the daughters +of their chieftains, want to become monks and virgins of Christ." +We know what a multitude of monasteries and nunneries sprang up +all over the island in the very days of the first apostle and of +his immediate successors. Montalembert remarks that, according to +the most reliable and oldest documents, a religious house is +scarcely mentioned which contained less than three thousand monks +or nuns. It appeared to be a consecrated number; and this took +place immediately after the conversion of the island to Christianity, +while even still a great number were pagans. + +"There was particularly," says St. Patrick, "one blessed Irish girl, +gentle born, most beautiful, already of a marriageable age, whom I +had baptized. After a few days she came back and told me that a +messenger of God had appeared to her, advising her to become a virgin +of Christ, and live united to God. Thanks be to the Almighty! Six +days after, she obtained, with the greatest joy and avidity, what +she wished. The same must be said of all the virgins of God; their +parents--those remaining pagans, no doubt--instead of approving of +it, persecute them, and load them with obloquy; yet their number +increases constantly; and, indeed, of all those that have been +thus born to Christ, _I cannot give the number_, besides those +living in holy widowhood, and keeping continency in the midst of +the world. + +"But those girls chiefly suffer most who are bound to service; +they are often subjected to terrors and threats--from pagan +masters surely--yet they persevere. The Lord has given his holy +grace of purity to those servant-girls; the more they are tempted +against chastity, the more able they show themselves to keep it." + +Does not this passage, written by St. Patrick, describe precisely +what is now of every-day occurrence wherever the Irish emigrate? +The Celts, therefore, were evidently at the time of their conversion +what they are now; and it has been justly remarked that, of all +nations whose records have been kept in the history of the Catholic +Church, they have been the only ones whose chieftains, princes, even +kings, have shown themselves almost as eager to become, not only +Christians, but even monks and priests, as the last of their clansmen +and vassals. Every where else the lower orders chiefly have furnished +the first followers of Christ, the rich and the great being few at +the beginning, and forming only the exception. + +The evident consequence of this well-attested fact is that the +pagan Celts, even of the highest rank, generally led pure lives, +and admired chastity. But there is something more. Morality rests +on the sense of duty; the deeper that sense is imprinted in the +heart of man, the more man becomes truly moral and holy. It can +be almost demonstrated that scarcely any thing gives more solidity +to the sense of duty than a simple and patriarchal life. Their +views of morals being no more complicated than their views of +any thing else; being accustomed to reduce every thing of a +spiritual, moral nature to a few feelings and axioms, as it were, +but at the same time becoming strongly attached to them on account +of the importance which every man naturally bestows on matters of +that sort; what among other nations forms a complicated code of +morality more or less pure, more or less corrupt, for the nations +of which we speak becomes compressed, so to speak, in a nutshell, +and, the essence remaining always at the bottom, the idea of duty +grows paramount in their minds and hearts, and every thing they +do is illumined by that light of the human conscience, which, +after all, is for each one of us the voice of God. False issues +do not distract their minds, and give a wrong bias to the +conscience. Hence Celtic tribes, by their very nature, were +strictly conscientious. + +So preeminently was this the case with them that spiritual things +in their eyes became, as they truly are, real and substantial. +Hence their religion was not an exterior thing only. On the contrary, +exterior rites were in their eyes only symbolical, and mere emblems +of the reality which they covered. + +It should, therefore, be no matter of surprise to us to find that +for them religion has always been above all things; that they have +always sacrificed to it whatever is dear to man on earth. They all +seem to feel as instinctively and deeply as the thoroughly cultivated +and superior mind of Thomas More did, that eternal things are +infinitely superior to whatever is temporal, and that a wise man +ought to give up every thing rather than be faithless to his religion. + +From the previous remarks, we map conclude, with Mr. Matthew +Arnold, who has applied his critical and appreciative mind to the +study of the Celtic character, that "the Celtic genius has sentiment +as its main basis, with love of beauty, charm, and spirituality +for its excellence," but, he adds, "ineffectualness and self-will +for its defects." On these last words we may be allowed to make a +few concluding observations. + +If by "ineffectualness" is understood that, owing to their impulsive +nature, the Celts often attempted more than they could accomplish, +and thus failed; or that on many occasions of less import they +changed their mind, and, after a slight effort, did not persevere +in an undertaking just begun, there is no doubt of the truth of +the observation. But, if the celebrated writer meant to say that +this defect of character always accompanied the Celts in whatever +they attempted, and that thus they were constantly foiled and +never successful in any thing; or, still worse, that, owing to +want of perseverance and of energy, they too soon relaxed in their +efforts, and that every enterprise and determination on their +part became "ineffectual"--we so far disagree with him that the +main object of the following pages will be to contradict these +positions, and to show by the history of the race, in Ireland at +least, that, owing precisely to their "self-will," they were never +_ultimately unsuccessful_ in their aspirations; but that, on the +contrary, they have always in the end _effected_ what with their +accustomed perseverance and self-will they have at all times stood +for. At least this we hope will become evident, whenever they had a +great object in view, and with respect to things to which they +attached a real and paramount importance. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +THE WORLD UNDER THE LEAD OF THE EUROPEAN RACES.--MISSION OF THE +IRISH RACE IN THE MOVEMENT. + +"The old prophecies are being fulfilled; Japhet takes possession +of the tents of Sem."--(De Maistre, _Lettre au Comte d'Avaray_.) + +The following considerations will at once demonstrate the importance +and reality of the subject which we have undertaken to treat upon: + +It was at the second birth of mankind, when the family of Noah, +left alone after the flood, was to originate a new state of things, +and in its posterity to take possession of all the continents +and islands of the globe, that the prophecy alluded to at the +head of this chapter was uttered, to be afterward recorded by +Moses, and preserved by the Hebrews and the Christians till the +end of time. + +Never before has it been so near its accomplishment as we see it +now; and the great Joseph de Maistre was the first to point this +out distinctly. Yet he did not intend to say that it is only in +our times that Europe has been placed by Providence at the head +of human affairs; he only meant that what the prophet saw and +announced six thousand years ago seems now to be on the point +of complete realization. + +It will be interesting to examine, first, in a general way, how +the race of Japhet, to whom Europe was given as a dwelling place, +gradually crept more and more into prominence after having at the +outset been cast into the shade by the posterity of the two other +sons of Noah. + +The Asiatic and African races, the posterity of Sem and Cham, +appear in our days destitute of all energy, and incapable not +only of ruling over foreign races, but even of standing alone and +escaping a foreign yoke. It has not been so from the beginning. +There was a period of wonderful activity for them. Asia and Africa +for many ages were in turn the respective centres of civilization +and of human history; and the material relics of their former +energy still astonish all European travellers who visit the Pyramids +of Egypt, the obelisks and temples of Nubia and Ethiopia, the +immense stone structures of Arabia, Petraea and Persia, as well +as the stupendous pagodas of Hindostan. How, under a burning sun, +men of those now-despised races could raise structures so mighty +and so vast in number; how the ancestors of the now-wretched Copt, +of the wandering Bedouin, of the effete Persian, of the dreamy +Hindoo, could display such mental vigor and such physical endurance +as the remains of their architectural skill and even of their +literature plainly show, is a mystery which no one has hitherto +attempted to solve. Nothing in modern Europe, where such activity +now prevails, can compare with what the Eastern and Southern races +accomplished thousands of years ago. Ethiopia, now buried in sand +and in sleep, was, according to Heeren, the most reliable observer +of antiquity in our days, a land of immense commercial enterprise, +and wonderful architectural skill and energy. In all probability +Egypt received her civilization from this country; and Homer sings +of the renowned prosperity of the long-lived and happy Ethiopians. +It is useless to repeat here what we have all learned in our youth +of Babylon and Nineveh, in Mesopotamia; of Persepolis, in fertile +and blooming Iran; of the now ruined mountain-cities of Idumaea +and Northern Arabia; of Thebes and Memphis; of Thadmor, in Syria; +of Balk and Samarcand, in Central Asia; of the wonderful cities +on the banks of the Ganges and in the southern districts of the +peninsula of Hindostan. + +That the ancestors of the miserable men who continue to exist in +all those countries were able to raise fabrics which time seems +powerless to destroy, while their descendants can scarcely erect +huts for their habitation, which are buried under the sand at the +first breath of the storm, is inexplicable, especially when we take +into consideration the principles of the modern doctrine of human +progress and the indefinite perfectibility of man. + +At the time when those Eastern and Southern nations flourished, +the sons of Japhet had not yet taken a place in history. Silently +and unnoticed they wandered from the cradle of mankind; and, if +scripture had not recorded their names, we should be at a loss +to-day to reach back to the origin of European nations. Yet were +they destined, according to prophecy, to be the future rulers of +the world; and their education for that high destiny was a rude +and painful one, receiving as they did for their share of the +globe its roughest portion: an uninterrupted forest covering all +their domain from the central plateau which they had left to the +shores of the northern and western ocean, their utmost limit. +Many branches of that bold race--_audax Japeti genus_--fell into +a state of barbarism, but a barbarism very different from that of +the tribes of Oriental or Southern origin. With them degradation +was not final, as it seems to have been with some branches at +least of the other stems. They were always reclaimable, always +apt to receive education, and, after having existed for centuries +in an almost savage state, they were capable of once more attaining +the highest civilization. This the Scandinavian and German tribes +have satisfactorily demonstrated. + +It may even be said that all the branches of the stock of Japhet +first fell from their original elevation and passed through real +barbarism, to rise again by their own efforts and occupy a prominent +position on the stage of history; and this fact has, no doubt, given +rise to the fable of the primitive savage state of all men. + +That the theory is false is proved at once by the sudden emergence +of all Eastern nations into splendor and strength without ever +having had barbarous ancestors. But, when they fall, it seems to +be forever; and it looks at least problematical whether Western +intercourse, and even the intermixture of Western blood, can +reinvigorate the apathetic races of Asia. As to their rising of +their own accord and assuming once again the lead of the world, +no one can for a moment give a second thought to the realization +of such a dream. + +But how and when did the races of Japhet appear first in history? +How and when did the Eastern races begin to fall behind their +younger brethren? + +A great deal has been written, and with a vast amount of dogmatism, +concerning the Pelasgians and their colonizations and conquests on +the shore and over the islands of the Mediterranean Sea. But nothing +can be proved with certainty in regard to their origin and manners, +their rise and fall. In fact, European history begins with that of +Greece; and the struggle between Hellas and Persia is at once the +brilliant introduction of the sons of Japhet on the stage of the +world--the Trojan War being more than half fabulous. + +The campaigns of Alexander established the supremacy of the West; +and from that epoch the Oriental races begin to fall into that +profound slumber wherein they still lie buried, and which the +brilliant activity of the Saracens and Moslems broke for a time--now, +we must hope, passed away forever. + +The downfall of the far Orient was not, however, contemporaneous +with the supremacy of Greece over the East. The great peninsula +of India was still to show for many ages an astonishing activity +under the successive sway of the Hindoos, the Patans, the Moguls, +and the Sikhs. China also was to continue for a long time an immense +and prosperous empire; but the existence of both these countries +was concentrated in themselves, so that the rest of the world felt +no result from their internal agitations. Life was gradually ebbing +away in the great Mongolian family, and the silent beatings of +the pulse that indicated the slow freezing of their blood could +neither be heard nor felt beyond their own territorial limits. + +Nothing new in literature and the arts is visible among them after +the appearance, on their western frontiers, of the sons of Japhet, +led by the Macedonian hero. It now seems established that Sanscrit +literature, the only, but really surprising proof of intellectual +life in Hindostan, is anterior to that epoch. + +As to China, the great discoveries which in the hands of the +European races have led to such wonderful results, the mariner's +compass, the printing-press, gunpowder, paper, bank-notes, remained +for the Chinese mere toys or without further improvements after +their first discovery. It is not known when those great inventions +first appeared among them. They had been in operation for ages +before Marco Polo saw them in use, and scarcely understood them +himself. Europeans were at that time so little prepared for the +reception of those material instruments of civilization, that the +publication of his travels only produced incredulity with regard +to those mighty engines of good or evil. + +But those very proofs of Oriental ingenuity establish the fact of +a point of suspension in mental activity among the nations which +discovered them. Its exact date is unknown; but every thing tends +to prove that it took place long ages ago, and nothing is so well +calculated to bring home to our minds the great fact which we are +now trying to establish as the simple mention of the two following +phenomena in the life of the most remote Eastern nations: + +The genius of the East was at one time able to produce literary +works of a philosophical and poetical character unsurpassed by +those of any other nation. The most learned men of modern times +in Europe, when they are in the position to become practically +acquainted with them, and peruse them in their original dialects, +can scarcely find words to express their astonishment, intimately +conversant as they are with the masterpieces of Greece and Rome +and of the most polite Christian nations. They find in Sanscrit +poems and religious books models of every description; but they +chiefly find in them an abundance, a freshness, a mental energy, +which fill them with wonder; yet all those high intellectual +endowments have disappeared ages ago, no one knows how nor precisely +when. It is clear that the nation which produced them has fallen +into a kind of unconscious stupor, which has been its mental +condition ever since, and which to-day raises puny Europe to the +stature of a giant before the fallen colossus. + +Again: many ages ago the Mongolian family in China invented many +material processes which have been mainly the clause of the rise +of Europe in our days. They were really the invention of the Chinese, +who neither received them from nor communicated them to any other +nation. Ages ago they became known to us accidentally through their +instrumentality; but, as we were not at that time prepared for the +adoption of such useful discoveries, their mention in a book then +read all over Europe excited only ridicule and unbelief. As soon +as the Western mind mastered them of itself, they became straightway +of immense importance, and gave rise, we may say, to all that we +call modern civilization. But in the hands of the Chinese they +remained useless and unproductive, as they are to this day, although +they may now see what we have done with them. Their mind, therefore, +once active enough to invent mighty instruments of material progress, +long ago became perfectly incapable of improving on its own invention, +so that European vessels convey to their astonished sight what was +originally theirs, but so improved and altered as to render the +original utterly contemptible and ridiculous. And, what is stranger +still, though they can compare their own rude implements with ours, +and possess a most acute mind in what is materially useful, they +cannot be brought to confess Western superiority. The advantage +which they really possessed over us a thousand years ago is still +a reality to their blind pride. + +But it is time to return to the epoch when the race of Japhet began +to put forth its power. + +Roman intellectual and physical vigor was the first great force +which gave Europe that preeminence she has never since lost; and +there was a moment in history when it seemed likely that a nation, +or a city rather, was on the point of realizing the prophetic +promise made to the sons of Noah. + +But an idolatrous nation could not receive that boon; and the +Roman sway affected very slightly the African and Asiatic nations, +whatever its pretensions may have been. + +For, when Rome had subdued what she called Europe, Asia, and Africa +--the whole globe--whenever she found that her empire did not reach +the sea, she established there posts of armed men; colonies were +sent out and legions distributed along the line; even in some places, +as in Britain, walls were constructed, stretching across islands, if +not along continents. Whatever country had the happiness of being +included between those limits belonged to "the city and the world" +-_urbi et orbi_; beyond was Cimmerian darkness in the North, or +burning deserts in the South. Mankind had no right to exist outside +of her sway; and, if some roaming barbarians strayed over the +inhospitable confines, they could not complain at having their +existence swept off from the field of history, so unworthy were +they of the name of men. Science itself, the science of those +times, had to admit such ideas and dictate them to polished writers. +Hence, according to the greatest geographers, mankind could exist +neither in tropical nor in arctic regions; and Strabo, dividing the +globe into five zones, declared that only two of them were habitable. + +We now know how false were those assertions, and indeed how +circumscribed was the power of ancient Rome. She pretended to +universal as well as to eternal dominion; but she deceived herself +in both cases. Under her sway the races of Japhet were not "to +dwell in the tents of Sem." She was not worthy of accomplishing +the great prophecy which is now under our consideration. + +It is, however, undoubtedly due to her that the children of Japhet +became the dominant race of the globe, and the Eastern nations, +once so active and so powerful, were overshadowed by her glory, +and had already fallen into that slumber which seems eternal. + +Egypt was reduced so low that a victorious Roman general had only +to appear on her borders to insure immediate submission. + +Syria and Mesopotamia were fast becoming the frightful deserts they +are to-day. Persia dared not move in the awful presence of a few +legions scattered along the Tigris; and, if, later on, the Parthian +kings made a successful resistance against Rome, it was only owing +to the abominable corruption of Roman society at the time; but, +in fact, Iran had fallen to rise no more, save spasmodically +under Mohammedan rule. + +The fact is, that, in the subsequent flood of barbarians which for +centuries overwhelmed and destroyed the whole of Europe, we behold, +on all sides, streams of Northern European races, members of the +same family of Japhet. It was the Goths that ruined Palestine even +in the time of St. Jerome. If side by side with Northern nations +the Huns appeared, no one knows precisely whence they came. Attila +called himself King of the Scythians and the Goths, as well as +grandson of Nimrod. He came with his mighty hosts from beyond the +Danube; this is all that can be said with certainty of his origin. + +The East, therefore, was already dead, and could furnish no powerful +foe against that Rome which it detested. It is even in this Oriental +supineness that we can find a reason for the duration of the +inglorious empire of Constantinople. Rome and the West, though far +more vigorous, were overwhelmed by barbarians of the same original +stock sent by Providence to "renew its youth like that of the eagle." +Constantinople and the East continued for a thousand years longer to +drag out their feeble existence, because the far Orient could not +send a few of its tribes to touch their walls and cause them to +crumble into dust. It is even remarkable that the armies of Mohammed +and his successors, in the flush of their new fanaticism, did not +dare for a long time to attack the race of Japhet settled on the +Bosporus. From their native Arabia they easily overran Egypt and +Northern Africa, Syria and Palestine, Mesopotamia and Persia. But +Asia Minor and Thrace remained for centuries proof against their +fury, and, whenever their fleets appeared in the Bosporus, they +were easily defeated by the unworthy successors of Constantine +and Theodosius. This fact, which has not been sufficiently noticed, +shows conclusively that the energy imparted by Mohammedanism +to Oriental nations would have lasted but a short time, and +encountered in the West a successful resistance, had not the +Turks appeared on the scene, destroyed the Saracen dynasties, +and, by infusing the blood of Central Asia into the veins of +Eastern and Southern fanatics, prolonged for so many ages the +sway of the Crescent over a large portion of the globe. + +This was the turning-point in human affairs between the East and +the West. We do not write history, and cannot, consequently, enter +into details. It is enough to say that a new element, strengthened +by a long struggle with Moslemism, was to give to the West a lasting +preponderance which ancient Rome could not possess, and whose +developments we see in our days. This new element was the Christian +religion, solidly established on the ruins of idolatry and heresy; +far more solidly established, consequently, than under the Christian +emperors of Rome, while paganism still existed in the capital itself. + +The Christian religion, which was to make one society of all the +children of Adam; which, at its birth, took the name of universal +or catholic (whereas previously all religions had been merely +national, and therefore very limited in their effects upon mankind +at large); which alone was destined to establish and maintain, +through all ages, spite of innumerable obstacles, a real universal +sway over all nations and tribes--the Christian religion alone +could give one race preponderance over others until all should +become, as it were, merged into _one_. + +At first it seemed that Providence destined that high calling for +the Semitic branch of the human family. The Hebrew people, trained +by God himself, through so many ages, for the highest purposes, +finally gave birth to the great Leader who, by redeeming all men, +was to gather them all into one family. This Leader, our divine +Lord, himself a Hebrew, chose twelve men of the same nation to +be the founders of the great edifice. We know how, the divine +plan was frustrated by the stubbornness of the Jews, who +_rejected the corner-stone of the building_, to be themselves +dashed against its walls and destroyed. The sons of Japhet were +substituted for the sons of Sem, Europe for Asia, Rome for +Jerusalem; and the real commencement of the lasting preponderance +of the West dates from the establishment of the Christian Church +in Rome. + +See how, from Christianity, the Caucasian race, as we call it, +came to be the rulers of the world. A mighty revolution, wherein +all the branches of that great race become intermingled and +confused, sweeps over the Roman Empire. Every thing seems +destroyed by the onset of the barbarians, in order that they, by +receiving the only true religion which they found without seeking +among those whom they conquered, might become worthy of fulfilling +the designs of Providence. All the barriers are overthrown that one +institution, called Christendom, may take form and harmony. There +are to be no more Romans, nor Gauls, nor Iberians, nor Germans, nor +Scandinavians--only Christians. It is a renewed and reinvigorated +race of Japhet, imbued with true doctrine, clothed with solid +virtues, animated with an overwhelming energy. It is a colossal +statue, moulded by popes, chiselled by bishops, set on its feet by +Christian emperors and kings, chiefly by Charlemagne, Alfred, Louis +IX, and Otho. Is there not perfect unity between those great men +divided by such intervals of space and time? Is not their work a +universal republic, whose foundations they laid with their own hands? + +The rest of the world, still prostrate at the feet of foolish idols, +or carried away by human errors and delusions, sinks deeper and +deeper into apathy and corruption, while Europe is reserved for +mighty purposes in centuries to come. A stream is gathering in the +West, which is destined to sweep down and bear away all obstacles, +and to cover every continent with its regenerating waters. + +That stream is modern European history. It has been recorded in +thousands of volumes, many of which, however, are totally unreliable +fables of those mighty events. Those only have had the key to its +right interpretation who have followed the Christian light given from +above, as a star, to guide the wonderful giant in his course. The +chief among them were: of old, Augustine, the author of the "City +of God;" Orosius, the first to condense the annals of the world +into the formula, "_divina providentia regitur mundus et homo;_" +Otho of Freysinguen, in his work "_De mutatione rerum;_" and the +author of "_Gesta Dei per Francos;_" in modern times, Bossuet and +his followers. + +The destruction of idolatry was of such vital importance in the +regeneration of the world that it sufficed as a dogma to imbue a +great branch of the Semitic family with a strong life for several +centuries. Moslemism has no other truth to support it than the +assertion of God's unity; but, by waging war against the Trinity +and, consequently, against the very foundation of Christian belief, +it became, for a long time, the greatest obstacle to the dissemination +of truth. It prevented the early triumph of the Caucasian race, +and galvanized, for a time, the nations of the East and South into +a false life. + +The ravages of the Tartar hordes under Genghis Khan and his +successors were in no sense life, but only a fitful madness. + +The European stream was thus impeded in its flood by the new +activity of Arabia and Turkomania. It was a struggle in which +victory, for a long time, hung in the balance: it required many +crusades of the whole of Western Europe; the long heroism of the +Spanish and Portuguese nations; the incessant attack and defence +of the Templars and the Knights of Malta over the whole surface +of the Mediterranean Sea, to secure the preponderance of the West. +It was finally decided at Lepanto. Since that great day, +Mohammedanism has gradually declined, and there now seems no +insurmountable obstacle to the free flowing of the European stream. + +This stream, however, is not homogeneous: far from it. Had the +Christian element always remained alone in it, or at least supreme, +long ere this the victory would have been secure forever, and the +Catholic missions alone would have fulfilled the old prophecies +and given to the sons of Japhet possession of the tents of Sem--a +glorious work so well begun in the East, in India and Japan; in +the West, in the whole of America! + +But, unfortunately, the policy of the papacy, which was also that +of Charlemagne, and of other great Christian sovereigns, was not +continued. The Norman feudalism of England and Northern France; +the Caesarism of Germany and the Capetian kings; the heresies +brought from the East by the Crusaders; the paganism and neo-Platonism +of the revival of learning; above all, the fearful upheaval of the +whole of Europe by the Protestant schism and heresy, troubled the +purity of that great Japhetic stream, and has retarded to our days +its momentous and overwhelming impetuosity. + +Wonderful, indeed, that in the whole of Europe one small island +alone was forever stubbornly opposed to all these aberrations, +which has stood her ground firmly, and, we may now say, successfully. +The reader already knows that the demonstration of this stupendous +fact is the object of the present volume. + +Having stood aloof so long from all those wanderings from the +right path, she has scarcely appeared in the field of European +history save as the victim of Scandinavia and of England. But +there is a time in the series of ages for the appearance of all +those called by Providence to enact a part. What is a myriad of +years for man is not a moment for God; and it would seem that we +had reached at last the epoch wherein Ireland is to be rewarded +for her steadfastness and fidelity. + +The impetus now imparted to European power becomes each day more +clearly defined, and, to judge by recent appearances, Irishmen are +about to play no inglorious part in it. The power of expansion, so +characteristic of them from the beginning, has of late years assumed +gigantic proportions. The very hatred of their enemies, the measures +adopted by their oppressors to annihilate them, have only served to +give them a larger field of operations and a much stronger force. +It is not without purpose that God has spread them in such numbers +over so many different islands and continents. It is theirs to give +to the spread of Japhetism among the sons of Sem its right direction +and results. The other races of Western Europe would, had they been +left to themselves alone, have converted that great event into a +curse for mankind, and perhaps the forerunner of the last calamities; +but the Irish, having kept themselves pure, are the true instruments +in the hands of God for righting what is wrong and purifying what +is corrupt. + +Had Europe remained in its entirety as steadfast to the true +Christian spirit as the small island which dots the sea on its +western border, what an incalculable happiness it would have proved +to the whole globe, resting as it does to-day under the lead of +the race of Japhet ! + +But where now are the pure waters which should vivify and +fertilize it? Innumerable elements are floating in their midst +which can but destroy life and spread barrenness everywhere. + +Let us see what Europeans believe; what are the motives which +actuate them; what they propose to themselves in disseminating +their influence and establishing their dominion; what the real, +openly-avowed purposes of the leaders are in the vast scheme +which embraces the whole earth; what becomes of foreign races +as soon as they come in contact with them. + +The bare idea causes the blood of the Christian to curdle in +his veins, and he thanks God that his life shall not be +prolonged to witness the successful termination of the vast +conspiracy against God and humanity. + +For, in our days, spite of so many deviations in the course of +the great European stream, it is truly a matter of wonder what +power it has obtained over the globe in its mastery, its control, +its unification. What, then, would have been the result had its +course remained constantly under Christian guidance! + +It is only a short time since the whole earth has become known +to us; and we may say that, for Europe, it has been enough only +to know it in order to become at once the mistress of it; such +power has the Christian religion given her! The first circumnavigation +of the globe under Magellan took place but yesterday, and to-day +European ships cover the oceans and seas of the world, bearing +in every sail the breath and the spirit of Japhetism. The stubborn +ice-fields of the pole can scarcely retard their course, and hardy +navigators and adventurous travellers jeopardize their lives in +the pursuit of merely theoretical notions, void almost of any +practical utility. + +The most remote and, up to recently, inaccessible parts of the +earth are as open to us, owing to steam, as were the countries +bordering on the Mediterranean to the ancients. The Argonautic +expedition along the southern coast of the Black Sea was in its +day an heroic undertaking. The Phoenician colonies established +in Africa and Spain by a race trying for the first time in the +history of man to launch their ships on the ocean in order +to trade with Northern tribes as far as Ireland and the Baltic, +though never losing sight of the coast; the attempts of the +Carthaginians to circumnavigate Africa; the three years' voyages +of the ships of Solomon in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, +were one and all far more hazardous undertakings than the long +voyages of our steamships across the Indian Ocean to Australia, +or around Cape Horn to California and the South Sea Islands, +through the Southern and Northern Pacifics. + +From all large seaboard cities in any part of the globe, lines +of steamers now bear men to every point of the compass, so that +the very boards at the entrances of offices, to be found everywhere +for the accommodation of travellers, are as indices of works on +universal geography. + +And the European, still unsatisfied with all he has achieved +in speed and comfort, looks to more rapid and easier modes of +conveyance. Scientific men have been for many years engaged +in experiments by means of which they hope to replace the ocean +by the atmosphere as a public highway for nations; and the currents +of air rushing in every direction with the velocity of the +most rapid winds may yet be used by our children instead of +rivers, thenceforth deserted, and of ocean-streams at last left +empty and waste as before the voyages of Columbus and De Gama. + +All this constitutes a positive and stern fact staring us in the +face, and giving to the Caucasian race a power of which our ancestors +would never have dreamed. And if all this is to be the only result +of man's activity--the attainment of merely worldly purposes--God, +whose world this is, may look down on it from heaven as on the work +of Titans preparing to attack his rights, and He will know how to +turn all these mighty efforts of the sons of Japhet to his own +holy designs. He may use a small branch of that great race, +preserved purposely from the beginning unsullied by mere thrift, +and prepared for his work by long persecution, a consideration +which we shall examine later on. + +Meanwhile the great mass of the European family is allowed to go +on in its wonderful undertaking; and we turn to it yet a short while. + +As if to favor still more directly this work of the unification +of the globe, Providence has placed at the disposal of the prime +movers in the enterprise pecuniary means which no one could have +foreseen a few years ago. + +In 1846, on a small branch of one of the great rivers of California, +a colonist discovers gold carried as dust with the sand, and soon +a great part of the country is found to be immensely rich in the +precious metal. That first discovery is followed by others equally +important, and after a few years gold is found in abundance on both +sides of a long range of the Rocky Mountains; again in the north, +nearly as high up as the arctic circle. North America, in fact, +is found to be a vast gold deposit. Australia soon follows, and +that new continent, whose exploration has scarcely begun, is said +to be dotted all over by large oases of auriferous rock and gravel. +In due time the same news comes from South Africa, where it has +been lately reported that diamonds, in addition to gold, enrich +the explorer and the workman. + +It is needless to speak of mines of silver and mercury after gold +and diamonds; but the result is that the European race is straightway +provided with an enormous wealth commensurate with the immense +commercial and manufacturing enterprises required for the establishment +of its supremacy all over the globe. + +There is work, therefore, for all the ships afloat; others and +larger ones have to be constructed; and modern engineering skill +places on the bosom of the deep sea vessels which few, indeed, of +the greatest rivers can accommodate in their channels and bays. + +All these means of dominion and dissemination once procured, +the great work clearly assigned to the race of Japhet may proceed. + +Intercourse with the most savage and uncivilized tribes is eagerly +cultivated even at the risk of life. New avenues to trade are +opened up in places where men, still living in the most primitive +state, have few if any wants; and it is considered as part of the +keen merchant's skill to fill the minds of these uncouth and +unsophisticated barbarians with the desire of every possible +luxury. Have we not lately heard that the savages of the Feejee +Islands, who were a few years ago cannibals, have now a king +seeking the protection of England, if not the annexation of his +kingdom to the British empire? + +Yes, the material civilization of Europe, the new discoveries +of steam and magnetism, the untiring energy of men aiming at +universal dominion, give to the Caucasian race such a superiority +over the rest of mankind that the time seems to be fast approaching +when the manners, the dress, the look even of Europeans, will +supersede all other types, and spread everywhere the dead level +of our habits. + +This fact has already been realized in America, North and South. +Geographers may give lengthened descriptions of the original tribes +which still possess a shadow of existence; foreign readers may +perhaps imagine that the continent is still in the quiet +possession of rude and uncivilized races roaming at will over its +surface, and allowing some Europeans to occupy certain cities and +harbors for the purposes of trade and barter. We know that nothing +could be more erroneous. The Europeans are the real possessors, +north and south; the Indians are permitted to exist on a few spots +contracting year by year into narrower limits. The northern and +larger half of the continent is chiefly the dwelling-place of the +most active branch of the bold race of Japhet. The first of the +iron lines which are to connect its Atlantic and Pacific coasts +has recently been laid. Cities spring up all along its track: the +harbors of California, Oregon, and Alaska, will soon swarm much +more than now with hardy navigators ready to europeanize the various +groups of islands scattered over the Pacific. Already in the Sandwich +and Tahiti groups the number of Europeans is greatly in excess of +that of the natives. Those natives who, in the Philippine Islands, +have been preserved by the Catholic Church, will too soon disappear +from the surface of the largest ocean of the globe. + +Then Eastern Asia will be attacked much more seriously than ever +before. Since its discovery, Europeans could only reach it +through the long distances which divide Western Europe from China +and Japan. But within a short time numerous lines of steamships, +starting from San Francisco, Portland, Honolulu, and many other +harbors yet nameless, will land travellers in Yokohama, Hakodadi, +Yeddo, Shanghai, Canton, and other emporiums of Asia. + +Nor will the Americans of the United States be alone in the race. +Several governments are preparing to cut a canal through the Isthmus +of Panama, or Darien, or Tehuantepec, as has already been done +with that of Suez; and soon ships starting from Western Europe +will, with the aid of steam, traverse the Atlantic and Pacific +Oceans successively as two large lakes to land their passengers +and cargoes on the frontiers of China and India. + +The Japanese, those Englishmen of the East, are ready to adopt +European inventions. They are indeed already expert in many of +them, and seem on the alert to conform to European manners. It +is said that the nation is divided into two parties on that very +question of conformity; before long they will all be of one mind. +What an impulse will thus be given to the europeanization of China +and Tartary! + +In Hindostan, England has fairly begun the work; but the climate +of the peninsula offering an obstacle to the introduction of a +large number of men of the Caucasian race, it will be more probably +from the foot of the Himalaya Mountains that the spread of the race +will commence. Already the English and the Russians are concentrating +their forces on the Upper Indus. The question merely is, Which +nation will be the first to inoculate the dreamy sons of Sem with +the spirit and blood of Japhet? It seems that Central Asia will form +the rallying-ground for the last efforts of the Titans to unify their +power, as it was thence that the power of God first dispersed them. + +A glance at the rest of the world as witnessing the same astonishing +spectacle, and we pass on. Australia is clearly destined to be entirely +European; the number of natives, already insignificant compared to that +of the colonists, will soon disappear utterly. Turkey, the Caucasus, +Bokhara, are rapidly taking a new shape and adopting Western manners. + +The African triangle offers the greatest resistance, owing to its +deserts, its terrible climate, and the savage or childish disposition +of its inhabitants. Yet the attempt to europeanize it is at this +moment in earnest action at its southernmost cape, all along its +northern line skirting the Mediterranean, in Egypt chiefly, and +also through the Erythrean Gulf in the east; finally, on many +points of its western shore, which, strange to say, lags behind, +although it formed the first point of discovery by the Portuguese. + +To condense all we have just said to a few lines: it looks as +though all races of men, except the Caucasian, were undergoing +a rapid process of unification or disappearance. + +In America certainly the phenomenon is most striking. + +In Asia all the native races seem palsied and unable to hold +together in the presence of the Russians and the English. + +In Africa, Mohammedanism still preserves to the natives a certain +activity of life, but even that is fast on the wane. + +Finally, in Australia and the Pacific Ocean the disappearance of +the natives is still more striking and more sudden in its action +than even in America. + +This state of things did not exist two hundred years ago; and +when the Crusades began the reverse was the case. + +We cannot believe that this immense, universal fact is merely an +exterior one resulting from new appliances, new comforts, new +outward habits; what is called material civilization. We cannot +believe that it is merely the dress, houses, culinary regime, the +popular customs of those numerous foreign tribes or nations which +are undergoing such a wonderful change. This outward phenomenon +supposes a _substratum_, an interior reality of ideas and principles +worthy our chief attention as the real cause of all those exterior +changes; a cause, nevertheless, which is scarcely thought of in +the public estimate of this mighty revolution. + +It is the mind of Europe: it is the belief or want of belief, +the religious or irreligious views, the grasping ambition, the +headlong desire of an impossible or unholy happiness, the reckless +sway of unbridled passions, which try to spread themselves among +all nations, and bring them all up, or rather down, to the level +of intoxicated, tottering, maddened Europe. + +If the monstrous scheme succeeds, there will be no more prayer in +the villages of the devout Maronites, no more submission to God in +the mountains of Armenia, no more simplicity of faith among the +shepherds of Chaldea, no more purity of life among the wandering +children of Asiatic deserts. + +Side by side with truth and virtue many errors and monstrosities +will doubtless disappear, but not to be replaced with what is +much better. + +The muezzin of the mosques will no longer raise his voice from the +minarets at noon and nightfall; the simple Lama will no longer +believe in the successive incarnations of Buddha; no longer will +the superstitious Hindoo cast himself beneath the car of Juggernaut; +many another such absurdity and crime will, let us hope, disappear +forever. But with what benefit to mankind? After all, is not +superstition even better for men than total unbelief? And, when +the whole world is reduced to the state of Europe, when what we +daily witness there shall be reproduced in all continents and +islands, will men really be more virtuous and happy? + +We must not think, however, that there is nothing truly good in +the stupendous transformation which we have endeavored to sketch. +If it really be the accomplishment of the great prophecy mentioned +by us at the beginning of this chapter, it is a noble and a +glorious event. God will know how to turn it to good account, and +it is for us to hail its coming with thankfulness. + +There is no doubt that the actual superiority of the race of Japhet, +by force of which this wonderful revolution is being accomplished, +is the result of Christianity, that is, of Catholicity. It is +because Europe, or the agglomeration of the various branches of +the race of Japhet, was for fifteen hundred years overshadowed +by the true temple of God, his glorious and infallible Church; +it is because the education of Europeans is mainly due to the +true messengers of God, the Popes and the bishops; it is because +the mind of Europe was really formed by the great Catholic thinkers, +nurtured in the monasteries and convents of the Church; it is, +finally, because Europeans are truly the sons of martyrs and +crusaders, that on them devolves the great mission of regenerating +and blending into one the whole world. + +But, unfortunately, the work is spoiled by adjuncts in the movement +which have grown up in the centuries preceding us. In fact, the +whole European movement has been thrown on a wrong track, which +we have already pointed out as mere material civilization. + +Still, in spite of all the dross, there is a great deal of pure +metal in the Japhetic movement. Underlying it all runs the +doctrine that all men are sprung from the same father, and that +all have had the same Redeemer; that, consequently, all are +brethren, and that there should be no place among them for castes +and classes, as of superior and inferior beings; that the God the +Christians adore is alone omnipotent; that idolatry of all kinds +ought to disappear, and that ultimately there should be but one +flock and one shepherd. + +These are saving truths, still held to in the main by the race +of Japhet, in spite of some harsh and opposing false assertions, +truths which the Catholic Church alone teaches in their purity, +and which are yet destined, we hope, to make one of all mankind. + +But her claims are yet far from being acknowledged by the +leaders in the movement. And who are those leaders? A question +all-important. + +England is certainly the first and foremost. Endowed with all the +characteristics of the Scandinavian race, which we shall touch upon +after, deeply infused with the blood of the Danes and Northmen, she +has all the indomitable energy, all the systematic grasp of mind and +sternness of purpose joined to the wise spirit of compromise and +conservatism of the men of the far North; she, of all nations, has +inherited their great power of expansion at sea, possessing all +the roving propensities of the old Vikings, and the spirit of +trade, enterprise, and colonization, of those old Phoenicians of +the arctic circle. + +The Catholic south of Europe, Spain and Portugal, having, through +causes which it is not the place to investigate here, lost their +power on the ocean; the temporary maritime supremacy of Holland +having passed away, because the people of that flat country were +too close and narrow-minded to grasp the world for any length of +time; France, the only modern rival of England as a naval power, +having been compelled, owing to the revolutions of the last and +the present centuries, to concentrate her whole strength on the +Continent of Europe; the young giant of the West, America, being +yet unable to grasp at once a vast continent and universal sway +over the pathways of the ocean, England had free scope for her +maritime enterprises, and she threw herself headlong into this +career. Out of Europe she is incontestably the first power of the +whole world. To give a better idea of the extent of her dominion, +we subjoin an abridged sketch from the "History of a Hundred Years," +by Cesare Cantu: + +"In Europe she has colonies at Heligoland, Gibraltar, Malta, and +the Ionian Isles. + +"In Africa, Bathurst, Sierra Leone, many establishments on the +coast of Guinea, the islands of Mauritius, Rodrigo, Sechelles, +Socotora, Ascension, St. Helena, and, most important of all, +the Cape Colony. + +"In Asia, where she replaced the French and Dutch, she has, +besides Ceylon, an empire of 150,000,000 of people in India, +the islands of Singapore and Sumatra, part of Malacca, and many +establishments in China. + +"In America, she is mistress of Canada, New Brunswick, and other +eastern provinces; the Lucayes, Bermudas, most of the Antilles, +part of Guiana, and the Falkland Isles. + +"In the Southern Ocean, the greater part of Australia, Tasmania, +Norfolk, Van Diemen's Land, New Zealand, and many other groups +of Oceanica are hers. + +"What other state can compete with her in the management of +colonies, and in the selection of situations from which she +could command the sea? Jersey and Guernsey are her keys of the +Straits of Dover; from Heligoland she can open or shut the mouths +of the Elbe and Weser; from Gibraltar she keeps her eye on Spain +and the States of Barbary, and holds the gates of the Mediterranean. +With Malta and Corfu she has a like advantage over the Levant. +Socotora is for her the key of the Red Sea, whence she commands +Eastern Africa and Abyssinia. Ormuz, Chesmi, and Buschir, give +her the mastery over the Persian Gulf, and the large rivers which +flow into it. Aden secures the communication of Bombay with Suez. +Pulo Pinang makes her mistress of the Straits of Malacca, and +Singapore, of the passage between China and India. At the Cape +of Good Hope her troops form an advanced guard over the Indian +Ocean; and from Jamaica she rules the Antilles and trades securely +with the rest of Central and South America. + +"Englishmen have made a careful survey of the whole of the +Mediterranean Sea, of the course of the Indus, the Ganges, the +Bramaputra, the Godavery, and other rivers of India; of the +whole littoral between Cape Colony and China; England has steamships +on the Amazon and Niger, and her vessels are found everywhere on +the coast of Chili and Peru." + +Other European families try to follow in her footsteps; at their +head the United States now stand. Primitively an offshoot of the +English stock, the blood of all other Japhetic races has given the +latter country an activity and boldness which will render it in +time superior in those respects to the mother-country herself. + +Yet at this time, even in the presence of the United States, in +the presence of all other maritime powers, England stands at the +head of the Japhetic movement. + +Unfortunately, her first aim, after acquiring wealth and securing +her power, is, to exclude the Roman Catholic Church as far as is +practicable from the benefit of the system, to oppose her whenever +she would follow in the wake of her progress, and either to allow +paganism or Mohammedanism to continue in quiet possession wherever +they exist, or to substitute for them as far as possible her +Protestantism. At all events, the Catholicity of the Church is +to be crushed, or at least thwarted, to make room for the +catholicity of the English nation. + +And it looks as though such, in truth, would have been the result, +had not the stubbornness of the Irish character stood in the way; +if the Celt of Erin, after centuries of oppression and opposition +to the false wanderings of the European stream, had not insisted +on following the English lord in his travels, dogging his steps +everywhere, entering his ships welcome or unwelcome, rushing on +shore with him wherever he thought fit to land, and there planted +his shanty and his frame church in the very sight of stately +palaces lately erected, and gorgeous temples with storied windows +and softly-carpeted floors. + +And after a few years the Irish Celt would show himself as active +and industrious in his new country as oppression had made him +indolent and careless on his own soil; the shanty would be replaced +by a house worthy of a man; above all, the humble dwelling which he +first raised to his God would disappear to make room for an edifice +not altogether unworthy of divine majesty; at least, far above the +pretentious structures of the oppressors of his religion. The eyes +of men would be again turned to "the city built upon a mountain;" and +the character of universality, instead of being wrested from the true +Church, would become more resplendent than ever through the steadfast +Irish Celt. + +Thus the spreading of the Gospel in distant regions would be +accomplished without a navy of their own. As their ancestors did +in pagan times, they would use the vessels of nations born for +thrift and trade; the stately ships of the "Egyptians" would be +used by the true "people of God." + +For them hath Stephenson perfected the steam-engine, so as to +enable vessels to undertake long voyages at sea without the necessary +help of sails; for them Brunel and others had spent long years in +planning and constructing novel Noah's arks capable of containing +all clean and unclean animals; for them the Barings and other +wealthy capitalists had embraced the five continents and the isles +of the ocean in their financial schemes; the Jews of England, +Germany, and France, the Rothschilds and Mendelssohns, had +accumulated large amounts of money to lend to ship-building +companies; for them, in fine, the long-hidden gold deposits +of California, Australia, and many other places, had been +discovered at the proper time to replenish the coffers of the godless, +that they might undertake to furnish the means of transportation +and settlement for the missionaries of God! + +And, to prove that this is no exaggeration, it is enough to look +at the number of emigrants that were to be carried to foreign parts, +and that actually left England for her various colonies or for the +United States. For several years one thousand Irish people sailed +_daily_ from the ports of Great Britain; and for a great number +of years 200,000 at least did so every twelve months. When we come, +to contrast the Irish at home with the Irish abroad, we shall +give fuller details than are possible here. These few words suffice +to show the immense number of vessels and the vast sums that were +required for such an extraordinary operation. + +This phenomenon is surely curious enough, universal enough, and +sufficiently portentous in its consequences, to deserve a thorough +inquiry into its causes and the way in which it was brought about. + +It will be seen that it all came from the Irish having kept +themselves aloof from the other branches of the great Japhetic race +in order to join in the general movement at the right time and in +their own way, constantly opposed to all the evil that is in it, +but using it in the way Providence intended. + +The chapters which follow will be devoted to the development of +this general idea; the few remarks with which we close the present +may tend to set the conclusion which we draw more distinctly before +our minds. + +There is no doubt that, taking the Irish nation as a whole, we +find in it features which are visible in no other European nation; +and that, taking Europe as a whole, in all its complexity of +habits, manners, tendencies, and ways of life, we have a picture +wholly distinct from that of the Irish people. England has striven +during the last eight hundred years to shape it and make it the +creature of her thought, and England has utterly failed. + +The same race of men and women inhabit the isle of Erin to-day as +that which held it a thousand years ago, with the distinction that +it is now far more wretched and deserving of pity than it was then. +The people possess the same primitive habits, simple thoughts, +ardent impulsiveness, stubborn spirit, and buoyant disposition, +in spite of ages of oppression. In the course of centuries they +have not furnished a single man to that army of rash minds which +have carried the rest of Europe headlong through lofty, perhaps, +but at bottom empty and idle theories, to the brink of that +bottomless abyss into which no one can peer without a shudder. + +No heresiarch has found place among them; no fanciful philosopher, +no holder of fitful and lurid light to deceive nations and lead +them astray, no propounder of social theories opposed to those +of the Gospel, no inventor of new theogonies and cosmologies--new +in name, old in fact--rediscovered by modern students in the +Kings_ of China, the _Vedas_ of Hindostan, the _Zends_ of Persia, +or _Eddas_ of the North; no ardent explorer of Nature, seeking +in the bowels of the earth, or on the summits of mountains, or +in the depths of the ocean, or the motions of the stars, proofs +that God does not exist, or that matter has always existed, that +man has made himself, developing his own consciousness out of +the instinct of the brute, or even out of the material motions +of the zoophyte. + +We would beg the reader to bear in mind those insane theories so +prevalent to-day, out of which society can hope for nothing but +convulsions and calamities, to see how all the nations of Europe +have contributed to the baneful result except the Irish; that +they alone have furnished no false leader in those wanderings +from the right path; that their community has been opposed all +through to the adoption of the theories which led to them, have +spurned them with contempt, and even refused to inquire into +them: with these thoughts and recollections in his mind, he may +understand what we mean when we assert that the Irish have +stubbornly refused to enter upon the European movement. Although, +by the reception of Christianity, they were admitted into the +European family, the Christianity which they received was so +thoroughly imbibed and so completely carried out that any thing +in the least opposed to it was sternly rejected by the whole +nation. Hence they became a people of peculiar habits. Rejecting +the harsh features of feudalism, not caring for the refinement of +the so-called revival of learning, sternly opposed at all times to +Protestantism, they would have naught to do with what was rejected +or even suspected by the Church, until in our days they offer to +the eyes of the world the spectacle we have sketched. Thus have +they, not the least by reason of their long martyrdom, become fit +instruments for the great work Providence asks of them to-day. + +England, the great leader in the material part of the social +movement which has been the subject of this chapter, for a long +time hesitated to adopt principles altogether subversive to +society. In her worldly good sense she endeavored to follow what +she imagined a _via media_ in her wisdom, to avoid what seemed +to her extremes, but what is in reality the eternal antagonism +of truth and falsehood, of order and chaos. Twenty years back +there was a unanimity among English writers to speak the +language of moderation and good sense whenever a rash author of +foreign nations hazarded some dangerous novelties; and in their +reviews they immediately pointed out the poison which lay +concealed under the covering of science or imagination, and the +peril of these ever-increasing new discoveries. If any +Englishman sanctioned those theories, he could not form a school +among his countrymen, and remained almost alone of his party. + +But at last England has given way to the universal spread of +temptation, and to-day she runs the race of disorganization as +ardent as any, striving to be a leader among other leaders to +ruin. Every one is astounded at the sudden and remarkable change. +It is truly inexplicable, save by the fearful axiom, _Quos Deus +vult perdere, dementat_. Hence not a few expect soon to see +storms sweep over the devoted island of Great Britain, which no +longer forms an exception to the universality of the evil we +have indicated. + +Which, then, is the one safe spot in Europe, whither the tide +of folly, or madness rather, has not yet come? + +Ireland alone is the answer. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +THE IRISH BETTER PREPARED TO RECEIVE CHRISTIANITY THAN +OTHER NATIONS. + +The introduction of Christianity gave Europe a power over the +world which pagan Rome could not possess. All the branches of +the Japhetic family combined to form what was with justice and +propriety called Christendom. Ireland, by receiving the Gospel, +was really making her first entry into the European family; but +there were certain peculiarities in her performance of this +great act which gave her national life, already deviating from +that of other European nations, a unique impulse. The first of +those peculiarities consisted in her preparation for the great +reception of the faith, and the few obstacles she encountered in +her adoption of it, compared with those of the rest of the world. + +Providence wisely decreed that redemption should be delayed +until a large portion of mankind had attained to the highest +civilization. It was not in a time of ignorance and barbarism +that the Saviour was born. The Augustan is, undoubtedly, the +most intellectual and refined age, in point of literary and +artistic taste, that the world has ever seen. A few centuries +before, Greece had reached the summit of science and art. No +country, in ancient or modern times, has surpassed the acumen of +her philosophical writers and the aesthetic perfection of her +poets and artists. Rome made use of her to embellish her cities, +and inherited her taste for science and literature. + +But art and literature embody ideas only; and, as Ozanam says so +well: "Beneath the current of ideas which dispute the empire of +the world, lies that world itself such as labor has made it, +with that treasure of wealth and visible adornment which render +it worthy of being the transient sojourn-place of immortal souls. +Beneath the true, the good, and the beautiful, lies the useful, +which is brightened by their reflection. No people has more +keenly appreciated the idea of utility than that of Rome; none +has ever laid upon the earth a hand more full of power, or more +capable of transforming it; nor more profusely flung the +treasures of earth at the feet of humanity . . . . + +"At the close of the second century . . the rhetorician +Aristides celebrated in the following terms the greatness of the +Roman Empire: 'Romans, the whole world beneath your dominion +seems to keep a day of festival. From time to time a sound of +battle comes to you from the ends of the earth, where you are +repelling the Goth, the Moor, or the Arab. But soon that sound +is dispersed like a dream. Other are the rivalries and different +the conflicts which you excite through the universe. They are +combats of glory, rivalries in magnificence between provinces +and cities. Through you, gymnasia, aqueducts, porticoes, temples, +and schools, are multiplied; the very soil revives, and the +earth is but one vast garden!' + +"Similar, also, was the language of the stern Tertullian: `In +truth, the world becomes day after day richer and better +cultivated; even the islands are no longer solitudes; the rocks +have no more terrors for the navigator; everywhere there are +habitations, population, law, and life.' + +"The legions of Rome had constructed the roads which furrowed +mountains, leaped over marshes, and crossed so many different +provinces with a like solidity, regularity, and uniformity; and +the various races of men were lost in admiration at the sight of +the mighty works which were attributed in after-times to Caesar, +to Brunehaud, to Abelard!" + +It was in the midst of those worldly glories that Christ was +born, that he preached, and suffered, that his religion was +established and propagated. It found proselytes at once among +the most polished and the most learned of men, as well as among +slaves and artisans; and thus was it proved that Christianity +could satisfy the loftiest aspirations of the most civilized as +well as insure the happiness of the most numerous and miserable +classes. + +But we must reflect that the advanced civilization of Greece and +Rome was in fact an immense obstacle to the propagation of truth, +and, what is more to be regretted, often gave an unnatural +aspect to the Christianity of the first ages in the Roman world-- +a half-pagan look--so that the barbarian invasion was almost +necessary to destroy every thing of the natural order; that the +Church alone remaining face to face with those uncouth children +of the North, might begin her mission anew and mould them all +into the family called "Christendom." "Christianity," to +quote Ozanam again, "shrank from condemning a veneration of the +beautiful, although idolatry was contained in it; and as it +honored the human mind and the arts it produced, so the +persecution of the apostate Julian, in which the study of the +classics had been forbidden to the faithful, was the severest of +its trials. Literary history possesses no moment of greater +interest than that which saw the school with its profane +--that is to say pagan--traditions and texts received into the +Church. The Fathers, whose christian austerity is our wonder, +were passionate in their love of antiquity, which they covered, +as it were, with their sacred vestments. . . . By their favor, +Virgil traversed the ages of iron without losing a page, and, by +right of his Fourth Eclogue, took rank among the prophets and +the sibyls. St. Augustine would have blamed paganism less, if, +in place of a temple to Cybele, it had raised a shrine to Plato, +in which his works might have been publicly read. St. Jerome's +dream is well known, and the scourging inflicted upon him by +angels for having loved Cicero too well; yet his repentance was +but short-lived, since he caused the monks of the Mount of +Olives to pass their nights in copying the Ciceronian dialogues, +and did not shrink himself from expounding the comic and lyric +poets to the children of Bethlehem." + +We know already that nothing of the kind existed in Ireland when +the Gospel reached her, and that there the new religion assumed +a peculiar aspect, which has never varied, and which made her at +once and forever a preeminently Christian nation. + +Among the Greeks and Romans, literature and art, although +accepted by the Church, were nevertheless deeply impregnated +with paganism. All their chief acts of social life required a +profession of idolatry; even amusements, dramatic +representations, and simple games, were religious and +consequently pagan exhibitions. + +We do not here speak of the attractions of an atheistic and +materialist philosophy, of a voluptuous, often, and demoralizing +literature and poetry, of an unimaginable prostitution of art to +the vilest passions, which the relics of Pompeii too abundantly +indicate. + +But apart from those excesses of corruption and unbelief, which, +no doubt, virtuous pagans themselves abhorred, the approved, +correct, and so-called pure life of the best men of pagan Rome +necessitated the contamination of idolatrous worship. Apart from +the thousand duties, festivals, and the like, decreed or +sanctioned by the state, the most ordinary acts of life, the +enlisting of the soldier, the starting on a military expedition, +the assumption of any civil office or magistracy, the civil +oaths in the courts of law, the public bath, the public walk +almost, the current terms in conversation, the private reading +of the best books, the mere glancing at a multitude of exterior +objects, constituted almost as many professions of a false and +pagan worship. + +How could any one become a Christian and at the same time remain +a Greek or a Roman? The gloomy views of the Montanist Tertullian +were, to many, frightful truths requiring constant care and self- +examen. For the Christian there were two courses open--both +excesses, yet either almost unavoidable: on the one side, a +terrible rigorism, making life unsupportable, next to impossible; +on the other, a laxity of thought and action leading to +lukewarmness and sometimes apostasy. + +Bearing in mind what was written on the subject in the first +three ages of Christianity, not only by Tertullian, but by most +orthodox writers, St. Cyprian, Lactantius, Arnobius, and the +authors of many Acts of martyrs, we may easily understand how +the doctrines of Christianity stood in danger of never taking +deep root in the hearts of men surrounded by such temptations, +themselves born in paganism, and remaining, after their +conversion, exposed to seductions of such an alluring character. + +Therefore this same "high civilization," as it is called, in the +midst of which Christianity was preached, was a real danger to +the inward life of the new disciple of Christ. + +How could it be otherwise, when it is a fact now known to +all, that, even at the beginning of the fifth century, Rome was +almost entirely pagan, at least outwardly, and among her highest +classes; so that the poet Claudian, in addressing Honorius at the +beginning of his sixth consulship, pointed out to him the site of +the capitol still crowned with the Temple of Jove, surrounded by +numerous pagan edifices, supporting in air an army of gods; and +all around temples, chapels, statues, without number--in fact, the +whole Roman and Greek mythology, standing in the City of the +Catacombs and of the Popes! + +The public calendars, preserved to this day, continued to note +the pagan festivals side by side with the feasts of the Saviour +and his apostles. Within the city and beyond, throughout Italy +and the most remote provinces, idols and their altars were still +surrounded by the thronging populace, prostrate at their feet. + +If in the cities the new religion already dared display +something of its inherent splendor, the whole rural population +was still pagan, singing the praises of Ceres and of Bacchus, +trembling at Fauns and Satyrs and the numerous divinities of the +groves and fountains. Christianity then held the same standing +in Italy that in the United States Catholicity holds to-day in +the midst of innumerable religious sects. + +This is not the place to show how far the paganism of Greece and +Rome had corrupted society, and how complete was its rottenness +at the time. It has been already shown by several great writers +of this century. Enough for our purpose to remark that even some +Christian writers, of the age immediately succeeding that of the +early martyrs, showed themselves more than half pagans in their +tastes and productions. Ausonius in the West, the preceptor of +St. Paulinus, is so obscene in some of his poems, so thoroughly +pagan in others, that critics have for a long time hesitated to +pronounce him a Christian. How many of his contemporaries +hovered like him on the confines of Christianity and paganism! +When Julian the apostate restored idolatry, many, who had only +disgraced the name of Christian, openly returned to the worship +of Jupiter and Venus, and their apostasy could scarcely be cause +for regret to sincere disciples of our Lord. + +In the East the phenomenon is less striking. Strange to say, +idolatry did not remain so firmly rooted in the country, where +it first took such an alluring shape; and Constantinople was in +every sense of the word a Christian city when Rome, in her +senate, fought with such persistent tenacity for her altars of +Victory, her vestals, and her ancient worship. + +Yet there, also, Christian writers were too apt to interfuse the +old ideas with the new, and to adopt doctrines placed, as it +were, midway between those of Plato and St. Paul. There were +bishops even who were a scandal to the Church and yet remained +in it. Synesius is the most striking example; whose doctrine was +certainly more philosophical than Christian, and whose life, +though decorous, was altogether worldly. The history of Arianism +shows that others besides Synesius were far removed from the +ideal of Christian bishops so worthily represented at the time +by many great doctors and holy pontiffs. + +Such, in the East as well as in the West, were the perils +besetting the true Christian spirit at the very cradle of our +holy religion. + +Nor was the danger confined to the mythology of paganism, its +literature and poetry. Philosophy itself became a real stumbling- +block to many, who would fain appear disciples of faith, when +they gave themselves up to the most unrestrained wanderings of +human reason. + +The truth is, that Greek philosophy, divided into so many +schools in order to please all tastes, had become a wide-spread +institution throughout the Roman world. The mind of the East was +best adapted to it, and those who taught it were, consequently, +nearly all Greeks. Cicero had made it fashionable among many of +his countrymen; and although the Latin mind, always practical to +the verge of utilitarianism, was not congenial to utopian +speculations, still, as it was the fashion, all intellectual men +felt the need of becoming sufficiently acquainted with it to be +able to speak of it and even to embrace some particular school. +Those patricians, who remained attached to the stern principles +of the old republic, became Stoics; while the men of the corrupt +aristocracy called themselves, with Horace, members of the +"Epicurean herd." Hence the necessity for all to train their +minds to scientific speculation, converted the Western world +into a hot-bed of wild and dangerous doctrines. + +In the opinion of some Eastern Fathers of the Church, Greek +philosophy had been a preparation for the Gospel, and could be +made subservient to the conversion of many. Thus we find St. +Justin, the martyr, all his life long glorying in the name of +philosopher, and continuing to wear, even after his conversion, +the philosopher's cloak so much derided by the scoffer, Lucian. + +Still, despite this very respectable opinion, we can entertain +no doubt, in view of what happened at the time and of subsequent +events, that philosophy grew to be a stumbling-block in the path +of Christianity, and originated the worst and most dangerous +forms of heresy; that it sowed the seed, in the European mind, +of all errors, by creating that speculative tendency of +character so peculiar to most branches of the Japhetic race. + +Persian Dualism, and, as many think, Pantheistic Buddhism, which +were then flourishing in Central and Eastern Asia, infected the +Alexandrian schools, and impressed philosophy with a new and +dreamy character, which became the source of subsequent and +frightful errors. The Neo-Platonism of Porphyry and Plotinus was +intended, in the minds of its originators, to lay a scientific +basis for polytheism; and, in Jamblichus finally, became an open +justification of the most absurd fables of mythology. + +But, though this might satisfy Julian and those who followed him +in his apostasy, it could not come to be an inner danger to the +Church. With many, however, it assumed a form which at once +engendered the worst errors of Gnosticism; and Gnosticism was, +at first, considered a Christian heresy; so that a man might be +a pantheist, of the worst kind, and still call himself Christian. +St. John had foreseen the danger from the beginning, and it is +said that he wrote his gospel against it because the doctrine +openly denied the divinity of Christ. But the sect became much +more powerful after his death, and allured many Christians who +were disposed, from a misinterpretation of some texts of St. +Paul on the struggle between the flesh and the spirit, to +embrace a system which professed to explain the origin of that +struggle. + +The Alexandrian Gnosticism failed to excite in the minds of the +holy monks of the East that aversion which we now feel for its +tenets, inasmuch as it did not openly anathematize the +Scriptures of the Old Law, nay, even preserved a certain outward +respect for them, on account of the multitude of Jews living in +Alexandria, and particularly because the open system of Dualism, +which afterward came from Syria and in the hands of Manes +established the existence of two equal and eternal principles of +good and evil, found no place in the teachings of Valentinus and +his school. + +But even this frightful Syrian Gnosticism, which gave to the +principle of evil an origin as ancient and sacred as that of God +himself--Manicheism barefaced and radically immoral--so +repugnant to our feelings, so monstrous to our more correct +ideas, bore a semblance of truth for many minds, at that time +inclined toward every thing which came from the East. We know +what a firm hold those doctrines took on the great soul of +Augustine, who for a long time professed and cherished them. +Rome, under the pagan emperors, had received with open arms the +Oriental gods and the philosophy which endeavored to explain +their mythology; and many gifted minds of the third and fourth +centuries lost themselves in the contemplation of those +mysteries which from out Central Asia spread a lurid glare over +the Western world. + +This first danger, however, was warded off by the writings of St. +Ignatius of Antioch, St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Clement of +Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, St. Epiphanius, Theodoret, and +others, long before the time of St. Augustine, the last of them. +Gnosticism was prevented from any longer imparting a wrong +tendency to Christian doctrines, and it died out, until restored +during the Crusades to revive in the middle ages in its most +malignant form. + +But at the very moment of its decline, philosophy entered the +Church; almost to wreck her by inspiring Arius and Pelagius. The +teachings of the first were clearly Neo-Platonic; of the second, +Stoic: and all the errors prevalent in the Church from the third +to the sixth century originated in Arianism and Pelagianism. + +In Plato, as read in Alexandria, Arius found all the material +for his doctrine, which spread like wild-fire over the whole +Church. Many things conspired to swell the number of his +adherents: the ardent love for philosophy so inherent in the +Eastern Church, to the extent of many believing that Plato was +almost a Christian, and his doctrines therefore endowed with +real authority; the natural disposition of men to adopt the new +and a seeming rational explanation of unfathomable mysteries; +the apparent agreement of his doctrine with certain passages of +Scripture, where the Son is said to be inferior to the Father; +but chiefly the satisfaction it afforded to a number of new +Christians who had embraced the faith at the conversion of +Constantine on political rather than conscientious grounds, and +who were at once relieved of the supernatural burden of +believing in a God-man, born of a woman, and dying on a cross. +Faith reduced to an opinion; religion become a philosophy; a +mere man, let his endowments be what they might, recognized as +our guide, and not overwhelming us with the dread weight of a +divine nature; all this explains the historic phrase of St. +Jerome after the Council of Rimini, "The world groaned and +wondered to find itself Arian." + +Any person acquainted with ecclesiastical history knows how the +Church of Christ would have surely become converted into a mere +rational school, under the pressure of these doctrines, were it +not for the promises of perpetuity which she had received. + +We know also what a time it took to establish truth: how many +councils had to meet, how many books had to be written, the +efforts required from the rulers of the Church, chiefly from the +Roman pontiffs, to calm so many storms, to explain so many +difficult points of doctrine, to secure the final victory. + +And, after all had been accomplished, there still remained the +root of the evil engrafted in what we call the philosophical +turn of mind of the Western nations--that is to say, in the +disposition to call every thing in question, to seek out strange +and novel difficulties, to start war-provoking theories in the +midst of peace, to aim at founding a new school, or at least to +stand forth as the brilliant and startling expounder of old +doctrines in a new form, in fine to add a last name to the list, +already over-long, of those who have disturbed the world by +their skill in dialectics and sophism. + +Pelagius followed Arius, and his errors had the same object in +view in the long-run, to strip our holy religion of all that is +spiritual and divine. + +In the time of St. Augustine and St. Jerome, there existed among +Christians an extraordinary tendency to embrace all possible +philosophical doctrines, even when directly opposed to the first +principles of revealed religion; and, within the Church, the +danger of subtilizing on every question connected with well- +known dogmas was much greater than many imagine. + +From the previous reflections we may learn how difficult it was +to establish, in pagan Europe, a thoroughly Christian life and +doctrine; and that, after society had come to be apparently +imbued with the new spirit, it was still too easy to disturb the +flowing stream of the heavenly graces of the Gospel. This +resulted, we repeat, from causes anterior to Christianity, from +sources of evil which the divine religion had to overcome, and +which too often impeded its supernatural action. In fact, the +ecclesiastical history of those ages is comprised mainly in +depicting the almost continual deviations from the straight line +of pure doctrine and morality, and the strenuous efforts +assiduously made by the rulers of the Church against a never- +ceasing falling away. + +Having taken this glance at the early workings of Christianity +through the rest of the world, we may now turn fairly to the +immediate subject we have in hand, and trace its course in +Ireland. From the very beginning we are struck by the +peculiarities--blessed, indeed--which show themselves, as in all +other matters, in its reception of the truth. The island, +compared with Europe, is small, it is true; but the heroism +displayed by its inhabitants during so many ages, in support of +the religion which they received so freely, so generously, and +at once, in mind as well as heart, marks it out as worthy of a +special account; and, from its unique reception and adherence to +the faith, as worthy of, if possible, a natural explanation of +such action beyond the promptings of Divine grace, since its +astonishing perseverance, its unswerving faith, form to-day as +great a characteristic of the nation as they did on the day of +its entry into the Christian Church. + +We proceed to examine, then, the kind of idolatry which its +first apostle encountered on landing in the island, and the ease +with which it was destroyed, so as to leave behind no poisonous +shoots of the deadly root of evil. + +In order to understand the religious system of Ireland previous +to the preaching of the Gospel, we must first take a general +survey of polytheism, if it can be so called, in all Celtic +countries, and of the peculiar character which it bore in +Ireland itself. + +Of old, throughout all countries, religion possessed certain +things in common, which belonged to the rites and creeds of all +nations, and were evidently derived from the primitive +traditions of mankind, and, consequently, from a true and Divine +revelation. Such were the belief in a golden age, in the fall +from a happy beginning, in the penalty imposed on sin, which +gave a reason for great mundane calamities--the Deluge chiefly-- +the memory of which lived in the traditions of almost every +nation; in the necessity of prayer and expiatory sacrifice; in +the transmission of guilt from father to son, expressed in all +primitive legislations, and to this day preserved in the Chinese +laws and customs; in the existence of good and bad spirits, +whence, most probably, arose polytheism; in the hope of the +future regeneration of man, represented in Greece by the +beautiful myth of Pandora's box; and, finally, in the doctrine +of eternal rewards and punishments. + +Each one of these strictly true dogmas underwent more or less of +alteration in its passage through the various nations of +antiquity, but was, nevertheless, everywhere preserved in some +shape or form. + +At what precise epoch did mankind begin wrongfully to interpret +these primitive traditions? When did the worship of idols arise +and become universal? No one can tell precisely. All we know for +certain is, that a thousand years before Christ idolatry +prevailed everywhere, and that even the Jewish people often fell +into this sin, and were only brought back by means of punishment +to the worship of the true God. + +But if error tainted the whole system of worship among nations, +it differed in the various races of men according to the variety +of their character. Ferocity or mildness of manners, acuteness +or obtuseness of understanding, activity or indolence of +disposition, a burning, a cold, or a temperate climate, a +smiling or dreary country, but chiefly the thousand differences +of temper which are as marked among mankind as the almost in- +finite variety of forms visible in creation, gave to each +individual religion its proper and characteristic types, which +in after-times, when truth was brought down from heaven for all, +imparted to the universal Christian spirit a peculiar outward +form in each people, an interior adaptation to its peculiar +dispositions, destined in the Divine plan to introduce into the +future Catholic Church the beautiful variety requisite to make +its very universality possible among mankind. + +To enter into details on the Celtic religion would carry us +beyond due limits. The question as to whether the ancient Celts +were idolaters or not still remains undecided, though in France +alone more than six hundred volumes have been written on the +subject. Julius Caesar believed that they were worshippers of +idols in the same sense as his own countrymen; but he probably +stood alone in his opinion. Aristotle, Pythagoras, Polyhistor, +Ammianus Marcellinus, considered the Druids as monotheist +philosophers. Most of the Greek writers agreed with them, as did +all the Alexandrian Fathers of the Church in the third and +fourth centuries. + +Among the moderns the majority leans to a contrary opinion; +nevertheless, many authors of weight, distinguishing the public +worship of the common people from the doctrine of the Druids, +assert the monotheism of this sacerdotal caste. Samuel F. N. +Morus particularly, who, with J. A. Ernesti, was esteemed the +master of antiquarian scholarship in Europe during the last +century, maintains, in his edition of the "Commentaries" of +Caesar, that "human beings, as well as human affairs, fortunes, +travels, and wars, were thought by the Celts to be governed and +ruled by one supreme God, and that the system of apotheosis, +common to nearly all ancient nations, was totally unknown in +ancient Gaul, Britain, and the adjacent islands." + +The ancient authorities concurring with these conclusions are so +numerous and clear spoken that the great historian of Gaul, +Amedee Thierry, thinks that such a pure and mystic religion, +joined to such a sublime philosophy, could not have been the +product of the soil. In his endeavor to investigate its origin, +he supposes that it was brought to the west of Europe by the +Eastern Cymris of the first invasion; that it was adopted by the +higher classes of society, and that the old idolatrous worship +remained in force among the lower orders. + +The unity and omnipotence of the Godhead, metempsychosis, or the +doctrine and the transmigration of soul --not into the bodies of +animals, as it obtained and still obtains in the East, but into +those of other human beings--the eternal duration of existing +substances, material and spiritual, consequently the immortality +of the human soul, were the chief dogmas of the Druids, +according to the majority of antiquarians. + +If this be true, then it can be said boldly that, with the +exception of revealed religion in Judea, which was always far +more explicit and pure, no system can be found in ancient times +superior to that of the Druids, more especially if we add that, +in addition to religious teaching, a whole system of physics was +also developed in their large academies. "They dispute," says +Caesar, "on the stars and their motions, on the size of the +universe and of this earth, on the nature of physical things, as +well as on the strength and power of the eternal God." + +To bring our question home, what were the religious belief and +worship of the Irish Celts while still pagans? Very few positive +facts are known on the subject; but we have data enough to show +what they were not; and in such cases negative proofs are amply +sufficient. + +It was for a long time the fashion with Irish historians to +attribute to their ancestors the wildest forms of ancient +idolatry. They appeared to consider it a point of national honor +to make the worship of Erin an exact reflex of Eastern, Grecian, +or Roman polytheism. They erected on the slightest foundations +grand structures of superstitious and abominable rites. Fire- +worship, Phoenician or African horrors, the rankest idol-worship, +even human sacrifices of the most revolting nature, were, +according to them, of almost daily occurrence in Ireland. But, +with the advancement of antiquarian knowledge, all those +phantoms have successively disappeared; and, the more the +ancient customs, literature, and history of the island are +studied, the more it becomes clear that the pretended proofs +adduced in support of those vagaries are really without +foundation. + +In the first place, there is not the slightest reason to believe +that the human sacrifices customary in Gaul were ever practised +in Ireland. No really ancient book makes any mention of them. +They were certainly not in vogue at the time of St. Patrick, as +he could not have failed to give expression to his horror at +them in some shape or form, which expression would have been +recorded in one, at least, of the many lives of the saint, +written shortly after his death, and abounding in details of +every kind. If not, then, during his long apostleship, we may +safely conclude that they never took place before, as there was +no reason for their discontinuance prior to the propagation of +Christianity. + +There was a time when all the large cromlechs which abound in +the island were believed to be sacrificial stones; and it is +highly probable that the opinion so prevalent during the last +century with respect to the reality of those cruel rites had its +origin in the existence of those rude monuments. After many +investigations and excavations around and under cromlechs of all +sizes, it is now admitted by all well-informed antiquarians that +they had no connection with sacrifices of any kind. They were +merely monuments raised over the buried bodies of chieftains or +heroes. Many sepulchres of that description have been opened, +either under cromlechs or under large mounds; great quantities +of ornaments of gold, silver, or precious stones, utensils of +various materials, beautiful works of great artistic merit, have +been discovered there, and now go to fill the museums of the +nation or private cabinets. Nothing connected with religious +rites of any description has met the eyes of the learned seekers +after truth. Thus it has been ascertained that the old race had +reached a high degree of material civilization; but no clew to +its religion has been furnished. + +As to fire-worship, which not long ago was admitted by all as +certainly forming a part of the Celtic religion in Ireland, so +little of that opinion remains to-day that it is scarcely +deserving of mention. There now remains no doubt that the round +towers, formerly so numerous in Ireland, had nothing whatever to +do with fire-worship. For a long time they were believed to have +been constructed for no other object, and consequently long +prior to the coming of St. Patrick. But Dr. Petrie and other +antiquarians have all but demonstrated that the round towers +never had any connection with superstition or idolatry at all; +that they were of Christian origin, always built near some +Christian church, and of the same materials, and had for their +object to call the faithful to prayer, like the _campanile_ of +Italy, to be a place of refuge for the clergy in time of war, +and to give to distant villages intimation of any hostile +invasion. + +The fact in the life of St. Patrick, when he appeared before the +court of King Laeghaire, upon which so much reliance is placed +as a proof of the existence of fire-worship, is now of +proportionate weakness. It seems, to judge by the most reliable +and ancient manuscripts, that, after all, the kindling of the +king's fire was scarcely a religious act. + +McGeoghegan, whose history is compiled, from the best- +authenticated documents, says: "When the monarch convened an +assembly, or held a festival at Tara, it was customary to make a +bonfire on the preceding day, and it was forbidden to light +another fire in any other place at the same time, in the +territory of Breagh." + +This is all; and the probable cause of the prohibition was to do +honor to the king. Had it been an act of worship, Patrick, in +lighting his own paschal-fire, would not only have shown +disrespect to the monarch, but in the eyes of the people +committed a sacrilege, which could scarcely have missed mention +by the careful historians of the time. + +But the proof that we are right in our interpretation of the +ceremony is clear, from the following passage, taken from the +work of Prof. Curry on "Early Irish Manuscripts:" "We see, by +the book of military expeditions, that, when King Dathi-- the +immediate predecessor of Laeghaire on the throne of Ire- land-- +thought of conquering Britain and Gaul, he invited the states of +the nation to meet him at Tara, at the approaching feast of +Baltaine (one of the great pagan festivals of ancient Erin) on +May-day. + +"The feast of Tara this year was solemnized on a scale of +splendor never before equalled. The fires of Lailten (now called +Lelltown in the north of Ireland) were lighted, and the sports, +games, and ceremonies, were conducted with unusual magnificence +and solemnity. + +"These games and solemnities are said to have been instituted +more than a thousand years previously by Lug, in honor of Lailte, +the daughter of the King of Spain, and wife of MacEire, the +last king of the Firbolg colony. It was at her court that Lug +had been fostered, and at her death he had her buried at this +place, where he raised an immense mound over her grave, and +instituted those annual games in her honor. + +"These games were solemnized about the first day of August, and +they continued to be observed down to the ninth century"- +therefore, in Christian times-and consequently the lighting of +the fires had as little connection with fire-worship as the +games with pagan rites. + +A more serious difficulty meets us in the destruction of Crom +Cruagh by St. Patrick, and it is important to consider how far +Crom Cruagh could really be called an idol. + +With regard to the statues of Celtic gods, all the researches +and excavations which the most painstaking of antiquarians have +undertaken, especially of late years, have never resulted in the +discovery, not of the statue of a god, but of any pagan sign +whatever in Ireland. It is clear, from the numerous details of +the life of St. Patrick, that he never encountered either +temples or the statues of gods in any place, although occasional +mention is made of idols. The only fact which startles the +reader is the holy zeal which moved him to strike with his +"baculus Jesu" the monstrous Crom Cruagh, with its twelve "sub-gods." + +In all his travels through Ireland-and there is scarcely a spot +which he did not visit and evangelize-St. Patrick meets with +only one idol, or rather group of idols, situated in the County +Cavan, which was an object of veneration to the people. Nowhere +else are idols to be found, or the saint would have thought it +his duty to destroy them also. This first fact certainly places +the Irish in a position, with regard to idolatry, far different +from that of all other polytheist nations. In all other +countries it is characteristic of polytheism to multiply the +statues of the gods, to expose them in all public places, in +their houses, but chiefly within or at the door of edifices +erected for the purpose. Yet in Ireland we find nothing of the +kind, with the exception of Crom Cruagh. The holy apostle of the +nation goes on preaching, baptizing, converting people, without +finding any worship of gods of stone or metal; he only hears +that there is something of the kind in a particular spot, and he +has to travel a great distance in order to see it, and show the +people their folly in venerating it. + +But what was that idol? According to the majority of expounders +of Irish history, it was a golden sphere or ball representing +the sun, with twelve cones or pillars of brass, around it, +typifying, probably, astronomical signs. St. Patrick, in his +"Confessio," seems to allude to Crom Cruagh when he says: "That +sun which we behold by the favor of God rises for us every day; +but its splendor will not shine forever; nay, even all those who +adore it shall be miserably punished." + +The Bollandists, in a note on this passage of the "Confessio," +think that it might refer to Crom Cruagh, which possibly +represented the sun, surrounded by the signs of the twelve +months, through which it describes its orbit during the year. + +We know that the Druids were, perhaps, better versed in the +science of astronomy than the scholars of any other nation at +the time. It was not in Gaul and Britain only that they pursued +their course of studies for a score of years; the same fact is +attested for Ireland by authorities whose testimony is beyond +question. May we not suppose that a representation of mere +heavenly phenomena, set in a conspicuous position, had in course +of time become the object of the superstitious veneration of the +people, and that St. Patrick thought it his duty to destroy it? +And the attitude of the people at the time of its destruction +shows that it could not have borne for them the same sacred +character as the statue of Minerva in the Parthenon did for the +Greeks or that of Capitoline Jove for the Romans. Can we suppose +that St. Paul or St. Peter would have dared to break either of +these? And let us remark that the event we discuss occurred at +the very beginning of St. Patrick's ministry, and before he had +yet acquired that great authority over the minds of all which +afterward enabled him fearlessly to accomplish whatever his zeal +prompted him to do. + +Whatever explanation of the whole occurrence may be given, we +doubt if we shall find a better than that we advance, and the +considerations arising from it justify the opinion that the +Irish Celts were not idolaters like all other peoples of +antiquity. They possessed no mythology beyond harmless fairy- +tales, no poetical histories of gods and goddesses to please the +imagination and the senses, and invest paganism with such an +attractive garb as to cause it to become a real obstacle to the +spread of Christianity. + +Moreover, what we have said concerning the belief in the +omnipotence of one supreme God, whatever might be his nature, as +the first dogma of Druidism, would seem to have lain deep in the +minds of the Irish Celts, and caused their immediate +comprehension and reception of monotheism, as preached by St. +Patrick, and the facility with which they accepted it. They were +certainly, even when pagans, a very religious people; otherwise +how could they have embraced the doctrines of Christianity with +that ardent eagerness which shall come under our consideration +in the next chapter? A nation utterly devoid of faith of any +kind is not apt to be moved, as were the Irish, perhaps beyond +all other nations, at the first sight of supernatural truths, +such as those of Christianity. And so little were they attached +to paganism, so visibly imbued with reverence for the supreme +God of the universe, that, as soon as announced, they accepted +the dogma. + +The simple and touching story of the conversion of the two +daughters of King Laeghaire will give point and life to this +very important consideration. It is taken from the "Book of +Armagh," which Prof. O'Curry, who is certainly a competent +authority, believes older than the year 727, when the popular +Irish traditions regarding St. Patrick must have still been +almost as vivid as immediately after his death. + +St. Patrick and his attendants being assembled at sunrise at the +fountain of Clebach, near Cruachan in Connaught, Ethne and +Felimia, daughters of King Laeghaire, came to bathe, and found +at the well the holy men. + +"And they knew not whence they were, or in what form, or from +what people, or from what country; but they supposed them to be +fairies--_duine sidhe_--that is to say, gods of the earth, or a +phantasm. + +"And the virgins said unto them: 'Who are ye, and whence are ye?' + +"And Patrick said unto them: 'It were better for you to confess +to our true God, than to inquire concerning our race.' + +"The first virgin said: `Who is God? + +"'And where is God? + +"'And where is his dwelling-place? + +"'Has God sons and daughters, gold and silver? + +"'Is he living? + +"'Is he beautiful? + +"'Did many foster his son? + +"'Are his daughters dear and beauteous to men of this world? + +"'Is he in heaven or on earth? + +"'In the sea?--In rivers?--In mountainous places?--In valleys? + +"'Declare unto us the knowledge of him? + +"'How shall he be seen?-How shall he be loved?-How is he to be found? + +"'Is it in youth?-Is it in old age that he is to be found?' + +"But St. Patrick, full of the Holy Ghost, answered and said: + +"'Our God is the God of all men-the God of heaven and earth-of +the sea and rivers. The God of the sun, and the moon, and all +stars. The God of the high mountains, and of the lowly valleys. +The God who is above heaven, and in heaven, and under heaven. + +"'He has a habitation in the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, + and all that are thereon. + +"'He inspireth all things. He quickeneth all things. He is over +all things. + +"'He hath a Son coeternal and coequal with himself. The Son is +not younger than the Father, nor the Father older than the Son. +And the Holy Ghost breatheth in them. The Father, and the Son, +and the Holy Ghost, are not divided. + +"'But I desire to unite you to a heavenly King inasmuch as you +are daughters of an earthly king. Do you believe?' + +"And the virgins said, as of one mouth and one heart: Teach us +most diligently how we may believe in the heavenly King. Show us +how we may see him face to face, and whatsoever you shall say +unto us we will do.' + +"And Patrick said: 'Believe ye that by baptism you put off the +sin of your father and your mother?' + +"They answered him, 'We believe.' + +"'Believe ye in repentance after sin? 'We believe . . .' etc. + +"And they were baptized, and a white garment was put upon their +heads. And they asked to see the face of Christ. And the saint +said unto them: 'Ye cannot see the face of Christ except ye +taste of death, and except ye receive the sacrifice.' + +"And they answered: 'Give us the sacrifice that we may behold +the Son our spouse.' + +"And they received the eucharist of God, and they slept in death. + +"And they were laid out on one bed-covered with garments -and +their friends made great lamentations and weeping for them." + +This beautiful legend expresses to the letter the way in which +the Irish received the faith. Nor was it simple virgins only who +_understood_ and _believed_ so suddenly at the preaching of the +apostle. The great men of the nation were as eager almost as the +common people to receive baptism: the conversion of Dubtach is +enough to show this. + +He was a Druid, being the chief poet of King Laeghaire--all +poets belonging to the order. After the wife, the brothers, and +the two daughters of the monarch, he was the most illustrious +convert gained by Patrick at the beginning of his apostleship. +He became a Christian at the first appearance of the saint at +Tara, and immediately began to sing in verse his new belief, as +he had formerly sung the heroes of his nation. To the end he +remained firm in his faith, and a dear friend to the holy man +who had converted him. How could he, and all the chief converts +of Patrick, have believed so suddenly and so constantly in the +God of the Christians, if their former life had not prepared +them for the adoption of the new doctrine, and if the doctrine +of monotheism had offered a real difficulty to their +understanding? There was, probably, nothing clear and definite +in their belief in an omnipotent God, which is said to have been +the leading dogma of Druidism; but their simple minds had +evidently a leaning toward the doctrine, which induced them to +approve of it, as soon as it was presented to them with a solemn +affirmation. + +In order to elucidate this point, we add a short description of +the labors and success of this apostle. + +In the year 432, Patrick lands on the island. By that time, some +few of the inhabitants may possibly have heard of the Christian +religion from the neighboring Britain or Gaul. Palladius had +preached the year before in the district known as the present +counties of Wexford and Wicklow, erected three churches, and +made some converts; but it may be said that Ireland continued in +the same state it had preserved for thousands of years: the +Druids in possession of religious and scientific supremacy; the +chieftains in contention, as in the time of Fingal and Ossian; +the people, though in the midst of constant strife, happy enough +on their rich soil, cheered by their bards and poets; very few, +or no slaves in the country; an abundance of food everywhere; +gold, silver, precious stones adorning profusely the persons of +their chiefs, their wives, their warriors; rich stuffs, dyed +with many colors, to distinguish the various orders of society; +a deep religious feeling in their hearts, preparing them for the +faith, by inspiring them with lively emotions at the sight of +divine power displayed in their mountains, their valleys, their +lakes and rivers, and on the swelling bosom of the all- +encircling ocean; superstitions of various kinds, indeed, but +none of a demoralizing character, none involving marks of +cruelty or lust; no revolting statues of Priapus, of Bacchus, of +Cybele; no obscene emblems of religion, as in all other lands, +to confront Christianity; but over all the island, song, +festivity, deep affection for kindred; and, as though blood- +relationship could not satisfy their heart, fosterage covering +the land with other brothers and sisters; all permeated with a +strong attachment to their clan-system and social customs. Such +is an exact picture of the Erin of the time, which the study of +antiquity brings clearer and clearer before the eyes of the +modern student. + +Patrick appears among them, leaning on his staff, and bringing +them from Rome and Gaul new songs in a new language set to a new +melody. He comes to unveil for them what lies hidden, unknown to +themselves, in the depths of their hearts. He explains, by the +power of one Supreme God, why it is that their mountains are so +high, their valley so smiling, their rivers and lakes teeming +with life, their fountains so fresh and cool, and that sun of +theirs so temperate in its warmth, and the moon and stars, +lighted with a soft radiance, shimmering over the deep obscurity +of their groves. + +He directs them to look into their own consciences, to admit +themselves to be sinners in need of redemption, and points out +to them in what manner that Supreme God, whom they half knew +already, condescended to save man. + +Straightway, from all parts of the island, converts flock to him; +they come in crowds to be baptized, to embrace the new law by +which they may read their own hearts; they are ready to do +whatever he wishes; many, not content with the strict +commandments enjoined on all, wish to enter on the path of +perfection: the men become monks, the women and young girls nuns, +that is to say, spouses of Christ. In Munster alone "it would +be difficult," says a modern writer, Father Brenan, "to form an +estimate of the number of converts he made, and even of the +churches and religious establishments he founded." + +And so with all the other provinces of the island. The proof's +still stand before our eyes. For, as Prof. Curry justly remarks: +"No one, who examines for himself, can doubt that at the first +preaching in Erin of the glad tidings of salvation, by Saints +Palladius and Patrick, those _countless_ Christian churches were +built, whose sites and ruins mark so thickly the surface of our +country even to this day, still bearing through all the +vicissitudes of time and conquest the _unchanged names of their +original founders_." + +According to the commonly-received opinion, St. Patrick's +apostleship lasted thirty-three years; but, whatever may have +been its real duration, certain it is that his feet traversed +the whole island several times, and, at his passing, churches +and monasteries sprang up in great numbers, and remained to tell +the true story of his labors when their founder had passed away. + +Nor was it with Ireland as with Rome, Carthage, Antioch, and +other great cities of Europe, Africa, and Asia. Not the slaves +and artisans alone filled these newly-erected Christian edifices. +Some of the first men of the nation received baptism. We have +already spoken of the family of Laeghaire. In Connaught, at the +first appearance of the man of God, all the inhabitants of that +portion of the province now represented by the County Mayo +became Christians; and the seven sons of the king of the +province were baptized, together with twelve thousand of their +clansmen. In Leinster, the Princes Illand and Alind were +baptized in a fountain near Naas. In Munster, Aengus, the King +of Cashel, with all the nobility of his clan, embraced the faith. +A number of chieftains in Thomond are also mentioned; and the +whole of the Dalcassian tribe, so celebrated before and after in +the annals of Ireland, received, with the waters of baptism, +that ardent faith which nothing has been able to tear from them +to this day. + +Many Druids even, by renouncing their superstitions, abdicated +their power over the people. We have mentioned Dubtach ; his +example was followed by many others, among whom was Fingar, the +son of King Clito, who is said to have suffered martyrdom in +Brittany; Fiech, pupil of Dubtach, himself a poet, and belonging +to the noble house of Hy-Baircha in Leinster, was raised by St. +Patrick to the episcopacy, and was the first occupant of the See +of Sletty. + +Fiech was a regular member of the bardic order of Druids, a poet +by profession, esteemed as a learned man even before he embraced +Christianity; and during his lifetime he was, as a Christian +bishop, consulted by numbers and regarded as an oracle of truth +and heavenly wisdom. + +Nevertheless, Patrick encountered opposition. Some chieftains +declared themselves against him, without daring openly to attack +him. Many Druids, called in the old Irish annals _magi_, tried +their utmost to estrange the Irish people from him. But he stood +in danger of his life only once. It was, in fact, a war of +argument. Long discussions took place, with varied success, +ending generally, however, in a victory for truth. + +The final result was that, in the second generation after St. +Patrick, there existed not a single pagan in the whole of +Ireland; the very remembrance of paganism even seemed to have +passed away from their minds ever after; hence arises the +difficulty of deciding now on the character of that paganism. + +After its abolition, nothing remained in the literature of the +country, which was at that time much more copious than at +present--nothing was left in its monuments or in the +inclinations of the people--to imperil the existence of the +newly-established Christianity, or of a nature calculated to +give a wrong bias to the religious worship of the people, such +as we have seen was the case in the rest of Europe. + +May we not conclude, then, that Ireland was much better prepared +for the new religion than any other country; that, when she was +thus admitted by baptism into the European family, she made her +entry in a way peculiar to herself, and which secured to her, +once for all, her firm and undeviating attachment to truth? + +She had nothing to change in her manners after having renounced +the few disconnected superstitions to which she had been +addicted. Her songs, her bards, her festivities, her +patriarchal government, her fosterage, were left to her, +Christianized and consecrated by her great apostle; clanship +even penetrated into the monasteries, and gave rise later on to +some abuses. But, perhaps, the saint thought it better to allow +the existence of things which might lead to abuse than violently +and at once to subvert customs, rooted by age in the very nature +of the people, some of which it cost England, later on, +centuries of inconceivable barbarities to eradicate. + +As to what exact form, if any, the paganism of the Irish Celts +assumed, we have so few data to build upon that it is now next +to impossible to shape a system out of them. From the passage +of the "Confessio" already quoted, we might infer that they +adored the sun; and this passage is very remarkable as the only +mention anywhere made by St. Patrick of idolatry among the +people. If it was only the emblem of the Supreme Being, then +would there have been nothing idolatrous in its worship; and the +strong terms in which the saint condemns it perhaps need only +express his fear lest the superstition of the ignorant people +might convert veneration into positive idolatry. At all events, +there was not a statue, or a temple, or a theological system, +erected to or connected with it in any shape. + +The solemn forms of oaths taken and administered by the Irish +kings would also lead us to infer that they paid a superstitious +respect to the winds and the other elements. But why should +this feeling pass beyond that which even the Christian +experiences when confronted by mysteries in the natural as well +as the supernatural order? The awe-struck pagan saw the +lightning leap, the tempest gather and break over him in +majestic fury; heard the great voice of the mighty ocean which +laved or lashed his shores: he witnessed these wonderful effects; +he knew not whence the tempests or the lightnings came, or the +voice of the ocean; he trembled at the unseen power which moved +them --at his God. + +So his imagination peopled his groves and hill-sides, his rivers +and lakes, with harmless fairies; but fairy land has never +become among any nation a pandemonium of cruel divinities; and +we doubt much if such innocuous superstition can be rightly +called even sinful error. + +In fact, the only thing which could render paganism truly a +danger in Ireland, as opposed to the preaching of Christianity, +was the body of men intrusted with the care of religion--the +Druids, the _magi_ of the chronicles. But, as we find no traces +of bloody sacrifices in Ireland, the Druids there probably never +bore the character which they did in Gaul; they cannot be said +to have been sacrificing priests; their office consisted merely +in pretended divinations, or the workings of incantations or +spells. They also introduced superstition into the practice of +medicine, and taught the people to venerate the elements or +mysterious forces of this world. + +Without mentioning any of the many instances which are found in +the histories of the workings of these Druidical incantations +and spells, the consulting of the clouds, and the ceremonies +with which they surrounded their healing art, we go straight to +our main point: the ease and suddenness with which all these +delusions vanished at the first preaching of the Gospel --a fact +very telling on the force which they exercised over the mind of +the nation. All natural customs, games, festivities, social +relationships, as we have seen, are preserved, many to this day; +what is esteemed as their religion, and its ceremonies and +superstitions, is dropped at once. The entire Irish mind +expanded freely and generously at the simple announcement of a +God, present everywhere in the universe, and accepted it. The +dogma of the Holy Spirit, not only filling all--_complens omnia_- +- but dwelling in their very souls by grace, and filling them +with love and fear, must have appeared natural to them. Their +very superstitions must have prepared the way for the truth, a +change --or may we not say a more direct and tangible object +taking the place of and filling their undefined yearnings--was +alone requisite. Otherwise it is a hard fact to explain how, +within a few years, all Druidism and magic, incantations, spells, +and divinations, were replaced by pure religion, by the +doctrine of celestial favors obtained through prayer, by the +intercession of a host of saints in heaven, and the belief in +Christian miracles and prophecies; whereas, scarcely any thing +of Roman or Grecian mythology could be replaced by corresponding +Christian practices, although popes did all they could in that +regard. Nearly all the errors of the Irish Celts had their +corresponding truths and holy practices in Christianity, which +could be readily substituted for them, and envelop them +immediately with distrust or just oblivion. Hence we do not see, +in the subsequent ecclesiastical history of Ireland, any thing +to resemble the short sketch we have given of the many dangers +arising within the young Christian Church, which had their +origin in the former religion of other European nations. + +In regarding philosophy and its perils in Ireland, our task will +be an easy one, yet not unimportant in its bearings on +subsequent considerations. The minds of nations differ as +greatly as their physical characteristics; and to study the +Irish mind we have only to take into consideration the +institutions which swayed it from time immemorial. They were of +such a nature that they could but belong to a traditional people. +All patriarchal tribes partake of that general character; none, +perhaps, so strikingly as the Celts. + +People thus disposed have nothing rationalistic in their nature; +they accept old facts; and, if they reason upon them, it is to +find proofs to support, not motives to doubt them. They never +refine their discussions to hair-splitting, synonymous almost +with rejection, as seems to be the delight of what we call +rationalistic races. It was among these that philosophy was born, +and among them it flourishes. They may, by their acute +reasoning, enlarge the human mind, open up new horizons, and, if +confined within just limits, actually enrich the understanding +of man. We are far from pretending that philosophy has only been +productive of harm, and that it were a blessed thing had the +human intellect always remained, as it were, in a dormant state, +without ever striving to grasp at philosophic truth and raise +itself above the common level; we hold the great names of +Augustine, Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, and so many others, in too +great respect to entertain such an opinion. + +Yet it cannot be denied that the excessive study of philosophy +has produced many evils among men, has often been subservient to +error, has, at best, been for many minds the source of a cold +and desponding skepticism. + +No race of men, perhaps, has been less inclined to follow those +intellectual aberrations than the Celtic, owing chiefly to its +eminently traditional dispositions. + +Before Christianity reached them, the intellectual labors of the +Celts were chiefly confined to history and genealogy, medicine +and botany, law, song, music, and artistic workings in metals +and gems. This was the usual _curriculum_ of Druidic studies. +Astronomy and the physical sciences, as well as the knowledge of +"the nature of the eternal God," were, according to Caesar, +extensively studied in the Gallic schools. Some elements of +those intellectual pursuits may also have occupied the attention +of the Irish student during the twelve, fifteen, or twenty years +of his preparation for being _ordained_ to the highest degree of +ollamh. But the oldest and most reliable documents which have +been examined so far do not allow us to state positively that +such was the case to any great extent. + +In Christian times, however, it seems certain that astronomy was +better studied in Ireland than anywhere else, as is proved by +the extraordinary impulse given to that science by Virgil of +Salzburg, who was undoubtedly an Irishman, and educated in his +native country. + +It is from the Church alone, therefore, that they received their +highest intellectual training in the philosophy and theology of +the Scriptures and of the Fathers. It is known that, by the +introduction of the Latin and Greek tongues into their schools +in addition to the vernacular, the Bible in Latin and Greek, and +the writings of many Fathers in both languages, as also the most +celebrated works of Roman and Greek classical writers, became +most interesting subjects of study. They reproduced those works +for their own use in the _scriptoria_ of their numerous +monasteries. We still possess some of those manuscripts of the +sixth and following centuries, and none more beautiful or +correct can be found among those left by the English, French, or +Italian monastic institutions of the periods mentioned. + +During the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries, the Irish +schools became celebrated all over Europe. Young Anglo-Saxons of +the best families were sent to receive their education in +Innisfail, as the island was then often called; and, from their +celebrated institutions of learning, numerous teachers and +missionaries went forth to England, Germany (along the Rhine, +chiefly), France, and even Switzerland and Italy. + +Yet, in the history of all those intellectual labors, we never +read of startling theories in philosophy or theology advanced by +any of them, unless we except the eccentric John Scotus Erigena, +whom Charles the Bald, at whose court he resided, protected even +against the just severity of the Church. Without ever having +studied theology, he undertook to dogmatize, and would perhaps +have originated some heresy, had he found a following in Germany +or France. + +But he is the only Irishman who ever threatened the peace of the +Church, and, through her, of the world. Duns Scotus, if he were +Irish, never taught any error, and remained always an accepted +leader in Catholic schools. To the honor of Erin be it said, her +children have ever been afraid to deviate in the least from the +path of faith. And it would be wrong to imagine that the +preservation from heresy so peculiar to them, and by which they +are broadly distinguished from all other European nations, comes +from dulness of intellect and inability to follow out an +intricate argumentation. They show the acuteness of their +understanding in a thousand ways; in poetry, in romantic tales, +in narrative compositions, in legal acumen and extempore +arguments, in the study of medicine, chiefly in that masterly +eloquence by which so many of them are distinguished. Who shall +say that they might not also have reached a high degree of +eminence in philosophical discussions and ontological theories? +They have always abstained from such studies by reason of a +natural disinclination, which does them honor, and which has +saved them in modern times, as we shall see in a subsequent +chapter, from the innumerable evils which afflict society +everywhere else, and by which it is even threatened with +destruction. + +Thus, among the numerous and versatile progeny of Japhet one +small branch has kept itself aloof from the universal movement +of the whole family; and, in the very act of accepting +Christianity and taking a place in the commonwealth of Western +nations, it has known how to do so in its own manner, and has +thus secured a firm hold of the saving doctrines imparted to the +whole race for a great purpose--the purpose, unfortunately often +defeated--of reducing to practice and reality the sublime ideal +of the Christian religion. + +The details given in this chapter on the various circumstances +connected with the introduction of our holy faith into Ireland +were necessarily very limited, as our chief object was to speak +of the nation's preparation for it. In the following we treat +directly of what could only be touched upon in the latter part +of this. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +HOW THE IRISH RECEIVED CHRISTIANITY. + +For the conversion of pagans to Christianity, many exterior +proofs of revelation were vouchsafed by God to man in addition +to the interior impulse of his grace. Those exterior proofs are +generally termed "the evidences of religion." They produce their +chief effect on inquiring minds which are familiar with the +reasoning processes of philosophy, and attach great importance +to truth acquired by logical deduction. To this, many pagans of +Greece and Rome owed their conversion; by this, in our days, +many strangers are brought, on reflection, to the faith of +Christ, always presupposing the paramount influence of divine +grace on their minds and hearts. + +But it is easy to remark that, except in rare cases, those who +are gained over to truth by such a process are with some +difficulty brought under the influence of the supernatural, +which forms the essential groundwork of Christianity. This +influence, it is true, is only the effect of the operation of +the Holy Ghost on the soul of the convert; but the Holy Ghost +acts in conformity with the disposition of the soul; and we know, +by what has been said on the character of religion among the +Romans and the Greeks in the earlier days of the Church, that it +took long ages, the infusion of Northern blood, and the +simplicity of new races uncontaminated by heathen mythology, to +inspire men with that deep supernatural feeling which in course +of time became the distinguishing character of the ages of faith. +Ireland imbibed this feeling at once, and thus she received +Christianity more thoroughly, at the very beginning, than did +any other Western nation. + +The fact is--whatever may be thought or said--the Christian +religion, with all the loveliness it imparts to this world when +rightly understood, though never destroying Nature, but always +keeping it in mind, and consecrating it to God, truly endowed, +consequently, with the promises of earth as well as those of +heaven--the Christian religion is nevertheless fundamentally +supernatural, full of awe and mystery, heavenly and +incomprehensible, before being earthly and the grateful object +of sense. + +Without examining the various formularies which heresy compelled +an infallible Church to proclaim and impose upon her children +from time to time, the Apostles' Creed alone transfers man at +once into regions supernatural, into heaven itself. The Trinity, +the Incarnation, the Redemption, the mission of the Hold Ghost +on earth, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, and +the resurrection of the dead, are all mysteries necessitating a +revelation on the part of God himself to make them known to and +believed by man. Do they not place man, even while on earth, in +direct communication with heaven? + +The firm believer in those mysteries is already a celestial +citizen by faith and hope. He has acquired a new life, new +senses, as it were, new faculties of mind and will--all things, +evidently, above Nature. + +And it is clear, from many passages of the New Testament, that +our Lord wished the lives of his disciples to be wholly +penetrated with that supernatural essence. They were not to be +men of the earth, earthly, but citizens of another country which +is heavenly and eternal. Hence the holiness and perfection +required of them--a holiness, according to Christ, like that of +the celestial Father himself; hence contempt for the things of +this world, so strongly recommended by our Lord; hence the +assurance that men are called to be sons of God, the eternal Son +having become incarnate to acquire for us this glorious +privilege; hence, finally, that frequent recommendation in the +Gospel to rely on God for the things of this life, and to look +above all for spiritual blessings. + +That reliance is set forth in such terms, in the Sermon on the +Mount, that, taken literally, man should neglect entirely his +temporal advantages, forget entirely _Nature_, and think only of +_grace_, or rather, expect that the things of Nature would be +given us by our heavenly Father "who knows that we need them." + +Nature, consequently, assumes a new aspect in this system. It is +no longer a complexity of temporal goods within reach of the +efforts of man, and which it rests with man alone to procure for +himself. It is, indeed, a worldly treasure, belonging to God, as +all else, and which the hand of God scatters profusely among his +creatures. God will not fail to grant to every one what he needs, +if he have faith. Thus God is always visible in Nature; and +redeemed man, raised far above the beasts of the field, has +other eyes than those of the body, when he looks around him on +this world. + +Had Christianity been literally understood by those who first +received it, it would have completely changed the moral, social, +and even natural aspect of the universe. The change produced +throughout by the new religion was indeed remarkable, but not +what it would have been, if the supernatural had taken complete +possession of human society. This it did in Ireland, and, it may +be said, in Ireland alone. + +To begin with the preaching of St. Patrick, we note his care to +impart to his converts a sufficient knowledge of the Christian +mysteries, but, above all, to make those mysteries influence +their lives by acting more powerfully on the new Christian heart +than even on the mind. + +Thus, in the beautiful legend of Ethne and Felimia, the saint, +not content with instructing them on the attributes of God, the +Trinity, and other supernatural truths, goes further still; he +requires a change in their whole being--that it be spiritualized: +by deeply exciting their feelings, by speaking of Christ as +their spouse, by making them wish to receive him in the holy +Eucharist, even at the expense of their temporal life, he so +raises them above Nature that they actually asked to die. "And +they received the Eucharist of God, and they slept in death." + +Again, in the hymn of Tara, the heavenly spirit, which consists +in an intimate union with God and Christ, is so admirably +expressed, that we cannot refrain from presenting an extract +from it, remarking that this beautiful hymn has been the great +prayer of all Irishmen through all ages down even to our own +times, though, unfortunately, it is not now so generally known +and used by them as formerly: + +"At Tara, to-day, may the strength of God pilot me, may the +power of God preserve me, may the wisdom of God instruct me, may +the eye of God view me, may the ear of God hear me, may the word +of God render me eloquent, may the hand of God protect me, may +the way of God direct me, may the shield of God defend me, etc. + +"Christ be with me, Christ before me, Christ after me, Christ in +me, Christ under me, Christ over me, Christ at my right, Christ +at my left; . . . Christ be in the heart of each person whom I +speak to, Christ in the mouth of each person who speaks to me, +Christ in each eye which sees me, Christ in each ear which hears +me!" + +Could any thing tend more powerfully to make of those whom he +converted, true supernatural Christians--forgetful of this world, +thinking only of another and a brighter one? + +The island, at his coming, was a prey to preternatural +superstitions. The Druids possessed, in the opinion of the +people, a power beyond that of man; and history shows the same +phenomenon in all pagan countries, not excepting those of our +time. A real supernatural power was required to overcome that of +the _magi_. + +Hence, according to Probus, the magicians to whom the arrival of +Patrick had been foretold, prepared themselves for the contest, +and several chieftains supported them. Prestiges were, therefore, +tried in antagonism to miracles; but, as Moses prevailed over +the power of the Egyptian priests, so did Patrick over the +Celtic magicians. It is even said that five Druids perished in +one of the contests. + +The princes were sometimes also punished with death. Recraid, +head of a clan, came with his Druids and with words of +incantation written under his white garments; he fell dead. +Laeghaire himself, the Ard-Righ of all Ireland, whose family +became Christian, but who refused to abandon his superstitions, +perished with his numerous attendants. + +But a more singular phenomenon was, that death, which was often +the punishment of unbelief, became as often a boon to be desired +by the new Christian converts, so completely were they under the +influence of the supernatural. Thus Ruis found it hard to +believe. To strengthen his faith, Patrick restored to him his +youth, and then gave him the choice between this sweet blessing +of life and the happiness of heaven; Ruis preferred to die, like +Ethne and Felimia. + +Sechnall, the bard, told St. Patrick, one day, that he wished to +sing the praises of a saint whom the earth still possessed. +"Hasten, then," said Patrick, "for thou art at the gates of +death." Sechnall, not only undisturbed, but full of joy, sang a +glorious hymn in honor of Patrick, and immediately after died. + +Kynrecha came to the convent-door of St. Senan. "What have women +in common with monks?" said the holy abbot. "We will not receive +thee." "Before I leave this place," responded Kynrecha, "I offer +this prayer to God, that my soul may leave the body." And she +sank down and expired. + +The various lives of the apostle of Ireland and his successors +are full of facts of this nature. Supposing that a high coloring +was given to some of these by the writers, one thing is certain: +the people who lived during that apostleship believed in them +firmly, and handed down their belief to their children. Moreover, +nothing was better calculated to give to a primitive people, +like the Irish, a strong supernatural spirit and character, than +to make them despise the joys of this earth and yearn for a +better country. + +There are, indeed, too many facts of a similar kind related in +the lives of St. Patrick and his fellow-workers, to bear the +imputation, not of imposition, but even of delusion. The desire +of dying, to be united with Christ; the indifference, at least, +as to the prolongation of existence; the readiness, if not the +joy, with which the announcement of death was received, are of +such frequent mention in those old legends, as matters of +ordinary occurrence, surprising no one, that they must be +conceded as facts often taking place in those early ages. + +And, more striking still, this feeling of accepting death, +either as a boon or as a matter of course, and with perfect +resignation to the will of God, seems to have been throughout, +since the introduction of Christianity, a characteristic of the +Irish people. It is often witnessed in our own days, and +manifested, equally by the young, the middle-aged, or the old. +The young, closing their eyes to that bright life whose +sweetness they have as yet scarcely tasted, never murmur at +being deprived of it, though hope is to them so alluring; the +middle-aged, called away in the midst of projects yet +unaccomplished, see the sudden end of all that before interested +them, with no other concern than for the children they leave +behind them; the old, among other races generally so tenacious +of life, are, as a rule, glad that their last hour has come, and +speak only of their joy that at last they "go home" to that +country whither so many of their friends and kindred have gone +before them. + +This in itself would stamp the Celtic character with an +indelible mark, distinguishing it from all other, even most +Christian, peoples. + +The second sign we find of the firm hold the supernatural had +taken of the Irish from the very beginning is their strong +belief in the power of the priesthood. This is so striking among +them that they have been called by their enemies and those of +the Church "a priest-ridden people." Let us consider if this is +a reproach. + +If Christianity be true, what is the priesthood? Even among the +Greeks, from whom so many heresies formerly sprang before they +were smitten into insignificance by schism and its punishment-- +Turkish slavery--when the great doctors sent them by Providence +spoke on the subject, what were their words, and what impression +did they make on their supercilious hearers? St. John Chrysostom +will answer. His long treatise, written to his friend Basil, is +but a glowing description of the great privileges given to the +Christian priest by the High-Priest himself--Christ our Lord. + +When the great preacher of Antioch, though not yet a priest, +describes the awful moment of sacrifice, the altar surrounded by +angels descended from heaven, the man consecrated to an office +higher than any on earth, and as high as that of the incarnate +Son of God--God himself coming down from above and bringing down +heaven with him--who can believe in Christianity and fail to be +struck with awe? + +Who can read the words of Christ, declaring that any one +invested with that dignity is sent by him as he was himself sent +by his Father, and not feel the innate respect due to such +divine honors? Who can read the details of those privileges with +respect to the remission of sin, the conferring of grace by the +sacraments, the infallible teaching of truth, the power even +granted to them sometimes over Nature and disease, without +feeling himself transported into a world far above this, and +without placing his confidence in what God himself has declared +so powerful and preeminent in the regions beyond? + +Such, in a few words, is the Christian priesthood, if +Christianity possesses any reality and is not an imposture. +Among all nations, therefore, where sound faith exists, the +greatest respect is shown to the ministers of God; but the Irish +have at all times been most persistent in their veneration and +trust. And if we would ascertain the cause of their standing in +this regard, we shall find that other nations, while firmly +believing the words of Christ, keep their eyes open to human +frailty, and look more keenly and with more suspicion on the +conduct of men invested with so high a dignity, but subject at +the same time to earthly passions and sins; while the Irish, on +the contrary, abandon themselves with all the impulsiveness of +their nature to the feeling uppermost in their hearts, which is +ever one of trust and ready reliance. + +But this statement, whatever may be its intrinsic value, itself +needs a further explanation, which is only to be found in the +greater attraction the supernatural always possessed for the +Irish nature, when developed by grace. They accept fully and +unsuspiciously what is heavenly, because they, more than others, +feel that they are made for heaven, and the earth, consequently, +has for them fewer attractions. They cling to a world far above +this, and whatever belongs to it is dear to them. + +Hence, from the first preaching of Christianity among them, all +earthly dignities have paled before the heavenly honors of the +priesthood. They have been taught by St. Patrick that even the +supreme duties of a real Christian king fall far below those of +a Christian bishop. + +The king, according to the apostle of Ireland - and his words +have become a canon of the Irish Church - "has to judge no man +unjustly; to be the protector of the stranger, of the widow, and +the orphan; to repress theft, punish adultery, not to keep +buffoons or unchaste persons; not to exalt iniquity, but to +sweep away the impious from the land, exterminate parricides and +perjurers; to defend the poor, to appoint just men over the +affairs of the kingdom, to consult wise and temperate elders, to +defend his native land against its enemies rightfully and +stoutly; in all things to put his trust in God." + +All this evidently refers only to the exterior polity and +administration. But "the bishop must be the hand which supports, +the pilot who directs, the anchor that stays, the hammer that +strikes, the sun that enlightens, the dew which moistens, the +tablet to be written on, the book to be read, the mirror to be +seen in, the terror that terrifies, the image of all that is +good; and let him be all for all." + +Under this metaphorical style we here discern all the interior +qualities of a spiritual Christian guide, teaching no less by +authority than example. + +And, in the opinion of the converts of Patrick, were not the +bishops, abbots, and priests, supported by an invisible power, +stronger than all visible armies and guards of kings and princes? + +"When the King of Cashel dared to contend against the holy abbot +Mochoemoc, the first night after the dispute an old man took the +king by the hand and led him to the northern city-walls; there +he opened the king's eyes, and he beheld all the Irish saints of +his own sex in white garments, with Patrick at their head; they +were there to protect Mochoemoc, and they filled the plain of +Femyn. + +"The second night the old man came again and took the king to +the southern wall, and there he saw the white-robed glorious +army of Ireland's virgins, led by Bridget: they too had come to +defend Mochoemoc, and they filled the plain of Monael." 1 + +(1 Many quotations in this chapter are from the "Legend. Hist." +by J. G. Shea.) + +In the annals of no other Christian nation do we see so many +examples of the power of the ministers of God to punish the +wicked and help and succor the good, as we do in the hagiography +of Ireland. Bad kings and chieftains reproved, cursed, punished; +the poor assisted, the oppressed delivered from their enemies, +the sick restored to health, the dead even raised to life, are +occurrences which the reader meets in almost every page of the +lives of Irish saints. The Bollandists, accustomed as they were +to meet with miracles of that kind, in the lives they published, +found in Irish hagiography such a superabundance of them, that +they refused to admit into their admirable compilation a great +number already published or in manuscript. Nevertheless, the +critics of our days, finding nothing impossible to or unworthy +of God in the large collection of Colgan and other Irish +antiquarians, express their surprise at their exclusion from +that of Bollandus. + +No one at least will refuse to concede that, true or not, the +facts related in those lives are always provocative of piety and +redolent of faith. They certainly prove that at all periods of +their existence the Irish have manifested a holy avidity for +every thing supernatural and miraculous. Do they not know that +our Lord has promised gifts of this description to his apostles +and their successors? And what the acts of the Apostles and many +acts of martyrs positively state as having happened at the very +beginning of the Church, is not a whit less extraordinary or +physically impossible than any thing related in the Irish +legends. + +Every Christian soul naturally abhors the unbelief of a Strauss +or of a Renan as to the former; is it not unnatural, then, for +the same Christian soul to reject the latter because they fall +under the easy sneer of "an Irish legend," and are not contained +in Holy Writ? + +At all events, the faith of the Irish has never wavered in such +matters, and to-day they hold the same confidence in the +priests' power that meets us everywhere in the pages of Colgan +and Ward. The reason is, that they admit Christianity without +reserve; and in its entirety it is supernatural. The criticisms +of human reason on holy things hold in their eyes something of +the sacrilegious and blasphemous; such criticisms are for them +open disrespect for divine things; and, inasmuch as divine +things are, in fact, more real than any phenomena under natural +laws can be, skepticism in the former case is always more +unreasonable than in the latter, supposing always that the +narrative of the Divine favors reposes on sufficient authority. + +It is clear, therefore, that since the preaching of Christianity +in Ireland, the world showed itself to the inhabitants of that +country in a different light to that in which other men beheld +it. For them, Nature is never separated from its Maker; the hand +of God is ever visible in all mundane affairs, and the frightful +parting between the spiritual and material worlds, first +originated by the Baconian philosophy, which culminates in our +days in the almost open negation of the spiritual, and thus +materializes all things, is with justice viewed by the children +of St. Patrick with a holy horror as leading to atheism, if it +be not atheism itself. + +Without going to such extremes as the avowed infidels of modern +times, all other Christian nations have seemed afraid to draw +the logical conclusions whose premises were laid down by +revelation. They have tried to follow a _via media_ between +truth and error; they have admitted to a certain extent the +separation of God and Nature, supposing the act of creation to +have passed long ages ago, and not continuing through all time; +and thus they are bound by their system to hold that miracles +are very extraordinary things, not to be believed _prima facie_, +requiring infinite precautions before admitting the supposition +of their having taken place; all which indicates a real +repugnance to their admission, and an innate fear of supposing +God all-powerful, just, and good. It is the first step to +Manicheism and the kindred errors; and most Christian nations +having, unfortunately, imbibed the principles of those errors in +the philosophy of modern times, have almost lost all faith in +the supernatural, and reduced revelation to a meagre and cold +system, unrealized and not to be realized in human life. + +Not so the Irish Religion has entered deep into their life. It +is a thing of every moment and of every place. Nature, God's +handiwork, instead of repelling them from God himself, draws +them gently but forcibly toward Him, so that they feel +themselves to be truly recipients of the blessings of God by +being sharers in the blessings of Nature. + +And must God's ministers, who have received such extraordinary +powers over the supernatural world, be entirely deprived of +power over the inferior part of creation? Who can say so, and +have true faith in the words of our Lord? Who can say so, and +truly call himself the follower and companion of the saints who +have all believed so firmly in the constant action of God in +this, the lesser part of his creation? + +And this faith of the Irish in the power of the priesthood is +not a thing of yesterday. It dates from their adoption of +Christianity, to continue, we hope, forever. It ought, therefore, +to be carefully distinguished from that love for every priest +of God which beats so ardently in the hearts of them all, and +which was so strengthened by a long community of persecution and +suffering. + +In Ireland, as in every other Christian country, the priesthood +has always sided with the people against their oppressors. +During the early ages of Christianity in the island, the bishops, +priests, and monks, were often called upon to exercise their +authority and power against princes and chiefs of clans, +accustomed to plunder, destroy, and kill, on the slightest +pretext, and unused to control their fierce passions, inflamed +by the rancor of feuds and the pride of strength and bravery. +Some of those chieftains even opposed the progress of religion; +and it is said that Eochad, King of Ulster, cast his two +daughters, whom Patrick had baptized and consecrated to God, +into the sea. + +For several centuries the heads of clans were generally so +unruly and so hard to bring under the yoke of Christ, that the +saints, in taking the side of the poor, had to stand as a wall +of brass to stem the fury of the great and powerful. + +Bridget even, the modest and tender virgin, often spoke harshly +of princes and rulers. "While she dwelt in the land of Bregia, +King Connal's daughter-in-law came to ask her prayers, for she +was barren. Bridget refused to go to receive her; but, leaving +her without, she sent one of her maidens. When the nun returned: +'Mother,' she asked, 'why would you not go and see the queen? +you pray for the wives of peasants.' 'Because,' said the servant +of God, 'the poor and the peasants are almost all good and pious, +while the sons of kings are serpents, children of blood and +fornication, except a small number of elect. But, after all, as +she had recourse to us, go back and tell her that she shall have +a son; he will be wicked, and his race shall be accursed, yet he +shall reign many years.'" + +We might multiply examples such as this, wherein the saints and +the ministers of God always side with the poor and the helpless; +and their great number in the lives of the old saints at once +gives a reason for the deep love which the lower class of the +Irish people felt for the holy men who were at once the servants +of God and their helpers in every distress. + +The same thing is to be found in the whole subsequent history of +the island, chiefly in the latter ages of persecution. But, as +we said before, this affection and love must be distinguished +from the feeling of reverence and awe resulting from the +supernatural character of their office. The first feeling is +merely a natural one, produced by deeds of benevolence and holy +charity fondly remembered by the individuals benefited. The +second was the effect of religious faith in the sacredness of +the priestly character, and remained in full force even when the +poor themselves fell under reproof or threat in consequence of +some misdeed or vicious habit. + +Hence the universal respect which the whole race entertains for +their spiritual rulers, and their unutterable confidence in +their high prerogatives. In prosperity as in adversity, in +freedom or in subjection, they always preserve an instinctive +faith in the unseen power which Christ conferred on those whom +He chose to be his ministers. This feeling, which is undoubtedly +found among good Christians in all places, is as certainly only +found among particular individuals; but among the Irish Celts it +is the rule rather than the exception. + +Well have they merited, then, in this sense, from the days of St. +Patrick down, the title of a "priest-ridden" people, which has +been fixed on them as a term of reproach by those for whom all +belief in the supernatural is belief in imposture. + +Another and a stronger fact still, exemplifying the extent to +which the Irish have at all times carried their devotion to the +supernatural character of the Christian religion, is the +extraordinary ardor with which, from the very beginning, they +rushed into the high path of perfection, called the way of +"evangelical counsels." Nowhere else were such scenes ever +witnessed in Christian history. + +For the great mass of people the common way of life is the +practice of the commandments of God; it is only the few who feel +themselves called on to enter upon another path, and who +experience interiorly the need of being "perfect." + +In Ireland the case was altogether different from the outset. St. +Patrick, notwithstanding his intimate knowledge of the leanings +of the race, expresses in his "Confessio" the wonder and delight +he experienced when he saw in what manner and in what numbers +they begged to be consecrated to God the very first day after +their baptism. Yet were they conscious that this very eagerness +would excite the greater opposition on the part of their pagan +relatives and friends. Thus we read of the fate of Eochad's +daughters, and the story of Ethne and Felimia. + +The whole nation, in fact, appeared suddenly transported with a +holy impetuosity, and lifted at once to the height of Christian +life. Monasteries and nunneries could not be constructed fast +enough, although they contented themselves with the lightest +fabrics--wattles being the ordinary materials for walls, and +slender laths for roofs. + +Nor was this an ephemeral ardor, like a fire of stubble or straw, +flashing into a momentary blaze, to relapse into deeper gloom. +It lasted for several centuries; it was still in full flame at +the time of Columba, more than two hundred years after Patrick; +it grew into a vast conflagration in the seventh and eighth +centuries, when multitudes rushed forth from that burning island +of the blest to spread the sacred fire through Europe. + +How the nation continued to multiply, when so many devoted +themselves to a holy celibacy, is only to be explained by the +large number of children with which God blessed those who +pursued an ordinary life, and who, from what is related in the +chronicles of the time, must have been in a minority. + +Of the first monasteries and convents erected not a single +vestige now remains, because of the perishable materials of +which they were constructed; yet each of them contained hundreds, +nay thousands, of monks or nuns. + +But, even in our days, we are furnished with an ocular +demonstration of what men could scarcely bring themselves to +believe, or at least would term an exaggeration, did not +standing proof remain. God inspired his children with the +thought of erecting more substantial structures, of building +walls of stone and roofing them in with tiles and metal; and the +island was literally covered, not with Gothic castles or +luxurious palaces and sumptuous edifices, but with large and +commodious buildings and churches, wherein the religious life of +the inmates might be carried on with greater comfort and +seclusion from the world. + +At the time of the Reformation all those asylums of perfection +and asceticism were of course profaned, converted to vile or +slavish uses, many altogether destroyed to the very foundations; +a greater number were allowed to decay gradually and become +heaps of ruins. + +And what happened when the English Government, unable any longer +to resist public opinion, was compelled to consent that a survey +be made of the poor and comparatively few remains still in +existence, in order to manifest a show of interest for the past +history of the island; when commissioners were appointed to +publish lists and diagrams of the former dwellings of the +"saints," which the "zeal" of the "reformers" had battered down +without mercy? To the astonishment of all, it was proved by the +ruins still in existence that the greater portion of the island +had been once occupied by monasteries and convents of every +description. And Prof. O'Curry has stated his conviction, based +on local traditions and geographical and topographical names, +that a great number of these can be traced back to Patrick and +his first companions. + +It is clear enough, then, that, from the beginning, the Irish +were not only "priest-ridden," but also very attached to +"monkish superstitions." + +Yet we could not form a complete idea of that attachment were we +to limit ourselves to an enumeration of the buildings actually +erected, supposing such an enumeration possible at this time. +For we know, by many facts related in Irish hagiology, that a +great number of those who devoted themselves to a life of +penance and austerity, did not dwell even in the humble +structures of the first monks, but, deeming themselves unworthy +of the society of their brethren, or condemned by a severe but +just "friend of their soul," as the confessor was then called, +hid themselves in mountain-caves, in the recesses of woods or +forests, or banished themselves to crags ever beaten by the +waves of the sea. + +Yes, there was a time when those dreadful solitudes of the +Hebrides, which frighten the modern tourist in his summer +explorations, teemed with Christian life, and every rock, cave, +and sand-bar had its inhabitant, and that inhabitant an Irish +monk. + +They sometimes spent seven years on a desert islet doing penance +for a single sin. They often passed a lifetime on a rock in the +midst of the ocean, alone with God, and enjoying no communion +but that of their conscience. + +Who knows how many thousands of men have led such a life, +shocking, indeed, to the feelings of worldlings, but in reality +devoted to the contemplation of what is above Nature--a life, +consequently, exalted and holy? + +Passing from the solitudes to the numerous hives where the bees +of primitive Christianity in Ireland were busy at work +constructing their combs and secreting their honey, what do we +see? People generally imagine that all monastic establishments +have been alike; that those of mediaeval times were simply the +reproduction of earlier ones. An abbot, the three vows, +austerity, psalmody, study--such are the general features common +to all; but those of Ireland had peculiarities which are worthy +of examination. We shall find in them a stronger expression of +the supernatural, perhaps; certainly a more heavenly cast, a +greater forgetfulness of the world, its manners and habits, its +passions and aims. + +Patrick had learned all he knew of this holy life in the +establishment of Lerins, wherein the West reflected more truly +than it ever did subsequently the Oriental light of the great +founders of monasticism in Palestine and Egypt. + +The first thing to be remarked is the want, to a great extent, +of a strict system. The Danes, when Christianized, and the Anglo- +Normans, introduced this afterwards; but the genius of the Irish +race is altogether opposed to it, and the Scandinavian races in +following ages could hardly ever bring them under the cold +uniformity of an iron rule. + +Did St. Patrick establish a rule in the monasteries which he +founded? Did St. Columba two centuries later? Did any of the +great masters of spiritual life who are known to have exercised +an influence on the world of Irish convents? Not only has +nothing of the kind been transmitted to us, but no mention of it +is made in the lives of holy abbots which we possess.1 (1 The +"Irish Penitentials," quoted at length in Rev. Dr. Moran's +"Early Irish Church," are not monastic rules, although many +canons have reference to monks.) St. Columbanus's rule is the +only one which has come down to us; but the monasteries founded +by him were all situated in Burgundy, Switzerland, Germany, and +Italy--that is to say, out of Ireland, out of the island of +saints. He was compelled to furnish his monasteries with a +written rule, because they were surrounded by barbarous peoples, +some of whom his establishments often received as monks, and to +whom the holiness of Ireland was unfamiliar or utterly unknown. +But why should the people of God, living in his devoted island, +redeemed as soon as born by the waters of baptism, be shackled +by enactments which might serve as an obstacle to the action of +the Holy Ghost on their free souls? + + +According to the common opinion, each founder of a monastery had +his own rule, which he himself was the first to follow in all +its rigor; if disciples came, they were to observe it, or go +elsewhere; if, after having embraced it, they found themselves +unable to keep it to the letter, the abbot was indulgent, and +did not impose on them a burden which they could no longer bear, +after having first proved their willingness to practise it. + +Thus, it is reported that St. Mochta was the only one who +practised his own rule exactly, his monks imitating him as well +as they could. St. Fintan, who was inclined to be severe, +received this warning in a vision: "Fight unto the end thyself; +but beware of being a cause of scandal to others, by requiring +all to fight as thou doest, for one clay is weaker than another." + +Thus, every founder, every abbot even, left to the guidance of +the Holy Spirit, practised austerities which in our days of self- +indulgence seem absolutely incredible, and showed themselves +severe to those under their authority. But this severity was +tempered by such zeal for the good of souls, and consequently by +such an unmistakable charity, that the penitent monk carried his +burden not only with resignation, but with joy. This, in after- +ages, became a characteristic feature of Irish monasticism. + +The life of Columba is full of examples of this holy severity. +In St. Patrick's life we read that Colman died of thirst rather +than quench it before the time appointed by his master. + +How many facts of a similar nature might be mentioned! Enough to +say that, after so many ages, in which, thanks to barbarous +persecutions, all ecclesiastical and monastic traditions were +lost to Ireland, through the sheer impossibility of following +them up, the Irish still show a marked predilection for the holy +austerity of penance, though the rest of the Christian world +seems to have almost totally forgotten it. + +But if the Irish convents lacked system, there was at the same +time in them an exuberance of feeling, an enthusiastic impulse, +which is to be found nowhere else to the same extent, and which +we call their second peculiar feature after they received +Christianity. This is beautifully expressed in a hymn of the +office of St. Finian: "Behold the day of gladness; the clerks +applaud and are in joy; the sun of justice, which had been +hidden in the clouds, shines forth again." + +As soon as this primitive enthusiasm seemed to slacken in the +least, reformers appeared to enkindle it again. Such was Bridget, +such was Gildas, such were the disciples of St. David of +Menevia in Wales, such was any one whom the Spirit of God +inspired with love for Ireland. Thus the scenes enacted in the +time of Patrick were again and again repeated. + +And when a monastery was built, it was not properly a monastery, +but a city rather; for the whole country round joined in the +goodly work. As some one has said, "it looked as if Ireland was +going to cease to be a nation, and become a church." + +With regard to the question of ground and the appropriation of +landed property, what matters it who is the owner? If it be clan +territory, there is the clan with nothing but welcome, applause, +and assistance. If it be private, the owner is not consulted +even; how could he think of opposing the work of God? Thus, we +never read in Irish history - in the earlier stages at least - +of those long charters granted in other lands by kings, dukes, +and counts, and preserved with such care in the archives of the +monastery. It seems that the Danes, after they became Christians, +were the first to introduce the custom; after them, the Anglo- +Normans, in the true spirit of their race, made a flourishing +business of it. The Irish themselves never thought of such at +first. There was no fear of any one ever claiming the ground on +which God's house stood. The buildings were there: the ground +needed to support them: what Irishman could think of driving +away the holy inmates and pulling the walls about their ears? + +The whole surrounding population is busy erecting them. Long +rows of wattles and tessel-work are set in right order; over +them a rough roof of boards; within small cells begin to appear, +as the slight partitions are erected between them. Symmetry or +no symmetery, the position of the ground decides the question; +for there is no need of the skill of a surveyor to establish the +grade. Does not the rain run its own way, once it begins? + +How far and how wide will those long rows reach? They seem the +streets of a city; and in truth they are. The place is to +receive two, three thousand monks, over and above the students +committed to their care. And, in addition to the cells to dwell +in, there are the halls wherein to teach; the museums and +repositories of manuscripts, of sacred objects; the rooms to +write in, translate, compose; the sheds to hold provisions, to +prepare and cook them, ready for the meal. + +For the most important edifice--the temple of God--alone stones +are cut, shaped, and fitted each to each with care and precision. +A holy simplicity surrounds the art; yet are there not wanting +carven crosses and other divine emblems sculptured out. Within, +the heavenly mysteries of religion will be performed. Should you +ask, "Why so small?" the answer is ready. That large space empty +around holds room enough for the worshippers, whose numbers +could be accommodated in no edifice. The minds of Irish +architects had not yet expanded to the conception of a St. +Peter's. Inside is room enough for the ministers of religion; +without, at the tinkling of the bell, in the round tower +adjoining, the faithful will join in the services. + +Nor was it only in the erection of those edifices that a cheerful +impulse, which overlooked or overcame all difficulties, was +displayed. The monastic life was not all the time a life of +penance and gloomy austerity, but of active work also and +overflowing feeling, of true poetry and enthusiastic exultation. +We read in the fragments we still possess how, on the arid rock +of Iona, Columba remembered his former residence at Derry, with +its woods of oaks and the pure waters of its loughs. In all the +lives of Irish saints we read of the deep attachment they always +preserved for their country, relatives, and friends; what they +did and were ready to do for them. And though all this was at +bottom but a natural feeling, the extent to which it was carried +will make us better acquainted with the Irish character, and +explain more clearly that extraordinary expansion of soul which, +in the domains of the supernatural, surpassed every thing +witnessed elsewhere. + +"In a monastery two brothers had lived from childhood. The elder +died, and while he was dying the other was laboring in the +forest. When he came back, he saw the brethren opening a grave +in the cemetery, and thus he learned that his brother was dead. +He hastened to the spot where the Abbot Fintan, with some of his +monks, were chanting psalms around the corpse, and asked him the +favor of dying with his brother, and entering with him into the +heavenly kingdom. 'Thy brother is already in heaven,' replied +Fintan, 'and you cannot enter together unless he rise again.' +Then he knelt in prayer, the angels who had received the holy +soul restored it, and the dead man, rising in his bier, called +his brother: 'Come,' said he, 'but come quickly; the angels +await us.' At the same time he made room beside him, and both, +lying down, slept together in death, and ascended together to +the kingdom of God." + +This anecdote may tend better than any thing else to show us how +Nature and grace were united in the Irish soul, to warm it, +purify it, exalt it above ordinary feelings and earthly passions, +and keep it constantly in a state of energy and vitality +unknown to other peoples. For, in what page of the +ecclesiastical history of other nations do we read of things +such as these? + +With regard to their country, also, grace came to the aid of +Nature; the supernatural was, therefore, seldom absent from the +natural in their minds, and something of this double union has, +remained in them in every sense, and has, no doubt, contributed +to render their nationality imperishable in spite of persecution. +How ardent and pure in the heart of Columba was the love of +Ireland, from which he was a voluntary exile! Patrick, also, +though not native born, yielded to none in that sacred feeling; +one of the three things he sought of God on dying was, that Erin +should not "remain forever under a foreign yoke:" Kieran offered +the same prayer, and their reason for thus praying was that she +was the "island of saints," destined to help out the salvation +of many. + +Religion has been invariably connected with that acute sentiment +ever present in the minds of Irishmen for their country; and it +is, doubtless, that holy and supernatural feeling which has +preserved a country which enemies strove so strenuously to wrest +from them. + +But it was not love of country alone, of relatives and friends, +which enkindled in their hearts a spirit of enthusiasm; their +whole monastic life was one of high-spirited devotedness, and +energy, and action, more than human. + +We see them laboring in and around their monastic hive. How they +pray and chant the divine office; how they study and expound the +holy doctrine to their pupils; how they are ever travelling, +walking in procession by hundreds and by thousands through the +island, the interior spirit not allowing them to stand still. +There are so many pilgrimages to perform, so many shrines to +venerate, so many works of brotherly love to undertake. Other +monks in other countries, indeed, did the same, but seldom with +such universal ardor. The whole island, as we said, is one +church. On all sides you may meet bishops, and priests, and +monks, bearing revered relics, or proceeding to found a new +convent, plant another sacred edifice, or establish a house for +the needy. The people on the way fall in and follow their +footsteps, sharers of the burning enthusiasm. Many-how many!- +were thus attracted to this mode of life, wherein there was +scarce aught earthly, but all breathing holiness and heavenly +grace! + +Thus the island was from the beginning a holy island. But zeal +for God in their own country alone not being enough for their +ardor, those men of God were early moved by the impulse of going +abroad to spread the faith. Volumes might be written of their +apostleship among barbarous tribes; we have room only for a few +words. + +They first went to the islands north of them, to the Hebrides, +the Faroe Isles, and even Iceland, which they colonized before +the Norwegian pirates landed there. Then they evangelized +Scotland and the north of England; and, starting from +Lindisfarne, they completed the work of the conversion of the +Anglo-Saxons, which was begun by St. Augustin and his monks in +the south. + +Finally, the whole continent of Western Europe offered itself to +their zeal, and at once they were ready to enter fully and +unreservedly into the current of new ideas and energies which at +that time began to renew the face of that portion of the world +overspread by barbarians from Germany. Under the Merovingian +kings in France, and later on, under the Carlovingian dynasty, +they became celebrated in the east of France, on the banks of +the Rhine, even in the north through Germany, in the heart of +Switzerland, and the north of Italy. This is not the place to +attempt even a sketch of their missionary labors, now known to +all the students of the history of those times. But we may here +mention that at that time the Irish monarchs and rulers became +acquainted with continental dynasties and affairs through the +necessary intercourse held by the Irish bishops and monks with +Rome, the centre of Catholicity. Thus we see that Malachi II +corresponded with Charles the Bald, with a view of making a +pilgrimage to Rome. + +We learn from the yellow-book of Lecain that Conall, son of +Coelmuine, brought from Rome the law of Sunday, such as was +afterward practised in Ireland. + +Over and above the Irish missionaries who kept up a constant +correspondence from the Continent of Europe with their native +land, it is known that many in those early ages went on +pilgrimages to Rome; among others, St. Degan, St. Kilian, the +apostle of Franconia; St. Sedulius the younger, who assisted at +a Roman council in 721, and was sent by the Pope on a mission to +Spain; St. Donatus, afterward Bishop of Fiesole, and his +disciple, Andrew. St. Cathald went from Rome to Jerusalem, and +on his return was made Bishop of Tarento. Donough, son of Brian +Boru, went to Rome in 1063, carrying, it is said, the crown of +his father, and there died. + +It has been calculated that the ancient Irish monks held from +the sixth to the ninth century thirteen monasteries in Scotland, +seven in France, twelve in Armoric Gaul, seven in Lotharingia, +eleven in Burgundy, nine in Belgium, ten in Alsatia, sixteen in +Bavaria, fifteen in Rhaetia, Helvetia, and Suevia, besides +several in Thuringia and on the left bank of the Rhine. Ireland +was then not only included in, but at the head of, the European +movement; and yet that forms a period in her annals which as yet +has scarcely been studied. + +The religious zeal which was then so manifest in the island +itself burned likewise among many Continental nations, and +lasted from the introduction of Christianity to the Danish +invasion. What contributed chiefly to make that ardor lasting +was, that every thing connected with religion made a part even +of their exterior life. Grace had taken entire possession of +the national soul. This world was looked upon as a shadow, +beautiful only in reflecting something of the beauty of heaven. + +Hence were the Irish "the saints." So were they titled by all, +and they accepted the title with a genuine and holy simplicity +which betokened a truer modesty than the pretended denegation +which we might expect. Thus they seemed above temptation. The +virgins consecrated to God were as numerous at least as the +monks. These had also their processions and pilgrimages; they +went forth from houses over-full to found others, not knowing or +calculating beforehand the spot where they might rest and +"expect resurrection." Such was their language. Sometimes they +applied at the doors of monasteries, and if there was no spot in +the neighborhood suitable for the sisters, the monks abandoned +to them their abode, their buildings and cultivated fields where +the crops were growing, taking with them naught save the sacred +vessels and the books they might need in the new establishment +they went forth to found elsewhere. + +Who could imagine, then, that even a thought could enter their +minds beyond those of charity and kindness? Were they not dead +utterly to worldly passions, and living only to God? It would +have been a sacrilege to have profaned the holy island, not only +with an unlawful act but even with a worldly imagination. Had +not many holy men and women seen angels constantly coming down +from heaven, and the souls of the just at their departure going +straight from Ireland to heaven? Both in perpetual communication! + Had the eyes of all been as pure as those of the best among +them, the truth would have been unveiled to all alike, and the +"isle of saints" would have shown itself to them as what it +really was-a bright country where redemption was a great fact; +where the souls of the great majority were truly and actually +redeemed in the full sense of the word; where people might enjoy +a foretaste of heaven-the very space above their heads being to +them at all times a road connecting the heavenly mansions with +this sublunary world. + +True is it that there were ever in the island a number of great +sinners who desecrated the holy spot they dwelt on by their +deeds of blood. The Saviour predicted that there should be +"tares among the wheat" everywhere until the day of judgment. + +It was among the chieftains principally, almost entirely, that +sin prevailed. The clan-system, unfortunately, favored deadly +feuds, which often drenched all parts of the island in blood. +Family quarrels, being in themselves unnatural, led to the most +atrocious crimes. The old Greek drama furnishes frightful +examples of it, and similar passions sometimes filled the +breasts of those leaders of Irish clans. Few of them died in +their beds. When carried away by passion, they respected nothing +which men generally respect. + +It would, however, be an exaggeration to suppose on this account +a distinct and complete antagonism to have existed between the +clan and the Church, and to class all the princes on the side of +evil as opposed to the "saints," whom we have contemplated +leading a celestial life. We know from St. Aengus that one of +the glories of Ireland is that many of her saints were of +princely families, whereas among other nations generally the +Gospel was first accepted by the poor and lowly, and found its +enemies among the higher and educated classes. But in Ireland +the great, side by side with the least of their clansmen, bowed +to the yoke of Christ, and the bards and learned men became +monks and bishops from the very first preaching of the Word. + +The fact is, a great number of kings and chieftains made their +station doubly renowned by their virtues, and find place in the +chronicle of Irish saints. Who can read, for instance, the story +of King Guaire without admiring his faith and true Christian +spirit? + +It is reported that as St. Caimine and St. Cumain Fota were one +day conversing on spiritual things with that holy king of +Connaught, Caimine said to Guaire, "O king, could this church be +filled on a sudden with whatever thou shouldst wish, what would +thy desire be?" "I should wish," replied the king, "to have all +the treasures that the church could hold, to devote them to the +salvation of souls, the erection of churches, and the wants of +Christ's poor." "And what wouldst thou ask?" said the king to +Fota. "I would," he replied, "have as many holy books as the +church could contain, to give all who seek divine wisdom, to +spread among the people the saving doctrine of Christ, and +rescue souls from the bondage of Satan." Both then turned to +Caimine. "For my part," said he, "were this church filled with +men afflicted with every form of suffering and disease, I +should ask of God to vouchsafe to assemble in my wretched body +all their evils, all their pains, and give me strength to +support them patiently, for the love of the Saviour of the world. +"1 (1 This passage is given in Latin by Colgan (Acts SS.). In +the original Irish, translated and published by Dr. Todd--Liber +Hymn--there are more details.) + +Thus the most sublime and supernatural spirit of Christianity +became natural to the Irish mind in the great as well as in the +lowly, in the rich as well as in the poor. Women rivalled men in +that respect. + +"Daria was blind from birth. Once, whilst conversing with +Bridget, she said: 'Bless my eyes that I may see the world, and +gratify my longing.' The night was dark; it grew light for her, +and the world appeared to her gaze. But when she had beheld it, +she turned again to Bridget. 'Now close my eyes,' said she, 'for +the more one is absent from the world, the more present he is +before God.'" + +Even though one may express doubt as to the reality of this +miracle, one thing, at least, is beyond doubt: that the spirit +of the words of Daria was congenial to the Irish mind at the +time, and that none but one who had first reached the highest +point of supernatural life could conceive or give utterance to +such a sentiment. + +That more than human life and spirit elevated, ennobled, and, as +it were, divinized, even the ordinary human and natural feelings, +which not only ceased to become dangerous, but became, +doubtless, highly pleasing to God and meritorious in his sight. +An example may better explain our meaning: + +"Ninnid was a young scholar, not over-reverent, whom the +influence of Bridget one day suddenly overcame, so that he +afterward appeared quite a different being. Bridget announced to +him that from his hand she should, for the last time, receive +the body and blood of our Lord. Ninnid resolved that his hand +should remain pure for so high and holy an office. He enclosed +it in an iron case, and wishing at the same time to postpone, as +far as lay in his power, the moment that was to take Bridget +from the world, he set out for Brittany, throwing the key of the +box into the sea. But the designs of God are immutable. When +Bridget's hour had come, Ninnid was driven by a storm on the +Irish coast, and the key was miraculously given up by the deep." + +Where, except in Ireland, could such friendship continue for +long years, without giving cause not only for the least scandal, +but even for the remotest danger? In that island the natural +feelings of the human heart were wholly absorbed by heavenly +emotions, in which nothing earthly could be found? Hence the +celebrated division of the "three orders of the Irish saints," +the first being so far above temptation that no regulation was +imposed on the Cenobites with respect to their intercourse with +women. + +"Women were welcome and cared for; they were admitted, so to +speak, to the sanctuary; it was shared with them, occupied in +common. Double, or even mixed monasteries, so near to each other +as to form but one, brought the two sexes together for mutual +edification; men became instructors of women; women of men." + +Nothing of the kind was ever witnessed elsewhere; nothing of the +kind was to be seen ever after. Robert of Arbrissel established +something similar in the order, of Fontevrault in France; but +there it was a strange and very uncommon exception; in Ireland +for two centuries it was the rule. This alone would show how +completely the Christian spirit had taken possession of the +whole race from the first. + +It is this which gives to Irish hagiology a peculiar character, +making it appear strange even to the best men of other nations. +The elevation of human feeling to such a height of perfection is +so unusual that men cannot fail to be surprised wherever they +may meet it. + +Yet far from appearing strange, almost inexplicable, it would +have been recognized as the natural result of the working of the +Christian religion, if the spirit brought on earth by our Lord +had been more thoroughly diffused among men, if all had been +penetrated by it to the same degree, if all had equally +understood the meaning of the Gospel preached to them. + +But, unfortunately, so many and so great were the obstacles +opposed everywhere to the working of the Spirit of God in the +souls of men, that comparatively few were capable of being +altogether transformed into beings of another nature. + +The great mass lagged far behind in the race of perfection. They +were admitted to the fold of Christ, and lived generally at +least in the practice of the commandments; but the object +proposed to himself by the Saviour of mankind was imperfectly +carried out on earth. The life of the world was far from being +impregnated by the spirit which he brought from heaven. + +In the "island of saints" we certainly see a great number open +out at once to the fulness of that divine influence. Herein we +have the explanation of the deep faith which has ever since been +the characteristic of the people. "Centuries have perpetuated +the alliance of Catholicity and Ireland. Revolutions have failed +to shake it; persecution has not broken it; it has gained +strength in blood and tears, and we may believe, after thirteen +centuries of trial, that the Roman faith will disappear from +Ireland only with the name of Patrick and the last Irishman." + +NOTE.-It is known that F. Colgan, a Franciscan, undertook to +publish the "Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae." He edited only two +volumes: the first under the title of "Trias thaumaturga " +containing the various lives of St. Patrick, St. Columba, and St. +Bridget:-the second under the general title of "Acta SS."- +Barnwall, an Irishman born and educated in France, published the +"Histoire Legendaire d'Irlande," in which he collected, without +much order, a number of passages of Colgan's "Acta," and Mr. J. +G. Shea translated and published it. We have taken from this +translation several facts contained in this chapter, the work of +the Franciscan being not accessible to us. + +Dr. Todd, from Irish MSS., has given a few pages showing the +accuracy of Colgan, although the good father did not scruple +occasionally to condense and abridge, unless the MSS. he used +differed from those of Dr. Todd. The whole is a rich mine of +interesting anecdotes, and Montalembert has shown what a skilful +writer can find in those pages forgotten since the sixteenth +century. Mr. Froude himself has acknowledged that the eighth was +the golden age of Ireland. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +THE CHRISTIAN IRISH AND THE PAGAN DANES. + +For several centuries the Irish continued in the happy state +described in the last chapter. While the whole European +Continent was convulsed by the irruptions of the Germanic tribes, +and of the Huns, more savage still, the island was at peace, +opened her schools to the youth of all countries--to Anglo- +Saxons chiefly--and spread her name abroad as the happy and holy +isle, the dwelling of the saints, the land of prodigies, the +most blessed spot on the earth. No invading host troubled her; +the various Teutonic nations knew less of the sea than the Celts +themselves, and no vessel neared the Irish coast save the +peaceful curraghs which carried her monks and missionaries +abroad, or her own sons in quest of food and adventure. + +Providence would seem to have imposed upon the nation the lofty +mission of healing the wounds of other nations as they lay +helpless in the throes of death, of keeping the doctrines of the +Gospel alive in Europe, after those terrible invasions, and of +leading into the fold of Christ many a shepherdless flock. The +peaceful messengers who went forth from Ireland became as +celebrated as her home schools and monasteries; and well had it +been for the Irish could such a national life as this have +continued. + +But God, who wished to prepare them for still greater things in +future ages, who proves by suffering all whom he wishes to use +as his best instruments, allowed the fury of the storm to burst +suddenly upon them. It was but the beginning of their woes, the +first step in that long road to Calvary, where they were to be +crucified with him, to be crucified wellnigh to the death before +their final and almost miraculous resurrection. The Danes were +to be the first torturers of that happy and holy people; the +hardy rovers of the northern seas were coming to inaugurate a +long era of woe. + +The Scandinavian irruption which desolated Europe just as she +was beginning to recover from the effects of the first great +Germanic wave, may be said to have lasted from the eighth to the +twelfth century. Down from the North Sea came the shock; Ireland +was consequently one of the first to feel it, and we shall see +how she alone withstood and finally overcame it. + +The better to understand the fierceness of the attack, let us +first consider its origin: + +The Baltic Sea and the various gulfs connected with it penetrate +deeply the northern portion of the Continent of Europe. Its +indentations form two peninsulas: a large one, known under the +name of Norway and Sweden, and a lesser one on the southwest, +now called Denmark. The first was known to the Romans as Scania; +the second was called by them the Cimbric Chersonesus. From +Scania is derived the name Scandinavians, afterward given to the +inhabitants of the whole country. Besides these two peninsulas, +there are several islands scattered through the surrounding sea. + +The frozen and barren land which this people inhabited obliged +them from time immemorial to depend on the ocean for their +sustenance: first, by fishing; later on, by piracy. They soon +became expert navigators, though their ships were merely small +boats made of a few pieces of timber joined together, and +covered with the hide of the walrus and the seal. + +It seems, from the Irish annals, that they belonged to two +distinct races of men: the Norwegians, fair-haired and of large +stature; the Danes dark, and of smaller size. Hence the Irish +distinguished the first, whom they called Finn Galls, from the +second, whom they named Dubh Galls. By no other European nation +was this distinction drawn, the Irish being more exact in +observing their foes. + +It is the general opinion of modern writers that they belonged +to the Teutonic family. The Goths, a Teutonic tribe, dwelt for a +long period on the larger peninsula. But whether the Goths were +of the same race as the Norwegians or Danes is a question. +Certain it is that the various German nations which first +overwhelmed the Roman Empire bore many characteristics different +from those of the Danes and Norwegians, though the language of +all indicated, to a certain extent, a common origin. + +The Swedes, the inhabitants of the eastern coast of Scania, do +not appear to have taken an important part in the Scandinavian +invasions; nor, indeed, have they ever been so fond of maritime +enterprises as the two other nations. Moreover, they were at +that time in bloody conflict with the Goths, and too busy at +home to think of foreign conquest. + +For a long time the Scandinavian pirates seem to have confined +themselves to scouring their own seas, and plundering the coasts +as far as the gulfs of Finland and Bothnia. At length, +emboldened by success, they ventured out into the ocean, +attacked the nations of Western and Southern Europe, and in the +west colonized the frozen shores of the Shetland and Faroe +Islands, and soon after Iceland and Greenland. + +For several centuries the harbors of Denmark and Norway became +the storehouses of all the riches of Europe, and a large trade +was carried on between those northern peninsulas and the various +islands of the Northern and Arctic Seas, even with the coast of +America, of which Greenland seems to form a part. + +Those stern and mountainous countries and the restless ocean +which divides them were for the Scandinavian pirates what the +Mediterranean and the coasts of Spain and Africa had long before +been for the Phoenicians and Carthaginians. These peoples were +clearly destined to introduce among modern nations the spirit of +commerce and enterprise. + +But here it is well to consider their religious and social state +from which nations chiefly derive their noble or ignoble +qualities. We shall find both made up of the rankest idolatry, +of cruel manners and revolting customs. + +Their system of worship, with its creed and rites, is much more +precise in character and better known to us than that of the +Celts. If we open the books which were written in Europe at the +time of the irruption of these Northmen, and the poems of those +savage tribes preserved to our own days, and comprised under the +name of Edda, besides the numerous sagas, or songs and ballads, +which we still possess, we find mention of three superior gods +and a number of inferior deities, which gave a peculiar +character to this Northern worship. + +They were Thor, the god of the elements, of thunder chiefly; +Wodan or Odin, the god of war; and Frigga, the goddess of lust; +the long list of others it is unnecessary to give. Their +religion, therefore, consisted mainly: 1. In battling with the +elements, particularly on the sea, under the protection of Thor; +2. In slaying their enemies, or being themselves slain, as Odin +willed --the giving or receiving death being apparently the +great object of existence; 3. In abandoning themselves at the +time of victory to all the propensities of corrupt nature, which +they took to be the express will of Frigga manifested in their +unbridled passions. + +Such was Scandinavian mythology in its reality. + +Modern investigators, principally in Germany and France, find in +the Edda a complete system of cosmogony and of a religion almost +inspired, so beautiful do they make it. At least they have made +it appear as profound a philosophy as that of old Hindostan and +far-off Thibet. By grouping around those three great divinities, +which are supposed to be emblematical of the superior natural +forces, their numerous progeny, that of Odin especially, +together with an incredible number of malicious giants and good- +natured _ases_--a kind of fairy--any skilful theorist, gifted +with the requisite imagination, may extract from the whole an almost +perfect system of cosmogony and ethics. Then the disgusting legends +of the Edda and the sagas are straightway transformed into +interesting myths, offsprings of poetry and imagination, and +conveying to the mind a philosophy only less than sublime, derived, +as they say, from the religion of Zoroaster. + +It is, as we said, in Germany and France chiefly that these +discoveries have been made. The English, a more sober people, +although of Scandinavian blood, do not set so high a value on +what is, in the literal sense, so low. + +Pity that such pleasing speculations should be mere theoretical +bubbles, unable to retain their lightness and their vivid colors +in the rude atmosphere of the arctic regions, bursting at the +first breath of the north wind! How could sensible men, under +such a complicated system of religion and physics, account for +the uncouth pirates of the Baltic? + +As useless is it to say that they brought it from the place of +their origin--Persia, as these theorists affirm. To a man +uninfluenced by a preconceived or pet system, it is evident at +first sight that no mythology of the East or of the South has +ever given rise to that of Scandinavia. There is not the +slightest resemblance between it and any other. It must have +originated with the Scandinavians themselves; and their long +_religious_ tales were only the bloody dreams of their fancy, when, +during their dreary winter evenings, they had nothing to do but +relate to each other what came uppermost in their gross minds. + +Saxo Grammaticus, certainly a competent authority, and Snorry +Sturleson, the first to translate the Edda into Latin, who is +still considered one of the greatest antiquarians of the nation +--both of whom lived in the times we speak of, when this +religious system still flourished or was fresh in the minds of +all-- solved the question ages ago, and demonstrated beforehand +the falsehood of those future theories by stating with old-time +simplicity that the abominable stories of the Edda and the sagas +were founded on real facts in the previous history of those +nations, and were consequently never intended by the writers as +imaginative myths, representing, under a figurative and repulsive +exterior, some semblance of a spiritual and refined doctrine. + +We must look to our own more enlightened times to find ingenious +interpreters of rude old songs first flung to the breeze nine +hundred years ago in the polar seas, and bellowed forth in +boisterous and drunken chorus during the ninth and tenth +centuries by ferocious, but to modern eyes romantic, pirates +reeking with the gore of their enemies. + +Because it has pleased some modern pantheist to concoct systems +of religion in his cabinet, does it become at once clear that +the mythic explanation of those songs is the only one to be +admitted, and that the odious facts which those legends express +ought to be discarded altogether? At least we hope that, when +philosophers come to be the real rulers of the world, they will +not give to their subtle and abstract ideas of religion the same +pleasant turn and the same concrete expression in every-day life +that the worshippers of Odin, Thor, and Frigga, found it +agreeable to give when they were masters of the continent and +rulers of the seas. + +No! The only true meaning of this Northern worship is conveyed +in the simple words of Adam of Bremen, when relating what still +existed in his own time. (_Descript. insularum Aquil._, lib. iv.) +He describes the solemn sacrifices of Upsala in Sweden thus: +"This is their sacrifice; of each and all animals they offer +nine heads of the male gender, by whose blood it is their custom +to appease the gods. The dead bodies of the victims are +suspended in a grove which surrounds the temple. The place is in +their eyes invested with such a sacred character that the trees +are believed to be divine on account of the blood and gore with +which they are besmeared. With the animals, dogs, horses, etc., +they suspend likewise men; and a Christian of that country told +me that he had himself seen them with his own eyes mixed up +together in the grove. But the senseless rites which accompany +the sacrifice and the sprinkling of blood are so many, and of so +gross and immoral nature, that it is better not to speak of them." + +We have here the naked truth, and no meaning whatever could be +attached to such ceremonies other than that of the rankest +idolatry. To complete the picture, it is proper to state that +Thor, Odin, and Frigga, were frightful idols, as represented in +the Upsala temple, and the small statues carried by the +Scandinavian sailors on their expeditions and set in the place +of honor on board their ships, were but diminutive copies of the +hideous originals. It is known, moreover, that Odin had existed +as a leader of some of their migrations, so that their idolatry +resolved itself into hero-worship. + +Having spoken of their gods, we have only a word to add on their +belief in a future state, for every one is acquainted with their +brutal and shocking Walhalla. Yet, such as it was, admittance to +its halls could only be aspired to by the warriors and heroes, +the great among them; the common herd was not deemed worthy of +immortality. Thus aristocratic pride showed itself at the very +bottom of their religion. + +Of their social state, their government, we know little. They +lived under a kind of rude monarchy, subject often to election, +when they chose the most savage and the bravest for their ruler. +But blood-relationship had little or nothing to do with their +system, so different from that of the Celts. The sons of a +chieftain could never form a sept, but at his death the eldest +replaced him; the younger brothers, deprived of their titles and +goods, were forced to separate and acquire a title to rank and +honor by piracy; and that right of primogeniture, which was the +primary cause of their sea invasions, stamped the feudal system +with one of its chief characteristics, a system which probably +originated with them. Some, however, entertain a contrary +opinion, and suppose that at the death of the father his +children shared his inheritance equally. + +Of their moral habits we may best judge by their religion. All +we know of their history seems to prove that with them might was +right, and outlawry the only penalty of their laws. + +A man guilty of murder was compelled to quit the country, unless +his superior daring and the number of his friends and followers +enabled him, by more atrocious and wholesale murders, still to +become a great chieftain and even aspire to supreme power. +Iceland was colonized by outlaws from Norway; and the frequent +changes of dynasty in pagan times prove that among them, as +among barbarous tribes generally, brute force was the chief +source of law and authority. + +That outlawry was not esteemed a stain on the character is +sufficiently demonstrated by the fact that the mere accident of +birth made outlaws of all the children of chieftains with the +exception of the eldest born; the necessity for the younger sons +abandoning their home and native country, and roaming the ocean +in search of plunder, being exactly equivalent, according to +their opinion and customs, to criminal outlawry of whatever +character. This, at least, many authors assert without +hesitation. + +Their domestic habits were fit consequences of such a state of +society. There could exist no real tie of kindred, no filial or +brotherly affection among men living under such a social system. +The gratification of brutal passions and the most utter +selfishness constituted the rule for all; and even the fear of +an inexorable judge after death could not restrain them during +life, as might have been the case among other pagan nations, +since the hope of reaching their Walhalla depended for its +fulfilment on murder or suicide. + +With their system of warfare we are better acquainted than with +any thing else belonging to them, as the main burden of their +songs was the recital of their barbarous expeditions. It is, +indeed, difficult for a modern reader to wade through the whole +of their Edda poems, or even their long sagas, so full is their +literature of unimaginable cruelties. Yet a general view of it +is necessary in order to understand the horror spread throughout +Europe by their inhuman warfare. + +As soon as the warm breeze of an early spring thaws the ice on +his rivers and lakes, the Scandinavian Viking unfurls his sail, +fills his rude boat with provisions, and trusts himself to the +mercy of the waves. Should he be alone, and not powerful enough +to have a fleet at his command, he looks out for a single boat +of his own nation--there being no other in those seas. Urged by +a mutual impulse, the two crews attack each other at sight; the +sea reddens with blood; the savage bravery is equal on both +sides; accident alone can decide the contest. One of the crews +conquers by the death of all its opponents; the plunder is +transferred to the victorious boat; the cup of strong drink +passes round, and victory is crowned by drunkenness. + +But if the two chieftains have contended from morning till night +with equal valor and success, then, filled with admiration for +each other, they become friends, unite their forces, and, +falling on the first spot where they can land, they pillage, +slay, outrage women, and give full sway to their unbridled +passions. The more ferocious they are the braver they esteem +themselves. It is a positive fact, as we may gather from all +their poems and songs, that the Scandinavians alone, probably, +of all pagan nations, have had no measure of bravery and +military glory beyond the infliction of the most exquisite +torture and the most horrible of deaths. + +Plunder, which was apparently the motive power of all their +expeditions, was to them less attractive than blood; blood, +therefore, is the chief burden of their poetry, if poetry it can +be called. It would seem as though they were destined by Nature +to shed human blood in torrents--the noblest occupation, +according to their ideas, in which a brave man could be engaged. + +The figures of their rude literature consist for the most part +of monstrous warriors and gods, each possessed of many arms to +kill a greater number of enemies, or of giant stature to +overcome all obstacles, or of enchanted swords which shore steel +as easily as linen, and clave the body of an adversary as it +would the air. + +Then, heated with blood, the Northman is also influenced with +lust, for he worships Frigga as well as Odin. But this is not +the place to give even an idea of manners too revolting to be +presented to the imagination of the reader. + +Cantu's Universal History will furnish all the authorities from +which the details we have given and many others of the same kind +are derived. + +We do not propose describing here the horrors of the +devastations committed by the Anglo-Saxons and Danes in England, +by the Normans in France, Spain, and Italy. All these nations, +even the first, were Scandinavians, and naturally fall under our +review. The story is already known to those who are acquainted +with the history of mediaeval Europe. The only thing which we do +not wish to omit is the invariable system of warfare adopted by +this people when acting on a large scale. + +Arrived on the coast they had determined to ravage, they soon +found that in stormy weather they were in a more dangerous +position than at sea. Hence they looked for a deep bay, or, +better still, the mouth of a large river, and once on its placid +bosom they felt themselves masters of the whole country. The +terror of the people, the lack of organization for defence, so +characteristic of Celtic or purely Germano-Franco society, the +savage bravery and reckless impetuosity of the invaders +themselves, increased their rashness, and urged them to enter +fearlessly into the very heart of a country which lay prostrate +with fear before them. All the cities on the river-banks were +plundered as they passed, people of whatever age, sex, or +condition, were murdered; the churches especially were despoiled +of their riches, and the numerous and wealthy monasteries then +existing were given to the flames, after the monks and all the +inmates even to the schoolchildren, had been promiscuously +slaughtered, if they had not escaped by flight. + +But, although all were slaughtered promiscuously, a special +ferocity was always displayed by the barbarous conqueror toward +the unarmed and defenceless ministers of religion. They took a +particular delight in their case in adding insult to cruelty; +and not without reason did the Church at that time consider as +martyrs the priests and monks who were slain by the pagan +Scandinavians. Their sanguinary and hideous idolatry showed its +hatred of truth and holiness in always manifesting a peculiar +atrocity when coming in contact with the Church of Christ and +her ministers. And, our chief object in speaking of the stand +made by the Irish against the pagan Danes is, to show how the +clan-system became in truth the avenger of God's altars and the +preserver of the sacred edifices and numerous temples with which, +as we have seen, the Island of Saints was so profusely studded, +from total annihilation. + +Knowing that, when their march of destruction had taken them a +great distance from the mouth of the river, the inhabitants +might rise in sheer despair and cut them off on their return, +the Scandinavian pirates, to guard against such a contingency, +looked for some island or projecting rock, difficult of access, +which they fortified, and, placing there the plunder which +loaded their boats, they left a portion of their forces to guard +it, while the remainder continued their route of depredation. In +Ireland they found spots admirably adapted for their purpose in +the numerous loughs into which many of the rivers run. + +This was their invariable system of warfare in the rivers of +England; in Germany along system Rhine; along the Seine, the +Loire, and the Garonne, in France, as well as on the Tagus and +Guadalquivir in Spain, where two at least of their large +expeditions penetrated. This continued for several centuries, +until at last they thought of occupying the country which they +had devastated and depopulated, and they began to form permanent +settlements in England, Flanders, France, and even Sicily and +Naples. + +When that time had arrived, they showed that, hidden under their +ferocious exterior, lay a deep and systematic mind, capable of +great thoughts and profound designs. Already in their own rude +country they had organized commerce on an extensive scale, and +their harbors teemed with richly-laden ships, coming from far +distances or preparing to start on long voyages. They had become +a great colonizing race, and, after establishing their sway in +the Hebrides, the Orkneys, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and +Greenland, they made England their own, first by the Jute and +Anglo-Saxon tribes, then by the arms of Denmark, which was at +that time so powerful that England actually became a colony of +Copenhagen; and finally they thought of extending their +conquests farther south to the Mediterranean Sea, where their +ships rode at anchor in the harbors of fair Sicily. + +We know, from many chronicles written at the time, with what +care they surveyed all the countries they occupied, confiscating +the land after having destroyed or reduced its inhabitants to +slavery; dividing it among themselves and establishing their +barbarous laws and feudal customs wherever they went. Dudo of St. + Quentin, among other writers, describes at length in his rude +poem the army of surveyors intrusted by Rollo, the first Duke of +Normandy, with the care of drawing up a map of their conquests +in France, for the purpose of dividing the whole among his rough +followers and vassals. + +Of this spirit of organization we intend to speak in the next +chapter, when we come to consider the Anglo-Norman invasion of +Ireland; but we are not to conclude that the Northmen became +straightway civilized, and that the spirit of refinement at once +shed its mild manners and gentle habits over their newly- +constructed towns and castles. For a long time they remained as +barbarous as ever, with only a system more perfect and a method +more scientific--if we may apply such expressions to the case-- +in their plunderings and murderous expeditions. + +Of Hastings, their last pagan sea-kong, Dudo, the great admirer +of Northmen and the sycophant of the first Norman dukes in +France, has left the following terrible character, on reading +which in full we scarcely know whether the poem was written in +reproach or praise. We translate from the Latin + +According to Dudo, he was-- + +"A wretch accursed and fierce of heart, +Unmatched in dark iniquities; +A scowling pest of deadly hate, +He throve on savage cruelties. + +Blood-thirsty, stained with every crime, +An artful, cunning, deadly foe, +Lawless, vaunting, rash, inconstant, +True well-spring of unending woe!" + +Hastings never yielded to the new religion, which he always +hated and persecuted. But, even after their conversion to +Christianity, his countrymen for a long time retained their +inborn love of bloodshed and tyranny; they were in this respect, +as in many others, the very reverse of the Irish. + +Of Rollo, the first Christian Duke of Normandy, Adhemar, a +contemporary writer, says: + +"On becoming Christian, he caused many captives to be beheaded +in his presence, in honor of the gods whom he had worshipped. +And he also distributed a vast amount of money to the Christian +churches in honor of the true God in whose name he had received +baptism;" which would seem to imply that this transaction +occurred on the very day of his baptism. + +We may now compare the success which attended the arms of these +terrible invaders throughout the rest of Europe with their +complete failure in Ireland. It will be seen that the deep +attachment of the Irish Celts for their religion, its altars, +shrines, and monuments, was the real cause of their final +victory. We shall behold a truly Christian people battling +against paganism in its most revolting and audacious form. + +But, first, how stood the case in England? + +"It is not a little extraordinary," says a sagacious writer in +the _Dublin Review_ (vol. xxxii., p. 203), "that the three +successive conquests of England by the Anglo-Saxons, Danes, and +Normans, were in fact conquests made by the same people, and, in +the last two instances, over those who were not only descended +from the same stock, but who had immigrated from the very same +localities. The Jutes, Angles, and Saxons, were for the most +part Danes or of Danish origin. Their invasion of England +commenced by plunder and ended by conquest. These were +overthrown by the Danes and Norwegians in precisely the same +manner. + +"In the year 875, Roll or Rollo, having been expelled from +Norway by Harold Harfager, adopted the profession of a sea-kong, +and in the short space of sixteen years became Duke of Normandy +and son-in-law of the French king, after having previously +repudiated his wife. The sixth duke in succession from Rollo was +William, illegitimate son of Robert le Diable and Herleva, a +concubine. By the battle of Hastings, which William gained in +1066, over King Harold, who was slain in it, the former became +sovereign of England, and instead of the appellation of 'the +Bastard,' by which he had been hitherto known, he now obtained +the surname of 'the Conqueror.' + +"Thus both the Saxon and Danish invaders were subdued by their +Norman brethren." + +All the Scandinavian invasions of England were, therefore, +successful, each in turn giving way before a new one; and it is +not a little remarkable that the very year in which Brian Boru +dealt a death-blow to the Danes at Clontarf witnessed the +complete subjection of England by Canute. + +The success of the Northmen in France is still more worthy of +attention. Their invasions began soon after the death of +Charlemagne. It is said that, before his demise, hearing of the +appearance of one of their fleets not far from the mouth of the +Rhine, he shed tears, and foretold the innumerable evils it +portended. He saw, no doubt, that the long and oft-repeated +efforts of his life to subdue and convert the northern Saxons +would fail to obtain for his successors the peace he had hoped +to win by his sword, and, knowing from the Saxons themselves the +relentless ferocity, audacity, and frightful cruelty, inoculated +in their Scandinavian blood, he could not but expect for his +empire the fierce attacks which were preparing in the arctic +seas. All his life had he been a conqueror, and under his sway +the Franks, whom he had ever led to victory, acquired a name +through Europe for military glory which, he dreaded, would no +longer remain untarnished. His forebodings, however, could not +be shared by any of those who surrounded him in his old age; his +eagle eye alone discerned the coming misfortunes. + +Seven times had the great emperor subdued the Saxons. He had +crushed them effectually, since he could not otherwise prevent +them from disturbing his empire. The Franks, who formed his army, +were therefore the real conquerors of Western Europe. Starting +from the banks of the Rhine, they subjugated the north as far as +the Baltic Sea; they conquered Italy as far south as Beneventum, +by their victories over the Lombards; by the subjugation of +Aquitaine, they took possession of the whole of France; the only +check they had ever received was in the valley of Roncevaux, +whence a part of one of their armies was compelled to retreat, +without, however, losing Catalonia, which they had won. + +Nevertheless, we see them a few years after powerless and +stricken with terror at the very name of the Northmen, as soon +as Hastings and Rollo appeared. Those sea-rovers established +themselves straightway in the very centre of the Frankish +dominion; for it was at the mouth of the Rhine, in the island of +Walcheren, that they formed their first camp. From Walcheren +they swept both banks of the Rhine, and, after enriching +themselves with the spoils of monasteries, cathedrals, and +palaces, they thought of other countries. Then began the long +series of spoliations which desolated the whole of France along +the Seine, the Loire, and the Garonne. + +Opposition they scarcely encountered. Paris alone, of all the +great cities of France, sustained a long siege, and finally +bought them off by tribute. The military power of the nation was +annihilated all at once, and of all French history this period +is undoubtedly the most humiliating to a native of the soil. + +And now let us see how the Irish met the same piratical +invasions. + +We are already acquainted with the chief defect of their +political system, namely, its want of centralization. The Ard- +Righ was in fact but a nominal ruler, except in the small +province which acknowledged his chieftainship only. Throughout +the rest of Ireland the provincial kings were independent save +in name. Not only were they often reluctant to obey the Ard-Righ, +but they were not seldom at open war with him. Nor are we to +suppose that, at least in the case of a serious attack from +without, their patriotism overcame their private differences, +and made them combine together to show a common front against a +common foe. In a patriarchal state of government there is +scarcely any other form of patriotism than that of the +particular sept to which each individual belongs. All the ideas, +customs, prejudices, are opposed to united action. + +Yet an invasion so formidable as that of the Scandinavian tribes +showed itself everywhere to be, would have required all the +energies and resources of the whole country united under one +powerful chief, particularly when it did not consist of one +single fearful irruption. + +During two centuries large fleets of dingy, hide-bound barks +discharge on the shores of Erin their successive cargoes of +human fiends, bent on rapine and carnage, and altogether proof +against fear of even the most horrible death, since such death +was to them the entry to the eternal realms of their Walhalla. + +But, at the period of which we speak, the terrible evil of a +want of centralization was greatly aggravated by a change +occurring in the line which held the supreme power in the island. + +The vigorous rule of a long succession of princes belonging to +the northern Hy-Niall line gave way to the ascendency of the +southern branch of this great family; and the much more limited +patrimony and alliances of this new quasi-dynasty rendered its +personal power very inferior to that of the northern branch, and +consequently lessened the influence possessed by the ruling +family in past times. In Ireland the connections, more or less +numerous, by blood relationship with the great families, always +exercised a powerful influence over the body of the nation in +rendering it docile and amenable to the will of the Ard-Righ. + +Mullingar, in West Meath, was the abode of the southern Hy- +Nialls, and Malachy of the Shannon, the first Ard-Righ of this +line, succeeded King Niall of Callan in 843. The Danes were +already in the country and had committed depredations. Their +first descent is mentioned by the Four Masters as taking place +at Rathlin on the coast of Antrim in the year 790. + +But the country was soon aroused; and religious feelings, always +uppermost in the Irish heart, supplied the deficiencies of the +constitution of the state and the particularly unfavorable +circumstances of the period. The Danes, as usual, first attacked +the monasteries and churches, and this alone was enough to +kindle in the breasts of the people the spirit of resistance and +retaliation. Iona was laid waste in 797, and again in 801 and +805. "To save from the rapacity of the Danes," says Montalembert +in his Monks of the West, "a treasure which no pious liberality +could replace, the body of S. Columba was carried to Ireland. +And it is the unvarying tradition of Irish annals, that it was +deposited finally at Down, in an episcopal monastery, not far +from the eastern shore of the island, between the great +monastery of Bangor in the North, and Dublin the future capital +of Ireland, in the South." + +Ireland was first assailed by the Danes on the north immediately +after they had gained possession of the Hebrides; but the coasts +of Germany, Belgium, and France had witnessed their attacks long +before. Religion was the first to suffer; and as the Island of +Saints was at the time of their descent covered with churches +and monasteries, the Scandinavian barbarians found in these a +rich harvest which induced them to return again and again. The +first expedition consisted of only a few boats and a small body +of men. Nevertheless, as their irruptions were unexpected, and +the people were unprepared for resistance, many holy edifices +suffered from these attacks, and a great number of priests and +monks were murdered. + +We read that Armagh with its cathedral and monasteries was +plundered four times in one month, and in Bangor nine hundred +monks were slaughtered in a single day. The majority of the +inmates of those houses fled with their books and the relics of +their saints at the approach of the invaders, but, returning to +their desecrated homes after the departure of the pirates, gave +cause for those successive plunderings. + +But the Irish did not always fly in dismay, as was the case in +England and France. A force was generally mustered in the +neighborhood to meet and repel the attack, and in numerous +instances the marauders were driven back with slaughter to their +ships. + +For the clans rallied to the defence of the Church. Though the +chieftains and their clansmen might seem to have failed fully to +imbibe the spirit of religion, though in their insane feuds they +often turned a deaf ear to the remonstrances and reproaches of +the bishops and monks, nevertheless Christianity reigned supreme +in their inmost hearts. And when they beheld pagans landed on +their shores, to insult their faith and destroy the monuments of +their religion, to shed the blood of holy men, of consecrated +virgins, and of innocent children, they turned that bravery +which they had so often used against themselves and for the +satisfaction of worthless contentions into a new and a more +fitting channel--the defence of their altars and the punishment +of sacrilegious outrage. + +The clan system was the very best adapted for this kind of +warfare, so long as no large fleets came, and the pirates were +too few in number and too sagacious in mind to think of +venturing far inland. When but a small number of boats arrived, +the invaders found in the neighborhood a clan ready to receive +them. The clansmen speedily assembled, and, falling on the +plundering crews, showed them how different were the free men of +a Celtic coast, who were inspired by a genuine love for their +faith, from the degenerate sons of the Gallo-Romans. + +So the annals of the country tell us that the "foreigners" were +destroyed in 812 by the men of Umhall in Mayo; by Corrach, lord +of Killarney, in the same year; by the men of Ulidia and by +Carbry with the men of Hy-Kinsella in 827; by the clansmen of Hy- +Figeinte, near Limerick, in 834, and many more. + +But the hydra had a thousand heads, and new expeditions were +continually arriving. In the words of Mr. Worsaae, a Danish +writer of this century: + +"From time immemorial Ireland was celebrated in the Scandinavian +north, for its charming situation, its mild climate, and its +fertility and beauty. The Kongspell--mirror of Kings--which was +compiled in Norway about the year 1200, says that Ireland is +almost the best of the lands we are acquainted with although no +vines grow there. The Scandinavian Vikings and emigrants, who +often contented themselves with such poor countries as Greenland +and the islands in the north Atlantic, must, therefore, have +especially turned their attention to the 'Emerald Isle,' +particularly as it bordered closely upon their colonies in +England and Scotland. But to make conquests in Ireland, and to +acquire by the sword alone permanent settlements there, was no +easy task.... When we consider that neither the Romans nor the +Anglo-Saxons ever obtained a footing in that country, although +they had conquered England, the adjacent isle, and when we +further reflect upon the immense power exerted by the English in +later times in order to subdue the Celtic population of the +island, we cannot help being surprised at the very considerable +Scandinavian settlements which, as early as the ninth century, +were formed in that country." + +These are the words of a Dane. We shall see what the "very +considerable Scandinavian settlements" amounted to; the +quotation is worthy of note, as presenting in a few words the +motives of those who at any time invaded Ireland, and the +stubborn resistance which they met. + +The Irish were not dismayed by the constant arrivals of those +northern hordes. They met them one after another without +considering their complexity and connection. They only saw a +troop of fierce barbarians landed on their shores, chiefly +intent upon plundering and burning the churches and holy houses +which they had erected; they saw their island, hitherto +protected by the ocean from foreign attack, and resting in the +enjoyment of a constant round of Christian festivals and joyful +feasts, now desecrated by the presence and the fury of ferocious +pagans; they armed for the defence of all that is dear to man; +and though, perhaps, at first beaten and driven back, they +mustered in force at a distance to fall on the victors with a +swoop of noble birds who fly to the defence of their young. + +This kind of contest continued for two hundred years, with the +exception of the periods of larger invasions, when a single clan +no longer sufficed to avenge the cause of God and humanity, and +the Ard-Righ was compelled to throw himself on the scene at the +head of the whole collective force of the nation in order to +oppose the vast fleets and large armies of the Danes. + +The country suffered undoubtedly; the cattle were slain; the +fields devastated; the churches and houses burned; the poets +silenced or woke their song only to notes of woe; the harpers +taught the national instrument the music of sadness; the +numerous schools were scattered, though never destroyed; as +centuries later, under the Saxon, the people took their books or +writing materials to their miserable cottages or hid them in the +mountain fastnesses, and thus, for the first time in their +history, the hedge school succeeded those of the large +monasteries. So the nation continued to live on, the energetic +fire which burned in the hearts of the people could not be +quenched. They rose and rose again, and often took a noble +revenge, never disheartened by the most utter disaster. + +On three different occasions this bloody strife assumed a yet +more serious and dangerous aspect. It was not a few boats only +which came to the shores of the devoted island; but the main +power of Scandinavia seemed to combine in order to crush all +opposition at a single blow. + +When the knowledge of the richness, fertility, and beauty of the +island had fully spread throughout Denmark and Norway, a large +fleet gathered in the harbors of the Baltic and put to sea. The +famous Turgesius or Turgeis--Thorgyl in the Norse--was the +leader. The Edda and Sagas of Norway and Denmark have been +examined with a view to elucidate this passage in Irish history, +but thus far fruitlessly. It is known, however, that many Sagas +have been lost which might have contained an account of it. The +Irish annals are too unanimous on the subject to leave any +possibility of doubt with regard to it; and, whatever may be the +opinion of learned men on the early events in the history of +Erin, the story of the eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries rests +entirely on historical ground, as surely as if the facts had +happened a few hundred years ago. + +Turgesius landed with his fleet on the northeast coast of the +island, and straightway the scattered bands of Scandinavians +already in the country acknowledged his leadership and flocked +to his standard. McGeoghegan says that "he assumed in his own +hands the sovereignty of all the foreigners that were then in +Ireland." + +From the north he marched southward; and, passing Armagh on his +route, attacked and took it, and plundered its shrines, +monasteries, and schools. There were then within its walls seven +thousand students, according to an ancient roll which Keating +says has been discovered at Oxford. These were slaughtered or +dispersed, and the same fate attended the nine hundred monks +residing in its monasteries. + +Foraanan, the primate, fled; and the pagan sea-kong, entering +the cathedral, seated himself on the primatial throne, and had +himself proclaimed archbishop.--(O'Curry.) He had shortly before +devastated Clonmacnoise and made his wife supreme head of that +great ecclesiastical centre, celebrated for its many convents of +holy women. The tendency to add insult to outrage, when the +object of the outrage is the religion of Christ, is old in the +blood of the northern barbarians; and Turgesius was merely +setting the example, in his own rude and honest fashion, to the +more polished but no less ridiculous assumption of +ecclesiastical authority, which was to be witnessed in England, +on the part of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth. + +The power of the invader was so superior to whatever forces the +neighboring Irish clans could muster, that no opposition was +even attempted at first by the indignant witnesses of those +sacrileges. It is even said that at the very time when the +Northmen were pillaging and burning in the northeast of the +island, the men of Munster were similarly employed in Bregia; +and Conor, the reigning monarch of Ireland, instead of defending +the invaded territories, was himself hard at work plundering +Leinster to the banks of the river Liffey--(Haverty.) But, +doubtless, none of those deluded Irish princes had yet heard of +the pagan devastations and insults to their religion, and thus +it was easy for the great sea-kong to strengthen and extend his +power. For the attainment of his object he employed two powerful +agents which would have effectually crushed Ireland forever, if +the springs of vitality in the nation had not been more than +usually expansive and strong. + +The political ability of the Danes began to show itself in +Ireland, as it did about the same period (830) in England, and +later on in France. Turgesius saw that, in order to subdue the +nation, it was necessary to establish military stations in the +interior and fortify cities on the coast, where he could receive +reinforcements from Scandinavia. These plans he was prompt to +put into practice. + +His military stations would have been too easily destroyed by +the bravery of the Irish, strengthened by the elasticity of +their clan-system, if they were, planted on land. He, therefore, +set them in the interior lakes which are so numerous in the +island, where his navy could repel all the attacks of the +natives, unused as they were to naval conflicts. He stationed a +part of his fleet on Lough Lee in the upper Shannon, another in +Lough Neagh, south of Antrim, a third in Lough Lughmagh or +Dundalk bay. These various military positions were strongholds +which secured the supremacy of the Scandinavians in the north of +the island for a long time. In the south, Turgesius relied on +the various cities which his troops were successively to build +or enlarge, namely, Dublin, Limerick, Galway, Cork, Waterford, +and Wexford. This first Scandinavian ruler could begin that +policy only by establishing his countrymen in Dublin, which they +seized in 836. + +Up to that time the Irish had scarcely any city worthy of the +name. A patriarchal people, they followed the mode of life of +the old Eastern patriarchs, who abhorred dwelling in large towns. +Until the invasion of the Danes, the island was covered with +farm-houses placed at some distance from each other. Here and +there large _duns_ or _raths_, as they were called, formed the +dwellings of their chieftains, and became places of refuge for +the clansmen in time of danger. Churches and monasteries arose +in great numbers from the time of St. Patrick, which were first +built in the woods, but soon grew into centres of population, +corresponding in many respects to the idea of towns as generally +understood. + +The Northmen brought with them into Ireland the ideas of cities, +commerce, and municipal life, hitherto unknown. The introduction +of these supposed a total change necessary in the customs of the +natives, and stringent regulations to which the people could not +but be radically opposed. And strange was their manner of +introduction by these northern hordes. Keating tells us how +Turgesius understood them. They were far worse than the +imaginary laws of the Athenians as recorded in the "Birds" of +Aristophanes. No more stringent rules could be devised, whether +for municipal, rural, or social regulations; and, as the +Northmen are known to have been of a systematic mind, no +stronger proof of this fact could be given. + +Keating deplores in the following terms the fierce tyranny of +the Danish sea-kong: + +"The result of the heavy oppression of this thraldom of the +Gaels under the foreigner was, that great weariness thereof came +upon the men of Ireland, and the few of the clergy that survived +had fled for safety to the forests and wildernesses, where they +lived in misery, but passed their time piously and devoutly, and +now the same clergy prayed fervently to God to deliver them from +that tyranny of Turgesius, and, moreover, they fasted against +that tyrant, and they commanded every layman among the faithful, +that still remained obedient to their voice, to fast against him +likewise. And God then heard their supplications in as far as +the delivering of Turgesius into the hands of the Gaels." + +Thus in the ninth century the subsequent events of the sixteenth +and seventeenth were foreshadowed. The judicious editor of +Keating, however, justly remarks, that this description, taken +mainly from Cambrensis, is not supported in its entirety by the +contemporaneous annals of the island; that the power of the +Danes never was as universal and oppressive as is here supposed; +and that though each of the facts mentioned may have actually +taken place in some part of the country, at some period of the +Danish invasion, yet the whole, as representing the actual state +of the entire island at the time, is exaggerated and of too +sweeping a nature. + +It is clear, nevertheless, that the domination of the Northmen +could not have been completely established in Ireland, together +with their notions of superiority of race, trade on a large +scale, and a consequent agglomeration of men in large cities, +without the total destruction of the existing social state of +the Irish, and consequently something of the frightful tyranny +just described. + +But the people were too brave, too buoyant, and too ardent in +their nature, to bear so readily a yoke so heavy. They were too +much attached to their religion, not to sacrifice their lives, +if necessary, in order to put an end to the sacrilegious +usurpations of a pagan king, profaning, by his audacious +assumptions, the noblest, highest, purest, and most sacred +dignities of holy Church. A man, stained with the blood of so +many prelates and priests, seated on the primatial throne of the +country in sheer derision of their most profound feelings; his +pagan wife ruling over the city which the virgins of Bridget, +the spouses of Christ, had honored and sanctified so long; their +religion insulted by those who tried to destroy it--how could +such a state of things be endured by the whole race, not yet +reduced to the condition to which so many centuries of +oppression subsequently brought it down! + +Hence Keating could write directly after the passage just quoted: +"When the nobles of Ireland saw that Turgesius had brought +confusion upon their country, and that he was assuming supreme +authority over themselves, and reducing them to thraldom and +vassalage, they became inspired with a fortitude of mind, and a +loftiness of spirit, and a hardihood and firmness of purpose, +that urged them to work in right earnest, and to toil zealously +in battle against him and his murdering hordes." + +And hereupon the faithful historian gives a long list of +engagements in which the Irish were successful, ending with the +victory of Malachi at Glas Linni, where we know from the Four +Masters that Turgesius himself was taken prisoner and afterward +drowned in Lough Uair or Owell in West Meath, by order of the +Irish king. + +This prince, then monarch of the whole island, atoned for the +apathy and the want of patriotism of his predecessors, Conor and +the Nialls. He was in truth a saviour of his country, and the +death of the oppressor was the signal for a general onslaught +upon the "foreigners" in every part of the island. + +"The people rose simultaneously, and either massacred them in +their towns, or defeated them in the fields, so that, with the +exception of a few strongholds, like Dublin, the whole of +Ireland was free from the Northmen. Wherever they could escape, +they took refuge in their ships, but only to return in more +numerous swarms than before." - (M. Haverty.) + +It is evident that their deep sense of religion was the chief +source of the energy which the Irish then displayed. They had +not yet been driven into a fierce resistance by being forcibly +deprived of their lands; although the Danes, when they carried +their vexatious tyranny into all the details of private life - +not allowing lords and ladies of the Irish race to wear rich +dresses and appear in a manner befitting their rank - when they +went so far as to refuse a bowl of milk to an infant, that a +rude soldier might quench his thirst with it - could have +scarcely permitted the apparently conquered people to enjoy all +the advantages accruing to the owner from the possession of land. +Yet in none of the chronicles of the time which we have seen is +any mention made of open confiscation, and of the survey and +division of the territory among the greedy followers of the sea- +kong. We do not yet witness what happened shortly after in +Normandy under Rollo, and what was to happen four hundred years +later in Ireland. The Scandinavians had not yet attained that +degree of civilization which makes men attach a paramount +importance to the possession of a fixed part of any territory, +and call in surveys, title-deeds, charters, and all the written +documents necessitated by a captious and over-scrupulous +legislation. The Irish, consequently, did not perceive that +their broad acres were passing into the control of a foreign +race, and were being taken piecemeal from them, thus bringing +them gradually down to the condition of mere serfs and +dependants. + +What they did see, beyond the possibility of mistake or +deception, was their religion outraged, their spiritual rulers, +not merely no longer at liberty to practise the duties of their +sacred ministry, but hunted down and slaughtered or driven to +the mountains and the woods. They saw that pagans were actually +ruling their holy isle, and changing a paradise of sanctity into +a pandemonium of brutal passion, presided over by a +superstitious and cruel idolatry. For surely, although the Irish +chronicles fail to speak of it, the minstrels and historians +being too full of their own misery to think of looking at the +pagan rites of their enemies - those enemies worshipped Thor and +Odin and Frigga, and as surely did they detest the Church which +they were on a fair way to destroy utterly. This it was which +gave the Irish the courage of despair. For this cause chiefly +did the whole island fly to arms, fall on their foes and bring +down on their heads a fearful retribution. This it was, +doubtless, which breathed into the new monarch the energy which +he displayed on the field of Glas Linni; and when he ordered the +barbarian, now a prisoner in his hands, to be drowned, it was +principally as a sign that he detested in him the blasphemer and +the persecutor of God's church. + +Thus did the first national misfortunes of this Celtic people +become the means of enkindling in their hearts a greater love +for their religion, and a greater zeal for its preservation in +their midst. + +Ireland was again free; and, although we have no details +concerning the short period of prosperity which followed the +overthrow of the tyranny we have touched upon, we have small +doubt that the first object of the care of those who, under God, +had worked their own deliverance, was to repair the ruins of the +desecrated sanctuaries and restore to religion the honor of +which it had been stripped. + +The Danes themselves came to see that they had acted rashly in +striving to deprive the Irish of a religion which was so dear to +their hearts; they resolved on a change of policy, as they were +still bent on taking possession of the island, which Mr. Worsaae +has told us they considered the best country in existence. + +They resolved, therefore, to act with more prudence, and to make +use of trade and the material blessings which it confers, in +order to entice the Irish to their destruction, by allowing the +Northmen to carry on business transactions with them and so +gradually to dwell among them again. Father Keating tells the +story in his quaint and graphic style: + +"The plan adopted by them on this occasion was to equip three +captains, sprung from the noblest blood of Norway, and to send +them with a fleet to Ireland, for the object of obtaining some +station for purpose of trade. And with them they accordingly +embarked many tempting wares, and many valuable jewels -- with +the design of presenting them to the men of Ireland, in the hope +of thus securing their friendship; for they believed that they +might thus succeed in surreptitiously fixing a grasp upon the +Irish soil, and might be enabled to oppress the Irish people +again . . . . The three captains, therefore, coming from the +ports of Norway, landed in Ireland with their followers, as if +for the purpose of demanding peace, and under the pretext of +establishing a trade; and there, with the consent of the Irish, +who were given to peace, they took possession of some sea-board +places, and built three cities thereon, to wit: Waterford, +Dublin, and Limerick." + +We see, then, the Scandinavians abandoning their first project +of conquering the North to fall on the South and confining +themselves to a small number of fortified sea-ports. + +The first result of this policy was a firmer hold than ever on +Dublin, once already occupied by them in 836. "Amlaf, or Olaf, +or Olaus, came from Norway to Ireland in 851, so that all the +foreign tribes in the island submitted to him, and they +extracted rent from the Gaels." - (Four Masters.) + +From that time to the twelfth century Dublin became the chief +stronghold of the Scandinavians, and no fewer than thirty-five +Ostmen, or Danish kings, governed it. They made it an important +emporium, and such it continued even after the Scandinavian +invasion had ceased. McFirbis says that in his time - 1650 - +most of the merchants of Dublin were the descendants of the +Norwegian Irish king, Olaf Kwaran; and, to give a stronger +impulse to commerce, they were the first to coin money in the +country. + +The new Scandinavian policy carried out by Amlaf, who tried to +establish in Dublin the seat of a kingdom which was to extend +over the whole island, resulted therefore only in the +establishment of five or six petty principalities, wherein the +Northmen, for some time masters, were gradually reduced to a +secondary position, and finally confined themselves to the +operations of commerce. + +Since the attempt of Turgesius to subvert the religion of the +country, they never showed the slightest inclination to repeat +it; hence they were left in quiet possession of the places which +they occupied on the sea-board, and gradually came to embrace +Christianity themselves. + +Little is known of the circumstances which attended this change +of religion on their part; and it is certain that it did not +take place till late in the tenth century. Some pretend that +Christianity was brought to them from their own country, where +it had already been planted by several missionaries and bishops. +But it is known that St. Ancharius, the first apostle of Denmark, +could not establish himself permanently in that country, and +had to direct a few missionaries from Hamburgh, where he fixed +his see. It is known, moreover, that Denmark was only truly +converted by Canute in the eleventh century, after his conquest +of England. As to Norway, the first attempt at its conversion by +King Haquin, who had become a Christian at the court of +Athelstan in England, was a failure; and although his successor, +Harold, appeared to succeed better for a time, paganism was +again reestablished, and flourished as late as 995. It was, in +fact, Olaf the Holy who, coming from England, in 1017, with the +priests Sigefried, Budolf, and Bernard, succeeded in introducing +Christianity permanently into Norway, and he made more use of +the sword than of the word in his mission. + +With regard to the conversion of the Danes in Ireland, it seems +that, after all, it was the ever-present spectacle of the +workings of Christianity among the Irish which gradually opened +their eyes and ears. They came to love the country and the +people when they knew them thoroughly; they respected them for +their bravery, which they had proved a thousand times; they felt +attracted toward them on account of their geniality of +temperament and their warm social feelings; even their defects +of character and their impulsive nature were pleasing to them. +They soon sought their company and relationship; they began to +intermarry with them; and from this there was but a step to +embracing their religion. + +The Danes of Waterford, Cork, and Limerick were, however, the +last to abandon paganism, and they seem not to have done so +until after Clontarf. + +It is very remarkable that, during all those conflicts of the +Irish with the Danes, when the Northmen strewed the island with +dead and ruins; when they seemed to be planting their domination +in the Orkneys, the Hebrides, and even the Isle of Man, on a +firm footing; when the seas around England and Ireland swarmed +with pirates, and new expeditions started almost every spring +from the numerous harbors of the Baltic--the Irish colony of Dal +Riada in Scotland, which was literally surrounded by the +invaders, succeeded in wresting North Britain from the Picts, +drove them into the Lowlands, and so completely rooted them out, +that history never more speaks of them, so that to this day the +historical problem stands unsolved-- What became of the Picts?-- +various as are the explanations given of their disappearance. +And, what is more remarkable still, is, that the Dal Riada +colony received constant help from their brothers in Erin, and +the first of the dynasty of Scottish kings, in the person of +Kenneth McAlpine, was actually set on the throne of Scotland by +the arms of the Irish warriors, who, not satisfied apparently +with their constant conflicts with the Danes on their own soil, +passed over the Eastern Sea to the neighboring coast of Great +Britain. + +During the last forty years of the tenth century the Danes lived +in Ireland as though they belonged to the soil. If they waged +war against some provincial king, they became the allies of +others. When clan fought clan, Danes were often found on both +sides, or if on one only, they soon joined the other. They had +been brought to embrace the manners of the natives, and to adopt +many of their customs and habits. Yet there always remained a +lurking distrust, more or less marked, between the two races; +and it was clear that Ireland could never be said to have +escaped the danger of subjugation until the Scandinavian element +should be rendered powerless. + +This antipathy on both sides existed very early even in Church +affairs, the Christian natives being looked upon with a jealous +eye by the Christian Danes; so that, toward the middle of the +tenth century, the Danes of Dublin having succeeded in obtaining +a bishop of their own nation, they sent him to England to be +consecrated by Lanfranc, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and for a +long time the see of Dublin was placed under the jurisdiction of +Lanfranc's successors. + +This grew into a serious difficulty for Ireland, as the capital +of Leinster began to be looked upon as depending, at least +spiritually, on England; and later on, at the time of the +invasion under Strongbow, the establishment of the English Pale +was considerably facilitated by such an arrangement, to which +Rome had consented only for the spiritual advantage of her +Scandinavian children in Ireland. + +And the Irish were right in distrusting every thing foreign on +the soil, for, even after becoming Christians, the Danes could +not resist the temptation of making a last effort for the +subjugation of the country. + +Hence arose their last general effort, which resulted in their +final overthrow at Clontarf. It does not enter into our purpose +to give the story of that great event, known in all its details +to the student of Irish history. It is not for us to trace the +various steps by which Brian Boru mounted to supreme power, and +superseded Malachi, to relate the many partial victories he had +already gained over the Northmen, nor to allude to his splendid +administration of the government, and the happiness of the Irish +under his sway. + +But it is our duty to point out the persevering attempts of the +Scandinavian race, not only to keep its footing on Irish soil, +but to try anew to conquer what it had so often failed to +conquer. For, in describing their preparations for this last +attempt on a great scale, we but add another proof of that Irish +steadfastness which we have already had so many occasions to +admire. + +In the chronicle of Adhemar, quoted by Lanigan from Labbe (Nova +Bibl., MSS., Tom. 2, p.177), it is said that "the Northmen came +at that time to Ireland, with an immense fleet, conveying even +their wives and children, with a view of extirpating the Irish +and occupying in their stead that very wealthy country in which +there were twelve cities, with extensive bishopries and a king." + +Labbe thinks the Chronicle was written before the year 1031, so +that in his opinion the writer was a contemporary of the facts +he relates. + +The Irish Annals state, on their side, that "the foreigners were +gathered from all the west of Europe, envoys having been +despatched into Norway, the Orkneys, the Baltic islands, so that +a great number of Vikings came from all parts of Scandinavia, +with their families, for the purpose of a permanent settlement." + +Similar efforts were made about the same time by the Danes for +the lasting conquest of England, which succeeded, Sweyn having +been proclaimed king in 1013, and Canute the Great becoming its +undisputed ruler in 1017. + +It is well known how the attempt failed in Erin, an army of +twenty-one thousand freebooters being completely defeated near +Dublin by Brian and his sons. + +From that time the existence of the Scandinavian race on the +Irish soil was a precarious one; they were merely permitted to +occupy the sea-ports for the purpose of trade, and soon Irish +chieftains replaced their kings in Dublin, Limerick, Waterford, +and Cork. + +The reader may be curious to learn, in conclusion, what signs +the Danes left of their long sojourn on the island. If we listen +to mere popular rumor, the country is still full of the ruins of +buildings occupied by them. The common people, in pointing out +to strangers the remains of edifices, fortifications, raths, +duns, even round-towers and churches, either more ancient or +more recent than the period of the Norse invasion, ascribe them +to the Danes. It is clear that two hundred years of devastations, +burnings, and horrors, have left a deep impression on the mind +of the Irish; and, as they cannot suppose that such powerful +enemies could have remained so long in their midst without +leaving wonderful traces of their passage, they often attribute +to them the construction of the very edifices which they +destroyed. The general accuracy of their traditions seems here +at fault. For there is no nation on earth so exact as the Irish +in keeping the true remembrance of facts of their past history. +Not long ago all Irish peasants were perfectly acquainted with +the whole history of their neighborhood; they could tell what +clans had succeeded each other, the exact spots where such a +party had been overthrown and such another victorious; every +village had its sure traditions printed on the minds of its +inhabitants, and, by consulting the annals of the nation, the +coincidence was often remarkable. How is it, therefore, that +they were so universally at fault with respect to the Danes? + +A partial explanation has been given which is in itself a proof +of the tenacity of Irish memory. It is known that the Tuatha de +Danaan were not only skilful in medicine, in the working of +metals and in magic, but many buildings are generally attributed +to them by the best antiquarians; among others, the great mound +of New Grange, on the banks of the Boyne, which is still in +perfect preservation, although opened and pillaged by the Danes-- +a work reminding the beholder of some Egyptian monument. The +coincidence of the name of the Tuatha de Danaan with that of the +Danes may have induced many of the illiterate Irish to adopt the +universal error into which they fell long ago, of attributing +most of the ancient monuments of their country to the Danes. + +The fact is, that the ruins of a few unimportant castles and +churches are all the landmarks that remain of the Danish +domination in Ireland; and even these must have been the product +of the latter part of it. + +But a more curious proof of the extirpation of every thing +Danish in the island is afforded by Mr. Worsaae, whose object in +writing his account of the Danes and Norwegians in England, +Scotland, and Ireland, was to glorify his own country, Denmark. + +He made a special study of the names of places and things, which +can be traced to the Scandinavians respectively in the three +great divisions of the British Isles; and certainly the language +of a conquering people always shows itself in many words of the +conquered country, where the subjugation has been of sufficient +duration. + +In England, chiefly in the northern half of the kingdom, a very +great number of Danish names appear and are still preserved in +the geography of the country. In Mr. Worsaae's book there is a +tabular view of 1,373 Danish and Norwegian names of places in +England, and also a list of 100 Danish words, selected from the +vulgar tongue, still in use among the people who dwell north of +Watling Street. + +In Scotland, likewise--in the Highlands and even in the Lowlands- +-a considerable number of names, or at least of terminations, +are still to be met in the geography of the country. + +Three or four names of places around Dublin, and the +terminations of the names of the cities of Waterford, Wexford, +Longford, and a few others, are all that Mr. Worsaae could find +in Ireland. So that the language of the Irish, not to speak of +their government and laws, remained proof against the long and +persevering efforts made by a great and warlike Northern race to +invade the country, and substitute its social life for that of +the natives. + +As a whole, the Scandinavian irruptions were a complete failure. +They did not succeed in impressing their own nationality or +individuality on any thing in the island, as they did in England, +Holland, and the north of France. The few drops of blood which +they left in the country have been long ago absorbed in the +healthful current of the pure Celtic stream; even the language +of the people was not affected by them. + +As for the social character of the nation, it was not touched by +this fearful aggression. The customs of Scandinavia with respect +to government, society, domestic affairs, could not influence +the Irish; they refused to admit the systematic thraldom which +the sternness of the Northmen would engraft upon their character, +and preserved their free manners in spite of all adverse +attempts. In this country, Turgesius, Amlaf, Sitrick, and their +compeers, failed as signally as other Scandinavian chieftains +succeeded in Britain and Normandy. + +The municipal system, which has won so much praise, was +scornfully abandoned by the Irish to the Danes of the sea port +towns, and they continued the agricultural life adapted to their +tastes. Towns and cities were not built in the interior till +much later by the English. + +The clan territories continued to be governed as before. The +"Book of Rights" extended its enactments even to the Danish Pale; +and the Danes tried to convert it to their own advantage by +introducing into it false chapters. How the poem of the Gaels of +Ath Cliath first found a place in the "Book of Rights" is still +unknown to the best Irish antiquarians. John O'Donovan concludes +from a verse in it that it was composed in the tenth century, +after the conversion of the Danes of Dublin to Christianity. It +proves certainly that the Scandinavians in Ireland, like the +English of the Pale later on, had become attached to Erin and +Erin's customs--had, in fact, become. Irishmen, to all intents +and purposes. Not succeeding in making Northmen of the Irish, +they succumbed to the gentle influence of Irish manners and +religion. + +As for the commercial spirit, the Irish could not be caught by +it, even when confronted by the spectacle of the wealth it +conferred on the "foreigners." It is stated openly in the annals +of the race that their greatest kings, both Malachi and Brian +Boru, did not utterly expel the Danes from the country, in order +that they might profit by the Scandinavian traders, and receive +through them the wines, silks, and other commodities, which the +latter imported from the continent of Europe. + +The same is true of the sea-faring life. The Irish could never +be induced to adopt it as a profession, whatever may have been +their fondness for short voyages in their curraghs. + +The only baneful effects which the Norse invasion exercised on +the Irish were: 1. The interruption of studies on the large, +even universal, scale on which, they had previously been +conducted; 2. The breaking up of the former constitution of the +monarchy, by compelling the several clans which were attacked by +the "foreigners" to act independently of the Ard-Righ, so that +from that time irresponsible power was divided among a much +greater number of chieftains. + +But these unfortunate effects of the Norse irruptions affected +in no wise the Irish character, language, or institutions, which, +in fact, finally triumphed over the character, language, and +institutions of the pirates established among them for upward of +two centuries. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +THE IRISH FREE CLANS AND ANGLO-NORMAN FEUDALISM. + +The Danes were subdued, and the Irish at liberty to go on +weaving the threads of their history--though, in consequence of +the local wars, they had lost the concentrating power of the Ard- +Righ--when treachery in their own ranks opened up the way for a +far more serious attack from another branch of the great +Scandinavian family--the Anglo-Norman. + +The manners of the people had been left unchanged; the clan +system had not been altered in the least; it had stood the test +of previous revolutions; now it was to be confronted by a new +system which had just conquered Europe, and spread itself round +about the apparently doomed island. Of all places it had taken +deep root in England, where it was destined to survive its +destruction elsewhere in the convulsions of our modern history. +That system, then in full vigor, was feudalism. + +In order rightly to understand and form a correct judgment on +the question, and its mighty issues, we must state briefly what +the chief characteristics of feudalism were in those countries +where it flourished. + +The feudal system proceeded on the principle that landed +property was all derived from the king, as the captain of a +conquering army; that it had been distributed by him among his +followers on certain conditions, and that it was liable to be +forfeited if those conditions were not fulfilled. + +The feudal system, moreover, politically considered, supposed +the principle that all civil and political rights were derived +from the possession of land; that those who possessed no land +could possess neither civil nor political rights--were, in fact, +not men, but villeins. + +Consequently, it reduced nations to a small number of landowners, +enjoying all the privileges of citizenship; the masses, +deprived of all rights, having no share in the government, no +opportunity of rising in the social scale, were forever +condemned to villeinage or serfdom. + +Feudalism, in our opinion, came first from Scandinavia. The +majority of writers derive it from Germany. The question of its +origin is too extensive to be included within our present limits, +and indeed is unnecessary, as we deal principally with the fact +and not with its history. + +When the sea-rover had conquered the boat of an enemy, or +destroyed a village, he distributed the spoils among his crew. +Every thing was handed over to his followers in the form of a +gift, and in return these latter were bound to serve him with +the greatest ardor and devotedness. In course of time the idea +of settling down on some territory which they had devastated and +depopulated, presented itself to the minds of the rovers. The +sea-kong did by the land what he had been accustomed to do by +the plunder: he parcelled it out among his faithful followers-- +fideles--giving to each his share of the territory. This was +called feoh by the Anglo-Saxons, who were the first to carry out +the system on British soil, as Dr. Lingard shows. Thus the word +fief was coined, which in due time took its place in all the +languages of Europe. + +The giver was considered the absolute owner of whatever he gave, +as is the commander of a vessel at sea. It was a beneficium +conferred by him, to which certain indispensable conditions were +attached. Military duty was the first, but not the only one of +these. Writers on feudalism mention a great number, the +nonfulfilment of which incurred what was called forfeiture. + +In countries where the pirates succeeded in establishing +themselves, all the native population was either destroyed by +them, as Dudo tells us was the case in Normandy, or, as more +frequently happened, the sword being unable to carry destruction +so far, the inhabitants who survived were reduced to serfdom, +and compelled to till the soil for the conquerors; they were +thenceforth called villeins or ascripti glebae. It is clear that +such only as possessed land could claim civil and political +rights in the new states thus called into existence. Hence the +owning of land under feudal tenure was the great and only +essential characteristic of mediaeval feudalism. + +This system, which was first introduced into Britain by the +Anglo-Saxons, was brought to a fixed and permanent state by the +Normans--followers of William the Conqueror; and, when the time +came for treachery to summon the Norman knights to Irish soil, +the devoted island found herself face to face with an iron +system which at that period crushed and weighed down all Europe. + +The Normans had now been settled in England for a hundred years; +all the castles in the country were occupied by Norman lords; +all bishopries filled by Norman bishops; all monasteries ruled +by Norman abbots. At the head of the state stood the king, at +that time Henry II. Here, more than in any other country in +Europe, was the king the key-stone to the feudal masonry. Not an +inch of ground in England was owned save under his authority, as +enjoying the supremum dominium. All the land had been granted by +his predecessors as fiefs, with the right of reversion to the +crown by forfeiture in case of the violation of feudal +obligations. Here was no allodial property, no censitive +hereditary domain, as in the rest of, otherwise, feudal Europe. +All English lawyers were unanimous in the doctrine that the king +alone was the true master of the territory; that tenure under +him carried with it all the conditions of feudal tenure, and +that any deed or grant proceeding from his authority ought to be +so understood. + +The south-western portion of Wales was occupied by Norman lords, +Flemings for the most part. Two of these, Robert Fitzstephens +and Maurice Fitzgerald, sailed to the aid of the Irish King of +Leinster. They were the first to land, arriving a full year +before Strongbow. + +Strongbow came at last. The conditions agreed on beforehand +between himself and the Leinster king were fulfilled. He was +married to the daughter of Dermod McMurrough, chief of Leinster, +acknowledged Righ Dahma, that is, successor to the crown, while +the Irish, accustomed for ages to admire valor and bow +submissively to the law of conquest, admitted the claim. The +English adventurer they looked upon as one of themselves by +marriage. Election in such a case was unnecessary, or rather, +understood, and Strongbow took the place which was his in their +eyes by right of his wife, of head under McMurrough of all the +clans of Leinster. + +When, a little later, came Henry II. to be acknowledged by +Strongbow as his suzerain, and to receive the homage of the +presumptive heir of Leinster, submission to him was, in the +eyes of the Irish, merely a consequence of their own clan system. +They understood the homage rendered to him in a very different +sense from that attached to it by feudal nations; and had they +had an inkling of the real intentions of the new comers, not one +of them would have consented to live under and bow the neck to +such a yoke. + +In fact, on the small territory where those great events were +enacted, two worlds, utterly different from each other, stood +face to face. Cambrensis tells us that the English were struck +with wonder at what they saw. The imperialism of Rome had never +touched Ireland. The Danes, opposed so strenuously from the +outset, and finally overcome, had never been able to introduce +there their restrictive measures of oppression. The English +found the natives in exactly the same state as that in which +Julius Caesar found the Gauls twelve hundred years before, +except as to religion--the race governed patriarchally by +chieftains allied to their subordinates by blood relationship; +no unity in the government, no common flag, no private and +hereditary property, nothing to bind the tribes together except +religion. It was not a nation properly, but rather an +agglomeration of small nations often at war each with each, yet +all strongly attached to Erin-- a mere name, including, +nevertherless, the dear idea of country --the chieftains +elective, bold, enterprising; the subordinates free, attached to +the chief as to a common father, throwing themselves with ardor +into all his quarrels, ready to die for him at any moment. +Around chief and clansmen circled a large number of brehons, +shanachies, poets, bards, and harpers--poetry, music, and war +strangely blended together. The religion of Christ spread over +all a halo of purity and holiness; large monasteries filled with +pious monks, and convents of devout and pure virgins abounded; +bishops and priests in the churches chanting psalms, each +accompanying himself with a many-stringed harp, gave forth sweet +harmony, unheard at the time in any other part of the world. + +A most important feature to be considered is their understanding +of property. Hereditary right of land with respect to +individuals, and the transmission of property of any kind by +right of primogeniture, were unknown among them. If a specified +amount of territory was assigned to the chieftain, a smaller +portion to the bishop, the shanachy, head poet, and other civil +officers each in his degree, such property was attached to the +office and not to the man who filled it, but passed to his +elected successor and not to his own children; while the great +bulk of the territory belonged to the clan in common. No one +possessed the right to alienate a single rood of it, and, if at +times a portion was granted to exiles, to strangers, to a +contiguous clan, the whole tribe was consulted on the subject. +Over the common land large herds of cattle roamed--the property +of individuals who could own nothing, except of a movable nature, +beyond their small wooden houses. + +This state of things had existed, according to their annals, for +several thousand years. Their ancestors had lived happily under +such social conditions, which they wished to abide in and hand +down to their posterity. + +Foreign trade was distasteful to them; in fact, they had no +inclination for commerce. Lucre they despised, scarcely knowing +the use of money, which had been lately introduced among them. +Yet, being refined in their tastes, fond of ornament, of wine at +their feasts, loving to adorn the persons of their wives and +daughters with silk and gems, they had allowed the Danes to +dwell in their seaports, to trade in those commodities, and to +import for their use what the land did not produce. + +Those seaport towns had been fortified by the Northmen on their +first victories when they took possession of them. Throughout +the rest of the island, a fortress or a large town was not to be +seen. The people, being all agriculturists or graziers, loved to +dwell in the country; their houses were built of wattle and clay, +yet comfortable and orderly. + +The mansions of the chieftains were neither large architectural +piles, nor frowning fortresses. They bore the name of raths when +used for dwellings; of duns when constructed with a view to +resisting an attack. In both cases, they were, in part under +ground, in part above; the whole circular in form, built +sometimes of large stones, oftener of walls of sodded clay. + +Instead of covering their limbs with coats of mail, like the +warriors of mediaeval Europe, they wore woollen garments even in +war, and for ornaments chains or plates of precious metal. The +Norman invaders, clad in heavy mail, were surprised, therefore, +to find themselves face to face with men in their estimation +unprotected and naked. More astonished were they still at the +natural boldness and readiness of the Irish in speaking before +their chieftains and princes, not understanding that all were of +the same blood and cognizant of the fact. + +Still less could they understand the freedom and familiarity +existing between the Irish nobility and the poorest of their +kinsmen, so different from the haughty bearing of an aristocracy +of foreign extraction to the serfs and villeins of a people they +had conquered. + +The two nations now confronting each other had, therefore, +nothing in common, unless, perhaps, an excessive pertinacity of +purpose. The new comers belonged to a stern, unyielding, +systematic stock, which was destined to give to Europe that +great character so superior in our times to that of southern or +eastern nations. The natives possessed that strong attachment to +their time-honored customs, so peculiar to patriarchal tribes, +in whose nature traditions and social habits are so strongly +intermingled, that they are ineradicable save by the utter +extirpation of the people. + +And now the characteristics of both races were to be brought out +in strong contrast by the great question of property in the soil, +which was at the bottom of the struggle between clanship and +feudalism. The Irish, as we have seen, knew nothing of +individual property in land, nor of tenure, nor of rent, much +less of forfeiture. They were often called upon by their +chieftains to contribute to their support in ways not seldom +oppressive enough, but the contributions were always in kind. + +A new and very different system was to be attempted, to which +the Irish at first appeared to consent, because they did not +understand it, attaching, as they did, their own ideas to words, +which, in the mouths of the invaders, had a very different +meaning. + +With the Irish "to do homage" meant to acknowledge the +superiority of another, either on account of his lawful +authority or his success in war; and the consequences of this +act were, either the fulfilment of the enactments contained in +the "Book of Rights," or submission to temporary conditions +guaranteed by hostages. But that the person doing homage became +by that act the liegeman of the suzerain for life and +hereditarily in his posterity, subject to be deprived of all +privileges of citizenship, as well as to the possibility of +seeing all his lands forfeited, besides many minor penalties +enjoined by the feudal code which often resolved itself into +mere might--such a meaning of the word homage could by no +possibility enter the mind of an Irishman at that period. + +Hence, when, after the atrocities committed by the first +invaders, who respected neither treaties nor the dictates of +humanity, not even the sanctuary and the sacredness of religious +houses, Henry II. came with an army, large and powerful for that +time, the Irish people and their chieftains, hoping that he +would put an end to the crying tyranny of the Fitzstephens, +Fitzgeralds, De Lacys, and others, went to meet him and +acknowledge his authority as head chieftain of Leinster through +Strongbow, and, perhaps, as the monarch who should restore peace +and happiness to the whole island. McCarthy, king of Desmond, +was the first Irish prince to pay homage to Henry. + +While the king was spending the Christmas festivities in Dublin, +many other chieftains arrived; among them O'Carrol of Oriel and +O'Rourke of Breffny. Roderic O'Connor of Connaught, till then +acknowledged by many as monarch of Ireland, thought at first of +fighting, but, as was his custom, he ended by a treaty, wherein, +it is said, he acknowledged Henry as his suzerain, and thus +placed Ireland at his feet. Ulster alone had not seen the +invaders; but, as its inhabitants did not protest with arms in +their hands, the Normans pretended that from that moment they +were the rightful owners of the island. + +Without a moment's delay they began to feudalize the country by +dividing the land and building castles. These two operations, +which we now turn to, opened the eyes of the Irish to the +deception which had been practised upon them, and were the real +origin of the momentous struggle which is still being waged +today. + +Sir John Davies, the English attorney-general of James I., has +stated the whole case in a sentence: "All Ireland was by Henry +II. cantonized among ten of the English nation; and, though they +had not gained possession of one-third of the kingdom, yet in +title they were owners and lords of all, so as nothing was left +to be granted to the natives." + +McCarthy, king of Desmond, had been the first to acknowledge the +authority of Henry II., yet McCarthy's lands were among the +first, if not the first, bestowed by Henry on his minions. The +grant may be seen in Ware, and it is worthy of perusal as a +sample of the many grants which followed it, whereby Henry +attempted a total revolution in the tenure of land. The charter +giving Meath to De Lacy was the only one which by a clause +seemed to preserve the old customs of the country as to +territory; and yet it was in Meath that the greatest atrocities +were committed. + +Yet one difficulty presented itself to the invaders: their +rights were only on paper, whereas the Irish were still in +possession of the greatest part of the island, and once the real +purpose of the Normans showed itself, they were no longer +disposed to submit to Henry or to any of his appointed lords. +The territory had to be wrested from them by force of arms. + +The English claimed the whole island as their own. They were, in +fact, masters only of the portion occupied by their troops; the +remainder was, therefore, to be conquered. And if in Desmond, +where the whole strength of the English first fell, they +possessed only a little more than one-fourth of the soil, what +was the case in the rest of the island, the most of which had +not yet seen them? + +Long years of war would evidently be required to subdue it, and +the systematic mind of the conquerors immediately set about +devising the best means for the attainment of their purpose. The +lessons gathered from their continental experience suggested +these means immediately; they saw that by covering the country +with feudal castles they could in the end conquer the most +stubborn nation. A thorough revolution was intended. The two +systems were so entirely antagonistic to each other that the +success of the Norman project involved a change of land tenure, +laws, customs, dress--every thing. Even the music of the bards +was to be silenced, the poetry of the files to be abolished, the +pedigrees of families to be discontinued, the very games of the +people to be interrupted and forbidden. A vast number of castles +was necessary. The project was a fearful one, cruel, barbarous, +worthy of pagan antiquity. It was undertaken with a kind of +ferocious alacrity, and in a short time it appeared near +realization. But in the long run it failed, and four hundred +years later, under the eighth Henry, it was as far from +completion as the day on which the second Henry left the island +in 1171. + +To show the importance which the invaders attached to their +system, and the ardor with which they set about putting it in +practice, we have only to extract a few passages from the old +annals of the islands; they are wonderfully expressive in their +simplicity: + +"A.D. 1176. The English were driven from Limerick by Donnall +O'Brian. An English castle was in process of erection at Kells."- +-(Four Masters.) + +"A.D. 1178. The English built and fortified a castle at Kenlis, +the key of those parts of Meath, against the incursions of the +Ulster men."--(Ware's Antiquities.) + +"A.D. 1180. Hugh De Lacy planted several colonies in Meath, and +fortified the country with many castles, for the defence and +security of the English."--(Ibid.) + +Such enumerations might be prolonged indefinitely; we conclude +with the following entry taken from the Four Masters: + +"A.D. 1186. Hugh De Lacy, the profaner and destroyer of many +churches, Lord of the English of Meath (the Irish cannot call +him their lord), Breffni, and Oirghialla, he who had conquered +the greater part of Ireland for the English, and of whose +English castles all Meath, from the Shannon to the sea, was full, +after having finished the castle of Der Magh, set out +accompanied by three Englishmen to visit it . . . . One of the +men of Tebtha, a youth named O'Miadhaigh, approached him, and +with an axe severed his head from his body." + +So wide-reaching and comprehensive was the plan of the invaders +from the beginning that they felt confident of holding +possession of Ireland forever; and to effect this they must +certainly have intended to destroy or drive out the native race, +or at best to make slaves of as many of them as they chose to +keep. Thus they had prophecies manufactured for the purpose, and +Cambrensis, in his second book, chapter xxxiii., says +confidently: "Prophecies promise a full victory to the English +people. . . . and that the island of Hibernia shall be subjected +and fortified with castles--literally incastellated, +incastellatam--throughout from sea to sea." + +Meanwhile, together with the building of castles, the partition +of the territory was being carried out. The ten great lords, +among whom, according to Sir John Davies, Henry II. had +cantonized Ireland, saw the necessity of giving a part of their +large estates to their followers that so they might occupy the +whole. McGeohegan compiles from Ware the best view of this very +interesting and comparatively unexplored subject. Curious +details are found there, showing that, with the exception of +Ulster, not only the geography, but even the most minute +topography of the country, had been well studied by those feudal +chieftains. Their characteristic love for system runs all +through these transactions. + +But the Irish had now seen enough. The whole country was in a +blaze. That kind of guerilla war peculiar to the Celtic clans +began. The newly built castles were attacked and often captured +and destroyed. Strongbow was shut up and besieged in Water- ford, +which fell into the hands of the Danes. The latter sided +everywhere with the Irish. Limerick changed hands several times, +until Donnall O'Brian, who was left in possession, set fire to +it rather than see it fall again into the hands of the invaders. + +In Meath, where the numerous castles of De Lacy were situated, a +war to the knife was being waged. O'Melachlin first tried +persuasion, but in conference with De Lacy he dared inveigh +loudly against the King of England, and, as his words must have +expressed the feelings of the great majority of the people, we +give them: + +"Notwithstanding his promise of supporting me in the possession +of my wealth and dignities, he has sent robbers to invade my +patrimony. Avaricious and sparing of his own possessions, he is +lavish of those of others, and thus enriches libertines and +profligates who have consumed the patrimony of their fathers in +debauchery." + +This manly protest was answered by the stroke of a dagger from +the hand of Raymond Legros, and, after being beheaded, +0'Melachlin was buried feet upward as a rebel. + +The monarch himself, Roderic O'Connor, finally appeared on the +scene, beat the English at Thurles, and, marching into Meath, +laid the country waste. + +Henry at last saw the necessity of adopting a milder policy, and +O'Connor dispatching to England Catholicus O'Duffy, Archbishop +of Tuam, Lawrence O'Toole, of Dublin, and Concors, Abbot of St. +Brendan, the Treaty of Windsor was concluded, which was really a +compromise, and yet remained the true law of the land for four +hundred years. It may be seen in Rymer's "Foedera." + +Sir John Davies justly remarks that by the treaty "the Irish +lords only promised to become tributaries to King Henry II.; and +such as pay only tribute, though they are placed by Bodin in the +first degree of subjection, yet are not properly subjects, but +sovereigns; for though they be less and inferior to the princes +to whom they pay tribute, yet they hold all other points of +sovereignty. + +"And, therefore, though King Henry had the title of Sovereign +Lord over the Irish, yet did he not put those things in +execution, which are the true marks of sovereignty. + +"For to give laws unto a people, to institute magistrates and +officers over them, to punish or pardon malefactors, to have the +sole authority of making war or peace, are the true marks of +sovereignty, which King Henry II. had not in Ireland, but the +Irish lords did still retain all those prerogatives to +themselves. For they governed their people by the Brehon law; +they appointed their own magistrates and officers; . . . . they +made war and peace one with another, without control; and this +they did not only during the reign of Henry II., but afterward +in all times, even until the reign of Queen Elizabeth." + +By an article of the treaty the Irish were allowed to live in +the Pale if they chose; and even there they could enjoy their +customs in peace, as far as the letter of the law went. Many +acts of Irish parliaments, it is true, were passed for the +purpose of depriving them of that right, but without success. + +Edmund Spenser, himself living in the Pale in the reign of +Elizabeth, speaks as an eye-witness of "having seen their meeton +their ancient accustomed hills, where they debated and settled +matters according to the Brehon laws, between family and family, +township and township, assembling in large numbers, and going, +according to their custom, all armed." + +Stanihurst also, a contemporary of Spenser, had witnessed the +breaking up of those meetings, and seen "the crowds in long +lines, coming down the hills in the wake of each chieftain, he +the proudest that could bring the largest company home to his +evening supper." + +Here would be the proper place to speak of the Brehon law, which +remained thus in antagonism to feudal customs for several +centuries. Up to recently, however, only vague notions could be +given of that code. But at this moment antiquarians are revising +and studying it preparatory to publishing the "Senchus Mor" in +which the Irish law is contained. It is known that it existed +previous to the conversion of Ireland to Christianity, and that +the laws of tanistry and of gavelkind, the customs of gossipred +and of fostering, were of pagan origin. Patrick revised the code +and corrected what could not coincide with the Christian +religion. He also introduced into the island many principles of +the Roman civil and canon law, which, without destroying the +peculiarities natural to the Irish character, invested their +code with a more modern and Christian aspect. + +Edmund Campian, who afterward died a martyr under Elizabeth, +says, in his "Account of Ireland," written in May, 1571: "They +(the Irish) speak Latin like a vulgar language, learned in their +common schools of leechcraft and law, whereat they begin +children, and hold on sixteen or twenty years, conning by rote +the aphorisms of Hippocrates, and the Civil Institutes, and a +few other parings of these two faculties. I have seen them where +they kept school, ten in some one chamber, grovelling upon +couches of straw, their books at their noses, themselves lying +prostrate, and so to chant out their lessons by piecemeal, being +the most part lusty fellows of twenty-five years and upward." + +It was then after studies of from sixteen to twenty years that +the Brehon judge--the great one of a whole sept, or the inferior +one of a single noble family--sat at certain appointed times, in +the open air, on a hill generally, having for his seat clods of +earth, to decide on the various subjects of difference among +neighbors. + +Sir James Ware remarks that they were not acquainted with the +laws of England. He might have better said, they preferred their +own, as not coming from cold and pagan Scandinavia, but from the +warm south, the greatest of human law-givers, the jurisconsults +of Old Rome, and the holy expounders of the laws of Christian +Rome. + +What were those laws of England of which Ware speaks? There is +no question here of the common law which came into use in times +posterior to Henry II., and which the English derived chiefly +from the Christian civil and canon law; but of those feudal +enactments, which the Anglo-Normans endeavored to introduce into +Ireland, for the purpose of supplanting the old law and customs +of the natives. + +There was, first, the law of territory, if we may so call it, by +which the supreme ruler became really owner of the integral soil, +which he distributed among his great vassals, to be +redistributed by them among inferior vassals. + +There was the law of primogeniture, which even to this day +obtains in England, and has brought about in that country since +the days of William the Conqueror, and in Ireland since the +English "plantations" of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, +the state of things now so well known to Europe. + +There was also the long list of feudal conditions to be observed, +by the fulfilment of which the great barons and their followers +held their lands. For their tenure was liable to homage and +fealty, as understood in the feudal sense, to wardships and +impediments to marriage, to fines for alienations, to what +English legists call primer seizins, rents, reliefs, escheats, +and, finally, forfeitures; this last was at all times more +strictly observed in England than in any other feudal country, +and by its enactments so many noble families have, in the course +of ages, been reduced to beggary, and their chiefs often brought +to the block. English history is filled with such cases. + +The law of wardship, by which no minor, heir, or heiress could +have other guardian than the suzerain, and could not marry +without his consent, was at all times a great source of wealth +to the royal exchequer, and a correspondingly heavy tribute laid +on the vassal. So profitable did the English kings find this law, +that they speedily introduced it into Church affairs, every +bishop's see or monastery being considered, at the death of the +incumbent, as a minor, a ward, to be taken care of by the +sovereign, who enjoyed the revenues without bothering himself +particularly with the charges. + +There were, finally, the hunting laws, which forbade any man to +hunt or hawk even on his own estate. + +Such were the laws of England, which Sir James Ware complains +the Irish did not know. + +In signing the treaty of Windsor, the English king had +apparently recognized in the person of Roderic O'Connor, and in +the Irish through him, the chief rights of sovereignty over the +whole island, except Leinster and, perhaps, Meath. But, at the +same time, a passage or two in the treaty concealed a meaning +certainly unperceived by the Irish, but fraught with mischief +and misfortune to their country. + +First, Roderic O'Connor acknowledged himself and his successors +as liegemen of the kings of England; in a second place, the +privileges conceded to the Irish were to continue only so long +as they remained faithful to their oath of allegiance. We see +here the same confusion of ideas, which we remarked on the +meaning given to the word homage by either party. The natives of +the island understood to be liegemen and under oath in a sense +conformable to their usual ideas of subordination; the English +invested those words with the feudal meaning. + +All the calamities of the four following centuries, and, +consequently, all the horrors of the times subsequent to the +Protestant Reformation, were to be the penalty of that +misunderstanding. + +Let us picture to ourselves two races of men so different as the +Milesian Celts on the one side, and the Scandinavian Norman +French on the other, having concluded such a treaty as that of +Windsor, each side resolved to push its own interpretation to +the bitter end. + +The English are in possession of a territory clearly enough +defined, but they are ever on the alert to seize any opportunity +of a real or pretended violation of it, in order to extend their +limits and subjugate the whole island. Yet they are bound to +allow the Brehon Irish to live in their midst, governed by their +own customs and laws. Moreover, they acknowledge that the former +great Irish lords of the very country which they occupy are not +mere Irish, but of noble blood; for, from the beginning, the +English recognized five families of the country, known as the +"five bloods," as pure and noble, in theory at least. + +The Irish without the Pale are acknowledged as perfectly +independent, completely beyond English control, with their own +magistrates and laws, even that of war; subject only to tribute. +But, at the same time, this independence is rendered absolutely +insecure by the imposition of conditions, whose meaning is well +known and perfectly understood in all the countries conquered by +the Scandinavians, but utterly beyond the comprehension of the +Irish. + +The consequence is clear: war began with the conclusion of the +treaty--a war which raged for four centuries, until a new and +more powerful incentive to slaughter and desolation showed +itself in the Reformation, ushered in by Henry VIII. + +First came a general rebellion. This is the word used by +Ware, when John, a boy of twelve years of age, was dispatched by +his father Henry, with the title of Lord of Ireland, to receive +the submission of various Irish lords at Waterford, where he +landed. "The young English gentlemen," says Cambrensis, who was +a witness of the scene, "used the Irish chieftains with scorn, +because," as he says, "their demeanor was rude and barbarous." +The Irish naturally resented this treatment from a lad, as they +would have resented it from his father; and they retired in +wrath to take up arms and raise the whole land to "rebellion." + +This solemn protest was not without effect in Europe. At the +beginning of the reign of Richard I., Clement III., on +appointing, by the king's request, William de Longchamps, +Bishop of Ely, as his legate in England, Wales, and Ireland, +took good care to limit the authority of this prelate to those +parts of Ireland which lay under the jurisdiction of the Earl +of Moreton-- that is, of John, brother to Richard. He had power +to exercise his jurisdiction "in Anglia,, Wallia, et illis +Hiberniae partibus in quibus Joannes Moretonii Comes potestatem +habet et dominium."--(Matth. Paris.) It would seem, then, that +Clement III. knew nothing of the bull of Adrian IV. + +The war, as we said, was incessant. England finally so despaired +of conquering the country, that some lords of the court of Henry +VI. caused him to write letters to some of his "Irish enemies," +urging the latter to effect the conquest of the island in the +king's name. This was assuredly a last resource, which history +has never recorded of any other nation warring on a rival. But +even in this England failed. Those lords--the "Irish enemies" of +King Henry VI.--sent his letters to the Duke of York, then Lord- +Lieutenant, "and published to the world the shame of England."-- +(Sir John Davies.) + +The result was that, at the end of the reign of Henry VI., the +Irish, in the words of the same author, "became victorious over +all, without blood or sweat; only that little canton of land, +called the English Pale, containing four small shires; +maintained yet a bordering war with the Irish, and retained the +form of English government." + +Feudalism was thus reduced in Ireland to the small territory +lying between the Boyne and the Liffey, subject to the constant +annoyance of the O'Moores, O'Byrnes, and O'Cavanaghs. And this +state of affairs continued until the period of the so-called +Reformation in England. + +Ireland proved itself then the only spot in Western Europe where +feudal laws and feudal customs could take no root. Through all +other nations of the Continent those laws spread by degrees, +from the countries invaded by the Northmen, into the most +distant parts, modified and mitigated in some instances by the +innate power of resistance left by former institutions. In this +small island alone, where clanship still held its own, feudalism +proved a complete failure. We merely record a fact, suggestive, +indeed, of thought, which proves, if no more, at least that the +Celtic nature is far more persevering and steady of purpose than +is generally supposed. + +But a more interesting spectacle still awaits us--that of the +English themselves morally overcome and won over by the example +of their antagonists, renouncing their feudal usages, and +adopting manners which they had at first deemed rude and +barbarous. + +The treaty of Windsor, which was subsequently confirmed by many +diplomatic enactments, obliged King Henry III. of England to +address O'Brien of Thomond in the following words: "Rex regi +Thomond salutem." The same English monarch was compelled to give +O'Neill of Ulster the title of Rex, after having used, +inadvertently perhaps, that of Regulus.--(Sir John Davies.) Both +O'Brien and O'Neill lived in the midst of a thickly populated +Irish district, with a few great English lords shut up in their +castles on the borders of the respective territory of the clans. + +The Norman lords in many parts of the country lived right in the +midst of an Irish population, with its Brehon judges, shanachies, +harpers, and other officers, attached to their customs of +gossipred, fostering, tanistry, gavelkind, and other usages, +which the parliaments of Drogheda, Kilkenny, Dublin, Trim, and +other places, were soon to declare lewd and barbarous. The +question of the moment was: Which of the two systems, clanship +or feudalism, brought thus into close contact and antagonism, +was to prevail? + +Ere long it began to appear that the aversion first felt by the +English lords at such strange customs was not entirely +invincible, and many of them even went so far as to choose wives +from among the native families. In fact, there lay a great +example before their eyes from the outset, in the marriage of +Strongbow with Eva, the daughter of McMurrough. Intermarriage +soon became the prevailing custom; so that the posterity of the +first invaders was, after all, to have Celtic blood in its veins. + +Hence, a distinction arose between the English by blood and the +English by birth. The first had, indeed, an English name; but +they were born in the island, and soon came to be known as +degenerate English.--That degeneracy was merely the moral effect +of constant intercourse with the natives of their neighborhood. - +-The others were continually shifting, being always composed of +the latest new-comers from England. + +It is something well worthy of remark that a residence of a +short duration sufficed to blend in unison two natures so +opposed as the Irish and the English. The latter, not content +with wedding Irish wives, sent their own children to be fostered +by their Irish friends; and the children naturally came from the +nursery more Irish than their fathers. They objected no longer +to becoming gossips for each other at christenings, to adopt the +dress of their foster-parents, whose language was in many cases +the only one which they brought from their foster-home. + +Thus Ireland, even in districts which had been thoroughly +devastated by the first invaders, became the old Ireland again; +and the song of the bard and the melody of the harper were heard +in the English castle as well as in the Irish rath.1 (1 The +process of gaining over an Englishman to Irish manners is +admirably described in the "Moderate Cavalier," under Cromwell, +quoted by Mr. J. P. Prendergast in his second edition of the +"Cromwellian Settlement," p. 263. If this process were common +with the Protestant officers of Cromwell, how much more so with +Catholic Anglo-Normans!) + +The nationalization of their kin, which received a powerful +impetus from the fact that the English who lived without the +Pale escaped feudal exactions and penalties from the +impossibility of enforcing the feudal laws on Irish territory, +alarmed the Anglo-Normans by birth, in whose hand rested the +engine of the government; and, looking around for a remedy, they +could discover nothing better than acts of Parliament. + +We have not been able to ascertain the precise epoch in which +the first Irish Parliament was convened; indeed, to this day, it +seems a debated question. The general belief, however, ascribes +it to King John. The first mention of it by Ware is under the +year 1333, as late as Edward III., more than one hundred and +fifty years after the Conquest. But the need of stringent rules +to keep the Irish at bay, and prevent the English from +"degenerating," became so urgent that, in 1367, the famous +Parliament met at Kilkenny, and enacted the bill known as the +"Statutes of Kilkenny," in which the matter was fully elaborated, +and a new order of things set on foot in Ireland. + +The Irish could recognize no other Parliament than their ancient +Feis; and, these having been discontinued for several centuries, +they showed their appreciation of the new English institution in +the manner described by Ware under the year 1413: "On the 11th +of the calends of February, the morrow after St. Matthias day, a +Parliament began at Dublin, and continued for the space of +fifteen days; in which time the Irish burned all that stood in +their way, as their usual custom was in times of other +Parliaments." + +The reader who is acquainted with the enactments which go by the +name of the "Statutes of Kilkenny" will scarcely wonder at this +mode of proceeding. + +Neither at that period, nor later on save once under Henry VIII., +was the Irish race represented in those assemblies. In the +reign of Edward III. no Irish native nor old English resident +assisted at the Parliament of Kilkenny, but only Englishmen +newly arrived; for all its acts were directed against the Irish +and the degenerate English--against the latter particularly. How +the members composing these Parliaments were elected at that +time we do not know; but they were not summoned from more than +twelve counties, which number, first established by King John, +gradually dwindled, until, in the reign of Henry VII., it was +reduced to four, so that the Irish Parliament came to be +composed of a few men, and those few representatives of purely +English interests. + +A true history of the times would demand an examination of the +various enactments made by these so-called Irish Parliaments, as +setting forth more distinctly than any thing else could do the +points at variance between the two nations. Our space, however, +and indeed our purpose, forbids this. In order to put the reader +in possession of at least an idea of the difficulties on either +side, we add a few extracts from the very famous "Statutes of +Kilkenny." + +The preamble sets forth "that already the English in Ireland +were mere Irish in their language, names, apparel, and their +manner of living, and had rejected the English laws and +submitted to the Irish, with whom they had many marriages and +alliances, which tended to the utter ruin and destruction of the +commonwealth." And then the Statutes go on to enact --we cull +from various chapters: "The English cannot any more make peace +or war with the Irish without special warrant; it is made penal +to the English to permit the Irish to send their cattle to graze +upon their land; the Irish could not be presented by the English +to any ecclesiastical benefice; they--the Irish--could not be +received into any monasteries or religious houses; the English +could not entertain any of their bards, or poets, or shanachies, +" etc. + +This extraordinary legislation proves beyond any amount of facts +to what degree the posterity of the first Norman invaders of +Ireland had adopted Irish customs, and made themselves one with +the natives. + +The Irish, therefore, had, in this instance, morally conquered +their enemies, and feudalism was defeated. Another example was +given of the invariable invasions of the island. The enemy, +however successful at the beginning, was compelled finally to +give way to the force of resistance in this people; and the time- +honored customs of an ancient race survived all attempts at +violent foreign innovations. The posterity of those proud nobles, +who, with Giraldus Cambrensis, had found nothing but what was +contemptible in this nation, so strange to their eyes, who +looked upon them as an easy victim to be despoiled of their land, +and that land to be occupied by them, that posterity adopted, +within, comparatively speaking, a few years, the life and +manners of the mere Irish in their entirety. Feudalism they +renounced for the clan. Each of the great English families that +first landed in the island had formed a new sept, and the clans +of the Geraldines, De Courcys, and others, were admitted into +full copartnership with the old Milesian septs. This the two +great families of the Burkes in Connaught called their chiefs +McWilllams Either and McWilliams Oughter. The Berminghams bad +become McYoris; the Dixons, McJordans; the Mangles, McCostellos. +Other old English families were called McHubbard, McDavid, etc.; +one of the Geraldine septs was known as McMorice, another as +McGibbon; the chief of Dunboyne's house became McPheris. + +Meanwhile, "it was manifest," says Sir John Davies, "that those +who had the government of Ireland under the crown of England +intended to make a perpetual separation and enmity between the +English settled in Ireland and the Irish, in the expectation +that the English should in the end root out the Irish." + +There is no doubt that, if these laws of Kilkenny could have +been enforced and carried out, as they were meant to be, the +effect hoped for by these legislators might have been the +natural result. Yet even much later on, at a period, too, when +the English power was considerably increased, under Henry VIII., +a very curious discussion of this possibility, which took place +at the time, did not by any means promise an easy realization. +The following passage of the "State Papers," under the great +Tudor, contains a rather sensible view of the subject, and is +not so sanguine of the success of the hopes cherished by the +attorney-general of James I.: + +"The lande is very large--by estimation as large as Englande--so +that, to enhabit the whole with new inhabiters, the number would +be so great that there is no prince christened that commodiously +might spare so many subjects to depart out of his regions. . . . +But to enterprise the whole extirpation and totall destruction +of all the Irishmen of the lande, it would be a marvellous and +sumptuous charge and great difficulty, considering both the lack +of enhabitors, and the great hardness and misery these Irishmen +can endure, both of hunger, colde, and thirst, and evill lodging, +more than the inhabitants of any other lande." + +There were, therefore, evidently difficulties in the way; yet it +is certain that the question of the total extirpation of the +Irish has been entertained for centuries by a class of English +statesmen, and confidently looked for by the English nation. Sir +John Davies, as we see, attributes no other object to the +Statutes of Kilkenny. + +But could those statutes be enforced? were they ever enforced? +The same writer pretends that they were for "several years;" but +the sequel proves that they were not. The reason which he +assigns for their execution--that for a certain time after that +Parliament there was peace in the island--leads us to believe +the contrary; for if, as he himself justly remarks before, the +intention of the legislators was to create a perpetual +separation and enmity between the two races, the promulgation +and strict execution of those statutes would have immediately +enkindled a war which could have ended only with the total +extirpation of one race or the other. + +And the further fact that it was thought necessary to reenact +those odious laws frequently in subsequent Irish Parliaments +proves that they were not carried into execution, since new +legislation on the subject was demanded. + +It is true that events, transmitted to us either through the +Irish annals or the English chronicles, show that several +attempts were made to enforce those acts of Kilkenny, chiefly +against the Fitz-Thomases or Geraldines of Desmond, who +pretended, even after their enactment, to be as independent of +them as before, and refused to attend the Parliament when +convoked, claiming the strange privilege "that the Earls of +Desmond should never come to any Parliament or Grand Council, or +within any walled town, but at their will or pleasure." And the +Desmonds continued in their persistent opposition to the English +laws until the reign of Elizabeth. + +But it was against Churchmen chiefly that they were carried out +in full; for we occasionally meet in the annals of the country +with instances where some English prelate in Ireland had been +prosecuted for having conferred orders on mere Irishmen, and +that some Norman abbots had been deposed for having received +mere Irishmen as monks into their monasteries. + +With the exception of a few cases of this kind, no proof can be +furnished that any material change was brought about in the +relations of the old English settlers with their Irish neighbors. +In fact, matters progressed so favorably in this friendly +direction, that at length the descendants of Strongbow and his +followers became, as is well known, "Hibernis Hiberniores," and +the judges sent from England could hold their circuit only in +the four counties between the Liffey and the Boyne; and the name +given to the majority of the old English families was "English +rebels," while the natives were called "Irish enemies." + +Sir John Davies himself is forced to admit it: "When the civil +government grew so weak and so loose that the English lords +would not suffer the English laws to be executed within their +territories and seigniories, but in place thereof both they and +their people embraced the Irish customs, then the state of +things, like a game at Irish, was so turned about, that the +English, who hoped to make a perfect conquest of the Irish, were +by them perfectly and absolutely conquered, because Victi +victoribus leges dedere." + +The truth could not be expressed in more explicit terms. Yet all +has not been said. The same persevering character, making +headway against apparently insurmountable obstacles, shows +itself conspicuously in the Irish, in the preservation of their +land, which, after all, was the great object of contention +between the two races. + +The first Anglo-Norman invaders, including Henry II himself, had +no other object in view than gradually to occupy the whole +territory, subject it to the feudal laws, give to Englishmen the +position of feudal lords, and reduce the Irish to that of +villeins, if they could not succeed in rooting them out. + +A few years later, by the Treaty of Windsor, the king seemed to +confine his pretensions to Leinster, and perhaps Meath, and +expressly allowed the natives to keep their lands in the other +districts of the island. Yet none of his former grants, by which +"he had cantonned the whole island between ten Englishmen," were +recalled; the continued as part of and means to shape the policy +of the invaders, and subsequent Parliaments always supposed the +validity of those former grants made to Strongbow and his +followers. + +It is true that those posterior Acts of Parliament did not +merely rely for their strength on the first documents, but on +the pretence that the Irish chieftains and people outside of +Leinster and Meath had justly forfeited their estates by not +fulfilling the conditions virtually contained in the Windsor +Treaty, in which they had professed homage and submission to the +English king. It is clear that, lawfully or unlawfully, the +Anglo-Normans were determined to gain possession, sooner or +later, of the whole island. + +To secure their end, they declared that the natives would not be +subject to the English laws, but retain their Brehon laws, which +in their eyes were no laws at all, and which the Parliament of +Kilkenny had declared to be "lewd customs." Henceforth, then, +the natives were out of the pale of the law, could not claim its +protection, but became subject to the crown of England, without +political, civil, or even human rights. + +They were soon, by reason of the constant border wars all around +the Pale, declared "alien and enemies." And these expressions +became, in the eyes of the English lawyers, identical with the +Irish race and the Irish nature; so that at all times, peace or +war, even when the Irish fought in the English ranks, aiding the +Plantagenets in their furious contests with the Scotch or the +French, they were still "Irish enemies;" "aliens" unworthy human +rights, villeins in whose veins no noble blood could flow, with +the exception of five families. + +All the rest were not only ignoble, but not even men; nothing +but mere Irish, whom any one might kill, even though serving +under the English crown, at a risk of being fined five marks, to +be paid to the treasury of the King of England, for having +deprived his majesty of a serviceable tool. + +This (to modern eyes) astounding social state demands a closer +examination in order to see if, at least, it had the merit of +finally procuring for the English the possession of the land +they coveted. + +We find first that Henry II., John, and Henry III., would seem +on several occasions to have extended the laws of England all +over the island. But all English legists will tell us that those +laws were only for the inhabitants of English blood. The mere +Irish were always reputed aliens, or, rather, enemies to the +crown, so that it was, " by actual fact, often adjudged no +felony to kill a mere Irish in time of peace," as Sir John +Davies expressly points out. + +Five families alone were excepted from the general category and +acknowledged to be of noble blood--the O'Neills of Ulster, the +O'Melachlins of Meath, the O'Connors of Connaught, the O'Briens +of Munster, and the McMurroughs of Leinster. + +Those five families, numerous certainly, but forming only as +many septs, were, or appeared to be, acknowledged as having a +right to their lands, and as able to bring or defend actions at +law. We say, appeared to be, because they found themselves on so +many occasions ranked as mere Irish, that individuals of those +septs, induced by sheer necessity, were often driven, in spite +of an almost invincible repugnance, to apply for and accept +special charters of naturalization from the English kings. Thus +in the reign of Edward IV., O'Neill, on the occasion of his +marriage with a daughter of the house of Kildare, was made an +English citizen by special act of Parliament. + +In reality then, even the most illustrious members of the "five +bloods" were scarcely considered as enjoying the full rights of +the lowest English vassals, although their ancestors had been +acknowledged kings by former Anglo-Norman monarchs in public +documents: "Rex Henricus regi O'Neill," etc. + +But if there was some shadow of doubt with regard to the +political and social rights of those great families, such doubt +did not exist for the remainder of the Irish race. They were +absolutely without rights. Depriving them of their lands, +pillaging their houses, devastating their farms, outraging their +wives and daughters, killing them, could not subject the guilty +to any civil or criminal action at law. In fact, as we have +shown, such acts were in accordance with the spirit, even with +the letter of the law, so that the criminal, as we should +consider him, had but to plead that the man whom he had robbed +or killed was a mere Irishman, and the proceedings were +immediately stopped, if this all-important fact were proved; and +in case of homicide the murderer escaped by the payment of the +fine of five marks to the treasury. + +To modern, even to English ears, all this may sound incredible. +Many striking examples of the truth of it might be produced. +They are to be found in all works which treat of the subject. +Sir John Davies, that great Irish hater, evidently takes a +genuine delight in depicting several such instances with all +their aggravating details, scarcely expecting that every word he +wrote would serve to brand forever with shame Anglo-Norman +England. + +Under such legislation it was clear that life on the borders of +the Pale was not only insecure, but that the soil would remain +in the grasp of the strongest. Any Anglo-Norman only required +the power in order to take possession of the land of his +neighbor. + +But it is not in man's nature to submit to such galling thraldom +as this, without at least an attempt at retaliation. Least of +all was it the nature of such a people to submit to such +measures--a nation, the most ancient in Europe, dating their +ownership of the soil as far back as man's memory could go, +civilized before Scandinavia became a nest of pirates, +Christianized from the fifth century, and the spreader of +literature, civilization, and the holy faith of Christ through +England, Scotland, Germany, France, and Northern Italy. + +If we have dwelt a little, and only a little, upon the intensity +of the contest waged for four hundred years previous to the +added atrocities introduced by the Reformation, we have done so +advisedly, since it has become a fashion of late to throw a +gloss over the past, to ignore it, to let the dead bury their +dead--all which would be very well, could it be done, and could +writers forget to stamp the Irish as unsociable, barbarous, and +bloodthirsty, because with arms in their hands, and a fire +ardent and sacred in their souls, they strove again and again to +reconquer the territory which had been won from them by fraud, +and because they thought it fair to kill in open fight the men +who avowed that they could kill them even in peace at a penalty +of five marks. + +The contest, therefore, never ceased; how could it ? But, in +that endless conflict between the two races, the loss of +territory leaned rather to the English side. If, with the help +of their castles, better discipline, and arms, the English at +first gained on the natives and extended their possessions +beyond the Pale, a reaction soon set in--the Irish had their day +of revenge, and entered again into possession of the land of +which they had been robbed. In order to repair their losses, the +Anglo-Normans had recourse to acts of Parliament, which could +bind not only the English of the Pale, but also those of other +districts, who, enjoying the privileges of English law, were +likewise bound by its provisions. + +In order rightly to understand the need and purposes of those +enactments, we must return a moment to the days of the conquest. + +The case of Strongbow will illustrate many others. He married +Eva, the daughter of McMurrough, and thus allied himself to the +best families of Leinster. On the death of his father-in-law, he +received the whole kingdom as his inheritance. The greater part +of his dominions, which he either would not or could not govern +himself, he was compelled to distribute, in the usual style, +among his followers. He distributed large estates as _fiefs_ +among those who had followed his fortunes, but he could not +forget his Irish relatives, to whom he had become strongly +attached. He secured, therefore, to many Irish families the +territory which was formerly theirs, and many of his English +adherents, who, like himself, had married daughters of the soil, +did the same in their more limited territories. This explains +fully why Irish families remained in Leinster after the +settlement of the Anglo-Normans there, who established their +Pale in it, as also why they continued to possess their lands in +the midst of the English as they had formerly done in the midst +of the Danes. + +The same thing took place in the kingdom of Cork, on the borders +of Connaught, and around the seaports of Ulster, wherever the +English had established themselves and erected castles and +fortifications. + +But, over and above the Irish families, which, by their alliance +by marriage and fosterage with the English, retained their lands +and gradually increased them, many others, natives of the soil, +reentered into possession of their former territory by the +withdrawal of the Anglo-Norman holders of fiefs. Constant border +wars, the necessary consequence of the English policy, could not +but discourage in course of time many Englishmen, who, owning +large possessions also in England and Wales, preferred to return +to their own country rather than remain with their wives and +children in a constant state of alarm, compelled to reside +within their castles, in dread of an attack at any moment from +their Irish neighbors. + +Moreover, the vast majority of the Irish, who did not enjoy the +benefit of these special privileges, who, deprived of their +lands at the first invasion, had remained really _outlaws_, and +never entered into matrimonial or social alliance with their +enemies, these men could not consent to starve and perish on +their own soil, in the island which they loved and from which +they could not--had they so chosen--escape by emigration. One +resource remained to them, and they grasped at it. They had +their own mountain fastnesses and bogs to fly to, and from those +recesses they could harass the invader, and inch by inch win +back their lawful inheritance. + +They were often even encouraged in their attacks and +depredations by the English of the Pale and out of it, who, +unwilling longer to submit to the grinding feudal laws and +exactions, could prevent the English judges, sheriffs, +escheators, and other king's officers from executing the law +against them, and thus they held out in their mountains, bogs, +and rocky crags, in the midst of the invaders of their soil. + +A necessity arose then, on the part of the English rulers, of +adopting measures calculated to prevent a further acquisition of +territory by the Irish, if not to extend the English settlements. +They saw no other remedy than acts of Parliament, which they +thought would at least prevent the subjects of English blood +from assisting the Irish to reenter into possession, as was then +being done on so extensive a scale. + +To effect this they revived the former statutes by which the +Irish were placed without the protection of the law, were +declared aliens and enemies, and were consequently denied the +right of bringing actions in any of the English courts for +trespasses on their lands, or for violence done to their persons. + +They soon advanced a step beyond this. The Irish were forbidden +to purchase land, though the English were at liberty to occupy +by force the landed property of the Irish, whenever they were +strong enough to do so. An Irishman could acquire neither by +gift nor purchase a rood of land which was the property of an +Englishman. Thus, in every charter afterward granted to the few +Irishmen who applied for them, it was expressly stated that they +could purchase land for themselves and their heirs, which, +without this special provision, they could not do; while for an +Englishman to dispose of his landed property by will, gift, or +sale to an Irishman, was equivalent to forfeiting his estate to +the crown. The officers of the exchequer were directed by those +acts of Parliament to hold inquisitions for the purpose of +obtaining returns of such deeds of conveyance, in order to +enrich the king's treasury by confiscations and forfeitures; and +the statute-rolls, preserved to this day in Dublin and London, +show that such prosecutions often took place, with the +invariable result of forfeiture. + +The decision of the courts was always in favor of the crown, +even in cases where the deed of conveyance or will was of no +benefit to the person in whose favor it was drawn, but simply a +trust for a third person of English race. And the great number +of cases in which the inquisitions were set aside, as appears +from the Parliament-rolls, for the finding having been malicious +and untrue--the parties complained of not being Irish but +English-- prove what we allege, namely, that an Irishman could +not take land by conveyance from an Englishman. + +Yet, as Mr. Prendergast justly says: "Notwithstanding these +prohibitions and laws of the Irish Parliament, the Irish grew +and increased upon the English, and the Celtic customs +overspread the feudal, until at length the administration of the +feudal law was confined to little more than the few counties +lying within the line of the Liffey and the Boyne." + +Let us now glance, in conclusion, at the result of more than +four centuries of feudal oppression. + +Ireland rejected feudalism from the beginning, and this at a +time when Europe had been compelled to adopt it, more or less, +throughout. + +The distinction between lords and villeins, so marked in all +other countries, remained at the end as it was at the beginning +of the contest, a thing unknown in the island. Even in the Pale, +the presence of the O'Moores, O'Byrnes, O'Kavanaghs, and other +septs, protested against and openly denied, from moor and glen +and mountain fastness, that outrage on humanity, which bestows +on the few every thing meant for all. The Brehon law was in full +force all over the island, and if the Irish allowed the English +judges to ride on their circuits within the four counties, it +was on the full understanding that they would administer their +justice only to English subjects, and levy their feudal dues, +and pronounce their forfeitures and confiscations on such only +as acknowledged the king's right on the premises. The laws +enacted in the pretended Irish Parliament were only for such as +called themselves English by birth; for even the English by +blood, whose ancestors had long resided on the island, +frequently refused to submit to the laws of Parliament, where +they would not sit themselves, although possessing the right to +do so. + +In vain was the threat of compulsion held up again and again +before the eyes of the great lords of Desmond, Thomond, and +Connaught. If they chose, they went; if they chose not, they +remained at home; and obeyed or disobeyed at will the laws +themselves, according as they were able or unable to set them at +defiance. + +The castles which had been built all over the country by the +first invaders, as a means of awing into subjection the +surrounding districts, were at the beginning of the fifteenth +century no longer feudal castles. They had either been +destroyed and levelled to the ground by the Irish, or they were +occupied by Irish chieftains; or, stranger still, if their +holders were English lords, they were of those who had been won +over to Irish manners. In their halls all the old customs of +Erin were preserved. One saw therein groups of shanachies, and +harpers, and Brehon lawyers, all conversing with their chieftain +in the primitive language of the country. Hence were they called +degenerate by the "foreigners" living in Dublin Castle. The +mansions of the Desmonds, of the Burgos, of the Ormonds, were +the headquarters of their respective clans, not the inaccessible +fortresses of steel-clad warriors, who alone were possessed of +social and civil rights. If the master of the household held +sometimes the title of earl, or count, or baron, he was careful +never to use it before his retainers, whom he called his +clansmen. When he went to Dublin or to London, he donned it with +the dress of a knight or a great feudal lord; on his return home +he threw it aside, resumed the cloak of the country, and was +Irish again. + +The subject of feudal titles in Ireland has not been +sufficiently studied and elucidated. A clearer light thrown on +this question would, we have no doubt, show more conclusively +than long discussions with what stubbornness the Irish refused +to submit to the reality of feudalism, even when consenting to +admit its presence and phraseology. It is a fact not +sufficiently dwelt upon, that the few Irishmen, who subsequently +consented to receive English titles from the king, were regarded +by their countrymen with greater abhorrence than the English +themselves, though in most cases the titles were empty ones, +which affected nothing in their mode of life. Yet were they +looked upon as apostates to their nation, and after the +Reformation such a step was often the first to apostasy of +religion, the deepest stain on an Irish name. + +Feudalism had also its mode of taxation which failed with the +rest in Ireland. + +In feudal countries the lord imposed no tax on his villeins; +these were mere chattels, ascripti gleboe, who tilled the land +for their masters, and, as good serfs, could own nothing but the +few utensils of their miserable hovels. They were just allowed +what sufficed to support their own life and that of their +families, and consequently they could bear no additional tax. +But, in the complicated state of society brought about by +feudalism, the inferior lord was taxed by his superior, a system +that ran down the whole feudal scale, and it would take a lawyer +to explain aids, talliages, wardships, fines for alienation, +seizins, rents, escheats, and finally forfeiture, the heaviest +and most common of all in England. + +The Irish fought valiantly against the imposition of those +burdens, and aided the English settled among them to repudiate +them all in course of time. + +It must be said, however, that they did not succeed in +preventing their own taxes, according to the Book of Rights, +from becoming heavier under the ingenuity of the English who +were established among them and admitted to all the rights of +clanship. We see by documents which have been better studied of +late, that the great Anglo-Irish lords had succeeded in +increasing the burdens in the shape of exactions, which were +never complained of by the Irish. + +On this subject Dr. O'Donovan, in the preface to his edition of +the "Book of Rights," is worthy of perusal. + +But it is chiefly in the very essence of feudalism that the +failure of the Anglo-Normans was most signal. Feudalism really +consisted in the status given to the land, the possession of +which determined and gave all rights, so that, according to it, +man was made for the land rather than the land for man. He was +placed on the land with the beasts of the field as far as +tillage and production went, until the system should round to +perfection and finally bring to the surface the new principles +of social economy, according to which the greater the number of +cattle and the fewer the number of men, the more prosperous and +happy might the country be said to be. + +The Irish staked their existence against those principles, and +won. So complete was their victory that the feudal barons who +first came among them finally yielded to clanship, became the +chiefs of new clans, and opened their territories to all who +chose to send their horses and kine to graze in the chief's +domains. In vain did Irish Parliaments issue writs of forfeiture +against the English lords who acted thus, for between the law +and its execution the clans intervened, and no sheriff or judge +could step beyond the bounds of the four counties of the Pale to +enforce those acts. + +It is told of one of the Irish chieftains that on receiving +intimation from a high English official of a sheriff's visit on +the next breach of some new law or ordinance, for the safety of +which sheriff he would be held responsible, he replied: "You +will do well to let me know at the same time what will be the +amount of his _eric_, in case of his murder, that I may +beforehand assess it on the clan." + +This story may tend better than any thing else to give a clear +reason for the failure of feudalism in Ireland. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +IRELAND SEPARATED FROM EUROPE.-A TRIPLE EPISODE. + +While the struggle described in the last chapter was raging, +Ireland could have little or no intercourse with the rest of +Europe. Heaven alone was witness of the heroism displayed by the +free clans wrestling with feudal England. It was only during the +internecine wars of the Roses that Erin enjoyed a respite, and +then we read that Margaret of Offaly summoned to peaceful +contest the bards of the island, while the shrines of Rome and +Compostella were thronged with pilgrims, chiefs, and princes, +"paying their vows of faith from the Western Isle." + +In the mean time Christendom had been witness of mighty events +in which Ireland could take no part. The enthusiastic impulse +which gave birth to the Crusades, the uprising of the communes +against feudal thraldom, the mental activity of numerous +universities, starting each day into life, form, among other +things, the three great progressive waves in the moving ocean of +the time: + +I. When Europe in phalanx of steel hurled itself upon Asia and +saved Christendom from the yoke of Islam, when the Japhetic race +by a mighty effort asserted its right not merely to existence, +but to a preponderance in the affairs of the world, Ireland, the +nation Christian of Christians, had not a name among men. It was +supposed to be a dependency of England, and the envoys sent +abroad to all parts by the Holy See to preach the Crusades, +never touched her shores to deliver the cross to her warriors. +The most chivalrous nation of Christendom was altogether +forgotten, and in its ecclesiastical annals no mention is made +of the Crusades even by name. + +The holy wars, moreover, were set on foot and carried on by the +feudal chivalry of Europe, and in fact, wherever the Europeans +established their power in the East, that power took the shape +of feudalism. But Ireland had rejected this system, and +consequently her sons could find no place in the ranks of the +knights of Flaners, Normandy, Aquitaine, and England. Their +chivalry was of another stamp, and was employed at the time in +wresting their social state and territory from the grasp of +ruthless invaders. + +Hence, not even St. Bernard, the ardent friend of St. Malachi, +remembered them, when journeying through Europe to distribute +the Cross to whole armies of warriors. Not only did he fail to +cross the Channel for the purpose of rousing the Christian +enthusiasm of a people ever ready to hearken to a call to arms +when a noble cause was at stake; he did not think even of +writing a single letter to any bishop or abbot in Ireland, +asking them to preach the holy war in his name. + +Thus Ireland failed to participate in any of the benefits which +accrued to the European nations from the Crusades, as she failed +likewise to participate in results less beneficial which also +accrued from that powerful agitation. + +Among such results is one which has not met with all the +attention it deserves. Historians speak at length of the many +and wide-spread heresies which infected Europe during the middle +ages; but their Eastern origin has not been thoroughly +investigated, and we have no doubt that, if it had been, many of +them would be found to have come with a returning wave of the +Crusades. + +All these errors bear at the outset a very Oriental appearance. +Paulicians, Petrobrusians, Albigensians, and kindred sects, +all started from the principle of dualism, and even at the +time were openly accused of Manicheistic ideas. They all +involved more or less immoral principles, and rejected, or at +least strove to weaken, the commonly-received ideas upon which +society, civil and religious, is founded. Had they succeeded in +spreading their errors through Europe, it is possible that the +invasion would have been more fatal in its consequences than +that of Islamism itself. And, even in their failure, they left +among European societies the germ of secret associations which +have existed from that time down, and which in our days have +burst forth undisguised to terrify nations, and cause them to +dread the coming of the last days. + +To an attentive observer it is clear that the heresies of the +twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries resemble more the +errors of our days than the Protestantism which intervened. +Luther's first principles, if carried to their legitimate +conclusion, would have inaugurated the socialism and communism +of modern times; but he shrank from the consequences of his own +doctrines, and the necessity of his standing well with the +German princes caused him, during the War of the Peasants, +almost to retract his first utterances and take his stand +midway between Catholic principles and the thorough nihilism of +later times. It is known that in the after-part of his life he +endeavored to repair the ruins of every dogma, social and +religious, which he at first had tried to subvert and destroy. + +The Manicheism of the middle ages was certainly not of so +scientific and elaborate a nature as modern socialism; but it +would have been productive of like evil results to society had +it not been crushed down by the united power of the Church and +the state. If it had been successful, it is impossible to +imagine what would have become of Europe. + +Of its Eastern origin historians say little. We know, however, +that, after a residence in the East, the most pious Christians +grew lukewarm and less firm in their opposition to the dangerous +errors then prevalent in Asia. Tournefort remarked this in his +own time, during the reign of Louis XIV. + +It is known also that the posterity of the first crusaders in +Palestine formed a hybrid race, which, weakened by the influence +of the luxurious habits of Eastern countries, became corrupt, +and under the name of Pulani practised a feeble Christianity, +unfit to cope with the vigorous fanaticism of the Mussulman. +Many Europeans came back from those wars wavering in faith, and +no one knows how many with faith entirely lost. + +It is not, therefore, too much to suppose that the Oriental +errors which suddenly burst forth at this time in Western Europe +followed in the wake of the returning pilgrims, and it is highly +probable, if not absolutely certain, that, had there been no +Crusades, Manicheism and the secret societies born of it would +never have been known in Italy and France. Hence, one of the +first and greatest champions of the Church in controversy with +the Albigenses - Peter the Venerable, Abbot of Cluny - at the +very beginning of the heresy, found no better means of opposing +the new errors than attacking every thing coming from the East. +Thus, he wrote his long treatises against the Talmud and the +Koran, so much had the Crusades already contributed to +introducing into Western Europe the seeds of Asiatic errors. All +historians agree in giving an Eastern origin to the Paulicians, +Bulgarians, Albigenses, and others of those times. + +Manicheism indeed had infested Europe long before. Some Roman +emperors had published severe edicts against it. In the fifth +century, the heresy still flourished in Italy and Africa, St. +Augustine himself being an adept for several years, and by his +writings he has made us acquainted with its strongest supporters +in his day. He was followed, in his attacks on it, by a great +number of Fathers, both Greek and Latin. + +But after the barbarian invasions we hear no more of the +Manichees for upward of five hundred years. The West had +entirely forgotten them. Arianism and Manicheism had apparently +perished together. The tenth century is called a period of +darkness and ignorance; it at least possessed the advantage of +being free from heresy; the dogmas of the Church were +unhesitatingly and universally accepted. Western Europe, though +cut up by the new-born feudalism into a thousand fragments, was +at least one in faith, until that great and powerful union +having, in an outburst of enthusiasm, produced the Crusades, we +suddenly find Eastern theories and immoralities invading the +countries most faithful to the Church. + +Raymond VI., Count of Toulouse, the great champion of the +Albigenses, was the near descendant of that great Raymond, one +of the chiefs of the first Crusade, who might have aspired to +the throne of Jerusalem, had not Godfrey de Bouillon won the +suffrages of the soldiers of the Cross by his ardent and pure +piety. Raymond VI. dwelt in Languedoc, in all the luxurious +splendor of an Eastern emir; and he doubtless found the +doctrines of dualistic Manicheism more congenial to his taste +for pleasure than the stern tenets of the Christian religion. +Ambition, it is true, was one of the chief motives which +prompted him to place himself at the head of the heretics; he +hoped to enrich himself through them by the spoils of the Church; +and thus the same power which later on moved the German princes +to embrace Lutheranism was already acting on the aspiring Count +of Toulouse at the beginning of the thirteenth century. Thus we +find him at the head of his troops, plundering churches, +ravaging monasteries, outraging and profaning holy things, for +the purpose of filling his coffers. + +Yet it is also certain that he, the chief of the sectarians, and +a great number of the nobility of Southern France, were led to +embrace the Albigensian error by the degrading habits which they +had previously contracted. + +We do not purpose entering into a lengthened discussion on the +subject; we merely wish to contrast, with the wide spread of +heresy in Western Europe, the great fact of a total absence of +it in Ireland; or rather, we should say, and by so saying we +confirm our reflection, that errors of a similar nature did +invade the Pale in Erin at this time, without touching in any +wise the children of the soil. + +For, it is a remarkable fact that, at the beginning of the +fourteenth century, the name of heresy is mentioned for the +first and last time in Catholic Ireland; the new doctrines +bearing a close resemblance to some of the errors of the +Albigenses, and their chief propagators being all lords of the +Pale. + +In November of 1235, Pope Benedict XII. wrote a letter on this +subject to Edward III. of England, which may be read in F. +Brenan's Ecclesiastical History. + +It is clear from many things related by Ware in his +"Antiquities" that the Vicar of Christ, unable to follow freely +his inclinations with respect to the filling of the sees of Erin, +and obliged to appoint to bishoprics, at least in many parts of +the island, only men of English birth, selected for that purpose +members of the various religious orders then existing. Instead +of granting episcopal jurisdiction to the feudal nominees of the +court, when unworthy, Rome appointed a Franciscan, or a +Dominican, a member of some religious community, who was born in +England, but at least more independent of the court, of greater +sympathy with the people, less swayed by worldly and selfish +motives, and consequently readier to obey the mandates of Rome, +which were always on the side of justice and morality. Thus we +find that in the whole history of Ireland, as a general rule, +the bishops chosen from religious orders were acceptable to the +people, and true to their duty. + +Such a man certainly was Richard Ledred, a Minorite, born in +London, whom the Pope made Bishop of Ossory. But on that very +account he incurred the hatred of many English officials, and +even of worldly prelates, among whom Alexander Bicknor, +Archbishop of Dublin, was the most conspicuous. Bieknor was not +only archbishop, but had been appointed Lord Justice of Ireland +by the king, and later on Lord Deputy; later still he was +dispatched by the English Parliament as ambassador to France. + +"It had been well," says F. Brenan, "for the archbishop himself, +and for those immediately under his jurisdiction, had he +abstained from mixing himself up with the state affairs of those +times. Ambition formed no inferior trait in the character of +Alexander, even long before he had been exalted to a high +dignity in the Church. He advanced rapidly into power, stepping +from one office into another, until at length he found himself +in the midst of the labyrinth, without being able to make his +way, unless by means of guides as inexperienced as they were +treacherous. It was by causes such as these that he brought +himself into serious difficulties, not only with the Archbishop +of Armagh, on account of the primacy, but also with his own +suffragans, and particularly with the Bishop of Ossory." + +Under these circumstances it was that the prelate last mentioned, +on visiting his diocese, found unmistakable signs of the spread +of heresy among his flock. His diocese at that time formed a +part of the English Pale, and Kilkenny, where he had his +cathedral, was often the seat of Parliament. + +Among those most active for the propagation of the new doctrines +were found, the Seneschal of Kilkenny, the Treasurer of Ireland, +and the Chief-Justice of the Common Pleas--all English of the +Pale. The zealous bishop, fearless of the consequences, openly +denounced them, and publicly excommunicated the Treasurer. At +once a terrible storm was raised among their English abettors, +and, in order to screen the guilty parties, they recriminated +against the prelate, and accused him of being a sharer in the +crime of Thomas Fitzgilbert, who had burned the castle of Moy +Cahir, and killed its owner, Hugh Le Poer. The temporalities of +Ledred having been already sequestrated for his boldness in +denouncing heretics, he was compelled finally to leave his +diocese and fly to Avignon, where he remained in exile for nine +years. + +The Archbishop of Dublin had been one of his bitterest enemies, +and, although not actually accused of heresy himself, he was +certainly the abettor of heretics, and had done all in his power +to have Ledred arrested for his supposed crimes. + +Ware, in his lives of Bicknor and Ledred, is evidently a +partisan of the first and an enemy of the second. He pretends +that Ledred tacitly acknowledged his guilt in the affair of Le +Poer, since he sued for pardon to the king, as though readers of +English history did not constantly meet with instances of +innocent men compelled to sue for pardon of crimes which they +had never committed. + +We have fortunately better judges of the characters of both +prelates in the two popes, Benedict XII. and Clement VI.: the +first believing in the existence of the heresy denounced by +Ledred; the second exempting the Bishop of Ossory from the +superior jurisdiction of Bicknor, on account of the unjust +animosity displayed toward him by this worldly prelate. + +The absence of all historical documents in reference to the case +leaves us at a loss to know the effect produced on Edward III. +by the letter of the Pontiff. It is highly probable that the +king preferred to believe Bicknor rather than the Pope, and +disregarded the advice of the latter. + +In such an event, how was the heresy put down? Simply by the +good sense and spirit of faith of the people, or rather by the +deep Christian feeling of the native Irish, who were always +opposed to innovation, and who remained firm in the traditional +belief inherent in the nation by the grace of God. Schism and +heresy seem impossible among the children of Erin. If at any +time certain novelties have appeared among them, they have +speedily vanished like empty vapor. They heard that, in other +parts of the Church, in the East chiefly, heresiarchs had arisen +and led away into error large numbers of people forming +sometimes formidable sects, which threatened the very existence +of the religion of Christ; but the face of a heretic they had +never beheld. Soon, indeed, they were to be at the mercy of a +whole swarm of them, to see a pretended church leagued with the +state to bring about their perversion; but as yet they had had +no experience of the kind. + +Only a few heretics were pointed out to them by the finger of +one of their bishops, and his denunciations were confirmed by +the judgment of the Holy See. Hence, according to F. Brenan, +"the sensation which pervaded all classes became vehement and +frightful. The bishop and his clergy came forward, and by solid +argument, by the strength and power of truth, opposed and +discomfited the enemies of religion." + +The feeling here expressed is a natural one for a true Christian +at the very mention of heresy. Yet how few nations have +experienced a sensation "vehement and frightful" at the +appearance of positive error among them! But, at all periods of +their history, such has been the feeling of the Irish people. + +Fortunately for them, the number of sectarians was so small as +to become insignificant; the English of the Pale were always few +in comparison with the natives, and heresy had been, adopted by +only a small body. + +Error, therefore, could not cause in the island the social and +political convulsions which it had produced in France about the +same time. There was no need of a second Albigensian war to put +it down. There was no need even of the Inquisition, as an +ecclesiastical tribunal. The sentence of the bishop, the decree +of excommunication pronounced from the foot of the altar, was +all that was required. + +When we compare this single fact of Irish ecclesiastical history +with what was then transpiring in Europe--the most insidious +errors spreading throughout; the faith of many becoming +unsettled, a general preparation for the social deluge which was +impending and so soon to fall--we cannot but conclude that +Ireland, in the midst of her misfortunes, was happy in being +separated from the rest of the world. The breath of novelty +could breathe no contagion on her shores. Happy even was she in +not seeing her sons enlist in the army of the Cross, if the +result of their victories was, to bring back from the Holy Land +the Eastern corruption and the many heresies nestling there and +settled, even around the sepulchre of our Lord, during so many +ages of separation from the West and open communication with all +the wild vagaries of Arabian, Persian, and Indian philosophies. + +Even in the midst of such a trial we believe that Ireland would +have held steadfast to her faith, as she did later on when +heresy came to her with compulsion or death; and this firmness +of purpose, which the Irish have always manifested when the +question was a change of religion, is worthy our consideration. +For the facility with which some nations have, in the course of +ages, yielded to the spirit of novelty, and the sturdy +resistance opposed to it by others, is a subject that would +repay investigation, but which we can only slightly touch upon. + +In ancient times the Greek mind, accustomed from the beginning +to subtlety of argument, and easily carried away by a +rationalism which was innate, offers a striking contrast to the +steady traditional spirit of the Latin races in general. Except +Pelagiaism and its cognate errors, all the great heresies which +afflicted the Church during the first ten centuries, originated +in the East; and the various sects catalogued by several of the +Greek Fathers, as early as the second and third centuries, +astonish the modern reader by the slender web on which their +often ridiculous systems are spun, of texture strong enough, +however, at the time to form the groundwork for making a +disastrous impression on a large number of adherents. The +infinity almost of philosophical systems in pagan Greece had +prepared the way for the subsequent vagaries of heresy, and we +must look to our own times, so prolific of absurd theories, in +order to find a parallel to the incredible variety of dogmatic +assertions among the Greek heresiarchs of early times. + +But, at the outbreak of Protestantism, in the sixteenth century, +the world witnessed a still more striking example of diversity +in the various branches of the Japhetic family - the nations +belonging to the Teutonic and Scandinavian stocks chiefly +embracing the error at once with a wonderful spontaneity. The +various remnants of the Celtic race and the totality of the +Latin nations remained, on the whole, obedient to the guiding +voice of the Church of Christ. It is customary with modern +writers, when imbued with what are called liberal ideas, to +ascribe this difference to the steady, systematic mind of +northern nations, and to their innate love of liberty, which +could not brook the yoke of spiritual despotism imposed by the +Church of Rome. But all this is mere supposition, inadequate to +accounting for the fact. The Teutonic and Scandinavian mind is +certainly more systematic and apparently more steady than the +Celtic; but it is far less so than the Latin. No nation in the +whole history of mankind has ever displayed more steadiness and +system than the Romans, and the Latin family has inherited those +characteristics from Rome. The Spanish race has no equal in +steadiness (in the sense here intended of steadfastness), and +the French certainly none in system, which it often carried to +the verge of absurdity. + +As for love of liberty, as distinct from love of license, it had +absolutely nothing to do with the great revolution which has +been called the Reformation. No nation can relish despotism, and +the whole history of Ireland is a living example that her sons +are steadily opposed to it to the death. And it is now too late +to pretend that the cause of true liberty has been served by the +spread of Protestantism over a large portion of Europe. Balmez +and others have proved the falsehood of such pretensions. If any +modern writers, such as Mr. Bancroft, for instance, men +otherwise of sound mind and great ability, continue to assert +this, the assertion must proceed from prejudice deeply ingrained, +which reflection has not yet succeeded in eradicating, and +their opinions on the subject are necessarily confined to bold +assertions, of a character which in others they themselves would +stigmatize as empty and unfounded. + +The reason of the difference lies deeper in the constitution of +the human mind, in the Celtic and Latin races on the one side, +in the Teutonic and Scandinavian families on the other. Any one +who has studied the Irish character in our days--a character +which was the same in former ages--will easily see something of +that great and happy cause. + +The difference lies first in the good sense which enables them +to perceive instinctively that the eternal should be preferred +to the temporal. If all men kept that distinct perception ever +present to their minds, they would not only accept at all times +the truths of faith, since faith, according to St. Paul, is "the +substance of the things hoped for," but they would remain ever +faithful to the moral code given us by God. The Celt indeed will +at times lose sight of the eternal in the presence of a temporal +temptation; but he is never blind to the knowledge that faith is +the groundwork of salvation, and that hope remains as long as +that is not surrendered. Therefore he will never surrender it. +The need of reviving his faith is rarely called for, when, after +a life of sin, the shadow of death reminds him of the duty he +owes his own soul. The great truth that, after all, the ETERNAL +is every thing, remains always deeply impressed on his mind; and +half his labor is spared to the minister of God, when bringing +such a man back to a life of virtue. There is scarcely any need +of asking an Irishman, "Do you believe?" For, every word that +passes his lips, every look and gesture, every expression of +feeling, is in fact an act of faith. How easy after this is the +work of regeneration! + +0 happy race, to whom this life is in truth a shadow that +passeth away! to whom the unseen is ever present, or comes back +so vividly and so readily! + +This supposes, as we have said, a sound, good sense, which is +characteristic of the race. We may say that this nation +possesses the wisdom of Sir Thomas More, who esteemed it folly +to lose eternity for a life of twenty years of ease and honors. +Is not this, at bottom, the thought which has sustained the +nation in that dread martyrdom of three centuries, whose +terrible story we have still to tell? Have they not, as a nation, +one after another, generation upon generation, lived and passed +their lives in contempt, in want, in frightful misery, to die in +torments or hidden sufferings, without a gleam of hope from this +world for their race, their families, their children, their very +name, because they would not surrender their religion, that is +to say, truth, which alone could secure the eternal welfare of +their souls? + +Speak to us, after this, of a steady and systematic mind! Prate +to us of the love of liberty, of self-dignity! Where are such +things to be found in their reality, on their trial, if not in +the scenes and the nation we have just pictured? + +A second reason, no less effective, perhaps, than the first, and +certainly as remarkable, is the very composition of the Celtic +mind, which naturally tends to firm belief, because it is given +exclusively to traditions, past events, narratives of poets, +historians, and genealogists. Had the Irish at any time turned +themselves to criticise, to doubt, to argue, their very +existence, as a people, would have ceased. They must go on +believing, or all reality vanishes from their minds, accustomed +for so many ages to take in that solid knowledge founded, it is +true, on hearsay; but how else can truth reach us save by +hearsay? Hence, their simple and artless acquiescence in any +thing they hear from trustworthy lips - acquiescence ever +refused to a known enemy, never to a well-tried friend, even +when the facts ascertained are strange, mysterious, unaccounted +for, and incredible to minds differently constituted. + +Thus, when we read their "Acta Sanctorum," we at once find +ourselves in a world so different from our every-day world - a +region of wonders, mysteries, of heavenly and supernatural deeds, +unequalled in any story of marvellous travel or fable of +imaginative romance. Yet, who will say that the writers doubted +a single phrase of what they wrote? Is it not clear, from the +very words they use, that they would have held it sacrilege to +utter a falsehood, when speaking of the blessed saints? And, can +the lives of the saints be like those of common mortals? What is +there strange in considering that the earth was mysterious and +heavenly, when heavenly beings walked upon it? Read the Litany +and Festology of Aengus, and doubt if the holy man did not +believe all therein contained. Say, if it can be possible, that +it is not all true, though apparently incredible. Who can doubt +what is asserted with such vehemence of belief? How can that +fail to be true which holy men and women have themselves +believed, and given to the world to be believed? + +This thoroughly explains the simplicity of faith which still +distinguishes the Irish people. It explains why no heretic could +be found among them, and their intense horror of heresy as soon +as known. Nor is it their mind alone which bears the impress of +faith: their very exterior is a witness to it. Go into any large +city where dwell a number of Irish inhabitants; walk through the +public streets, where they walk among the children of other +races, and you will easily distinguish them, not only by the +modesty of their women and the simple bearing of their men, but +by the look of confidence and contentedness stamped on their +features. Whoever has a settled faith, is no longer an inquirer, +no longer troubled with the anxiety and restlessness of a man +plunged in doubt and uncertainty; all the lineaments of the face, +all the gestures and attitudes of the body, speak of quietude +and repose. + +We might render this discussion more effective by the study of +the contrary phenomena, by showing how easily races, differently +gifted, endowed with the spirit of criticism and argument, sever +from the faith and follow the lead of deceptive teachers. Our +object here was to describe the Irish, and not to enter into a +study of the physiology of other minds; but a word on Germanic +and Scandinavian tribes and peoples may not be amiss. + +There is no doubt that these races place their "good sense" in a +very different line from the Irish; that they are, also, much +more given to criticism, what they call "grumbling," and absence +of repose. + +With regard to the first point - their "good sense" - it is easy +to remark their tendency to prefer the temporal to the eternal. +For their "good sense" consists in enjoying the things of this +life without troubling themselves over-much about another. And, +in this observation, there is nothing which can possibly offend +them, for such is their open profession and estimate of true +wisdom. Hence result their love of comfort, their thrift, their +shrewdness in all material and worldly affairs; hence, their +constant boasting about their civilization, understanding, +thereby, what is pleasing to the senses; hence, also, their +success in a life wherein they set their whole happiness. How +could they be expected to remain steadfast to a faith which +declares war to pleasure, and speaks only of contempt for this +world? It is not matter of surprise, then, that their great +argument, to prove that theirs is the better and the right +religion, is to compare their physical well-being with the +inferiority in that regard of Catholic nations. + +With regard to the spirit of criticism and argumentation, +nothing is so opposed to the spirit of faith; and it is as clear +as day that the northern races possess this in an eminent degree. +What question, religious or philosophical, can rest intact when +brought under the microscopic vision of a German philosopher or +an English rationalist? A few years more of criticism, as now +understood and practised by them, would leave absolutely nothing +which the mind of man could respect and believe. + +An attentive observer will surely conclude, after a serious +examination of the subject, that it is from petty causes of this +character that these races have so easily surrendered their +faith, rather than from their systematic minds and love of +liberty. + +II. The rising of the communes, one of the greatest features of +mediaeval Europe, did not extend to Ireland, separated as it +then was from the Continent. But, by reason of this very +separation, the island remained forever free from the future +political commotions of what is known as "the third estate." A +few remarks on this subject are requisite, because of the +objection brought against the Irish, that they have never known +municipal government, and also on account of the false +assertions of some philosophical historians, who allege that the +Danes and Anglo-Normans, in turn, wrought a great good to +Ireland by bringing with them the boon of citizen rights. + +What were the causes of the rising of the communes in the +eleventh and following centuries? The universality of the fact +argues identity of motives, since, without common understanding +among various nations, the risings showed themselves at about +the same time in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, and England. + +In ancient cities, which existed prior to the Germanic invasions, +the population, after the scourge had passed, was composed +principally of three elements: 1. Free men of the conquering +races, who were poor, and had embraced some mechanical pursuit; +2. The remnants of the Roman population, who followed some +trade; 3. Freedmen from the rural districts, who, unable to gain +a livelihood in the country, had come to reside in the cities, +where they could more easily subsist. + +Thus, besides the feudal lords and the class of villeins, there +was formed everywhere a third class, that of arts and trades. + +The juridical power being restricted to the lords, whose rights +extended only to the land and the men attached to it, the class +of artisans found themselves destitute of legal rights, without +a recognition or place even in the jurisprudence, as then +existing, consequently in a practically anarchical state. Hence, +they formed among themselves their own associations, elected +their own magistrates, enacted their own by-laws. + +In the cities we have mentioned, the bishop alone held social +relations with the lords, whether the feudal chieftain of the +vicinity, or the Count of the city. Thus, the bishop often acted +as the mediator between the citizens and the privileged class +which surrounded them. The great object of the citizens was to +obtain a charter of rights from the suzerain, who alone could +act with justice and impartiality toward those disfranchised +burghers. To this was owed the immense number of charters +granted at that time, many of which, lately published, tend +better than any thing else to give us an insight into the origin +of municipal life in mediaeval Europe. + +New cities, either founded by the invaders or springing up of +themselves around feudal castles and monasteries, soon +experienced the necessity of similar favors, which, as soon as +obtained, invested them with a social status unenjoyed before. + +The number of freemen, reduced to poverty, or of recent freedmen +- freed by the emancipation everywhere set on foot and +encouraged by the Church - extended the spread of communes even +to the rural districts. Thus, many villages or small towns grew +into corporations, and a social state arose, hitherto totally +unknown in Europe. + +The question has been much discussed, whether those new +municipal corporations owed their origin to the municipal system +of the Romans, or were altogether disconnected with it. The +opinion commonly now accepted is, that the two systems were +utterly distinct. In some few instances, a particular Roman +municipal city may have passed into a mediaeval corporate town +under a new charter and with extended rights; but this was +certainly the exception. In the great majority of cases, the +newly-chartered cities had never before enjoyed municipal rights. + +These few words suffice to show that the communes, wherever they +arose, presupposed the existence of feudalism, and the slavery +once so widely extended, passing gradually into serfdom. + +But neither feudalism nor slavery, in the old pagan sense of the +word, nor even serfdom, properly so called, as the doom of the +ascripti glebae, ever existed in Ireland. There was, therefore, +no need among the Irish for the rising of communes. + +Nevertheless, we do find communes existing in Ireland and +charters granted to Irish cities by English kings. But they were +merely English institutions for the special benefit of the +English of the Pale, which were always refused to "the Irish +enemy," and which the "Irish enemy," with the exception of a few +individual cases, never demanded. Consequently the fact stands +almost universally true that the rising of the communes never +extended to Ireland, and that, if the Irish never enjoyed the +benefit of them, as little did they share in the evil +consequences resulting from them. + +All those evil consequences had their root in a feeling of +bitter hostility between the higher or noble classes, and not +only the villeins, whom they ground between them, but also the +middle classes, who were dwelling in the cities, emancipating +themselves by slow degrees, and forming in course of time the +"third estate." + +The workings of that hostility form a great part of the history +of Europe from the twelfth century down to the present day, and +many social convulsions, recorded in the annals of the six ages +preceding our own, may be traced to it. The frightful French +Revolution was certainly a result of it, although it must be +granted that several secondary causes contributed to render the +catastrophe more destructive, the chief among which was the +spread of infidel doctrines among the higher and middle classes. + +But our days witness a still more awful spectacle, the +persistent array of the poor against the rich in all countries +once Christian, and this may be traced directly to their +mediaeval origin now under our consideration; and, the evils +preparing for mankind therefrom, future history alone will be +able to tell. + +In Ireland, this has never been the danger. In the earlier +constitution of the nation, there could be no rivalry, no +hostility of class with class, as there never existed any social +distinction between them; and if, in our days, the poor there as +elsewhere seem arrayed against the rich, it is not as class +against class, but as the spoiled against the spoiler, the +victim against the robber, against the holders of the soil by +right of confiscation--a soil upon which the old owners still +live, with all the traditions of their history, which have never +been completely effaced, and which in our days are springing +into new life under the studies of patriotic antiquarians. This +fact cannot be denied. + +The case of Ireland is so different in this respect from that of +other nations, that in no other country have the people been +reduced to such a degrading state of pauperism, yet in no other +country is the same submission to the existing order of society +found among the lower classes. No communism, no socialism has +ever been preached there, and, were it preached, it would only +be to deaf ears. Until the last two or three centuries, no seed +of animosity between high and low, rich and poor, had been sowed +in Ireland. The reason of this we have seen in a previous +chapter. And if, since the wholesale confiscations of the +seventeenth century, the country has been divided into two +hostile camps, the fault has never laid with the poor, the +despoiled; they have always been the victims, and never uttered +open threats of destruction against their oppressors. If in the +future men look to great calamities, Ireland is the only quarter +from which nothing of the kind is to be feared, and the +impending revolution by which she may profit will look to her +for no assistance in the subversion of society. + +We now leave the reader to appreciate to its full extent the +real value of the opinion of modern writers who would justify +the successive invasions of the Danes and Anglo-Normans, and +also, we suppose, of the Puritans, as praiseworthy attempts to +introduce into Ireland the municipal system, so productive of +good elsewhere throughout Europe. + +There is no doubt that municipal rights have been of immense +advantage to European society, as constituted at the time of +their introduction. They formed the germ of a new class, +destined to be the ruling class of the world, by whom human +rights were first to be understood and proclaimed, and the +necessary amount of freedom granted to all and secured by just +laws justly administered. Christianity is the true source of all +those rights, as Christian morality ought to be their standard. + +But what an amount of human misery was first required, in order +that such blessed results might follow, merely because religion, +which was and ever had been steadily working to the same end, +was altogether set aside, and its assistance even despised in +the mighty change! And after all--we might say in consequence-- +how limited has the boon practically become! How few are the +nations, even in our days, which understand impartiality, +moderation, justice! How soon will mankind become sufficiently +enlightened to settle down peacefully in the enjoyment of those +blessings of civil liberty proclaimed and trumpeted to the four +winds of heaven, yet in no place rightly understood and +equitably shared? + +Ireland never knew those municipal rights from which have flowed +so many evils, side by side with so few blessings, because their +essential elements were never found there. What the future may +develop, no man can say. It is time, however, for all to see +that the nation is equal to any rights to which men are said to +be entitled. + +III. The great intellectual movement set on foot in Europe +during the middle ages, by the numerous universities which +sprang up everywhere, under the fostering care of Popes or +Christian monarchs, failed to reach the island, in consequence +of its exclusion from the European family; yet even this was not +for her an unmitigated evil, though certainly the greatest loss +she sustained. While Europe, during the eighth and ninth +centuries, was in total darkness, Ireland alone basked in the +light of science, whose lustre, shining in her numerous schools, +attracted thither by its brightness the youth of all nations, +whom she received with a generosity unbounded. Not content with +this, she sent forth her learned and holy men to spread the +light abroad and dispel the thick darkness, to establish seats +of learning as focuses whence should radiate the light of truth +on a world buried in barbarism. + +And when the warm sunshine, created or kept alive by her, sheds +its rays on Italy, on France, on Germany, and England itself, +all her own schools are closed, her once great universities +destroyed. Clonard, Clonfert, Armagh, Bangor, Clonmacnoise, are +desolate, and the wealthy Anglo-Norman prelates find their +purses empty when the question arises of restoring or forming a +single centre of intellectual development. The natural +consequences should have been darkness, barbarism, gross +ignorance. Ireland never fell to that depth of spiritual +desolation. Her sons, though deprived of all exterior help, +would still feed for centuries on their own literary treasures. +All the way down to the Stuart dynasty, the nation preserved, +not only her clans, her princes, and her brehon laws, but also +her shanachies, her books, her ancient literature and traditions. +These the feudal barons could not rob her of; and if they would +not repay her, in some measure, for what they took away, by +flooding her with the new methods of thought, of knowledge, of +scientific investigation, at least they could not destroy her +old manuscripts, wipe out from her memory the old songs, snatch +the immortal harp from the hands of her bards, nor silence the +lips of her priests from giving vent to those bursts of +impassioned eloquence which are natural to them and must out. +Hence there was no tenth century of darkness for her--let us +bear this in mind--light never deserted her, but continued to +shine on her from within, despite the refusal of her masters to +unlock for her the floodgates of knowledge. + +For this reason was it not to her an unmitigated loss; but there +is another and, perhaps, a stronger still. + +We should be careful not to attribute to what is good the abuse +made of it by men; yet the good is sometimes the occasion of +evil; and so it was with those great, admirable, and much-to-be- +regretted universities. + +They imparted to the mind of man an impulse which the pride and +ambition of man turned to his intellectual ruin. What was +intended for the spread of true knowledge and faith became in +the end the source of spiritual pride, the natural fosterer of +doubt and negation. Modern science, so called, that incarnation +of vanity, sophistry, error, and delusion, comes indirectly from +those universities of the middle ages; and it was chiefly at the +time of what is called the revival of learning, that the great +revolution in science came about, which changed the intellectual +gold into dross, the once divine ambrosia of knowledge, served +to happy mortals in mediaeval times, into poison. + +That pretended "revival of learning" can never be mentioned in +connection with Ireland; and the "idolatry of art," and +corruption of morals, never crossed the channel which God set +between Great Britain and the Island of Saints. + +Another revival, though of a very different character, was, +however, actually taking place in Erin at that very period, when +the Wars of the Roses gave her breathing-time, which we relate +in the words of a modern Irish writer, as a conclusion to the +reflections we have indulged in: + +"Within this period lived Margaret of Offaly, the beautiful and +accomplished queen of O'Carrol, King of Ely. She and her husband +were munificent patrons of literature, art, and, science. On +Queen Margaret's special invitation, the literati of Ireland and +Scotland, to the number of nearly three thousand, held a +"session" for the furtherance of literary and scientific +interests at her palace near Killeagh, in Offaly, the entire +assemblage being the guests of the king and queen during their +stay. + +"The nave of the great church of Da Sinchell was converted for +the occasion into a banqueting-hall, where Margaret herself +inaugurated the proceedings by placing two massive chalices of +gold, as offerings, on the high altar, and committing two orphan +children to the custody of nurses to be fostered at her charge. +Robed in cloth of gold, this illustrious lady, who was as +distinguished for her beauty as for her generosity, sat in +queenly state m one of the galleries of the church, surrounded +by the clergy, the brehons, and her private friends, shedding a +lustre on the scene which was passing below, while her husband, +who had often encountered England's greatest generals in battle, +remained mounted on a charger outside the church, to bid the +guests welcome and see that order was preserved. The invitations +were issued, and the guests arranged according to a list +prepared by 0'Carrol's chief brehon; and the second +entertainment, which took place at Rathangan, was a supplemental +one, to embrace such men of learning as had not been brought +together at the former feast."--(A.M. 0'Sullivan.) + +Such was the true "revival of learning" in Ireland--a return to +her old traditional teaching. If this peaceful time had been of +longer duration, there is no doubt that her old schools would +have flourished anew, and men in subsequent ages might have +compared the results of the two systems: the one producing with +true enlightenment, peace, concord, faith, and piety, though +confined to the insignificant compass of one small island; the +other resulting in the mental anarchy so rife to-day, and +spreading all over the rest of Europe. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +THE IRISH AND THE TUDORS.--HENRY VIII. + +By losing the only bond of unity--the power vested in the Ard- +Righ--which held the various parts of the island together, +Ireland lost all power of exercising any combined action. The +nations were as numerous as the clans, and the interests as +diverse as the families. They possessed, it is true, the same +religion, and in the observance of its precepts and practices +they often found a remedy for their social evils; but religion, +not encountering any opposition from any quarter, with the +exception of the minor differences existing between the native +clergy and the English dignitaries, was generally considered as +out of the question in their wranglings and contentions. We +shall see how the blows struck at it by the English monarchs +welded into one that people, were the cause of that union now so +remarkable among them, and really constituted the only bond that +ever linked them together. + +Before dwelling on these considerations, let us glance a moment +at the state of the country prior to the attempt of introducing +Protestantism there. + +The English Pale was reduced at this period to one half of five +counties in Leinster and Meath; and even within those boundaries +the 0'Kavanaghs, O'Byrnes, O'Moores and others, retained their +customs, their brehon laws, their language and traditions, often +making raids into the very neighborhood of the capital, and +parading their gallowglasses and kerns within twenty miles of +Dublin. + +The nobility and the people were in precisely the same state +which they had known for centuries. The few Englishmen who had +long ago settled in the country had become identified with the +natives, had adopted their manners, language, and laws, so +offensive at first to the supercilious Anglo-Normans. + +But a revolution was impending, owing chiefly to the change +lately introduced into the religion of England, by Henry Tudor. +It is important to study the first attempt of the kind in +Ireland; not only because it became the occasion of establishing +for a lengthy period a real unanimity among the people--giving +birth to the nation as it were--but also for the right +understanding of the word "rebellion," which had been so freely +used before toward the natives, and which was now about to +receive a new interpretation. + +The English had once deceived the Irish, exacting their +submission +in the twelfth century by foisting upon them the word homage: +they would deceive Europe by a constant use, or rather misuse, +of the words "rebel" and "rebellion." By the enactment of new +laws they pronounce the simple attachment to the old religion of +the country a denial of sovereign right, and consequently an act +of overt treason; and the Irish shall be butchered mercilessly +for the sake of the religion of Christ without winning the name, +though they do the crown, of martyrdom; for Europe is to be so +effectually deceived, that even the Church will hesitate to +proclaim those religious heroes, saints of God. + +But the great fact of the birth of a nation, in the midst of +those throes of anguish, will lessen their atrocity in the mind +of the reader, and explain to some extent the wonderful designs +of Providence. + +From an English state paper, published by M. Haverty, we learn +that, in 1515, a few years before the revolt of Luther, the +island was divided into more than sixty separate states, or +"regions," "some as big as a shire, some more, some less." + +Had it not been for this division and the constant feuds it +engendered, in the north between the O'Neills and O'Donnells, in +the south between the Geraldines (Desmonds and Kildares) and the +Butlers (Ormonds), the authority of the English king would have +been easily shaken off. The policy so constantly adopted by +England in after-times--a policy well expressed by the Latin +adage, Divide et impera--preserved the English power in Ireland, +and finally brought the island into outward subjection at least, +to Great Britain--a subjection which the Irish conscience and +the Irish voice and Irish arms yet did not cease to protest +against and deny. But the nation was divided, and it required +some great and general calamity to unite them together and make +of them one people. + +That, even spite of those divisions, they were at the time on +the point of driving the English out of the island, we need no +better proofs than the words of the English themselves. The +Archbishop of Dublin, John Allen, the creature of Wolsey, who +was employed by the crafty cardinal to begin the work of the +spoliation of convents in the island, and oppose the great Earl +of Kildare, dispatched his relative, the secretary of the Dublin +Council, to England, to report that "the English laws, manners, +and language in Ireland were confined within the narrow compass +of twenty miles;" and that, unless the laws were duly enforced, +"the little place," as the Pale was called, "would be reduced to +the same condition as the remainder of the kingdom;" that is to +say, the Pale itself, which had been brought to such +insignificant limits, would belong exclusively to the Irish. + +It was while affairs were at this pass that the revolt of +"silken Thomas" excited the wrath of Henry VIII., and brought +about the destruction of almost the whole Kildare family. + +It was about this time, also, that Wolsey fell, and Cromwell, +having replaced him as Chancellor of England, with Cranmer as +Archbishop of Canterbury, the Reformation began in England with +the divorce of the king, who shortly after assumed supremacy in +spirituals as a prerogative of the crown, and made Parliament -- +in those days himself--supreme law-giver in Church and state. + +Cromwell, known in history as the creature and friend of Cranmer, +like his protector a secret pervert to the Protestant doctrines +of Germany, and the first arch-plotter for the destruction of +Catholicity in the British Isles, undertook to save the English +power in Ireland by forcing on that country the supremacy of the +king in religious matters, knowing well that such a step would +drive the Irish into resistance, but believing that he could +easily subdue them and make the island English. + +Having been appointed, not only Chancellor of England, but also +king's vicar-general in temporals and spirituals, Cromwell +inquired of his English agents in Ireland the best means of +attaining his object--the subjection of the country. Their +report is preserved among the state papers, and some of their +suggestions deserve our attentive consideration. If Henry VIII. +had consented to follow their advice, he would have himself +inaugurated the bloody policy so well carried out long after by +another Cromwell, the celebrated "Protector." + +The report sets forth that the most efficient mode of proceeding +was to exterminate the people; but Henry thought it sufficient +to gain the nobility over--the people being beneath his notice. + +The agents of the vicar-general were right in their atrocious +proposal. They knew the Irish nation well, and that the only way +to separate Ireland from the See of Peter was to make the +country a desert. + +Their means of bringing about the destruction of the people was +starvation. The corn was to be destroyed systematically, and the +cattle killed or driven away. Their operations, it is true, were +limited to the borders of the Pale. The gentle Spenser, at a +later period, proposed to extend them to all Munster, and it was +a special glory reserved for the "Protector" to carry out this +policy through almost the whole of the island. + +"The very living of the Irishry," says the report, "doth clearly +consist in two things: take away the same from them, and they +are passed for ever to recover, or yet to annoy any subject +Ireland. Take first from them their corn, and as much as cannot +be husbanded, and had into the hands of such as shall dwell and +inhabit in their lands, to burn and destroy the same, so as the +Irishry shall not live thereupon; and then to have their cattle +and beasts, which shall be most hardest to come by, and yet, +with guides and policy, they may be oft had and taken." + +The report goes on to point out, most elaborately and +ingeniously, every artifice and plan for carrying this policy +into effect. But here we have, condensed, as it were, in a +nutshell, and coolly and carefully set forth, the system which +was adopted later on, and almost crowned with a fiendish success. +But the moment for the execution of this barbarous scheme had +not yet come, and we find no positive results following +immediately. + +This project, complete as it was, was far from being the only +one proposed at that time for "rooting out the Irish" from +Ireland. Mr. Prendergast, in his "Introduction to the +Cromwellian Settlement," says: + +"The Irish were never deceived as to the purport of the English, +and, though the Pale had not been extended for two hundred and +forty years, their firm persuasion in the reign of Henry VIII. +was, that the original design was not abandoned. 'Irishmen are +of opinion among themselves,' said Justice Cusack to the king, +'that Englishmen will one day banish them from their lands +forever.'" + +In fact, project after project was then proposed for clearing +Ireland of Irish to the Shannon. Some went so far as already to +contemplate their utter extirpation; but "there was no precedent +for it found in the chronicles of the conquest. Add to this the +difficulty of finding people to reinhabit it if suddenly +unpeopled. + +"The chiefs and gentlemen of the Irish only were to be driven +from their properties," according to some of those projects, +"and they only were to be driven into exile, while their lands +should be given to Englishmen." + +"The king, however, seems to have been satisfied with +confiscating the estates of the Earl of Kildare and of his +family. Fierce and bloody though he was, there was something +lion-like in his nature; notwithstanding all those promptings, +he left to the Irish and old English their possessions, and +seemed even anxious to secure them, but failed to do so for want +of time." + +We think Mr. Prendergast's judgment of Henry VIII. too favorable. +Generosity did not prompt him to spare the people and the +nobles, with the exception of the Kildares. We believe that he +never contemplated the extirpation of the people, because such a +political element could not enter into his mind. As for the +nobles, he wished to gain them over, because of the long wars he +foresaw necessary to bring about their utter extinction or exile. + +He adopted, accordingly, a plan of his own, holding firm to his +design of having his new title of "Head of the Church" +acknowledged in Ireland as well as in England. + +Cromwell commenced his work by two measures which had met with +perfect success in the latter country, but which were destined +to fire the sister isle from end to end, and make "the people," +in course of time, really one. These measures were acts of +Parliament: 1. Establishing 'the king's spiritual supremacy; 2. +Suppressing, at once, all the monasteries existing in the +country, and giving their property to the nobles who were +willing to apostatize. + +The necessity of convening Parliament resulted from the failure +of the first attempt, already made, to establish the king's +supremacy. Browne, the successor of Allen in the See of Dublin, +a rank Lutheran at heart, had been commissioned by the king and +by Cranmer, his consecrator, to establish the new doctrine at +once. His want of success, is thoroughly explained in a letter +to Cromwell, which is still preserved, and which remains one of +the proudest monuments of the steadfastness of the Irish in +their religion. + +He complains that not only the clergy, but the "common people," +were "more zealous in their blindness than the saints and +martyrs in truth, in the beginning of the Gospel," and "such was +their hostility against him that his life was in danger." + +And all this in Dublin, in the heart of the Pale, where the +chief antagonist of the new doctrine, "the leader of the people" +against this first attempt at schism, was Cromer, the Archbishop +of Armagh, an Englishman himself! So that those prelates of +England, who, with the exception of the noble Fisher, had all +yielded without a murmur of opposition to the will of Henry, +could find no followers, not even of their own nation, in +Ireland, so much had their faith been strengthened by contact +with that of "the common people." + +A Parliament was needed, therefore, and that one which was to be +the instrument of introducing the great English measure, met for +the first time in Dublin, on the 1st of May, 1536; but, being +prorogued, it met again in 1537, and did not complete its work +until once more summoned in 1541, when the old Irish element was +for the first and last time introduced at its sitting, in order, +if possible, to consecrate the new doctrine by having it +solemnly accepted by the old race. + +This Parliament, which was first convened in Dublin, McGeoghegan +says, "adjourned to Kilkenny, thence to Cashel, after ward to +Limerick, and lastly to Dublin again." The chief cause of these +interruptions was the difficulty of bringing an Irish Parliament, +even when composed of Englishmen, as was the case up to 1541, +to pass the decrees of supremacy, denial of Roman authority, etc., +which had been so readily accepted in England. + +The Irish Parliaments, as far back as we can see, were composed +not only of lords, spiritual and temporal, and of deputies of +the Commons, but each diocese possessed also the right to send +there three ecclesiastical proctors, who, by reason of their +office, owned neither benefice nor fief, and were therefore at +liberty to vote, fearless of attainder and confiscation, in +accordance with their conscience and their sense of right. + +This feature of the Irish assemblies, even when no +representative of the native race sat in them, was a fatal +obstacle to the success of the scheme devised by Browne and +executed by Cromwell. Accordingly, we are not astonished to find +that, by an act of despotism not uncommon during the reign of +Henry VIII., the proctors were excluded from Parliament, which +thus became an obedient tool in the hands of the government. + +Not only, therefore, were several state measures carried in +accordance with the wish of the king, but the great object +proposed by the meeting of this assembly was finally obtained; +and, lowing the lead of the English Parliament, Henry VIII. and +his successors were confirmed in the title of "Supreme Head of +the Church in Ireland," with power of reforming and correcting +errors in religion. All appeals to Rome were prohibited, and the +Pope's authority declared a usurpation. + +Henry, however, foreseeing that all these favorite measures of +his policy, being carried by English votes in a purely English +assembly, though on Irish soil, would meet with universal +opposition from all the native lords, conceived the idea of +summoning the great Irish chieftains to a new meeting of +Parliament, from which he expected that a moral revolution would +be effected in the island. Sir Anthony St. Leger, created deputy +in August, 1540, was thought a likely man to be intrusted with +so delicate a mission. He conducted it with political prudence, +that is to say, with a judicious mixture of kindness and fraud, +which succeeded beyond all expectations. + +In order to prepare the way for hoodwinking the Irish chieftains, +favors of every kind were showered upon them, to wit, titles +and estates, chiefly those of suppressed monasteries; and St. +Leger, by an alternate use of force and diplomacy, at length +effected that the Irish should consent to accept titles. Con +O'Neill, the head of the house of Tyrone, went to England, +accompanied by O'Kervellan, Bishop of Ologher, and was admitted +to an audience by the king. Henry adopted toward those proud +Irishmen a policy utterly different from that he had used with +the English lords. These latter were merely threatened with his +displeasure, and with the feudal penalties he knew so well how +to inflict; the others were received at court as favorites and +dear friends; a royal courtesy, kind expressions, a smiling face- +-such were the arms he employed against the "barbarous Irish." + +Tyrone, O'Donnell, and others, were not proof against his +cunning. The first renounced his title of prince and the +glorious name of O'Neill, to receive in return that of Earl of +Tyrone. Manus O'Donnell was made Earl of Tyrconnel. Both +received back the lands which they had offered to the king, and +their example was followed by a great number of inferior lords. +Among them, two Magenisses were dubbed knights; Murrough O'Brien, +of North Munster, was made Earl of Thomond and Baron of +Inchiquin; De Burgo, or McWilliams, was created Earl of +Clanricard, and a host of others submitted in like manner, and +received the new titles which henceforth became conspicuous in +Irish history. + +This was the beginning of the gradual suppression of the clans. +Many of these nobles, unfortunately, not content with receiving +back, at the hands of the king, the lands which had come into +their possession from a long line of ancestors, and which really +belonged not to them personally, but to the clans whose heads +they were, greedily snatched at the estates of religious orders, +whose suppression was the first consequence of the schism in +Ireland, which will soon occupy our attention. + +The Irish chieftains had already seen Wolsey, a cardinal in full +communion with Rome, suppress forty monasteries in the island. +They might therefore imagine that the confiscation of a still +greater number on the part of the king was a thing not +altogether incompatible with the religion of the monarch, and +that the fact of their sharing in the plunder was not entirely +opposed to their titles of Catholics and subjects of Rome. Such +is human conscience when blinded by self-interest. + +The king thought that he had gained over the nobility,--which +was all he wished- -and the last session of the previous +Parliament of 1536 and the following years might now be held in +order to consecrate the unholy work. + +"On the 12th of June, 1541," says Mr. Haverty, "a Parliament was +held in Dublin, at which the novel sight was witnessed of Irish +chieftains sitting for the first time with English lords. +O'Brien appeared there by his procurators and attorneys, and +Kavanagh, O'More, O'Reilly, McWilliams, and others, took their +seats in person, the addresses of the Speaker and of the Lord- +Chancellor being interpreted to them in Irish by the Earl of +Ormond. An act was unanimously passed, conferring on Henry VIII. +and his successors the title of King of Ireland, instead of that +of Lord of Ireland, which the English kings, since +the days of John, had hitherto borne. This act was hailed with +great rejoicings in Dublin, and on the following Sunday, the +lords and gentlemen of Parliament went in procession to St. +Patrick's Cathedral, where solemn high mass was sung by +Archbishop Browne, after which the law was proclaimed and a Te +Deum chanted." + +It is worthy of remark that in the session of 1541, at which +alone the Irish chieftains appeared, not a word was said of the +supremacy of the king in spirituals. Sir James Ware, who gives +the various decrees with more detail than usual, makes no +mention of this pet measure of the king and of the Lutheran +Archbishop Browne, but it was only part and parcel of the +Parliament of 1536, prorogued successively to Kilkenny, Cashel, +Limerick, and finally again to Dublin. At its first sitting the +law of supremacy was passed and proclaimed as law of Ireland. +Nothing was said of it in the various sessions that followed, +including that of 1541; and yet the Irish chieftains were +supposed to have sanctioned it, inasmach as it was a measure +previously passed in the same Parliament: and the suppression of +various abbeys and monasteries having been openly decreed in the +final session, as a result of the king's supremacy--Rome not +having been consulted, of course--all the signers of the last +decree were supposed to have thereby sanctioned and adopted the +previous ones. Thus O'Neill, O'Reilly, O'More, and the rest, +without being aware of the fact, became schismatics, though many +of them, perhaps all, did not see the connection between the +various sessions of that long Parliament. Certainly, if, on +leaving the Dublin Cathedral, where they had heard the +archbishop's mass and assisted at that solemn Te Deum, they had +been told that that act was intended to consecrate the surrender +of the religion of their ancestors, and the commencement of a +frightful revolution, which would end in the destruction of +their national existence, almost of their very race, they would +have incredulously laughed to scorn the unwelcome prophet. + +But even if, as we may well believe, those Irish lords had +really been the victims of deception, and had not, as a body, +been corrupted by the sacrilegious gift of suppressed +monasteries, the people, their clansmen, prompted by the vivid +impressions and unerring instincts of religious faith and +patriotic nationality, which were ever living in their breasts, +resented the weakness of their chieftains as a national +defection and a real apostasy, and took immediate steps to bring +the lords to their senses, and to prevent the spread of English +corruption. + +All who had received titles from Henry, and surrendered to him +the deeds of their lands, as if those lands belonged to them +personally, and not to the clans collectively, all those, +particularly, who had enriched themselves by the plunder of +religious houses, and who had taken any part in the destruction +of the religious orders so dear to the Irish heart, were soon +made to feel the indignation which those events had excited +among the native clansmen, north and south. And those of the +chieftains who had really been deceived, and had preserved in +their hearts all through a strong love for their religion and +country, were recalled to a sense of their error, and brought +back to a sense of their duty by the unmistakable voice of the +"people." + +While the nobles were still in England, feted by Henry in his +royal palace of Greenwich, renouncing their Irish names to +become English earls and barons, the Ulster chief, protesting +that he would never again take the name of O'Neill, but content +himself with the title of Earl of Tyrone; while O'Brien was +being created Earl of Thomond; McWilliams, Earl of Clanricard; +O'Donnell, Earl of Tyrconnell; Kavanagh, Baron of Ballyann; and +Fitzpatrick, Baron of Ossory; the clans at home, hearing in due +time of those real treasons, were concerting plans for making +their lords repent of their weakness or treachery, and for +administering to them due punishment on their return. + +O'Neill, "the first of his race who had accepted an English +title," on landing in Ireland, learned that, his people had +deposed him, and elected in his stead his son John the Proud, +better known as Shane O'Neill; O'Donnell, on his arrival, met +most, of his clan, headed by his son, up in arms against him; +the new Earl of Clanricard had already been deposed by his +people and another McWilliams, with a Gaelic name, elected in +his place; and so with the rest. + +But, unfortunately, the Government of England was strong enough +to support its favorite chieftains, and it found some Irish +tools ready at hand to form the nucleus of an Irish party in +their favor. Thus, unanimity no longer marked the decisions of +the clans; two parties were formed in each of them, the one +national, comprising the great bulk of the people, the real, +true people; the other English, composed of a few apostate +Irishmen, backed by the power of England. Thus, henceforth we +hear of the O'Reilly, and the king's O'Reilly, etc. + +Henry VIII. seemed, therefore, with the help of his minister, St. +Leger, to have succeeded in breaking up the clans, after the +Irish national government had been broken up long before. +Confusion of titles, property, and traditions became worse +confounded. How could the shanachies, bards, and brehons, any +longer agree in their pedigrees, songs, and legal decisions? +England had thus early adopted in Ireland the stern and +coldhearted policy which, centuries later, she used to destroy +the native and Mohammedan dynasties in Hindostan. It was not yet +divide et impera on a large scale, but the division was pushed +as far as lay in the power England, to the very last elements of +the social system. + +From this time forward, then, we must not be surprised to find +England welcoming to her bosom unworthy sons of Ireland, whom +she wished to make her tools. There was always, either in Dublin +or London, a sufficient supply of materials out of which crown's +chiefs might be manufactured; the government made it part of its +policy to hold in its hands and train to its purposes certain +members of each of the ruling families--of the O'Neills, +O'Reillys, O'Donnells, O'Connors, and others. + +It was no longer, therefore, the rooting out and exterminating +policy which prevailed, but one as fatal in its results, which +would have utterly destroyed Irish national feeling, to set up +in its place, not only English manners, language, and customs, +but also English schism, heresy, philosophical speculations --as +the Four Masters have it --finally, materialism and nihilism. + +But, in real sober fact, the scheme proved almost an utter +failure, owing to the far-seeing good sense of the people. The +national spirit revived among the upper classes, both native and +of English descent--owing to the decided stand taken by the +inferior clansmen. + +The Desmonds and Kildares, in the south, the O'Donnells, +Maguires, and others, in the north, soon showed themselves +animated by a new spirit of ardent Catholicism; created, in fact, +a new nation, quite apart from, or rather embracing, clanship, +well-nigh destroyed the English power, kept Elizabeth, during +the whole of her reign, in constant agitation and fear, and +would have succeeded in recovering their independence, and +securing freedom of worship, had not their good-nature been +imposed upon by the hypocrisy and faithlessness of the Stuarts, +to whom they always looked for freedom in the practice of their +religion, without ever obtaining it. + +Thus did the people, the Irish race, thwart the policy of Henry, +who sought to gain over the nobility. Their stubborn resistance +to the vastly-increased and constantly-increasing English power, +grew at last to such proportions, and became so discouraging to +their oppressors, that the old policy of utter extermination was +resumed by Cromwell and the Orange party of the following age. + +The refusal of the people, that is to say, of the bulk of the +nation, to submit to the policy of their chieftains, and the +determination to repudiate that policy by deposing its +supporters and choosing others in their stead, was most happy in +its effect on their whole future history. + +The leaders, by accepting the new titles bestowed on them by the +English kings, by taking their seats in Parliament, and +concurring in the various measures there passed, subjected +themselves to a foreign rule, surrendered to this rule the tribe- +lands, which it was not in their power to surrender of +themselves, gave up, in fact, their nationality, and became +English subjects. The action of the clansmen reversed all the +fatal consequences resulting from those acts. They remained a +nation distinct from the English, whose laws they had never +either admitted or accepted. And, as the clan spirit declined, +under the policy of England, it only made way for a new and a +greater spirit--religious feeling, the bond of a common religion +assaulted--which, henceforth, lay at the bottom of the whole +struggle--which, for the first time in their history, blended +into one whole the broken clans, gave them a unity and a +consistency never known till then, and thus the real nation was +born. + +They might boast, therefore, not only of not having lost their +autonomy, but of being more firmly than ever knit together; they +could conclude treaties of alliance with foreign powers, without +committing treason, and they soon began to use that power; they +could even declare war against England, and it was not rebellion. +The successors of Henry VIII. acted constantly as though the +Irish nation had really subjected itself to English kings and +English rule, as though the acceptance of a few titles by a few +chieftains (who were deposed by their people as soon as the fact +was known) signified an acknowledgment on the part of the Irish +people of their absorption by the English feudal system; they +appeared "horrified" when they saw the successors of those +chieftains reject those titles and resume their own names; and +they called the Irish "rebels" and "traitors" for going to war +with England--a country they had never acknowledged as their +ruler--and introducing into their country Spanish, Italian, and +French troops as allies. + +The explanation of the whole mystery consisted in the simple +fact that the people, the nation, had steadily refused to +sanction the act of their leaders; and all the pretensions of +English kings, statesmen, and lawyers, were valueless. Those +Irishmen who subsequently entered into the various Geraldine and +Ulster confederacies, and summoned foreign armies to their aid, +were neither rebels nor traitors, but citizens of an independent +state, possessing their international rights as citizens of any +independent country. This we have seen in a previous chapter, +and Sir John Davies has been obliged to confess its truth, +admitting the difference between a tributary and a subject +nation. + +A glance shows us the importance of the almost unanimous outcry +of the clansmen of Tyrone, Tyrconnell, and of other parts of +Ireland. Owing to the patriotic feeling of these, nothing +remained for the English but to punish the Irish people for +their resolve of holding to their religion, and to declare a +religious war against them, though they called them all the time +rebels and traitors. This is the view an impartial historian +should take of those mighty events. + +But, it is well to look more closely at this new element, which +then showed itself for the first time in Irish national life, +the people, irrespective of clanship; the people, as influencing +the leaders, and thus becoming a living--nay, a ruling power in +the state. And, lest any of our readers should not be convinced +that such really was the case, we mention here a fact, which +will come more prominently before us in the next chapter, that, +at the end of Elizabeth's reign, the efforts of all her large +armies and her tortuous policy for changing the religion of the +country, resulted in the grand total of sixty converts to +Protestantism from the noble class, not one of the clansmen +turning apostate! + +Bridget of Kildare would not have been surprised at this, to +judge by what we have previously heard from her. + +In order to find the explanation of this wonderful fact, we must +compare the Irish people with other nationalities, and we may +then easily distinguish its peculiar features, so persistent, so +enduring, we may say, indestructible. We shall find that what +this people was three hundred years ago, it is to this day, with +a greater unity of feeling, devotedness to principle, and higher +aims than any people of modern times. + +In antiquity, the people, in the Christian sense of the word, +never appeared in the field of history. In the despotic +countries of Asia and Africa, there was and could be no question +of such a thing; it was an inert mass used at will by the despot. +The Phoenician states, and Carthage in particular, were mere +oligarchies, with commerce for their chief object, and slaves +for mercantile or warlike purposes. In the republics of Greece +and Italy, the aristocracy ruled, and when, after centuries of +bloody struggles and revolutions, the subjects of Rome were +finally granted the rights of citizenship, the despotism of the +empire suddenly appeared, crushing both plebs and patricians. + +Whenever in those ancient governments we find the lower classes +unable longer to bear the heavy yoke imposed upon them, +revolting against a despotism which had grown insupportable, and +claiming their natural rights, it was merely a surging of waves +raised to mountain-height by the fury of a sudden storm, but +soon allayed and subdued beneath the inflexible will of stern +rulers. The people was a mere mob, whose violence, when +successful, fatally carried destruction with it; and, though it +is seemingly full of a terrible power which nothing can resist, +its power lasts but for a very short time. Could it only outlast +the destruction of all superior rulers, it would end by +destroying itself. + +If we would meet with the people, such as we conceive it to be +in accordance with our Christian ideas, we must come down to +that period of time which followed close upon the organization +of Christendom, namely, to the much-abused middle ages. +Feudalism, it is true, withstood its expansion for a long time, +kept alive the remnants of slavery which it had found in Europe +at its birth, or at best invented serfdom as a somewhat milder +substitute for the former degradation of man. But feudalism +itself was not strong enough to prevent the natural consequences +of the vigorous Christianity which at that time prevailed; and +kings, dukes, and feudal bishops, were compelled to grant +charters which insured the freedom of the subject. Then the +people appeared, in the cities first, afterward in the country, +where, however, the peasants had still to drag on for a weary +time the chains of secular serfdom. + +Thus the people lived in Spain, where they fought valiantly +under their lords for centuries against the Crescent, so that in +some provinces all classes were ennobled, and not a single +plebeian was to be found, which simply means that the whole mass +of the citizens formed the people. Thus the people had an early +existence in Italy, where every city almost became a centre of +freedom and activity, notwithstanding strife and continual feuds. +Thus the people had its life in France, where the learned men +of Catholic universities determined with precision the limits of +kingly power, and where the outburst of the Crusades brought all +classes together to fight for Christ, forming but one body +engaged alike throughout in a holy cause. Thus, finally, the +people had its life even in Germany and England, where real +liberty, though of later birth, afterward remained more deeply +rooted in social life. + +In all those countries, it was called populus Christianus; it +had its associations, its guilds, its Christian customs, its +privileges, its rights. Its existence was acknowledged by law, +and it possessed everywhere either Christian codes, or at least +local customs for its safeguards. It gradually grew into a great +power, and took the name of the "Third Estate," ranking directly +after the clergy, and nobility. Its members knew and respected +the gradations of the social hierarchy as then existing. The +monarchs in most countries, in France chiefly, sided with it +whenever the nobles sought to oppress it, and its deputies were +heard in the Parliaments of the various nations of Christendom. + +How many millions of human beings lived happily during several +centuries under these great institutions of mediaeval times! And +if the members of the people at that time could seldom rise +above their order, except through the Church, this unfortunate +inability often prevented dangerous and subversive ambitions, +and was thus really the source and cause of, happiness to all. +Governments at that period lasted for thousands of years; men +could rely on the stability of things, and great enterprises +could be undertaken and carried to a successful termination. + +But throughout all Europe, with the single exception of Ireland, +the people had to contend against the feudal power; and it was +only very gradually, and step by step, that it could creep up to +its rights. In Ireland, as we have seen, feudalism had failed to +strike root; so that the clansmen who represented there what the +people did elsewhere, never having been subject to slavery or +serfdom, possessed all the liberties which the ordinary class of +men can claim. They had always borne their share in the affairs +of their own territory, at least by the willing help they +afforded to their leaders, during the Danish wars chiefly, and +afterward throughout the four hundred years of struggle with the +Anglo-Normans. The people were the real conquerors under the +lead of their chieftains, and the perpetual enjoyment of their +beloved customs was the privilege of the least among them as +much as of the proudest of their nobles. They themselves were +well aware of this, and to their own efforts no less than to the +heads of the clans they attributed the advantages which they had +gained. + +Thus, when the conduct of their chieftain was not in accordance +with what the clansmen considered the right, they were ready to +express their disapproval of his actions by deposing him, and +placing their allegiance at the service of the man of their +choice. + +But though this course of action is true of the whole period of +their history, more especially from the date of their becoming +Christian up to the time when the blows of religious persecution +welded them into one people, yet they were divided and often at +war among themselves. But no sooner did the work of perversion +make itself felt among them, than we behold the clansmen +exhibiting a unity of feeling on many points which never marked +them before. So that thenceforth the separated clans gradually +began to merge into Irishmen. + +This unity of feeling showed itself, above all, in the deep love +for their religion, which at once became universal and all- +pervading. This love had undoubtedly existed before, as it could +scarcely have originated and swollen to such proportions all at +once; but as the stroke of the hammer reveals the spark, so the +force of opposition enkindled the flame and caused it to burst +forth into view. At the first blow it showed itself throughout +the island, and thus the people became once and forever united. + +This unity of feeling was displayed likewise in an ardent love +for their country in contradistinction to the special locality +of the tribe. Thus arose a true fraternal union with all their +countrymen of whatever county or city. The old antagonism +between family and family only appeared at fitful and unguarded +intervals; but in general each one grasped the hand of another +only as a Catholic and an Irishman. + +This is clearly attributable to their religion. Catholicity +knows no place; its very name is opposed to restrictions of this +character. Could it carry out its purpose, which is that of its +Divine founder, it would make one of all nations; and, to a +certain extent, it has achieved this task. Differences of +character, which are deeply impressed in the nature of various +branches of the human family, are indeed never totally +obliterated by it; but such differences disappear when kneeling +at the same altar and receiving the same sacraments. The +Catholic religion is the only one which is, has ever been, and +must ever claim to be, universal; the religions of antiquity +were purely local. + +Since the coming of our Lord, no heresy, no schism has ever +pretended to the reality of a catholic existence, and, if the +word is self-applied by certain sects, the world laughs at it as +a meaningless thing. The Catholic Church alone has truly claimed +and possessed such a character. + +But if of all men it makes one family with respect to spiritual +matters, what unanimity of feeling must it not create in a +single nation truly imbued with its spirit, which is attacked +for its sake? Until the reign of Henry VIII., the Irish, in +their struggle with England, could summon no religious thought +to their aid, since England was Catholic also, and the Norman +nobles established among them followed the same calendar, +possessed the same churches, the same creed, the same sacraments. +But as soon as the English power was stamped with heresy, the +opposition to that power assumed a religious aspect, and no +longer restricted itself to the clans immediately attacked, but +spread throughout the whole nation. + +To bring the case down to some particular point, in order to +render our meaning more clear, a priest or monk, who was hunted +down, was no longer sure of refuge in his own district, and +among men of his own sept merely, but he was equally welcomed in +the castle of the chieftain or the hut of the peasant through +the length and breadth of the land. Any Irishman, subject to +fine, imprisonment, or torture, for the sake of his religion, +did not find sympathy restricted to his own circle of friends or +acquaintances, but, even if tried and prosecuted in a corner of +the island, far away from his own home, he could count upon the +sympathy of as many friends as there were Irish Catholics to +witness his sufferings. This state of things was certainly +unknown before. + +Religion, when deep, is the strongest feeling of the human heart, +and endows the nation steeped in it with an unconquerable +strength. To judge of the intensity of religious feeling in the +Irish, it should be remembered that it was the only legacy left +them after every thing else had been taken away, and, though it +was the special object of attack, they were to be stripped one +by one of their old customs, their own chieftains, their houses +of study and of prayer, their religious and secular teachers, +nay, of the chance even of educating their children, of the +right to possess not merely their own soil, but even to +cultivate a few acres of it, nay, of their very language itself, +in a word, of all that makes a country dear to man. For ages +were they destined to remain outcasts and strangers on the soil +which was their own; abject and ignorant paupers, without the +faintest possibility of rising in the social scale. + +One thing only did they keep in their hearts, their faith, +though stripped of all the exterior circumstances which adorn it, +and reduced to its simplest elements. But at least it was their +religion, to deprive them of which, all the wealth, resources, +armies, laws of a powerful nation, were to be strained to the +utmost during long ages. How, then, could they fail to love and +cherish it, to cling fast to it, as to an inestimable treasure, +the only real one indeed they could possess on earth, where all +else passes away? + +Here, then, always presupposing the paramount influence of the +grace of God, lay the secret of that indestructible strength and +unwearied energy manifested by Irishmen, from the middle of the +sixteenth century down, and we are enabled thus to appreciate +the value of that unity which persecution alone fastened upon +them. + +To the love of religion, which was the origin of that unity, +love of country was soon added, and by love of country we here +understand the love of the whole island, not merely of the +particular sept to which the individual belonged, or of the +particular spot in which he happened to be born. Such had been +the divisions among the people and the chieftains hitherto, that +England could attack one sept without fearing the revolt of the +others, nay, was often assisted by an adverse clan. And so +thoroughly had the Anglo-Normans adopted the native manners, +that the Kildares were frequently at war with the Desmonds, +though both belonged to the same Geraldine family; and the +Ormonds kept up a constant feud with both the Geraldine branches. +When Henry VIII. almost destroyed the Kildares, we do not find +that the Desmonds felt their loss at first; perhaps they even +rejoiced at it. + +It was the same with the natives, particularly with the 0'Neills +and the O'Donnells, in the north. The whole island and its +general interests seemed the concern of no one, so taken up were +they by the affairs of their own particular locality. And this +state of feeling had existed from the beginning, even among holy +men. The songs of Columba, of Cormac McCullinan, even of the +Fenian heroes of old, all celebrated the victories of one sept +over another, or the beauties of some one spot in the island, in +preference to all others. + +Nay, so prevalent was this clannish spirit, even at the +beginning of the religious troubles, that Henry VIII., and +Elizabeth after him, gained their successes by directing their +attacks against particular places, so certain were they that the +other districts would not come to the rescue. + +The feeling of nationality, of what we call patriotism, wrestled +along time in the throes of birth, before coming forth, and it +was only during the latter half of Elizabeth's reign that those +confederacies were formed, which included the whole country and +called in even foreign aid. + +But this feeling began to appear as soon as religion was +attacked; and therefore do we call this epoch the true birth of +a people. + +And as it is with the people chiefly that we are concerned, it +is to our purpose to remark here that they gradually lost sight +of their petty quarrels and local prejudices in losing their +chieftains; they began to look for leaders among themselves, and, +understanding at last that the whole island was threatened by +the invading policy of England, they were to fight for the whole, +and not for any special district. + +Then, for the first time, did Ireland become a reality to them, +an existing personality, a desolate queen weeping over the fate +of her children, calling, with the voice of a stricken mother, +those who survived to her aid, and worthy, by her beauty and +misfortunes, of their most heroic and disinterested efforts. + +Religious feeling, then, first made the Irish a nation, and gave +them that unity of thought which they now exhibit everywhere, +even in the remotest quarters of the globe, wherever they may +choose their place of exile. And if there still exists among +them something of that former predilection for the place where +they first saw the light, the other parts of Erin are at least +included in their deep love, and they would shed their blood for +their country, irrespective of prejudice of place. + +Thus have they come at last to love each other as men of no +other nation ever did. In order to understand this thoroughly, +we must remember that for ages they, as a people, have been +oppressed and held in bondage by a stern and powerful nation. +They had to defend themselves in turn against the most open and +the most insidious attacks. Bereft in many cases of all the +means of defence, they had nothing left them, save their +religion, and the support they could afford each other. + +If, by any stretch of imagination, we could place ourselves in +their position, understand their language when they met each +other in their huts, in their morasses and bogs, in their +mountain fastnesses and desolate moors, could we only enter into +their feelings and see the working of their minds, we might +catch a faint conception of the affection which they must have +felt for brothers waging the deadly fight against the same +enemies, and contending in a seemingly endless and hopeless +struggle against the same terrible odds. Union, affection, +devotedness, are words too weak to serve here. + +For this reason, also, do we find the Irish people stamped with +peculiarities which we find in no others. In antiquity, as we +have said, the people could never rise to any thing greater than +a mob; in modern times such has also often been the case. With +the Irish it is not, and could not be so. Their aim has always +been too lofty, their struggle of too long duration, their +morality too genuine and too pure. For their aim has constantly +been to rescue their country; their struggle has lasted nearly +three hundred years; their morality has ever been directed by +the sweetest religion. Extreme cases of oppression such as +theirs may have occasionally given rise to violent outbreaks +inevitable in human despair; but, on the whole, it may to their +honor be fearlessly said, that they have preserved, almost +throughout, a due regard for social hierarchy and all kinds of +rights. Many of them have died of hunger, rather than touch the +property of a rich and hostile neighbor. Where else can we find +such an example? + +This union of the people, which was thus brought about by +religious persecution, included not only the natives of the old +race, but the Anglo-Irish themselves, who were brought by +degrees to a unanimity of feeling which they had never known +before, although they had previously adopted Irish manners - a +unanimity which the Lutheran Archbishop Browne had foreseen and +openly denounced beforehand. This was the man who had +unwittingly borne testimony to the Irish that "the common people +of this isle are more zealous in their blindness than the saints +and martyrs were in the truth at the beginning of the Gospel;" +the same George Browne, of Dublin, had also been the first to +perceive that the religious question was beginning, even under +Henry VIII., to unite the native Irish and the descendants of +Strongbow's followers, until that time bitterly opposed to each +other. + +In a letter, dated "Dublin, May, 1538," to the Lord Privy Seal, +he said: "It is observed that, ever since his Highness's +ancestors had this nation in possession, the old natives have +been craving foreign powers to assist and raise them; and now +both English race and Irish begin to oppose your lordship's +orders" (about supremacy), "and do lay aside their national old +quarrels, which, I fear, if any thing will cause a foreigner to +invade this nation, that will." + +This man, who was altogether worldly and without faith, +displayed in this a keen political foresight far above that of +the ordinary counsellors of England's king. He openly announced +what actually came to pass only toward the middle of Elizabeth's +reign, and what the horrors of the Cromwellian wars were to +complete - the thorough fusion of Irish and Anglo-Norman +Catholics, both transplanted to Connaught, perishing under the +sword of the soldier, the rope of the hangman, or dying of +starvation in the recesses of their mountains - united forever +in the bonds of martyrdom. + +The "birth of the Irish people" was to be insured by another +measure of the English Government - the suppression of religious +houses. We must, in conclusion, turn to this. + +In the annals of the Four Masters, under the year 1537, we read: +"A heresy and a new error broke out in England, the effect of +pride, vainglory, avarice, sensual desire, and the prevalence of +a variety of scientific and philosophical speculations, so that +the people of England went into opposition to the Pope and to +Rome. + +"At the same time, they followed a variety of opinions; and, +adopting the old law of Moses, after the manner of the Jewish +people, they gave the title of Head of the Church of God, during +his reign, to the king. They ruined the orders who were +permitted to hold worldly possessions, namely, monks, canons +regular, nuns, and Brethren of the Cross, etc . . . . They broke +into the monasteries, they sold their roofs and bells; so that +there was not a monastery from Arran of the Saints to the Iccian +Sea that was not broken and scattered, except only a few in +Ireland." + +And, under 1540, they say: "The English, in every place +throughout Ireland, where they established their power, +persecuted and banished the nine religious orders, and +particularly they destroyed the monastery of Monaghan, and +beheaded the guardian and a number of friars." + +We may add that, at the restoration of the old faith under Queen +Mary, nothing had to be restored in Ireland save the monasteries. +These establishments had, almost without exception, been +ruthlessly destroyed. + +In our previous considerations, we have spoken of no other +religious houses in Ireland, save those of the old Columbian +order of monks, as it was called, which was a growth of the +country, and bore so many marks of Irish peculiarities. This +continued until, communications with Rome becoming more frequent, +the various orders established in the West were successively +introduced into Ireland. Our purpose is not to write a history +of monasticism, and therefore we do not intend entering into +details on this point, interesting though they are. But we may +add that, gradually, the old monasteries - from the Norman +invasion chiefly - as well as the new ones which were +established, were placed under the rule of the various +congregations, acknowledged by the Holy See. It seems that the +monasteries founded by St. Columba himself afterward submitted +to the rule of St. Benedict, the others, for the most part, +embracing that of the canons regular of St. Augustine; but the +precise epoch of these changes is not known. It is certain, +however, that the Benedictines, Cistercians, and Bernardines, +were introduced into the country at a very early date, together +with the four mendicant orders of Franciscans, Dominicans, +Carmelites, and Augustinians. + +The pretext for their destruction was, of course, the same in +England as in all the other countries of Europe - their need of +reformation; but it does not appear that even this pretence was +put forward in the case of the Irish monasteries. The fact was, +the breath of suspicion could not rest upon those stainless +establishments in the Isle of Saints. In the idea of the natives, +their very names had ever been synonymous with holiness and all +Christian virtues, and so they continued to enjoy the most +unbounded popularity. The fact of the English Government +selecting them as a special point of attack is in itself +sufficient to vindicate their character from any aspersion. Two +measures were deemed necessary and sufficient for the purpose of +detaching Ireland from its allegiance to the Holy See, and of +introducing schism, if not heresy, into the country. One, and +certainly the most efficacious of these, was thought to be the +destruction of convents for both sexes. This, we affirm, is +ample apology for their inmates. + +But this general reflection is not enough for our purpose, which +is, to delineate and bring out the true character of the nation. +It is, therefore, fitting to give an idea of the extent to which +the monastic influence prevailed, and of the nature of the +people who cherished, loved, and accepted it at all times. + +It may be said that the Christian Church, as established in the +island by St. Patrick, rested mainly for its support on the +religious orders. In many cases the abbots of monasteries were +superior to bishops, and, as a general rule, the hierarchy of +the Church was, as it were, subordinate to monastic +establishments.1 (1 Vide Montalembert's "Monks of the West: +Bollandists, Oct.," tome xii., p. 888.) At the time we speak of, +indeed, such was no longer the case; but the previously-existing +state of reciprocal subordination between abbots and bishops +during several centuries, in Ireland,, had left deep traces in +the nature of the institutions and of the people itself. It may +be said that in the mind of an Irishman the existence of +Christianity almost presupposed a numerous array of convents and +religious houses. And this idea of theirs can scarcely be called +a wrong one, nor did they exaggerate the value of religious +orders, since their estimate of them was no higher than that of +Christ himself and his Church. + +If with justice it was said that the French monarchy was +established by bishops, with equal justice may it be said that +the Irish people had been educated, nay, created by monks. The +monks had taken the place left vacant by the Druids, and thus +they became for the Christian what the others had been for the +pagan Irish. For a long period the Irish monks formed a very +considerable portion of the population. In their body were +concentrated the gifts of science, art, holiness, even miracles +without number, unless we are to suppose that the hagiography of +the island was intrusted to the care of idiots incapable of +ascertaining current facts. The vast literature of the island, +greater indeed than that of any other Christian country at the +time, was either the product of monastic intellect and learning, +or at least had been translated and preserved by monks. The +gifted Eugene O'Curry could fill numbers of the pages of his +great work with the bare titles of the books which are known to +have issued from the Irish monasteries, of which but a few +fragments remain; and no sensible man who has read his book can +affect to despise establishments which could produce so many +proofs of fancy, intellect, and erudition. The scattered +fragments of that rich literature, which had escaped the fury of +the Scandinavian, the ignorance and rapacity of the early Anglo- +Norman, the blind fanaticism of the Puritan, could still in the +seventeenth century furnish materials enough for the immense +compilations of the Four Masters, Ward, Wadding, Lynch, and +Colgan. + +What we have here stated is the simple, unvarnished truth; yet +it is but yesterday that the subject has really begun to be +studied. + +But what is chiefly worthy our attention is, that the +monasteries were not only the seats of learning and literature +in Ireland, but they constituted and comprised in themselves +every thing of value which the nation possessed. As they were +found everywhere, there was not room for much else in the +department they filled in the island. Take them away, and the +country is a blank. So well were the crafty counsellors of Henry +VIII. and Elizabeth satisfied of this, that they insisted on the +destruction of the monasteries, and turned all their efforts to +carry their purpose into effect. + +Feudalism had failed in its endeavor to cover the country with +castles; the native royalty and inferior chieftainship being +engaged in constant bickerings with each other and with the +common foe, had been unable to enrich the country with monuments +of art and wealthy palaces; the Church alone had accomplished +whatever had been effected in this way, and in the Church the +monks rather than the bishops had for a long time exercised the +preponderating influence. Hence, it may be truly said that +Ireland was essentially a monastic country, more so than any +other nation of Christendom. + +This fact explains how it happened that the monastic +institutions could not be destroyed. The convent-walls might be +battered down, the more valuable edifices might be converted +into dwellings for the new Protestant aristocracy, their +property might go to enrich upstarts, and feed the rapacity of +greedy conquerors, but the institution itself could not perish. + +It is true that in all Catholic countries this seems also to be +the case; but wide is the difference with regard to Ireland. In +all places religious establishments have frequently been the +object of anti-Christian fury and rage. They have often been +destroyed, and seem to have utterly disappeared, when the world +has been surprised by their speedy resurrection. The fact is, +the Church needs them, and the practice of evangelical counsels +must forever be in a state of active operation upon earth, since +the grace of God always inspires with it a number of select +souls. God is the source; consequently the stream must flow, +since the life-spring is eternal and ever-running. + +But in other countries besides the one under our consideration +religious houses and institutions have sometimes been +effectually rooted out, at least for a time. When the French +Constituent Assembly, by one of its destructive decrees, closed +those establishments all over France, such of them as by their +laxity deserved to die, ceased at once to exist, and poured +forth their inmates to swell the ranks of a corrupt society, and +add religious degradation to the immoral filth of the world. +Those religious houses, within whose walls the spirit of God had +not ceased to dwell, were indeed closed and emptied; but their +inmates endeavored to live their lives of religion in some +unknown and obscure spot, until the madness of the Convention, +and the Reign of Terror which soon followed, rendered the +continuation of the holy exercises of any community absolutely +impossible. But mark this well: the holy aims of the monks and +nuns found no response in the nation, and, finding themselves +almost entirely rejected by a faithless people, with no resting- +place in the whole extent of the country, a sudden and total +interruption of religious ascetic life in the once most Catholic +nation of Europe was the result. + +The same may soon come to pass in our days in Italy and Spain, +until better times return to those now distracted countries, and +the extremities of evil bring them back to something of their +primitive faith. + +Not so in Ireland: the communities could continue to exist even +when turned out-of-doors, because the nation wanted them, and +could afford them asylum and peace in the worst periods of +persecution. And this great fact of the mutual love between +monks, priests, and people, contributed also in no small degree +to that union among all, which henceforth became the +characteristic feature of a people hitherto split up into +hostile clans. Nothing probably tended so much toward effecting +the birth of the nation as the deep attachment existing between +the Irish and their religious orders. The latter had always +preached peace and often reconciled enemies, and brought furious +men to the practice of Christian charity and forbearance. + +We have seen instances of this when the clans were all powerful +and the chieftains thought of nothing but of "preyings," as they +called them, compelling their enemies to give "hostages" and +devastating the territories of hostile clans. Then the voice of +the monk came to be heard in the midst of contending passions, +and real miracles were often performed by them in changing into +lambs men who resembled roaring lions or devouring wolves; but +their action became much more efficacious when nothing was left +to the people save their religion and the "friars." These, it is +true, could no longer reside within the walls of their convents, +but on that very account their life became more truly one with +that of the people. + +Sometimes they found refuge in the large, hospitable dwellings +of the native nobility, where, during the latter part of the +reign of Henry VIII. and the whole of that of Elizabeth, the +almost independent power of the chieftains could still afford +them succor. Sometimes also the humbler dwelling of the farmer +or the peasant offered them a sure asylum, wherein they could +practise their ministry in almost perfect freedom, owing to the +sure and inviolable secrecy of the inmates and neighbors. For a +great distance around, the Catholics knew of their abode, were +often visited by them, even without mach danger of the fact +becoming known to spies and informers. And this brings naturally +before us a new feature of the Irish character. + +Their nature, which was so expansive and passionate on all other +subjects, so that to keep a secret was an impossible feat to +them, wore another character when danger to their religion or +its ministers required of them to set a seal on their lips. For +years frequently, large numbers of priests and religious could +not only exist, but move and work among them, without their +place of abode becoming known to the swarms of enemies who +surrounded them. The nation was trained to prudence and +discretion by centuries of oppression and tyranny. Many facts of +this nature are known and recorded in the dark annals of those +times; but how many more will be known never! + +Thus, in the year 1588, during the worst part of Elizabeth's +reign, "John O'Malloy, Cornelius Dogherty, and Walfried Ferral, +of the order of St. Francis, fell finally victims to the malice +of the heretics. They had spent eight years in administering the +consolations of religion throughout the mountainous districts of +Leinster. Many families of Carlow, Wicklow, and Wexford, had +been compelled to take a refuge in the mountains from the fury +of the English troops. The good Franciscans shared in all their +perils, travelling about from place to place, by night; they +visited the sick, consoled the dying, and offered up the sacred +mysteries for all. Oftentimes the hard rock was their only bed; +but they willingly embraced nakedness, and hunger, and cold, to +console their afflicted brethren." - (Moran's Archbishops of +Dublin.) + +In these few words, we have a picture of the mountain monastery. +During those eight years, how many Irish were consoled and +comforted by those few laborers, who, driven from their holy +home, had chosen to live in the wilderness, and practise their +rule among the wandering people of three large counties, +receiving in return the substance, the love, and loving secrecy +of their flock! We have only to figure to ourselves this scene, +or similar, repeated in every corner of the land, and we may +then easily understand how the Irish people were brought to the +unanimous resolve of standing by each other, and how, from the +state of complete division which formerly prevailed, the +elements of a compact, solid, and indestructible body, began to +form. + +We attribute this "birth of a nation" to Henry VIII., because +the change which he tried to introduce into the religion of the +island constituted the occasion and origin of it; and, although +his reign never witnessed that perfect union of the people which +came later on, nevertheless, it is true that then it surely +began, and its origin was the attempt to establish his spiritual +supremacy in Ireland. + +This feeling of union and strength in love went on growing, and +showed itself more and more, wring the two centuries which +followed, when so many scenes similar to the one described were +enacted in the remotest parts of the island. God, in his mercy, +provided it with many high mountains, difficult of access, whose +paths were known only to the natives. In these fastnesses, the +holy men, who had been driven from their dwellings and their +churches, could rest in peace and attend to the duties of their +office. They could even recruit their shattered forces, admit +novices, and train them up; and thus their rule continued to be +observed, and their existence as a body protracted, long after +their enemies imagined that they had perished utterly. As soon +as quiet was restored, when persecution abated, and breathing- +time was given them, so that they could show themselves, with +some safety, more openly, they visited their old abodes, often +found some portions of the ruins which admitted of repair, and +dwelt again in security where their predecessors had dwelt for +centuries. + +The peasant's hut would also often afford them shelter; some +solitary farm-house on the borders of a lake, or near a deep +morass, took the name of their monastery; some cranogue in the +lake, or dry spot in the thick of the morass, which they could +reach by paths known to themselves only, was their asylum in +times of extraordinary danger. In ordinary times, the farm-house, +to which they had given the name of their lost monastery, was +their convent. It was thus the brothers O'Cleary, and their +companions, lived for years, editing the work of the "Four +Masters," until, at length, they succeeded in publishing their +extraordinary "Annals." The manuscripts which, in spite of the +raging persecution, and the "penal laws," they traversed the +whole island to collect, were preserved, with a reverend care, +in a poor Irish hut. Literary treasures which have since +unfortunately perished, but which they saved for a time from the +reach of the enemy, and which they perpetuated by having them +printed, filled the poor presses and the old furniture of their +asylum, and, owing purely to the friendly help of those who had +given them shelter, they were enabled to enrich the world with +their marvellous compilation. + +From the mountain and the hut, on the river-side, the monks were +sometimes allowed to move to their former dwellings, at the risk, +nevertheless, of their liberty and lives. What their ancestors +had done during the Scandinavian invasions, when the monasteries +were so often destroyed and rebuilt, that did the monks of the +sixteenth and seventeenth centuries likewise in many parts of +the island. + +Thus, Father Mooney, a Franciscan, relates that his monastery - +that of Multifarnham - having been totally destroyed by Sir +Francis Shean, and many monks having been killed, he, with a few +others, after long and extraordinary adventures, came back to +the spot, then abandoned by the enemy, and "before the feast of +the Nativity of our Lord, we built up a little house on the site +of the monastery, and there we dwelt who were left after the +flight . . . . . Afterward, Father Nehemias Gregan, the father +guardian, began to build a church, and to repair the monastery, +and for this purpose caused much wood to be cut in the territory +of Deabhna McLochlain; and when they had roofed a chapel and +some other buildings, there came the soldiers of another Sir +Francis Ringtia, and they burned down the monastery again, and +carried off some of the brethren captive to Dublin." + +This convent of Multifarnham was raised a third time; and, in +fact, remained in possession of the Franciscans throughout the +persecution, so that to this day the old church has been restored +by them, and the modern house, which now forms their convent, +is built on the site of the old monastery. + +Such for a long time was the case with many other religious +establishments; for the same Father Mooney, writing as late as +1624, says: "When Queen Elizabeth strove to make all Ireland +fall away from the Catholic faith, and a law was passed +proscribing all the members of the religious orders, and giving +their monasteries and possessions to the treasury, while all the +others took to flight, or at least quitted their houses, and, +for safety's sake, lived privately and singly among their +friends, and receiving no novices, the order of St. Francis +alone ever remained, as it were, unshaken. For, though they were +violently driven out of some convents to the great towns, and +the convents were profanely turned into dwellings for seculars, +and some of the fathers suffered violence, and even death; yet, +in the country and other remote places, they ever remained in +the convents, celebrating the divine office according to the +custom of religious, their preachers preaching to the people and +performing their other functions, training up novices and +preserving the conventual buildings, holding it sinful to lay +aside, or even hide, their religious habit, though for an hour, +through any human fear. And, every three years, they held their +regular provincial chapters in the woods of the neighborhood, +and observed the rule as it is kept in provinces that are in +peace." + +Thus, when the Cromwellian persecution began, the religious +orders were again flourishing in Ireland. They had obtained from +the Stuarts some relaxation in the execution of the laws, and, +as all at the time were fighting for Charles I. against the +Parliamentarians, it was only natural that the authorities did +not carry out the barbarous laws to their full extent in the +island. + +It is no matter of great surprise, therefore, that, in 1641, +more than one hundred years after the decree of Henry VIII., the +Franciscan order still possessed sixty-two flourishing houses in +Ireland, each with a numerous community, besides ten convents of +nuns of the order of St. Clare. The acts of the General Chapter +of the Dominicans, held in Rome in 1656, referring to the same +persecution of Cromwell, state that, when it began, there were +forty-three convents of the order, containing about six hundred +inmates, of whom only one-fourth survived the calamity. The +Jesuits were eighty in number, in 1641, of whom only seventeen +remained when the storm had passed away. From a petition +presented to the Sacred Congregation, in 1654, we learn that all +the Capuchins had been banished, except a few who remained on +the island, where they lived as "shepherds," "herdsmen," or +"tillers of the soil." + +All the decrees of the Parliaments of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth +had not succeeded, in the space of a century, in destroying +monasticism; the Cromwellian war alone seemed to have done so, +as it left the entire nation almost at the last gasp, on the +verge of annihilation. Nevertheless, a few years saw the orders +again revive and prepare to start their holy work anew. Henry +VIII. then, and his vicar, Cromwell, deceived themselves in +thinking that they had put an end to monasticism in the land +which had been the cradle of so many families of religious. They +succeeded only in intensifying the determination of Irishmen not +to allow their nationality to be absorbed in that of England. If +any thing was calculated to nourish and keep alive that +sentiment in their hearts, it was their daily communing with the +holy men who shared their distress, their mountain-retreats, +their poverty in the bogs, their wretchedness in the woods and +glens. If monasticism had created and nurtured the nation on its +first becoming Christian, it gave to the people a second birth +holier than the first, because consecrated by martyrdom. +Henceforth, divided clans and antagonistic septs were to be +unknown among them: only Catholic Irishmen were to remain ranked +around the successors of "the saints" of old, all determined to +be what they were, or die. But as laws, edicts, and measures of +fanatic frenzy cannot destroy a nation, the new people was +destined to survive for better and brighter days. + +We have anticipated the course of events somewhat, in order to +pass in review the chief facts connected with the designs of the +English Government upon the religious orders. These few words +will suffice to give the reader an idea of the new character +which such events impressed upon the Irish nation. Every day saw +it more compact; every day the resolve to fight to the death for +God's cause, grew stronger; the old occasions of division grew +less and less, and that unanimity, which suffering for a noble +cause naturally gives rise to in the human heart, showed itself +more and more. A nation, in truth, was being born in the throes +of a wide-spread and long-continued calamity; but long ages were +in store in times to come to reward it for the misfortunes of +the past. + +It is a remarkable thing that, when England, through fear of +civil war, was compelled to grant Catholic emancipation in 1829, +when Irish agitators succeeded in wrenching it from the enemy, +and obtaining it, not only for themselves, but likewise for +their English Catholic brethren, the British statesmen, who +finally consented to such a tardy measure of justice, steadily +refused, nevertheless, to extend the boon to the religious +orders. These remained under the ban, and so they remain still. +The "penal laws" were never repealed for them, and, even to this +day, they are, according to law, strictly prohibited from +"receiving novices" under all the barbarous penalties formerly +enacted and never abrogated. + +But the nation has constantly considered this exception as not +to be taken into account. The religious orders now existing are +under the protection of the people, and England has never dared +to use even a threat against the open violation of these "laws." +Dr. Madden, in his interesting work on "Penal Laws," gives +prominence to this fact by warmly taking up the old theme of +thorough-going Irish Catholicity, by asserting, with force, that +"religious orders are necessary to the Church," and that to deny +their right to exist, even though it be only on paper in the +statute-book, is none the less an outrage against so thoroughly +Catholic a nation as the Irish. + +The only fact which appears to clash with our reflections is the +one well ascertained and mentioned by us, that some native Irish +lords occupied certain monasteries and took their share in the +sacrilegious plunder. But a few chieftains cannot be said to +constitute the nation, and doubtless many of those who yielded +to the temptation, listened later to the reproving voice of +their conscience, as in the following case, given by Miles +O'Reilly, in his "Irish Martyrs:" + +"Gelasius O'Cullenan, born of a noble family in Connaught . . . +joined the Cistercian order. Having competed his studies in +Paris, the monastery of Boyle was destined as the field of his +labors. On his arrival in Ireland, he found that the monastery, +with its property, had been seized on by one of the neighboring +gentry, who was sheltered in his usurpation by the edict of +Elizabeth. The abbot . . . went boldly to the usurping nobleman, +admonishing him of the guilt he had incurred; and the +malediction of Heaven, which he would assuredly draw down upon +his family. Moved by his exhortations, the nobleman restored to +him the full possession of the monastery and lands; and, some +time after, contemplating the holy life of its inmates, . . . he, +too, renounced the world and joined the religious institute." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +THE IRISH AND THE TUDORS.--ELIZABETH.--THE UNDAUNTED NOBILITY.-- +THE SUFFERING CHURCH. + +On January 12, 1559, in the second year of the reign of +Elizabeth, a Parliament was convened in Dublin to pass the Act +of Supremacy; that is to say, to establish Lutheranism in +Ireland, as had already been done in England, under the garb of +Episcopalianism. + +But the attempt was fated to encounter a more determined +opposition in Dublin than it had in London. + +Sir James Ware says, in reference to it: "At the very beginning +of this Parliament, her Majestie's well-wishers found that most +of the nobility and Commons--they were all English by blood or +birth--were divided in opinion about the ecclesiastical +government, which caused the Earl of Sussex (Lord Deputy) to +dissolve them, and to go over to England to confer with her +Majesty about the affairs of this kingdom. + +"These differences were occasioned by the several alterations +which had happened in ecclesiastical matters within the compass +of twelve years. + +"1. King Henry VIII. held the ecclesiastical supremacy with the +first-fruits and tenths, maintaining the seven sacraments, with +obits and mass for the living and the dead. + +"2. King Edward abolished the mass, authorizing the book of +common prayers, and the consecration of the bread and wine in +the English tongue, and establishing only two sacraments. + +"3. Queen Mary, after King Edward's decease, brought all back +again to the Church of Rome, and the papal obedience. + +"4. Queen Elizabeth, on her first Parliament in England, took +away the Pope's supremacy, reserving the tenths and first-fruits +to her heirs and successors. She put down the mass, and, for a +general uniformity of worship in her dominions, as well in +England as in Ireland, she established the book of common +prayers, and forbade the use of popish ceremonies." + +Such is the very lucid sketch furnished by Ware of the changes +which had taken place in religion in England within the brief +space of twelve years. + +The members of the Irish Parliament, although of English descent, +could not so easily reconcile themselves to these rapid changes +as their fellows in England had done; in fact, they laid claim +to a conscience--a thing seemingly unknown to the English +members, or, if known at all, of an exceedingly elastic and +slippery nature. Here lay the difficulty: how was it to be +overcome? The conversation between Elizabeth and Sussex must +have been of a very interesting character. + +Returning with private instructions from the queen, the Earl of +Sussex again convened the Parliament, which only consisted of +the so called representatives of ten counties--Dublin, Meath, +West Meath, Louth, Kildare, Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford, +Tipperary, and Wexford. We see that the almost total extinction +of the Kildare branch of the Geraldines had extended the English +Pale. The other deputies were citizens and burgesses of those +towns in which the royal authority predominated. "With such an +assembly," says Leland, "it is little wonder that, in despite of +clamor and opposition, in a session of a few weeks, the whole +ecclesiastical system of Queen Mary was entirely reversed." It +is needless to remark that the people had nothing whatever to do +with this reversal; it merely looked on, or was already +organizing for resistance. + +Nevertheless, even in that assembly the queen's agents were +obliged to have recourse to fraud and deception, in order to +carry her measures, and it cannot be said that they obtained a +majority. + +"The proceedings," according to Mr. Haverty, "are involved in +mystery, and the principal measures are believed to have been +carried by means fraudulent and clandestine." And, in a note, he +adds: "It is said that the Earl of Sussex, to calm the protests +which were made in Parliament, when it was found that the law +had been passed by a few members assembled privately, pledged +himself solemnly that this statute would not be enforced +generally on laymen during the reign of Elizabeth."1 (1 Dr. +Curry, in his "Civil Wars," has collected some curious facts in +illustration of this point.) + +Whatever the means adopted to introduce and carry out the new +policy, it was certainly enacted that "the queen was the head of +the Church of Ireland, the reformed worship was reestablished as +under Edward VI., and the book of common prayers, with further +alterations, was reintroduced. A fine of twelve pence was +imposed on every person who should not attend the new service, +for each offence; bishops were to be appointed only by the queen, +and consecrated at her bidding. All officers and ministers, +ecclesiastical or lay, were bound to take the oath of supremacy, +under pain of forfeiture or incapacity; and any one who +maintained the spiritual supremacy of the Pope was to forfeit, +for his first offence, all his estates, real and personal, or be +imprisoned for one year, if not worth twenty pounds; for the +second offence, to be liable to praemunire; and for the third, +to be guilty of high-treason." + +It was understood that those laws would be strictly enforced +against all priests and friars, though left generally +inoperative for lay people; and, with certain exceptions, +mentioned by Dr. Curry, such was the rule observed. Thus, the +reign of Elizabeth, which was such a cruel one for ecclesiastics, +produced few martyrs among the laity in Ireland. And, for this +reason, Sir James Ware is able to boast that, in all the +"rebellions" of the Irish against Elizabeth; they falsely +complained that their freedom of worship was curtailed, as +though they could worship without either priests or churches. + +But the law was passed which made it "high-treason" to assert, +three times in succession, the spiritual supremacy of the Pope; +and, henceforth, whoever should suffer in defence of that +Catholic dogma, was to be a traitor and not a martyr. + +The woman, seated on the English throne, speedily discovered +that it was not so easy a matter to change the religion of the +Irish as it had been to subvert completely that of her own +people. + +Deprived of religious houses and means of instruction, deprived +of priests and churches, no communication with Rome save by +stealth, the Irish still showed their oppressors that their +consciences were free, and that no acts of Parliament or +sentences of iniquitous tribunals could prevent their remaining +Catholics. + +By promising to deal as lightly with the laity as severely with +the clergy, Elizabeth felt confident that the Catholic religion +would soon perish in Ireland, and that, with the disappearance +of the priests, the churches, sacraments, instruction, and open +communion with Rome, would also disappear. To all seeming, her +surmises were correct; but the people were silently gathering +and uniting together as they had never done before. + +The whole of Elizabeth's Irish policy may be comprised under two +headings: 1. Her policy toward the nobles, apparently one of +compromise and toleration, but really one of destruction, and so +rightly did they understand it that they rose and called in +foreign aid to their assistance; 2. Her church policy, one of +blood and total overthrow, which priests and people, now united +forever in the same great cause, resisted from the outset, and +finally defeated; and the decrees of high-treason, which were +carried out with frightful barbarity, only served to confirm the +Irish people in that unanimity which the wily dealings of Henry +VIII. had originated. + +I. With the nobility Elizabeth hoped to succeed by flattery, +cunning, deceit, finally by treachery, and sowing dissension +among them; but all her efforts only served to knit them more +firmly one to another, and to revive among them the true spirit +of nationality and patriotism. + +She did not state to them that her great object was to destroy +the Catholic Church; neverthless they should have felt and +resented it from the beginning; above all, ought they to have +given expression to the contempt they entertained for the bait +held out to them that the "laws" would not be executed against +them, but against Churchmen only. Had they been truly animated +by the feelings which already possessed the hearts of the people, +they would have scornfuly rejected the compromise proposed. + +But she appeared to allow them perfect freedom in religious +matters; she subjected them to no oath, as in England; the new +laws were a dead letter as far as regarded the native lords, who +lived under other laws and remained silent, as with the lords of +the Pale. Yet nothing was of such importance in her eyes as the +enforcement of those decrees; consequently, she could only +accomplish her designs by deceit. George Browne, the first +Protestant Archbishop of Dublin, had predicted that the old +Irish race and the Anglo-Irish chieftains would unite and +combine with Continental powers in order to establish their +independence. The whole policy of Elizabeth's reign would give +us reason to believe that she rightly understood the deep remark +of the worldly heretic. Hence, although (or, rather, because) +the north, Ulster, was at that time the stronghold of Catholic +feeling, and the O'Neills and O'Donnells its leaders, she +flatters them, has them brought to her court, pardons several +"rebellions" of Shane the Proud, and afterward loads with her +favors the young Hugh of Tyrone, whom she kept at her own court. +She would dazzle them by the splendor of that court, by the +royal presents she so royally lavishes upon them, and by the +prospect of greater favors still to come. Meanwhile on the south +she turns a stern eye, and makes up her mind to destroy what is +left of the Geraldine family. This was to be the beginning of +the war of extermination, and the nobility which at the time was +disunited became firmly consolidated shortly after. + +It is needless to go into the glorious and romantic history of +the Geraldine family. Elizabeth chose them for the first object +of her attack, because they, as Anglo-Irish Catholics, were more +odious in her eye than the pure Irish. + +She knew that the then Earl of Desmond had escaped almost by +miracle from the island with his younger brother John, when the +rest of the noble stock had been butchered at Tyburn. She knew +that Gerald, after many wanderings, had finally reached Rome, +been educated under the care of his kinsman, Cardinal Pole, +cherished as a dear son by the reigning Pontiff, had +subsequently appeared at the Tuscan court of Cosmo de Medici; +that consequently, since his return to Ireland, he might be +considered the chief of the Catholic party there, although, to +save himself from attainder and hold possession of his immense +wealth in Munster, he displayed the greatest reserve in all his +actions, appeared to respect the orders of the queen in all +things, even in her external policy against the Church; so that +if priests were entertained in his castles, it was always by +stealth, and they were compelled to lead a life of total +retirement. + +But, despite all this outward show, Elizabeth knew that Gerald +was really a sincere Catholic, that he considered himself a +sovereign prince, and would consequently have small scruple +about entering into a league against her, not only with the +northern Irish chieftains, but even with the Catholic princes of +the Continent. She resolved, therefore, to destroy him. + +Sidney was sent to Ireland as lord-lieutenant. He travelled +first through all Munster, and complained bitterly that the +Irish chieftains were destroying the country by their divisions, +though perfectly conscious that those divisions were secretly +encouraged by England. He appeared to listen to the people, when +they complained of their lords, and yet at the holding of +assizes he hanged this same people on the flimsiest pretexts, +and had them executed wholesale. In one of his dispatches to the +home government, he makes complacent allusion to the countless +executions which accompanied his triumphant progress through +Munster: "I wrote not," he says, "the name of each particular +varlet that has died since I arrived, as well by the ordinary +course of the law, and the martial law, as flat fighting with +them, when they would take food without the good-will of the +giver; for I think it is no stuff worthy the loading of my +letters with; but I do assure you, the number of them is great, +and some of the best, and the rest tremble. For the most part +they fight for their dinner, and many of them lose their heads +before they are served with supper. Down they go in every corner, +and down they shall go, God willing."--(Sidney's Dispatches, Br. M.) + +This was the man who announced himself as the avenger of the +people on their rulers. He complained chiefly of Gerald of +Desmond, and, without any pretext, summoned him with his brother +John, carried them prisoners to Dublin, and afterward sent them +to the Tower of London. The shanachy of the family relates that +then, and then only, Gerald sent a private message to his +kinsmen and retainers, appointing his cousin James, son of +Maurice, known as James Fitzmaurice, the head and leader in his +family during his own absence. + +"For James," says the shanachy, "was well known for his +attachment to the ancient faith, no less than for his valor and +chivalry, and gladly did the people of old Desmond receive these +commands, and inviolable was their attachment to him who was now +their appointed chieftain." + +James began directly to organize the memorable "Geraldine League, +" upon the fortunes of which, for years, the attention of +Christendom was fixed. + +This, the first open treaty of Irish lords with the Pope, as a +sovereign prince, and with the King of Spain, calls for a few +remarks on the right of the Irish to declare open war with +England, and choose their own friends and allies, without being +rebels. + +The English were at this very time so conscious of the weakness +of their title to the sovereignty of Ireland, that they were +continually striving to prop up their claims by the most absurd +pretensions. + +In the posthumous act of attainder against Shane O'Neill in the +Irish Parliament of 1569, Elizabeth's ministers affected to +trace her title to the realm of Ireland back to a period +anterior to the Milesian race of kings. They invented a +ridiculous story of a "King Gurmondus," son to the noble King +Belan of Great Britain, who was lord of Bayon in Spain--they +probably meant Bayonne in France--as were many of his successors +down to the time of Henry II., who possessed the island after +the "comeing of Irishmen into the same lande."--(Haverty, Irish +Statutes, 2 Eliz., sess. 3, cap. i.) + +These learned men who flourished in the golden reign of +Elizabeth must have thought the Irish very easily imposed upon +if they imagined they could give ear to such a fabrication, at a +time when each great family had its own chronicler to trace its +pedigree back to the very source of the race of Miledh. + +The title of conquest, at that time a valid one in all countries, +had no value with the Irish who never had been and never +admitted themselves to have been conquered. Had they not +preserved their own laws, customs, language, local governments? +Had the English ever even attempted to subject them to their +laws? They had openly refused to grant their pretended benefits +to those few "degenerate Irishmen" who in sheer despair had +applied for them. This policy of separation was adopted by +England with the view of "rooting out" the Irish. The English +Government could therefore only accept the natural consequence +of such a system--that the Irish race should be left to itself, +in the full enjoyment of its own laws and local governments. + +The very policy of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, as displayed in +their attempt to break down the clans by favoring "well-disposed +Irishmen" and setting them up, by fraudulent elections, as +chiefs of the various septs, proves that the English themselves +admitted the clans to be real nation--_nationes_--as they were +called at the time by Irish chroniclers and by English writers +even. It was an acknowledgment of the plain fact that the +natives possessed and exercised their own laws of succession and +election, their own government and autonomy. + +The disappearance of the Ard-Righ, who had held the titular +power over the whole country, is no proof that the Irish +possessed no government: for they themselves had refused for +several centuries to acknowledge his power. The island was split +up into several small independent states, each with the right of +levying war, and making peace and alliance. Gillapatrick, of +Ossory, dispatched his ambassador to Henry VIII. to announce +that if he, the English king, did not prevent his deputy, Rufus +Pierce, of Dublin, from annoying the clans of Ossory, +Gillapatrick would, in self-defence, declare war against the +King of England. And the imperious Henry Tudor, instead of +laughing at the threat of the chieftain; was shrewd enough to +recognize its significance, and prevented it being carried into +execution by admitting the cause as valid, and submitting the +conduct of his deputy to an investigation. + +Moreover, the principles by which Christendom had been ruled for +centuries, were just then being broken up by the advent of +Protestantism; and novel theories were being introduced for the +government of modern nations. What were the old principles, and +what the new; and how stood Ireland with respect to each? + +In the old organization of Christendom, the key-stone of the +whole political edifice was the papacy. Up to the sixteenth +century, the Sovereign Pontiff had been acknowledged by all +Christian nations as supreme arbiter in international questions, +and if England did possess any shadow of authority over Ireland, +it was owing to former decisions of popes, who, being +misinformed, had allowed the Anglo-Norman kings to establish +their power in the island. Whatever may be thought of the bull +of Adrian IV., this much is certain: we do not pretend to solve +that vexed historical problem. + +But, by rebelling against Rome, by rejecting the title of the +Pope, England threw away even that claim, and by the bull of +excommunication, issued against Elizabeth, the Irish were +released from their allegiance to her, supposing that such +allegiance had existed, solely built upon this claim. + +So well was this understood at the time, that the Roman Pontiffs, +as rulers of the Papal States, the Emperors of Germany, as +heads of the German Empire, and the Kings of Spain and France, +always covertly and sometimes openly received the envoys of +O'Neill, Desmond, and O'Donnell, and openly dispatched troops +and fleets to assist the Irish in their struggle for their de +facto independence. + +All this was in perfect accordance, not merely with the +authority which Catholic powers still recognized in the +Sovereign Pontiff, but even with the new order of things which +Protestantism had introduced into Western Europe, and which +England, as henceforth a leading Protestant power, had accepted +and eagerly embraced. By the rejection of the supreme +arbitration of the Popes, on the part of the new heretics, +Europe lost its unity as Christendom, and naturally formed +itself into two leagues, the Catholic and the Protestant. An +oppressed Catholic nationality, above all a weak and powerless +one, had therefore the right of appeal to the great Catholic +powers for help against oppression. And the pretension of +England to the possession of Ireland was the very essence of +oppression and tyranny in itself, doubly aggravated by the fact +of an apostate and vicious king or queen making it treason for a +people, utterly separate and distinct from theirs, to hold fast +to its ancient and revered religion. + +Who can say, then, that Gregory XIII. was guilty of injustice +and of abetting rebellion when, in 1578, he furnished James +Fitzmaurice, the great Geraldine, with a fleet and army to fight +against Elizabeth? The authority greatest in Catholic eyes, and +most worthy of respect in the eyes of all impartial men--the +Pope-- thus endorsed the patent fact that Ireland was an +independent nation, and could wage war against her oppressors. +Here we have a stand-point from which to argue the question for +future times. + +The rash or, perhaps, treacherous share taken by a few Irish +chieftains, in the schismatical and heretical as well as +unpatriotic decrees of the Parliament of 1541, and in the +subsequent ones of 1549, could compromise the Irish nation in +nowise, inasmuch as the people, being still even in legal +enjoyment of their own government, their chieftains possessed no +authority to decide on such questions without the full +concurrence of their clans, and these had already pronounced, +clearly enough and unmistakably, on the return of their lords +from their title-hunting expedition in England. + +All the chroniclers of the time agree that "the people" was +invariably sound in faith, siding with the chieftains wherever +they rose in opposition to oppressive decrees, abandoning them +when they showed signs of wavering, even; but, above all, when +they ranged themselves with the oppressors of the Church. The +English Protestant writers of the period confirm this honorable +testimony of the Irish bards, by constantly accusing the natives +of a "rebellious" spirit. + +The history of the Geraldine struggle is known to all readers of +Irish history, and does not enter into the scope of these pages. +We have, however, to consider the foreign aid which the +chieftains received, from Spain chiefly, and the causes of these +failures, which at first would seem to argue a lack of firmness +on the part of the Irish themselves. During the Geraldine wars, +and later on in what is called the rebellion of Hugh O'Neill and +Hugh O'Donnell, the King of Spain sent vessels and troops to the +assistance of the Irish. All these expeditions failed, and the +destruction of the natives was far greater than it might +otherwise have been, in consequence of the greater number of +English troops sent to Ireland to face the expected Spanish +invasion. + +The same ill success attended the French fleet and army +dispatched to Limerick by Louis XIV. to assist James II., and, +later still, the large fleet and well-appointed troops sent by +the French Convention to the aid of the "United Irishmen," in +1798. + +In like manner, the Vendeans, on the other side, those French +"rebels" against the Convention itself, received their death- +blow in consequence of the English who were sent to their succor +at Quiberon. + +It seems, indeed, a universal historic law that, when a nation +or a party in a nation struggles against another, the almost +invariable consequence of foreign aid is failure; but no +conclusion can be deduced from that fact of lack of bravery, +steadfastness, even ultimate success, on the part of those who +rise in arms against oppression. Of the many causes which may be +assigned to that apparently strange law of history, the chief +are: + +1. The difficulty of effecting a joint and simultaneous effort +between the insurgent forces and the distant friendly power. +Help comes either too soon or too late, or lands on a point of +the coast where aid is worse than useless, and where it only +throws confusion into the ranks of the struggling native forces, +whose plans are thus all disarranged, disconcerted, and thrown +into confusion. Add to this the dangers of the sea, the possibly +insufficient knowledge of the soundings and of the nature of the +coast, the differences of spirit, customs, and language, of the +two coalescing forces, and it may be easily concluded that the +chances of success, as opposed to those of failure, are but +scanty. + +2. The forces against which the coalition is made are always +immeasurably increased for the very purpose of meeting it, its +purport being always known beforehand. In the case under +consideration, it were easy to show that Elizabeth was prompted +by the fear of Spain to be speedy in crushing the attempted +"rebellions" in the south and north. Historians have made a +computation of the troops dispatched from England by the queen, +and of the treasure spent in these expeditions during her reign, +and the result is astonishing for the times. In fact, the whole +strength of England was brought into requisition for the purpose +of overpowering Ireland. + +In our own days, the successful insurrection of Greece against +Turkey seems at variance with these considerations. But the +independence of the Greeks was brought about rather by the +unanimous voice of Europe coercing Turkey than by the few troops +sent from France, or by the few English or Poles who volunteered +their aid to the insurgents. + +The remarks we have made may be further corroborated by the +reflection that the successful risings of oppressed +nationalities, recorded in modern history, were wholly effected +by the unaided forces of the insurgents. Thus, the seven cantons +of Switzerland succeeded against Austria, the Venetian Republic +against the barbarians of the North, the Portuguese in the +Braganza revolution against Spain, and the United Provinces of +the Low Countries against Spain and Germany. + +The only historical instance which may contravene this general +rule is found in the Revolution of the United States of America, +where the French cooperation was timely and of real use, chiefly +because the foreign aid was placed entirely under the control +and at the command of the supreme head of the colonists, General +Washington. + +These few words suffice for our purpose. + +The policy of Elizabeth toward the Irish nobility is well known +to our readers. The fate of the house of Desmond was, in her +mind, sealed from the beginning. It is now an ascertained fact +that she drove the great earl into rebellion, who, for a long +time, refused openly to avow his approbation of the +confederates' schemes, and even seemed at first to cooperate +with the queen's forces, in opposition to them. It was only +after his cousin Fitzmaurice and his brother John had been +almost ruined that, convinced of the determination of the +English Government to seize and occupy Munster with his five or +six millions of acres, he boldly stood up for his faith and his +country, and perished in the attempt. + +It was then that "Protestant plantations" began in Ireland. The +confiscated estates of Desmond--which, in reality, did not +belong to him but to his tribe--were handed over to companies of +"planters out of Devonshire, Dorsetshire, and Somersetshire, out +of Lancashire and Cheshire, organized for defence and to be +supported by standing forces."--(Prendergast.) + +Then the work set on foot by Henry II. in favor of Strongbow, De +Lacy, De Courcy, and others, was resumed, after an interval of +four hundred years, to be carried through to the end; that is to +say, to the complete pauperizing of the native race. + +Among the "undertakers" and "planters" introduced into Munster +by Elizabeth, a word may not be out of place on Edmund Spenser +and Walter Raleigh, the first a great poet, the second a great +warrior and courtier. They both united in advocating the +extermination of the native race, a policy which Henry VIII. was +too high-minded to accept, and Elizabeth too great a despiser of +"the people" to notice. To Henry and Elizabeth Tudor the people +was nothing; the nobility every thing. Spenser, Raleigh, and +other Englishmen of note, who came into daily contact with the +nation, saw very well that account should be taken of it, and +thought, as Sir John Davies had thought before them, that it +ought to be "rooted out." That great question of the Irish +people was assuming vaster proportions every day; the people was +soon to show itself in all its strength and reality, to be +crushed out apparently by Cromwell, but really to be preserved +by Providence for a future age, now at hand to-day. + +Spenser and Raleigh, being gifted with keener foresight than +most of their countrymen, were for the entire destruction of the +people, thinking, as did many French revolutionists of our own +days, that "only the dead never come back." + +The author of the "Faerie Queene," who had taken an active part +in the horrible butcheries of the Geraldine war, when all the +Irish of Munster were indiscriminately slaughtered, insisted +that a similar policy should be adopted for the whole island. In +his work "On the State of Ireland," he asks for "large masses of +troops to tread down all that standeth before them on foot, and +lay on the ground all the stiff-necked people of that land." He +urges that the war be carried on not only in the summer but in +the winter; "for then, the trees are bare and naked, which use +both to hold and house the kerne; the ground is cold and wet, +which useth to be his bedding; the air is sharp and bitter, to +blow through his naked sides and legs; the kine are barren and +without milk, which useth to be his food, besides being all with +calf (for the most part), they will through much chasing and +driving cast all their calf, and lose all their milk, which +should relieve him in the next summer." + +Spenser here employs his splendid imagination to present +gloatingly such details as the most effective means for the +destruction of the hated race. All he demands is, that "the end +should be very short," and he gives us an example of the +effectiveness and beauty of his system "in the late wars in +Munster." For, "notwithstanding that the same" (Munster) "was a +most rich and plentiful country, full of corne and cattle, . . . +yet ere one yeare and a half they" (the Irish) "were brought to +such wretchednesse as that any stony heart would have rued the +same. Out of every corner of woods and glynnes, they came +creeping forthe upon their hands, for their legges could not +beare them; they looked like anatomies of death; they spoke like +ghosts crying out of their graves . . . . that in short space +there were none almost left, and a most populous and plentiful +country suddenly left void of man and beast." + +Such is a picture, horribly graphic, of the state to which +Munster had been reduced by the policy of England as carried out +by a Gilbert, a Peter Carew, and a Cosby; and to this pass the +"gentle" Spenser would have wished to see the whole country come. + +Even Mr. Froude is compelled to denounce in scathing terms the +monsters employed by the queen, and his facts are all derived, +he tells us, from existing "state papers." + +Writing of the end of the Geraldine war, he says: "The English +nation was at that time shuddering over the atrocities of the +Duke of Alva. The children in the nurseries were being inflamed +to patriotic rage and madness by the tales of Spanish tyranny. +Yet, Alva's bloody sword never touched the young, defenceless, +or those whose sex even dogs can recognize and respect. + +"Sir Peter Carew has been seen murdering women and children, and +babies that had scarcely left the breast; but Sir Peter Carew +was not called on to answer for his conduct, and remained in +favor with the deputy. Gilbert, who was left in command at +Kilnallock, was illustrating yet more signally the same tendency. +" Nor "was Gilbert a bad man. As time went on, he passed for a +brave and chivalrous gentleman, not the least distinguished in +that high band of adventurers who carried the English flag into +the western hemisphere . . . . above all, a man of 'special +piety.' He regarded himself as dealing rather with savage beasts +than with human beings (in Ireland), and, when he tracked them +to their dens, he strangled the cubs, and rooted out the entire +brood. + +"The Gilbert method of treatment has this disadvantage, that it +must be carried out to the last extremity, or it ought not to be +tried at all. The dead do not come back; and if the mothers and +babies are slaughtered with the men, the race gives no further +trouble; but the work must be done thoroughly; partial and +fitful cruelty lays up only a long debt of deserved and ever- +deepening hate. + +"In justice to the English soldiers, however, it must be said +that it was no fault of theirs if any Irish child of that +generation was allowed to live to manhood."--(Hist. of Engl., +vol. x., p. 507.) + +These Munster horrors occurred directly after the defeat of the +Irish at Kinsale. Cromwell, therefore, in the atrocities which +will come under our notice, only followed out the policy of the +"Virgin Queen." And it is but too evident that the English of +1598 were the fathers or grandfathers of those of 1650. Both +were inaugurating a system of warfare which had never been +adopted before, even among pagans, unless by the Tartar troops +under Genghis Khan; a system which in future ages should shape +the policy, which was followed, for a short time, by the French +Convention in la Vendee. + +Raleigh, as well as Spenser, seems to have been a vigorous +advocate of this system. It is true that his sole appearance on +the scene was on the occasion of the surrender of Smerwick by +the Spanish garrison; but the Saxon spirit of the man was +displayed in his execution of Lord Grey's orders, who, after, +according to all the Irish accounts, promising their lives to +the Spaniards, had them executed; and Raleigh appears to have +directed that execution, whereby eight hundred prisoners of war +were cruelly butchered and flung over the rocks in the sea. From +that time out the phrase "Grey's faith" (Graia fides) became a +proverb with the Irish. + +After having succeeded in crushing Desmond and "planting " +Munster, the attention of Elizabeth was directed to the 0'Neills +and O'Donnells of Ulster. That thrilling history is well known. +It is enough to say that O'Donnell from his youth was designedly +exasperated by ill-treatment and imprisonment; and that as soon +as O'Neill, who had been treated with the greatest apparent +kindness by the queen, that he might become a queen's man, +showed that he was still an Irishman and a lover of his country, +he was marked out as a victim, and all the troops and treasures +of England were poured out lavishly to crush him and destroy the +royal races of the north. + +In that gigantic struggle one feature is remarkable--that, +whenever the English Government felt obliged to come to terms +with the last asserters of Irish independence, the first +condition invariably laid down by O'Neill and O'Donnell was the +free exercise of the Catholic religion. For we must not lose +sight of the well-ascertained fact that the English queen, who +at the very commencement of her reign had had her spiritual +supremacy acknowledged by the Irish Parliament under pain of +forfeiture, praemunire, and high-treason, insisted all along on +the binding obligation of this title; and though at first she +had secretly promised that this law should not be enforced +against the laity, she showed by all her measures that its +observance was of paramount importance in her eyes. + +Had the Irish followed the English as a nation, and accepted +Protestantism, Elizabeth would scarcely have made war upon them, +nor introduced her "plantations." All along the Irish were +"traitors" and "rebels" simply because they chose to remain +Catholics, and McGeoghegan has well remarked that, "not- +withstanding the severe laws enacted by Henry VIII., Edward VI., +and Elizabeth, down to James I., it is a well-established truth +that, during that period, the number of Irishmen who embraced +the 'reformed religion' did not amount to sixty in a country +which at the time contained two millions of souls." And +McGeoghegan might have added that, of these sixty, not one +belonged to the people; they were all native chieftains who sold +their religion in order to hold their estates or receive favors +from the queen. + +Sir James Ware is bold enough to say that, in all her dealings +with the Irish nobility, Elizabeth never mentioned religion, and +their right of practising it as they wished never came into the +question. She certainly never subjected them to any oath, as was +the case in England. Technically speaking, this statement seems +correct. Yet it is undeniable that Elizabeth allowed no Catholic +bishops or priests to remain in the island; permitted the Irish +to have none but Protestant school-teachers for their children; +bestowed all their churches on heretical ministers; closed, one +by one, all the buildings which Catholics used for their worship, + as soon as their existence became known to the police; in fact +obliged them to practise Protestantism or no religion at all. + +In the eyes of Elizabeth a Catholic was a "rebel." Whoever was +executed for religion during her reign was executed for +"rebellion." The Roman emperors who persecuted the Church during +the first three centuries, might have advanced the same +pretences And indeed the early Christians were said to be +tortured and executed for their "violation of the laws of the +empire." + +This point will come more clearly before us in considering the +second phase of the policy of Elizabeth, her direct interference +with the Church. + +II. If the policy of England's queen had been one of treachery +and deceit toward the nobility, toward the Church it was +avowedly one of blood and destruction. + +Well-intentioned and otherwise well-informed writers, among them +Mr. Prendergast, seem to consider that the main object of the +atrocious proceedings we now proceed to glance at was "greed," +and that the English Government merely connived at the covetous +desires of adventurers and undertakers, who wished to destroy +the Irish and occupy their lands; for, as Spenser says "Sure it +was a most beautiful and sweete country as any under heaven, +being stored throughout with many goodly rivers, replenished +with all sorts of fish most abundantly; sprinkled with many very +sweete islands, and goodly lakes like little inland seas; +adorned with goodly woods; also full of very good ports and +havens opening upon England as inviting us to come into them." + +Such, according to those writers, was the policy of England from +the first landing of Strongbow on the shores of Erin, and even +during the preceding four centuries, when both races were +Catholic, and the conversion of the natives to Protestantism +could not enter the thoughts of the invaders. + +This, to a certain extent, is true. Still, it seems very +doubtful to us that Elizabeth should have undertaken so many +wars in Ireland, which lasted through her whole reign, and on +which she employed all the strength and resources of England, +merely to please a certain number of nobles who wished to find +foreign estates whereon to settle their numerous offspring. + +The chief importance, in her eyes, of the conquest was clearly +to establish her spiritual superiority in that part of her +dominions. She would have left the native nobles at peace, and +even conferred on them her choicest favors, had they only +consented, as English subjects, to break with Rome. Rome had +excommunicated her; Pius V. had released her subjects from their +allegiance because of her heresy, and Ireland did not reject the +bull of the Pope. This in her eyes constituted the great and +unpardonable offence of the Irish. And that, for her, the whole +question bore a religious character, will appear more clearly +from her conduct toward the Catholic Church throughout her reign. +Into this part of our subject the examination of the step taken +by Pius V. naturally enters, and, in examining it, we shall see +whether, and how far, the Irish can be called rebels and +"traitors." + +In his history of the Reformation, Dr. Heylin says of Elizae's +supremacy could not stand together, and she could not possibly +maintain the one without discarding the other." This is +perfectly true, and furnishes us with the key to all her church +measures. + +She pretended to be a Catholic during Mary's reign; but it was +merely pretence. To persevere in Catholicity required of her the +sacrifice of her political aspirations; for the Church could not +admit of her legitimacy, and consequently her title to the crown +of England. Hence, upon the death of Mary Tudor, the Queen of +Scots immediately assumed the title of Queen of England; and +although the Pope, then Pius IV., did not immediately declare +himself in favor of Mary Stuart, but reserved his decision for a +future period, nevertheless, the view of the case adopted by the +Pontiff could not be mistaken. Elizabeth's legitimacy, or, as +Heylin has it, "legitimation and the Pope's supremacy could not +stand together." No course was left open to her, then, than to +reject the pontifical authority, and establish her own in her +dominions, as she did not possess faith enough to set her soul +above a crown; and the success of her father, Henry VIII., and +of her half-brother, Edward VI., encouraged her in this step. +This fully explains her policy. It became a principle with her +that, to accept the Pope's supremacy in spirituals, was to deny +her legitimacy, and consequently to be guilty of treason against +her. This made the position of Catholics in England and Ireland +a most trying one. But their moral duty was clear enough, and +every other obligation had to give way before that. In the +persecution which followed they were certainly martyrs to their +duty and their religion. + +That the question of the succession in England was an open one, +must be admitted by every candid man. Who was the legitimate +Queen of England at the death of Mary Tudor? The Queen of Scots +assumed the title, and, as the legitimate offspring of the +sister of Henry VIII., she had the right to it as the nearest +direct descendant in the event of Elizabeth's pretensions not +being admitted by the nation. The nation at the time was in fact, +though not in right, the nobles, who enriched themselves at the +expense of the Church, and were therefore deeply interested in +the exclusion of Catholic principles. A Parliament composed of +the nobles had already acknowledged Elizabeth to the exclusion +of the Queen of Scots, and the former decision was reaffirmed as +against a "female pretender" supported by a foreign power, +namely, France. + +England, that is to say, the corrupt nobility of the kingdom, by +taking upon itself that decision, refused to submit the question +to the arbitration of the Pope; and thus, for the first time, +the principles which had guided Christendom for eight hundred +years, were discarded. Yet, under Mary, the Catholic Church had +been declared the Church of the state; at her death, no change +took place; the mass of the people was still Catholic. It took +Elizabeth her whole reign to make the English a thoroughly +Protestant people. The great mass of the nation came +consequently then, even legally, under the law of mediaeval +times, which surrendered the decision of such cases into the +hands of the Roman Pontiff. + +Again, when we reflect that our preset object is the +consideration of who was the legitimate Queen of Ireland, the +question becomes clearer and simpler still. The supremacy of +Henry VIII. had never been acknowledged in the island, even by +those who had subscribed to the decrees of the Parliament of +1541 and 1569. The Irish chieftains had not only never assented, +but had always preserved their independence in all, save the +suzerainty of the English monarchs, and they were at the time, +without exception, Catholics. For them, therefore, the Pope was +the expounder of the law of succession to the throne, as, up to +that time, he had been generally recognized in Europe. Elizabeth, +consequently, as an acknowledged illegitimate child, could not +become a legitimate queen without a positive declaration and +election by the true representatives of the people, approved by +the Pope. Her assumption, then, of the supreme government was a +mere usurpation. The theory of governments de facto being obeyed +as quasi-legitimate had not yet been mooted among lawyers and +theologians. With respect to the whole question, there can be no +doubt as to the conclusion at which any able constitutional +jurist of our days would arrive. + +Could usurped rights such as these invest Elizabeth with +authority to declare herself paramount not only in political but +also in religious matters? And, because she was called queen, +can it be considered treason for an Irishman to believe in the +spiritual supremacy of the Pope? Yet, unless we look upon as +martyrs those who died on the rack and the gibbet in Ireland +during her reign, because they refused to admit in a woman the +title of Vicar of Christ, to such decision must we come. + +The policy of the English queen toward Catholic bishops, priests, +and monks, presents the question in a still stronger light. Its +chief feature will now come before us, and will show how all of +these suffered for Christ. We say all, because not only those +are included in the category who held aloof from politics and +confined themselves to the exercise of their spiritual functions, +but those also who, at the bidding of the Pope, or following +the natural promptings of their own inclinations, favored the so- +called rebellion of the Geraldine and of the Ulster chieftains. +The lives and death of both are now well known, and to both we +award the title of heroes and Christian martyrs. + +As it would be too long to present here a complete picture of +those events, and trace the biography of many of those who +suffered persecution at that time, we content ourselves with two +faithful representatives of the classes above mentioned--Richard +Creagh, Archbishop of Armagh, and Dr. Hurley, Archbishop of +Cashel. The case of the great Oliver Plunkett, who suffered +under Charles II., and who was the victim of the entire English +nation, is beyond our present discussion. + +The biography of the first of these has been written by several +authors, who, agreeing as to the main facts of his history, +differ only in their chronology. Dr. Roothe's account is the +longest of all and is intricate, and subject to some confusion +with regard to dates; but a sketch of that life, which appeared +in the Rambler of April, 1853, is the most consistent and easily +reconciled with the well-known facts of the general history of +the period, and therefore we follow it: + +Richard Creagh, proposed for the See of Armagh by the nuncio, +David Wolfe, arrived at Limerick in the August of 1560, at the +very beginning of the reign of Elizabeth. Pius IV., who was then +Pontiff, had not come to any conclusion respecting the +sovereignty of England, and did not openly declare himself in +favor of the right of Mary Stuart to the crown. The Pope, not +having given any positive injunctions to Archbishop Creagh, with +regard to his political conduct, the latter was left free to +follow the dictates of his conscience. He came only with a +letter, to Shane O'Neill, who, at the time, was almost +independent in Ulster. + +Not only did the archbishop not take any part in the political +measures of the Ulster chieftain, who was often at war with +Elizabeth, but he soon came to a disagreement with him on purely +conscientious grounds, and finally excommunicated him. In the +midst of the many difficulties which surrounded him, he resolved +to inculcate peace and loyalty to Elizabeth throughout Ulster, +asking of Shane only one favor, that of founding colleges and +schools, and thinking that, by remaining loyal to the queen, he +might obtain her assistance in founding a university. The good +prelate little knew the character of the woman with whom he had +to deal, imagining probably that the decree of her spiritual +supremacy would remain a dead letter for the priesthood, as had +been falsely promised to the laity. + +But he was not left long to indulge in these delusions; for, in +the act of celebrating mass in a monastery of his diocese, he +was betrayed by some informer, and was arrested by a troop of +soldiers, who conducted him before the government authorities, +by whom he was sent to London and confined in the Tower on +January 18,1565. He was there several times interrogated by +Cecil and the Recorder of London, who could easily ascertain +that the prelate was altogether guiltless of political intrigue. + +He escaped miraculously, passed through Louvain, went to Spain, +at the time at peace with England, and, wishing to return to +Ireland, wrote, through the Spanish ambassador, to Leicester, +then all-powerful with the queen, to protest beforehand that, if +the Pope should order him to return to his diocese, he intended +only to render to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is +God's. Even then, after his prison experience of several months, +he thought that, if he could persuade Elizabeth that he was +truly loyal to her, she would forgive him his Catholicity. + +Receiving no answer, he set sail for his country, where he +landed in August, 1566, and shortly after wrote to Sir Henry +Sidney, then lord-deputy, in the very terms he had used with +Leicester, and proposing in addition to use his efforts in +inducing Shane O'Neill to conclude peace. + +What Sidney and his masters in London, Cecil and Leicester, must +have thought of the simplicity of this good man, it is +impossible to say. They condescended to return no answer to his +more than straightforward communication, save the short verbal +reply concerning O'Neill: "We have given forth speach of his +extermination by war." + +The good prelate, after having so clearly defined his position, +thought he might safely follow the dictates of his conscience, +and govern his flock in peace; but he was soon taken prisoner, +in April, 1567, by O'Shaughnessy, who received a special letter +of thanks from Elizabeth for his services on this occasion. + +Bv order of the queen, he was tried in Dublin; but, so clear was +the case before them, that even a Protestant jury could not +convict him. The honest Dublin jurors were therefore cast into +prison and heavily fined, while the prelate was once again +transferred to London, whence he a second time escaped by the +connivance of his jailor. + +Retaken in 1567, he was handed over to the queen's officers, +under a pledge that his life would be spared. And, in +consequence of this pledge alone, was he never brought to trial, +but kept a close prisoner in the Tower for eighteen years, until +in 1585 he was, according to all reliable accounts, deliberately +poisoned. + +This simple narrative certainly proves that in Elizabeth's eyes, +the mere sustaining the Pope's spiritual supremacy was treason, +and every Catholic consequently, because Catholic, a traitor +deserving death. True, the Irish prelates, monks, and people, +might have imitated the majority of the English nobles and +people in accepting the new dogma. In that case, they would have +become truly loyal and dutiful subjects, and been admitted to +all the rights of citizenship; the nobles would have retained +possession of their estates, the gentry obtained seats in the +Irish Parliament; while the common people, renouncing clanship, +absurd old traditions, the memory of their ancestors, together +with their obedience to the See of Rome, would not have been +excluded from the benefits of education; would have been allowed +to engage in trades and manufactures; would have been permitted +to keep their land, or hold it by long leases; would have +enjoyed the privilege of dwelling in walled towns and cities, if +they felt no inclination for agriculture. They would have become +no doubt "a highly-prosperous" nation, as the English and Scotch +of our days have become, partakers of all the advantages of the +glorious British Constitution, cultivating the fields of their +ancestors, and converting their beautiful island into a paradise +more enchanting than the rich meadows and wheat-fields of +England itself. + +On the other hand, they would have obtained all those temporal +advantages at the expense of their faith, which no one had a +right to take from them; in their opinion, and in that of +millions of their fellow-Catholics, they would have forfeited +their right to heaven, and the Irish have always been +unreasonable enough to prefer heaven to earth. They have +preferred, as the holy men of old of whom St. Paul speaks, "to +be stoned, cut asunder, tempted, put to death by the sword, to +wander about in sheep-skins, in oat-skins; being in want, +distressed, afflicted, of whom the word was not worthy; +wandering in deserts, in mountains, in dens, and in the caves of +the earth, being approved by the testimony of faith:" that is to +say, having the testimony of their conscience and the approval +of God, and considering this better than worldly prosperity and +earthly happiness. + +Turning now to those prelates, monks, and priests, who during +Elizabeth's reign took part in Irish politics against the queen, +can we on that account deny them the title of martyrs to their +faith? + +Dr. Hurley, Archbishop of Cashel, whose memoirs were published +by Miles O'Reilly, may be taken as a type of this class. Suppose, +as well grounded, although never proved, the suspicion of the +English Government with regard to his political mission. +Prelates and priests, generally speaking, were put to death +under Elizabeth, or confined to dungeons on mere suspicion, and, +as we have seen in the case of the Archbishop of Armagh, even +clear proofs of their innocence would not save them. + +On his father's side, Dr. Hurley was naturally in the interest +of James Geraldine, Earl of Desmond; and, on his mother's, he +belonged to the royal family of O' Briens of Munster. +Consecrated Archbishop of Cashel at Rome in 1550, under Gregory +XIII., during the Geraldine rebellion, he was compelled to use +the utmost precaution in entering Ireland. The police of +Elizabeth was particularly active at that time in hunting up +priests and monks throughout the whole island, but particularly +in the south. + +The archbishop escaped all these dangers, and he avoided the +certain denunciation of Walter Baal, the Mayor of Dublin +probably, who was then actually persecuting his mother, Dame +Eleanor Birmingham; he fled to the castle of Thomas Fleming, who +concealed him in a secret chamber in his house and treated him +as a friend. But when everybody thought the danger past, and +that it was no longer imprudent for him to mix in the society of +the castle, he was suspected by an Anglo-Irishman of the name of +Dillon, denounced by him, and finally surrendered by Thomas +Fleming, and conveyed to Dublin, where proceedings were set on +foot against him by the Irish Council and the queen's ministers +in England. + +His imprisonment was coincident with the suppression of the +rising in Munster, and the Earl of Desmond was beginning that +frightful outlaw-life which only ended with his miserable death. + +The object of the archbishop's accusers was to connect him with +the designs of Rome and the Munster insurrection; and the state +papers preserved in London have disclosed to us the +correspondence between Adam Loftus, the Protestant Archbishop of +Dublin, on the one side, and Walsingham and Cecil on the other. + +The only proofs of the Archbishop's having joined the southern +confederacy were: 1. Suspicions, as he was consecrated in Rome +about the time of the sailing of the expedition under James +Fitzmaurice; 2. The information of a certain Christopher +Barnwell, then in jail, who was promised his life if he could +furnish proofs enough to convict the prelate. The value of the +testimony of an "informer" under such circumstances is +proverbial; yet all Barnwell could allege was, that "he was +present at a conversation in Rome between Dr. Hurley and +Cardinal Comensis, the Pope's secretary, and, the result of the +whole conversation was, "that the doctor did not know nor +believe that the Earl of Kildare had joined the rebellion of +Fitzmaurice and Desmond, and he was rebuked by the cardinal for +not believing it." + +This was considered overwhelming proof against him, in spite of +his positive denial. Torture was applied, but the most awful +sufferings could not wring from him the acknowledgment of having +taken part in the conspiracy. Yet Loftus and Wallop were of +opinion that he was a "rebel" and ought to be put to death. The +only difficulty which presented itself to the "Lords Justices" +of Ireland was, that there was no statute in Ireland against +"traitors" who had plotted beyond the seas, and they asked that +the archbishop should either be sent to be tried in England, or +tried in Ireland by martial law, which would screen them from +responsibility. + +This last favor was granted them; and the holy archbishop was +taken from prison at early dawn, on a Friday, either in May or +June, 1584. He was barbarously hanged in a withey (withe) +calling on God, and forgiving his torturers with all his heart. + +Our purpose is not to inveigh against this judicial murder, and, +by further details, increase the horror which every honest man +must feel at the narrative of such atrocious proceedings. We +will suppose, on the contrary, that the cooperation of the +Archbishop of Cashel with Fitzmaurice and Desmond, and even with +the Pope and King of Spain, had been clearly proved--as it is +certain that, if not in this case, at least in some others, +during the reign of Elizabeth, the bishops or priests accused +had really taken part in the attempt of the Irish to free +themselves from such tyranny--and insist that, even then, the +murdered Catholic ecclesiastics really died for their religion, +and could be called "rebels" in no sense whatever. + +First, the question might arise as to how far the Irish were +subject to the English crown. We have seen how, a few years +before, Gillapatrick, of Ossory, asserted his right of making +war on England, when he felt sufficient provocation. Under +Elizabeth the case was still clearer, at least for Catholics, +after the excommunication of the queen by Pius V. As we have +seen, the chief title of England to Ireland rested on two +pretended papal bulls: another Pope could and did recall the +grant, which had been founded on misrepresentation. Up to that +time, there had been no real subjection by conquest, outside of +the Pale, which formed but an insignificant part of the island. + +Under such circumstances, it must at least be admitted that a +radically and clearly unjust law, imposed by a foreign though +perhaps suzerain power, could be justly resisted by force of +arms. And such was the case in Ireland. The Queen of England-- +the Irish Parliament of 1539 had no other authority than that of +the queen, and represented no part of the people--had made it +rebellion for the Irish to remain faithful to their religion. +What could prevent the Irish from resisting such pretension, +even at the cost of effusion of blood? The early Christians, +under the Roman Empire, it is true, never rose in arms against +the bloody edicts of the Caesars or the Antonines; but the cases +are not parallel. + +Suppose that Greece or Asia Minor had never succumbed to the +Roman power, and had become entirely Christian: no one would +refuse to admit their right to offer armed resistance to the +extension of the edicts of persecution into their territory. On +the contrary, it would have been their duty to do so: and every +one of their inhabitants, who was taken and executed as a rebel, +would have been crowned with the martyr's crown. + +At this point, indeed, comes in the consideration of the special +motive which animated each belligerent, even when fighting on +the right side. We are far from saying that all the Irishmen, +particularly the leaders and chieftains who at that time ranged +themselves under the banners of the Desmonds or the O'Neills, +fought purely for Christ and religion. Many of them, no doubt, +engaged in the contest from mere worldly motives, perhaps even +for purposes unworthy of Christians; and in this case, those who +fell in the struggle were in no sense soldiers of Christ. + +But how many such are to be found among the bishops, priests, or +monks, who perished under Elizabeth? May it not be said of them +that, to a man, they fell for the sake of religion? We may even +be bold enough to say that the majority of the common Irish +people who lost their lives in those wars may be placed in the +same category as their spiritual rulers, being in reality the +upholders of right and the champions of Catholicity. + +Let it be remembered that, at the period of which we speak, the +only real question involved in the contest was gradually +assuming more and more a religious character. Henry VIII. and +his deputy, St. Leger, had struck a fatal blow at clanship and +Irish institutions in general, by bestowing on and compelling +the chieftains to accept English titles, and by investing them +with new deeds of their lands under feudal tenure. By Elizabeth, +the same policy was steadily and successfully pursued, her court +being always graced by the presence of young Irish lords, +educated under her own eyes, and loaded with all her royal +favors. All she asked of them in return was that they should +become Queen's men. The repugnance once felt by Irishmen for +that gilded slavery was each day becoming less marked. But, +while every thing was seemingly working so well for the +attainment of Elizabeth's object at the commencement of her +reign, a new feature suddenly shows itself, and grows rapidly +into prominence --the attachment of the Irish to their religion, +and the violent opposition to the change always kept foremost in +view by the queen, namely the substitution of her spiritual +supremacy for that of the Pope. + +Thus we find the Irish leaders, when proclaiming their +grievances, either on the eve of war, or the signing of a treaty +of peace, always giving their religious convictions the first +place on the list. The religious question, then, was becoming +more and more the question, and, notwithstanding all her fine +assurances that she would not infringe upon the religious +predilections of the laity, Elizabeth's great purpose, in +Ireland and in England, was to destroy Catholicity, by +destroying the priesthood, root and-branch. + +The nobles showed how fully convinced they were of this, when +they carne to adopt a system of concealment, even of duplicity, +to which Irishmen ought never to have been weak enough to submit. +Not only were the practices of their religion confined to +places where no Englishman or Protestant could penetrate, but +gradually they allowed their houses--those sanctuaries of +freedom--to be invaded by the pursuivants of the queen, +searching for priests or monks "lately arrived from Rome." + +Secret apartments were constructed by skilful architects in +noblemen's manors; recesses were artfully contrived under the +roofs, in roomy staircases, or even in basements and cellars. +There the unfortunate minister of religion was confined for +weeks and months, creeping forth only at night, to breathe the +fresh air at the top of the house or in the thick shrubbery of +the adjoining park. All the means of evading the law used by the +Christians of the first centuries were reproduced and resorted +to in Catholic Ireland by chieftains who possessed the "secret +promise" of the queen that their religion should not be +interfered with, and that her supremacy should not be enforced +against them. + +Not thus did the people act: their keen sense of injustice took +in at once all the circumstances of the case. It was a religious +persecution, nothing else; and this the nobles also felt in +their inmost souls. The people saw the ministers of religion +hunted down, seized, dragged to prison, tried, convicted, +barbarously executed; they recognized it in its reality as a +sheer attempt to destroy Catholicity, and as such they opposed +it by every means in their power. They beheld the monks and +friars treated as though they had been wild beasts; the soldiers +falling on them wherever they met them, and putting them to +death with every circumstance of cruelty and insult, without +trial, without even the identification required for outlaws. Mr. +Miles O'Reilly's book, "Irish Martyrs," is full of cases of this +kind. Hence the people frequently offered open resistance to the +execution of the law; the soldiers had to disperse the mob; but +the real mob was the very troop commanded by English officers. + +When at length the Irish lords no longer dared offer asylum to +the outlawed priesthood in their manors and castles, the hut of +the peasant lay open to them still. The greater the quantity of +blood poured out by the executors of the barbarous laws, the +greater the determination of the people to protect the oppressed +and save the Lord's anointed. + +Then opened a scene which had never been witnessed, even under +the most cruel persecutions of the tyrants of old Rome. The +whole strength of the English kingdom had been called into play +to crush the Irish nobility during the wars of Ulster and +Munster; the whole police of the same kingdom was now put in +requisition for the apprehension and destruction of church-men. +Nay, from this very occupation, the great police system which +since that time has flourished in most European states, arose, +being invented or at least perfected for the purpose. + +Then, for the first time in modern history, numbers of "spies" +and "informers" were paid for the service of English ministers +of state. Not only did the cities of England and Ireland, harbor +cities chiefly, swarm with them, but they covered the whole +country; they were to be found everywhere: around the humble +dwelling of the peasant and the artisan, in the streets and on +the highways, inspecting every stranger who might be a friar or +monk in disguise. They spread through the whole European +Continent--along the coast and in the interior of France and +Belgium, Italy and Spain, in the churches, convents, and +colleges, even in the courts of princes, and, as we have seen in +the case of Dr. Hurley, in the very halls of the Vatican. The +English state papers have disclosed their secret, and the whole +history is now before us. + +To support this army of spies and informers, the soldiers of +that other army of England, who were employed either in keeping +England under the yoke or in crushing freedom and religion out +of Ireland, did not disdain to execute the orders which +converted them into policemen and sbirri. And it may be said, to +their credit, that they executed those orders with a ferocious +alacrity unequalled in the annals of military life in other +countries. If, during the most fearful commotions in France, the +army has been employed for a similar purpose, it must be +acknowledged that, as far as the troops were concerned, they +performed their unwelcome task with reluctance, and softened +down, at least, their execution, by considerate manners and +respectful demeanor. But these soldiers of Elizabeth showed +themselves, from first to last, full of ferocity. They generally +went far beyond the letter of their orders; they took an inhuman +delight in adding insult to injury, uniting in their persons the +double character of preservers of public order and ruffianly +executioners of innocent victims. Many and many a record of +their barbarity is kept to this day. We add a few, only to +justify our necessarily severe language: + +"The Rev. Thaddeus Donald and John Hanly received their martyr's +crown on the 10th of August, 1580. They had long labored among +the suffering faithful along the southwestern coast of Ireland. +When the convent of Bantry was seized by the English troops, +these holy men received their wished-for crown of martyrdom. +Being conducted to a high rock impending over the sea, they were +tied back to back, and precipitated into the waves beneath." + +"In the convent of Enniscorthy, Thaddeus O'Meran, father- +guardian of the convent, Felix O'Hara, and Henry Layhode, under +the government of Henry Wallop, Viceroy of Ireland, were taken +prisoners by the soldiers, for five days tortured in various +ways, and then slain." + +"Rev. Donatus O'Riedy, of Connaught, and parish priest of +Coolrah, when the soldiers of Elizabeth rushed into the village, +sought refuge in the church; but in vain, for he was there +hanged near the high altar, and afterward pierced with swords, +12th of June, 1582." + +"While Drury was lord-deputy, about 1577, Fergal Ward, a +Franciscan, . . . fell into the hands of the soldiery, and, +being scourged with great barbarity, was hanged from the +branches of a tree with the cincture of his own religious habit." + +In order to find a parallel to atrocities such as these, we must +go back to the record of some of the sufferings of the early +martyrs--St. Ignatius of Antioch, for instance, who wrote of the +guards appointed to conduct him to Italy: "From Syria as far as +Rome, I had to fight with wild beasts, on sea and on land, tied +night and day to a pack of ten leopards, that is to say, ten +soldiers who kept me, and were the more ferocious the more I +tried to be kind to them." + +Instances of such extreme cruelty are rare, even in the Acts of +the early martyrs, but they meet us every moment in the memoirs +of the days of Elizabeth. Both the police-spies and the soldier- +police were animated with the rage and fury which must have +possessed the soul of the queen herself; for, after all, the +cruelty practised in her reign, and mostly under her orders, was +not necessary in order to secure her throne to her, during life; +and, as she could hope for no posterity of her own, it was not +the desire of retaining the crown to her children which could +excuse so much bloodshed and suffering. She evidently followed +the promptings of a cruel heart in those atrocious measures +which constitute the feature of the home policy of her reign. +The persecution which raged incessantly throughout her long +career, in Ireland and England, is surely one of the most bloody +in the annals of the Catholic Church. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +ENGLAND PREPARED FOR THE RECEPTION OF PROTESTANTISM--IRELAND NOT. + +It cost Elizabeth the greater part of her reign in time, and all +the growing resources of a united England in material, to +establish her spiritual supremacy in Ireland; and yet, when, at +her death, Mountjoy received orders to conclude peace on +honorable terms with the Ulster chieftains, her darling policy +was abandoned; and failure, in fact, confessed. + +On the 30th of March, 1603, Hugh O'Neill and Mountjoy met by +appointment at Mellifont Abbey, where the terms of peace were +exchanged. O'Neill, having declared his submission, was granted +amnesty for the past, restored to his rank, notwithstanding his +attainder and outlawry, and reinstated in his dignity of Earl of +Tyrone. Himself and his people were to enjoy the "full and free +exercise of their religion;" new letters-patent were issued +restoring to him and other northern chieftains almost the whole +of the lands occupied by their respective clans. + +O'Neill, on his part, was to renounce forever his title of +"O'Neill," and allow English law to prevail in his territory. + +How this last condition could agree with the full and free +exercise of the Catholic religion, the treaty did not explain; +but it is evident that the new acts of Parliament respecting +religion were not to be included in the English law admitted by +the Ulster chiefs. + +Meanwhile, the descendants of Strongbow's companions had been +completely subdued in the south, Munster having been devastated, +and the Geraldines utterly destroyed. Yet, even there, +Protestantism was not acknowledged by such of the inhabitants as +were left. + +It may be well to compare here the different results which +attended the declaration of the queen's supremacy in England and +Ireland: + +At the commencement of Elizabeth's reign, England was still, +outwardly at least, as Catholic as Ireland. Henry VIII. had only +aimed at starting a schism; the Protestantism established under +Edward had been completely swept away during Mary's short reign. +Could Elizabeth only have hoped to be acknowledged queen by the +Pope, there can be little doubt that, even for political motives, +she would have refrained from disturbing the peace of the +country for the sake of introducing heresy. Religion was nothing +to her--the crown every thing. + +It was not so easy a matter for her to establish heresy as for +Henry to introduce schism. All the bishops of Henry's reign, +with the exception of Fisher, had renounced their allegiance to +Rome, in order to please the sovereign; all the bishops of +Mary's nomination remained faithful to Rome; and so difficult +was it to find somebody who should consecrate the new prelates +created by Elizabeth, that Catholic writers have, we believe, +shown beyond question that no one of the intruding prelates was +really consecrated. + +Nevertheless, at the end of Elizabeth's reign, there is no doubt +that the English people, with a few individual exceptions, were +Protestant; and Protestants they have ever since remained. + +In Dr. Madden's "History of the Penal Laws," we read "Father +Campian was betrayed by one of Walsingham's spies, George Eliot, +and found secreted in the house of Mr. Yates, of Lyford, in +Berkshire, along with two other priests, Messrs. Ford and +Collington. Eliot and his officers made a show of their +prisoners to the multitude, and the sight of the priests in the +hands of the constables was a matter of mockery to the unwise +multitude. This was a frequent occurrence in conveying captured +priests from one jail to another, or from London to Oxford, or +vice versa, and it would seem, instead of finding sympathy from +the populace, they met with contumely, insult, and sometimes +even brutal violence. This is singular, and not easily accounted +for; of the fact, there can be no doubt." + +Dr. Madden probably considered that, within a few years after +the change of religion, the English people ought to have shown +themselves as firm Catholics as did the Irish. But the +explanation of the contumely and violence is easy: it was an +English and not an Irish populace. The first had altogether +forgotten the faith of their childhood, the second could not be +brought to forsake it. The difficulty, in accounting for the +difference between them, is in getting at its true cause; and to +us it seems that one of the chief causes was the difference of +race. + +The English upper classes, as a whole, were utterly indifferent +to religion; the one thing which affected them, soul and body, +was their temporal interests, and, to judge by their ready +acquiescence in all the changes set forth at the commencement of +the last chapter, they would as soon have turned Mussulmen as +Calvinists. The lower classes, at first merely passive, became +afterward possessed by a genuine fanaticism for the new creed +established by the Thirty-nine Articles; so that, from that +period until quite recently--and the spirit still lives--an +English mob was always ready to demolish Catholic chapels, and +establishments of any kind, wherever the piety of a few had +succeeded in erecting such, however quietly. + +It is evident from the facts mentioned that, prior even to that +extraordinary religious revolution called the Reformation, the +Catholic faith did not possess a firm hold upon the English mind +and heart, whatever may have been the case in previous ages. It +is clear that even "the people" in England were not ready to +submit to any sacrifice for the sake of their religion. + +There is small doubt that Elizabeth foresaw this, and expected +but little opposition on the part of the English nobility and +people to the changes she purposed effecting. Had she imagined +that the nation would have been ready to submit to any sacrifice +rather than surrender their religion, she would at least have +been more cautious in the promulgation of her measures, even +though she had determined to sever her kingdom from Rome. She +might have rested content with the schism introduced by her +father, and this indeed would have sufficed for the carrying out +of her political schemes. + +But she knew her countrymen too well to accredit them with a +religious devotion which, if they ever possessed, had long ago +died out. She saw that England was ripe for heresy, and the +result confirmed her worldly sagacity. How came it, then, that +the change which was absolutely impossible in Ireland, was so +easily effected in the other country? Or, to generalize the +question: How is it that, to speak generally, the nations of +Northern Europe embraced Protestantism so readily, while those +of Southern Europe refused to receive it, or were only slightly +affected by it? Ranke has remarked that, when, after the first +outbreak in the North, the movement had reached a certain point +in time and space, it stopped, and, instead of advancing further, + appeared to recede, or at least stood still. + +Many Protestant writers have attempted a weak and flippant +solution of the question, and we are continually told of the +superior enlightenment of the northern races, of their +attachment to liberty, of their higher civilization, and other +very fine and very easily-quoted things of the same kind, which, +at the present moment, are admitted as truths by many, and +esteemed as unanswerable explanations of the phenomenon. +According to this opinion, therefore, the southern races were +more ignorant, less civilized, more readily duped by priestcraft +and kingcraft; above all, readier to bow to despotism, and +indifferent to freedom. + +Catholic writers, Balmez principally, have often given a +satisfactory answer to the question; yet, the replies which they +have made to the various sophisms touched upon, have seemingly +produced no effect on the modern masses, who continue steadfast +in their belief of what has been so often refuted. It would be +presumptuous and probably quite useless, on our part, to enter +into a lengthened discussion of the question. But, when confined +to England, it is a kind of test to be applied to all those +subjects of civilization and liberty, and is so clear and true +that it cannot leave the least room for doubt or hesitation: +moreover, as it necessarily enters into the inquiry which forms +the heading of this chapter, it cannot be entirely laid aside. + +All that we purpose doing is, discovering why the northern +nations fell a prey more readily to the disorganizing doctrines +of Protestantism than the southern. The general fickleness of +the human mind, which is so well brought out by the great +Spanish writer, does not strike us as a sufficient cause; for +the mind of southern peoples is certainly not less fickle, on +many points at least, than that of other races. + +In our comparison between the North and the South, we class the +Irish with the latter, although, geographically, they belong to +the former, and, indeed, constitute the only northern nation +which remained faithful to the Church. + +First, let us state the broad facts for which we wish to assign +some satisfactory reasons. + +After the social convulsions which attended the change of +religion had subsided somewhat, it was found that Protestantism +had invaded the three Scandinavian kingdoms, to the almost total +exclusion of Catholicism, to such an extent, indeed, that, until +quite recently, it was death or transportation for any person +therein to return to the bosom of the mother Church. + +The same statement is true, to almost the same extent, of +Northern Germany, where open persecution, or rather war, raged +until the establishment of "religious peace" toward 1608. Saxony, +whence the heresy sprang, was its centre and stronghold in +Germany; and the Saxons were Scandinavians, having crossed over +from the southern-borders of the Baltic, where, for a long time, +they dwelt in constant intercourse with the Danes, Norwegians, +and Swedes. + +Saxon and Norman England was found to be, at the end of the +sixteenth century, almost entirely Protestant, and the +persecution of the comparatively few Catholics who survived +flourished therein full vigor. + +A singular phenomenon presented itself in the Low Countries. +That portion of them subsequently known as Holland, which was +first invaded and peopled by the Northmen of Walcheren, became +almost entirely Protestant, while Belgium, which was originally +Celtic, remained Catholic. + +Bavaria, Austria, and Switzerland, were divided between +Protestantism and Catholicity, and the division exists to this +day. + +In France a section only of the nobility, which was originally +Norman as well as Frank, and under feudalism had become +thoroughly permeated by the northern spirit, was found to have +embraced the new doctrines, which were repudiated by the people +of Celtic origin. It is true that, later on, the Cevennes +mountaineers received Protestantism from the old Waldenses; but +we are presenting a broad sketch, and do not deny that several +minor lineaments may not fall in with the general picture. + +In Italy only literary men, in Spain a few rigorist prelates and +monks, showed any inclination toward the "reform" party. + +On the whole, then, it is safe to conclude that the Scandinavian +mind was congenial to Protestantism. + +We say the Scandinavian mind, because the Scandinavian race +extended, not only through Scandinavia proper, but also through +Northern Germany, along the Baltic Sea and German Ocean; through +Holland by Walcheren; through a portion of Central and Southern +Germany, as far down as Switzerland, which was invaded by Saxons +at the time of Charlemagne, and after him, until Otto the Great +gave them their final check, and subdued them more thoroughly +than the great Charles had succeeded in doing. + +Common opinion traces the Scandinavians and Germans back to the +same race. In the generic sense, this is true; and all the Indo- +Germanic nations may have originally belonged to the same parent +stock; but, specifically, differences of so striking a nature +present themselves in that immense branch of the human family, +that the existence of sub-races of a definite character, +presupposing different and sometimes opposite tendencies, must +be admitted. + +Who can imagine that the Germans proper are identical with the +Hindoos, although by language they, in common with the greater +part of European nations, may belong to the same parent stock? +In like manner, the Germanic tribes, although possessing many +things in common with the Scandinavian race, differ from it in +various respects. + +The best ethnographic writers admit that the Scandinavian race, +which they, in our opinion improperly, name Gothic, differed +greatly in its language from the Teutonic. The language of the +first, retained in its purity in Iceland to this day, soon +became mixed up with German proper in Denmark, Sweden, and even +in Norway to a great extent. The languages differed therefore +originally, as did, consequently, the races. Even at this very +moment an effort is being made by Scandinavians to establish the +difference between themselves and the Teutons with respect to +language and nationality. + +How far the religion of both was identical is a difficult +question. We believe it very probable that the worship of Thor, +Odin, and Frigga, was purely Scandinavian, and penetrated +Germany, as far as Switzerland, with the Saxons. Hertha, +according to Tacitus, was the supreme goddess of the Germans. +She had no place in Scandinavian mythology. Ipsambul, so +renowned among the Teutons, was quite unknown in Scandinavia. +The Germans, in common with the Celts, considered the building +of temples unworthy the Deity; whereas, the Scandinavian temples, +chiefly the monstrous one of Upsala, are well known. Many other +such facts might be brought out to show the difference of their +religions. + +The Germans showed themselves from the beginning attached to a +country life; and we know how the Frankish Merovingian kings +loved to dwell in the country. The Scandinavians only cared for +the sea, and manifested by their skill in navigation how they +differed from the Germans, who were less inclined even than the +Celts for large naval expeditions. + +All this is merely given as strong conjecture, not as proof +positive amounting to demonstration, of the real difference +between the two races--the Germanic and Scandinavian. + +But how was Protestantism congenial to the Scandinavian mind? +This second question is of still greater importance than the +first. + +In the earlier portion of the book, we passed in review the +character of the tribes, once clustered around the Baltic, with +the exception of the Finns, who dwelt along the eastern coast; +and, grounding our opinion on unquestionable authorities, we +found that character to consist mainly of cruelty, boldness, +rapacity, system, and a spirit of enterprise in trade and +navigation. + +When they embraced Christianity, it undoubtedly modified their +character to a great extent, and many holy people lived among +them, some of whom the Church has numbered among the saints. But +the conquest of these ferocious pirates was undoubtedly the +greatest triumph ever achieved by the holy Spouse of Christ. + +Yet, even after becoming Christian, they preserved for a Iong +time--we speak not now of the present day--deep features of +their former character, among others the old spirit of rapacity, +and that systematic boldness which, when occasion demands, is +ever ready to intrench upon the rights of others. They soon +displayed, also, a general tendency to subject spiritual matters +to individual reason, and the great among them to interfere and +meddle with religious affairs. The Dukes of Normandy, the Kings +of England, and the Saxon Emperors of Germany, seldom ceased +disputing the rights of spiritual authority; and the learned +among them were forward to question the supremacy of Rome in +many things, and to argue against what other people, more +religiously inclined, would have admitted without controversy. +That spirit of speculation, to which the Irish Four Masters +partly ascribed the introduction of Protestantism into England, +was rampant in the schools of these northern nations, when a +superior civilization gave rise to the erection of universities +and colleges in their midst. + +But over and above that systematic philosophical spirit, their +character was deeply imbued with a material rapacity which, +after all, has always constituted the great vice of those +northern tribes. It is unnecessary to remind the reader that, in +England chiefly, Protestantism was particularly grateful to the +avaricious longings of the courtiers of Henry VIII. and +Elizabeth. The confiscation of ecclesiastical property and its +distribution among the great of the nation was the chief +incentive which moved them to adopt the convenient doctrines of +the new order, and subvert the old religion of the country. This +rapacious spirit showed itself also in Germany, though not so +conspicuously as in England; and certainly, in both countries, +the universal confiscation of the estates of religious houses, +and the robbery of the plate and jewels of the churches, are +prominent features in the history of the great Reformation. + +William Cobbett has written eloquently on this subject, and +marshalled an immense array of facts so difficult of denial that +the defenders of Protestantism were compelled to resort to the +petty subterfuge of retorting that the great English radical was +a mere partisan, who never spoke sincerely, but always supported +the theory he happened to take up by exaggerated and distorted +facts, which no one was bound to admit on his responsibility. +Such was their reply; but the awkward facts remained and remain +still unchallenged. + +But, since Cobbett, men who could not be accused of partisanship +and exaggeration have published authentic accounts of the +unbounded rapacity of the Reformers of the sixteenth century, in +England particularly, which all impartial men are bound to +respect, and not attribute to any unworthy motive, since they +are supported even by Protestant authorities. We quote a few, +taken from the "History of the Penal Laws" by Dr. R. R. Madden: + +"The Earl of Warwick, afterward Duke of Northumberland, was the +first of the aristocracy in England who inveighed publicly +against the superfluity of episcopal habits, the expense of +vestments and surplices, and ended in denouncing altars and the +'mummery' of crucifixes, pictures and images in churches. + +"The earl had an eye to the Church plate, and the precious +jewels that ornamented the tabernacles and ciboriums. Many +courtiers soon were moved by a similar zeal for religion--a lust +for the gold, silver, and jewels of the churches. In a short +time, not only the property of churches, but the possession of +rich bishopries and sees, were shared among the favorites of +Cranmer and the protector (Somerset): as were those of the See +of Lincoln, 'with all its manors, save one;' the Bishoprie of +Durham, which was allotted to Dudley, Duke of Northumberland; of +Bath and Wells, eighteen or twenty of whose manors in Somerset, +were made a present of to the protector, with a view of +protecting the remainder." + +A number of similar details are to be found in the pages of the +same author. + +Dr. Heylin, a Protestant, says: "That the consideration of +profit did advance this work--of the Reformation--as much as any +other, if perchance not more, may be collected from an inquiry +made two years after, in which (inquiry) it was to be +interrogated: `What jewels of gold, or silver crosses, +candlesticks, censers, chalices, copes, and other vestments, +were then remaining in any of the cathedral or parochial +churches, or, otherwise, had been embezzled or taken away? '. . . +The leaving," adds Dr. Heylin, "of one chalice to every church, +with a cloth or covering for the communion-table, being thought +sufficient. The taking down of altars by command, was followed +by the substitution of a board, called the Lord's Board, and +subsequently of a table, by the determination of Bishop Ridley. + +"Many private persons' parlors were hung with altar-cloths, +their tables and beds covered with copes, instead of carpets and +coverlets, and many made carousing cups of the sacred chalices, +as once Belshazzar celebrated his drunken feasts in the +sanctified vessels of the Temple. It was a sorry house, not +worth the naming, which had not something of this furniture in +it, though it were only a fair large cushion made of a cope or +altar-cloth, to adorn their windows, and to make their chairs +appear to have somewhat in them of a chair of state." + +Could such scenes as these have been surpassed by what took +place during the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries, in the +rude towns of Norway and Denmark, at the return of a powerful +seakong, with his large fleet, from a piratical excursion into +Southern Europe, when the spoils of many a Christian church and +wealthy house went to adorn the savage dwellings or those +barbarians? Adam of Bremen relates how he saw, with his own eyes, +the rich products of European art and industry accumulated in +the palace of the King of Denmark, and in the loathsome +dwellings of the nobility, or exposed for sale in the public +markets of the city. + +But rapacity formed only one characteristic of the Scandinavians; +the mind of the people, moreover, showed itself, +notwithstanding the intricate and monstrous mythology which it +had created when pagan, of a rationalistic and anti-supernatural +tendency. Their mind was naturally systematic and reasoning; it +discussed spiritual matters in all their material aspects, and +thus gave rise to those speculations which soon became the +source of heresy. Hence, in England and the north of Germany, +the power of Rome was always called in question; and as the +English mind was altogether Scandinavian, while that of the +Germans was mixed with more of a southern disposition, the chief +trouble in Germany, between the empire and the Roman Church, lay +in the question of investitures, which combined a material and +spiritual aspect, whereas, in England, the quarrel was almost +invariably of a pecuniary nature, as, for instance, Peter's +pence. + +Even in the most Catholic times, the English made a bitter +grievance of the levying of Peter's pence among them, and of the +giving of English benefices to prelates of other nations, which +also resolved itself into a question of revenue or money. And so +characteristic was the grievance of the whole nation that it was +restricted to no class, churchmen and monks being as loud in +their denunciations of Rome as the king and the nobles; and thus +the theological questions of the papal supremacy and of +ecclesiastical authority generally took with them quite a +material form. The diatribes of the Benedictine monk Matthew +Paris are well known, and their worldly spirit can only excite +in us pity that they should have been the chief cause of the +destruction of his own order in England and Ireland, and of the +total spoliation of the religious houses in whose behalf he +imagined that he wrote. + +If the harms done by those contemptible wranglings about Peter's +pence and benefices had been confined to depriving the +pontifical exchequer of a revenue which was cheerfully granted +by other nations to aid the Father of the Faithful, the result +was to be regretted; but, after all, Christendom would not have +suffered in a much more sensible quarter. But in England the +question passed immediately to the election of bishops and +abbots, and thus the opposition to Rome gradually assumed much +vaster proportions. + +The nation, also, in the main, sided with the kings against the +popes. Every burgher of London, York, or Canterbury, got it into +his head that Rome had formed deep designs of spoliation against +his private property, and purposed diving deep into his private +purse. In such a state of public opinion, respect for spiritual +authority could not fail to diminish and finally die out +altogether; and, when the voice of the Pontiff was heard on +important subjects in which the best interests of the nation +were involved, even the clearest proof that Rome was right, and +desired only the good of the people, could not entirely dispel +the suspicious fears and distrusts which must ever lurk in the +mind of the miser against those he imagines wish to rob him. + +It is not possible to enter here into further details, but, if +the reader wish for stronger proofs of the "questioning spirit," +"reasoning mistrust," and "systematic doggedness," natural to +the Scandinavian mind, he has only to reflect on what took place +in England at the time of the Reformation. Every question +respecting the soul, every supernatural aspiration of the +Christian, every emotion of a living conscience, appears to be +altogether absent from all those English nobles, prelates, +theologians, learned university men, even simple priests and +monks often, save a very few who, with the noble Thomas More, +thought that "twenty years of an easy life could not without +folly be compared with an eternity of bliss." The reasoning +faculty of the mind, nourished on "speculations," had replaced +faith, and, every thing of the supernatural order being +obliterated, nothing was left but worldly wisdom and material +aspirations for temporal well-being. + +By reviewing other characteristics of the Scandinavian race, we +might arrive at the same conclusion; but our space forbids us to +go into them. After what has been said, however, it is easy to +see how well prepared was the English nation for accepting the +change of religion almost without a murmur. + +There was, indeed, some expression of indignation on the part of +the people at the beginning of the reign of Edward VI., when the +desecration of the churches began. "Various commotions," says Dr. +Madden, "took place in consequence of the reviling of the +sacrament, the casting it out of the churches in some places, +the tearing down of altars and images; in one of which tumults, +one of the authorities was stabbed, in the act of demolishing +some objects of veneration in a church. + +"The whole kingdom, in short, was in commotion, but particularly +Devonshire and Norfolk. In the former county, the insurgents +besieged Devon; a noble lord was sent against them, and, being, +reenforced by the Walloons--a set of German mercenaries brought +over to enable the government to carry out their plans--his +lordship defeated these insurgents, and many were executed by +martial law." + +But this remnant of affection for the religion of their fathers +seems to have soon died out, since at the death of Edward the +people appeared to have become thoroughly converted to the new +doctrines. At the very coronation of Mary, a Catholic clergyman +having prayed for the dead and denounced the persecutions of the +previous reign, a tumult took place; the preacher was insulted, +and compelled to leave the pulpit. What wonder, then, that, at +the death of Elizabeth, England was thoroughly Protestant? + +We are very far from ignoring the noble examples of attachment +to their religion displayed by Christian heroes of every class +in England during those disastrous days. The touching +biographies of the English martyrs, told in the simple pages of +Bishop Challoner, cannot be read without admiration. The feeling +produced on the Catholic reader is precisely that arising from a +perusal of the Acts of the Christian martyrs under the Roman +emperors, which have so often strengthened our faith and drawn +tears of sorrow from our eyes. At this moment, particularly when +so many details, hitherto hidden, of the lives of Catholics, +religious, secular priests, laymen, women, during those times, +are coming to light in manuscripts religiously preserved by +private families, and at last being published for the +edification of all, the story is moving as well as inspiring of +the heroism displayed by them, not only on the public scaffold, +but in obscure and loathsome jails, in retreats and painful +seclusion, continuing during long years of an obscure life, and +ending only in a more obscure death, when the victim of +persecution was fortunate enough to escape capture. There is no +doubt that, when the whole story of the hunted Catholics in +England shall be known, as moving a narrative of their virtues +will be written as can be furnished by the ecclesiastical annals +of any people. + +Nevertheless, what has been said of the nation, as a nation, +remains a sad fact which cannot be doubted. Those noble +exceptions only prove that the promptings of race are not +supreme, and that God's grace can exalt human nature from +whatever level. + +How different were the nations of the Latin and Celtic stock! +With them the attachment to the religion of their fathers was +not the exception, but the rule, and it is only necessary to +bear in mind what the Abbe McGeoghegan has said--that, at the +death of Elizabeth, scarcely sixty Irishmen, take them all in +all, had professed the new doctrines--in order at once to +comprehend the steady tendency toward the path of duty imparted +by true nobility of blood. Nor did the Irish stand alone in this +steadfastness; it is needless to call to mind how the people +generally throughout France, and particularly in Paris, acted at +the time when the Huguenot noblemen would have rooted in the +soil the errors planted there before, and already bearing fruit +in Germany, Switzerland, and England. + +It looks as though we had lost sight of the interesting question +proposed at the outset, and of which so far not a word has been +said--whether Protestantism spread so readily in the North, +because it found that region peopled with races better disposed +for civilization, if not taking the lead already in that respect, +and men ardent for freedom and impatient of servitude of any +kind. We stated that the solution of this question, particularly +in the case of England, is clear, and consequently not to be +discarded on account of previous solutions of the same question, +which have scarcely met with any attention from the adverse side. + +One thing certainly undeniable is, that neither in its origin, +nor even in its consequences, can Protestantism be esteemed as +in any sense the promoter of freedom and civilization in the +British islands. + +It has always struck us as strange that sensible men, acquainted +with history, could maintain that an aspiration after freedom +and a higher civilization gave to Germany and England a leaning +toward Protestantism. We can understand how the state of Europe +in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries may give a coloring +to the statement of a partisan writer, desirous of explaining in +these modern times the greater amount of freedom really enjoyed +in England, and the advanced material prosperity visible +generally among Protestant Northern nations. So much we can +understand. But, to make Protestantism the origin of freedom and +civilization, and ascribe to it what happened subsequent to its +spread indeed, but what really resulted from very different +causes, passes our comprehension. + +As far as freedom goes, the most superficial reader must know +that there was not a particle of it left in England when +Protestantism commenced; and it were easy to show that there was +less of it in Germany than in Italy, Spain, and even France. + +Who can mention English freedom in the same breath with Henry +and Elizabeth Tudor? How could the actions of those two members +of the family advance it in the least degree, and was it not +precisely the slavish disposition of the English people at the +time which prepared them so admirably for the reception of +German heresy? The people were treated like a set of slaves, and +stood for nothing in the designs of those great political rulers. +In the very highest of the aristocracy, there lingered not a +spark of the old brave spirit which wrung Magna Charta from the +heart of a weak sovereign. The king or queen could fearlessly +trample on every privilege of the nobility, send the proudest +lords of the nation to the block, almost without trial, and +confiscate to the swelling of the royal purse the immense +estates of the first English families. There is no need of +proofs for this. The proofs are the records, the headings, as it +were, of the history of the times which one may read as he runs; +it constitutes the very essence of their history; and events of +the sixteenth century in England scarcely present us with any +thing else. This state of things was the natural result of the +general anarchy which prevailed during the "Wars of the Roses." + +A more interesting and intricate question still might be raised +here: how to explain the appearance of such a phenomenon in so +proud a nation? Had the Catholic religion, which, up to that +time, had been the only religion of the country, anything to do +with the matter? These questions might furnish material for a +very animated discussion. But, with regard to the fact itself-- +the slavish disposition of Englishmen at that time under kingly +and queenly rule--no doubt can possibly exist. + +To show that Catholicity had nothing to do with the introduction +of such a despotism, would give rise to a dissertation too long +for us to enter upon. We merely offer a few suggestions, which, +we think, will prove sufficient and satisfactory for our purpose +to every candid reader: + +I. Catholic theology had certainly never brought about such a +state of affairs. In all Catholic schools of the day, in England +as on the Continent, St. Thomas was the great authority, and his +work, "De Regimine Principum," was in the hands of all Catholic +students. Luther was the first to reject St. Thomas. + +In this book, all were taught that, if, among the various kinds +of government, "that of a king is best," in the opinion of the +author, "that of a tyrant is the worst." And a tyrant he defines +as "any ruler who despises the common good, and seeks his +private advantage." + +In that book of the great doctor, all may read: "The farther the +government recedes from the common weal, the more unjust is it. +It recedes farther from the common weal in an oligarchy, in +which the welfare of a few is sought, than in a democracy, whose +object is the good of the many. . . . But farther still does it +recede from the common weal in a tyrannous government, by which +the good of one alone is sought." + +The general consequence which St. Thomas draws from this +doctrine is, that, "if a ruler governs a multitude of freemen +for the common good of the multitude, the government will be +good and just as becomes freemen." + +Such was the political doctrine taught in the Catholic +universities of Europe until the sixteenth century; but, in all +probability, this golden work, "De Regimine Principum," was no +longer the text-book in the English schools of the time of Henry +Tudor. + +But, when, entering into details, the holy and learned author +goes on to contrast the contrary effects produced by freedom and +despotism on a nation, how could Henry willingly permit the +circulation of such words as the following? + +"It is natural that men brought under terror" (a tyrannical +government) "should degenerate into beings of a slavish +disposition, and become timid and incapable of any manly and +daring enterprise--an assertion which is proved by the conduct +of countries which have been long subjected to a despotic +government. Solomon says: 'When the imperious are in power, men +hide away' in order to escape the cruelty of tyrants, nor is it +astonishing; for a man governing without law, and according to +his own caprice, differs in nothing from a beast of prey. Hence, +Solomon designates an impious ruler as a roaring lion and a +ravenous bear.' + +"Because, therefore, the government of one is to be preferred -- +which is the best--and because this government is liable to +degenerate into tyranny--which has been proved to be the worst -- +hence, the most diligent care is to be taken so to regulate the +establishment of a king over the people, that he may not fall +into tyranny." + +Finally, St. Thomas epitomizes the doctrines of this whole book +in his "Summa," as follows: "A tyrannical government is unjust, +being administered, not for the common good, but for the private +good of the ruler; therefore, its overthrow is not sedition, +unless when the subversion of tyranny is so inordinately pursued +that the multitude suffers more from its overthrow than from the +existence of the government." + +The subject might be illustrated by any quantity of extracts +from the writings of other great theologians of the middle ages; +but what we have said is enough for our purpose. It is manifest +that Catholic doctrine cannot have brought about the state of +England under the Tudors. + +II. Another, and a very important suggestion, is the following: +it certainly was not the Catholic hierarchy, least of all the +pontifical power, which produced it. + +Whatever may have been written derogatory to the institutions +existing in Europe during the mediaeval period, several great +facts, most favorable to the Catholic religion, have been +commonly admitted by Protestant writers, from which we select +two. The first of these was originally stated by M. Guizot, in +his "Civilization in Europe," namely, that the kingdom of France +was created by Christian bishops. Since that first admission, +other non-Catholic writers have gone further, and have felt +compelled to admit that, as a general rule, the modern European +nations have all been created, nurtured, fostered, by Catholic +bishops, and that the first free Parliaments of those nations +were, in fact, "councils of the Church," either of a purely +clerical character and altogether free from the intermixture of +lay elements, such as the Councils of Toledo, in Spain, or +acting in concert with the representatives of the various +classes in the nations. + +The clergy, as all readers know, the clerks, were the first to +take the lead in civil affairs, being more enlightened than the +other classes, and holding in their body all the education of +the earlier times. It is unnecessary to add to this fact that, +among really Christian people, the voice of religion is listened +to before all others. And is it not to-day a well-ascertained +fact that, in the main, the influence exerted by the clergy on +the formation of modern European kingdoms was in favor of a well- +regulated freedom based on the first law--the law of God--that +primal source of true liberty and civilization? To the clergy, +certainly, and to the monks, is chiefly due the abolition of +slavery; and the bishops took a very active and prominent part +in the movements of the communes, to which the Third Estate owes +its birth. + +A malignant ingenuity has been displayed by many writers, in +ransacking the pages of history, in order to fasten on certain +prelates of the Church charges of despotism and oppression. But, +apart from the fact that the narratives so carefully compiled +have, in many cases, turned out to be perversions of the truth, +and granting even that all these allegations are impartial and +true, the general tenor and tendency of the history of those +times is now admitted to be ample refutation of such accusations, +and impartial writers confess that the ecclesiastical influence, +during those ages, was clearly set against the oppression of +the people, and finally resulted in the formation of those +representative and moderate governments which are the boast of +the present age; and that the principles enunciated by the great +schoolmen, led by Thomas Aquinas, founded the order of society +on justice, religion, and right. The more history is studied +honestly, investigated closely, and viewed impartially, the more +plainly does the great fact shine forth that the Catholic +hierarchy, in the various European nations, constituted the +vanguard of true freedom and order. + +With regard to the papal power, it is a curious instance of the +reversal of human judgment, and a very significant fact, that +those very Popes who, a hundred years ago, were looked upon, +even by Catholic writers, as the embodiment of supercilious +arrogance and sacrilegious presumption, namely, Gregory VII., +Innocent III., and Boniface VIII., are now acknowledged to have +been the greatest benefactors to Europe in their time, and true +models of supreme Christian bishops. + +But, if these two facts be admitted, the question recurs, How is +it that the governments of several kingdoms, and that of England +in particular, had, during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, +merged into complete and unalloyed despotism? As our present +interest in the question is restricted to England, we confine +ourselves to that country, and proceed to treat of it in a few +words. + +Under the Tudors, the government grew to be altogether +irresponsible, personal, and despotic, chiefly because under +previous reigns, and constantly since the establishment of the +Norman line of kings, the authority of Rome, which formed the +only great counterpoise to kingly power at the time, had been +gradually undermined, while the bishops, being deprived of the +aid of the supreme Pontiff, had become mere tools in the hands +of the monarchs. + +The particular shape which the opposition to Rome took in +England, compared with a similar opposition in Germany, has been +already touched upon; it was found to be involved chiefly in the +question of tribute-money and benefices, the latter being also +reduced to a money difficulty. It was seen that the monks and +the people sided generally with the kings, and gradually took a +dislike and mistrust to every thing coming from Rome; the +authority of the monarch, though not precisely strengthened +thereby, was left without the control of a superior tribunal to +direct him, and consequently the kings, if they chose, were left +to follow the impulse of their own caprice, which, according to +St. Thomas, forms the characteristic of tyranny. + +Other causes, doubtless, contributed to pave the way for and +consolidate the despotism of the Kings of England. Among such +causes may be mentioned the extraordinary successes which +attended the English arms, led by their warrior kings in France, +and the frightful convulsions subsequently arising from the Wars +of the Roses; but we doubt not the one mentioned above was the +chief, and, of itself, would in the long-run have brought about +the same result. + +Protestantism, therefore, was neither the growth of freedom in +England, nor did it plant freedom there at its introduction, +inasmuch as the royal power became more absolute than ever by +its predominance, and by the first principle which it laid down, +that the king was supreme in Church as well as in state. Can its +origin in England, then, be accounted for by the existence of a +higher civilization, anterior to it in point of time, out of +which it grew, or, at least, by a true aspiration toward such. + +This question is as easy of solution as the first: There can be +no doubt that the nations which remained either entirely or in +the main faithful to the Church, in point of learning and +civilization, ranked far beyond the Northern nations, where +heresy so early found a permanent footing, and that in the South +also the tendencies toward a higher civilization were at that +time of a most marked and extraordinary character, so much so +that the reign of Leo X. has become a household phrase to +express the perfection of culture. + +England, as a nation, was at that period only just beginning to +emerge from barbarism, and in fact was the last of the European +nations to adopt civilized customs and manners in the political, +civil, and social relations of life. + +In politics she was, until that epoch, plunged in frightful +dynastic revolutions, and as yet had not learned the first +principles of good government. In civil affairs, her code was +the most barbarous, her feudal customs the most revolting, her +whole history the most appalling of all Christendom. In social +habits, she had scarcely been able to retain a few precious +fragments of good old Catholic times; and the fearful scenes +through which the nation had passed, which, according to J. J. +Rousseau, for once expressing the truth, render the reading of +that period of her history almost impossible to a humane man, +had sunk her almost completely in degradation. The reader will +understand that the England here spoken of is the England of +three centuries ago, and not of to-day. + +If by civilization is understood learning and the fine arts, +what, in general phrase, is expressed by culture and refinement, +how could England compare at the time with Italy, Flanders, +Spain, France, all Latin or Celtic nations? How can it be +pretended that she was better fitted for the reception of a more +spiritual and elevating religion than any of the countries +mentioned? + +Two great names may be brought forward as proving that the +expressions used are harsh and ill-founded--Shakespeare and +Milton; a third, Bacon, we omit for reasons which our space +forbids us to give. + +Shakespeare, whose name may rank with those of Homer and Dante, +was not a product of those times. He was a gift of Heaven. At +any other epoch he would have been as great, perhaps greater. +What he received from his surroundings and from the +"civilization" with which he was blessed, he has handed down to +us in the uncouth form, the intricacy of plot and adventures, +which would have rendered barbarous a poet less naturally gifted. +And, although the question has never been definitely settled, +it is probable that he was born and lived a Catholic; and it is +strange how Elizabeth, who, tradition tells us, was present at +some of his plays, could endure his faithful portrayal of friars +and nuns, while she was persecuting their originals so +barbarously at the time; strangest of all, how she could bear to +look upon the true and noble image of Katherine of Aragon, whom +Henry in his good moment pronounces "the queen of earthly queens, +" contrasted with her own mother, to whom the shrewd old court +lady tells the story: + +"There was a lady once ('tis an old story), That would not be a +queen, that would she not, For all the mud in Egypt :--Have you +heard it?" + +Thus did Shakespeare contrast Elizabeth's wanton mother with the +noble woman whom Henry discarded for a toy. And some critics can +only find a reason for the composition of the "Merry Wives of +Windsor" and the "Sonnets" as an offering to the lewd queen. +Nothing more did he owe to his time. + +And Milton, who, though his father was a Catholic, was himself a +rank Puritan, something of what we have said of Shakespeare may +be said of him. At all events, all his cultivation and taste +came from Italy. The poets of that really civilized country had +polished his uncouth nature, as it were in spite of itself, and +added to the depth of his wonderful genius the beauty and soft +harmony of verse that ever flowed freely, and the strength of a +nervous and sonorous prose. + +Now comes the question: If the origin of Protestantism in +England cannot be attributed to freedom and civilization, may it +not, at least, be maintained that the natural result of +Protestantism was the acquisition of true freedom and of a +higher civilization? Is it not true that to-day Protestant +nations are in advance of others in both these respects? And to +what other cause can such advancement be ascribed than to the +"reformed religion?" Is it not the freedom which has come to the +human mind, after the rejection of the yoke of spiritual +authority, and the proclamation of the rights of individual +reason, that has brought about the present advanced state of +affairs + +We know all these fine-sounding phrases which are so +continuously dinned into our ears, and republished day after day +in a thousand forms. The question, we admit, is not so easy of +solution as the first, and might, indeed, without suspicion of +evasion, be discarded as not coming under the head of this +chapter, which spoke of origin and not of consequences. +Nevertheless, a few words may be devoted to the subject, to +prove that the answer must still be in the negative. + +The first result of Protestantism was undoubtedly to extinguish +as completely as possible the remaining sparks of truly liberal +thought promulgated in Europe by the Catholic doctors of the +middle ages. Wherever the new doctrines spread, secular rulers +were not only freed from pontifical control, but were themselves +invested with supreme ecclesiastical power. The effective check +which the paternal and bold voice issuing from the Vatican had +exercised on kings and princes was in a moment taken away. In +Germany, England, and Scandinavia, the kings and petty princes, +and dukes even, became each so many popes in their own dominions. + And this took place with the consent and frequently at the +earnest request of the Reformers. + +Even the European states which did not fall away from the old +faith of Christendom took advantage, it might almost be said, of +the difficult position in which the Holy Father found himself, +to countenance new doctrines with respect to the limits of the +authority of the Supreme Pontiff; and the new errors which so +suddenly appeared in France and elsewhere, during the prevalence +and at the extinction of the great schism, limiting the power of +the Popes in many matters where it had been considered binding, +broke out again, in France principally, under the lead of +Protestant or Erastian parliamentarians and legists, under the +name of Gallican liberties--pretended liberties, which would +really make the Church a subordinate adjunct of the State, +instead of what it is, a spiritual living body ruled exclusively +by a spiritual head. + +How could the cause of true liberty in Europe be promoted by +such altered circumstances as these?--to say nothing of the +disastrous imprudence with which those blind rulers and so- +called theologians took away the key-stone of the European +social edifice, which grew weaker from that day forth, until now +we see it tottering to its fall. + +The introduction of Protestantism, then, was one of the chief +causes of the change by which a much greater personal power was +transferred to the hands of the sovereign than he had ever +before held, and it is no surprise to see the absolutism of +emperors and kings, in Christian Europe, date from its coming. + +As time passed on, the cause acting on a larger scale, embracing +a wider circumference, and drawing within its circle vaster +territories, the world saw absolute rule established in England, +France, Spain, and Germany. Previous to the sixteenth century, +the word 'absolutism' was unknown in Christendom, as was the +doctrine of the "divine right of kings" understood and preached +as it has since been in England. + +But, to furnish details which should render these reflections +more striking, would require an unravelling of the whole tangled +skein of history during those times. + +Nevertheless, we must come to consider the last refuge of +Protestant liberalism. Did not the Reformation really emancipate +modern nations, and gradually bring about the whole system of +representative governments, which, starting from England, have +now, in fact, become, more or less, general throughout Europe? + +Our answer is, Yes and No. It may be granted that Protestantism +did give rise to a certain kind of liberalism very prevalent in +our days; but such liberalism is very far from bestowing on +nations true liberty and stability; hence their constant +agitation, and the perils of society which threaten all, even +the specially favored Protestant nations themselves as much as +any. + +It was indeed the new doctrines which brought about the +"Commonwealth" in England, and the subsequent Revolution of 1688; +between which two events, however, great differences exist. + +The destruction of monarchy under and in the person of Charles I. + was the just retribution dealt by Providence to the English +kings, who had been the first openly to shake off from a great +nation the wise and beneficent yoke of Rome. At all events, one +thing is certain, that under the "Protector," the child of the +Revolution, as little as under the Protestant Tudors, could the +English scarcely be regarded as freemen. + +Cromwell banished from their hall the representatives of the +people. He could scarcely find epithets opprobrious enough for +Magna Charta, which the people considered, and rightly, as the +palladium of English liberty. In his scornful order to "take +away that bawble," though the "bawble" immediately referred to +was the Speaker's mace, the word meant the freedom of the nation. +He was as absolute a monarch as ever ruled England. The liberty +enjoyed under his regime was as meaningless for every class as +for the Catholics, whom he more immediately oppressed, and was +ill compensated for by the material prosperity which his genius +knew so well how to secure. + +It was his despotic rule, in fact, and the fear of anarchy which +affrighted the minds of the people at his death--the dread of a +government of rival soldiers--which rendered so easy the +triumphant restoration of the worthless Stuarts, in the person +of the most worthless of them all, Charles II. + +The true constitutional liberty of which England may fairly +boast was the work of a long series of years subsequent to the +Revolution of 1688. It was the work of the whole eighteenth +century, in fact, and was grounded on the fragments of old +Catholic doctrines and customs. In no sense can it be called the +result of Protestantism, save as coming after it in point of +time. + +Whoever is acquainted with the state of religion and society in +England, during the latter part of the seventeenth and the whole +of the eighteenth century, needs not to be told that, among the +ruling classes, faith in a revealed religion had ceased to exist. +The yoke of Rome once shaken off, the human mind was quick to +draw all the consequences of the principle of entire +independence in religious matters. Tindal, Collins, Hobbes, +Shaftesbury, and other philosophers, had openly denounced +revelation, and that portion of the nation which esteemed itself +enlightened embraced their new doctrines. It would be false to +imagine that, in 1700 and afterward, the English were as firm +believers in the Church of England's Thirty-nine Articles as +they seemed to be at the beginning of this century. The whole of +the last century was for all Europe, with the exception of the +two peninsulas of Italy and Spain, a period of avowed disbelief. + +Even Presbyterian Scotland did not escape the contagion, and +some theologians and preachers of the Kirk at that time are now +praised for their liberal views of religion, that is, for their +want of real faith. The influence of Wesley and his fellow- +workers on the English mind, and the dread of the spread of +French infidelity and jacobinism, were more extensive and +effectual than people are apt to imagine; and there is no doubt +that, seventy years ago England was far more of a believing +country than she had been for a hundred years before. + +But, if even Scotch Presbyterian ministers and Church of England +men, such as Laurence Sterne, were unworthy of the name of +Christian, what are we to think of those who had to profess no +outward faith in Christianity, because of ministerial offices? +There is no doubt that, in the mass, they were almost completely +void of any faith in revealed religion. + +To such men as these is England indebted for the development of +her constitution. If Protestantism had any share in it at all, +it did not go beyond preparing the way for the destruction of +Christianity in the mind and heart of the people; or, rather, +constitutional liberty in England has no connection whatever +with religion. The English, left to their own ingenuity and +skill, displayed a vast amount of statesmanlike qualities in +devising for themselves a system of check and counter-check, +which protected the subject and defined the rights of the ruler; +and this gave the nation an undoubted superiority over their +neighbors on the Continent. But it cannot be attributed, except +in a very remote manner, to the Protestant doctrine of the +independence of the human mind. + +Were we to examine the effect which the example of England +produced on other nations, we should find that, instead of +spreading liberty, it was the cause of the diffusion of an +unbridled license under the name of liberalism. + +In England itself; the lower orders of society having been kept +in ignorance, and consequently in subjection to the ruling +classes, and the latter finding it to their interest to preserve +order and stability in the state, no frightful commotions could +ensue to threaten the destruction of society. + +In Continental countries, the middle and even the lowest classes +were more readily caught by doctrines which, when kept within +due bounds, may be promotive of exterior prosperity, but which, +pushed to their extremes and logical consequences, may embroil +the whole nation in revolution and calamities. + +Such has been the case in our own days, and in days immediately +preceding our own; and England is now experiencing the recoil of +those convulsions, and seems on the eve of being convulsed +herself more terribly, perhaps, than any other nation has yet +been. + +These few reflections must suffice, as to extend them would go +beyond our present scope. But now comes the question, Why was +Ireland unprepared for the reception of Protestantism? Why did +she reject it absolutely and permanently? + +According to the theorists who attribute the success of +Protestantism in the North of Europe to a higher civilization +and a more ardent love of freedom, the contrary characteristics +should distinguish those nations which remained faithful to the +Church, and particularly the Irish. Was the lack of a higher +civilization and more ardent love for freedom really the cause, +then, for Ireland's undergoing so many fearful sacrifices merely +for the sake of her religion? + +We should not dread entering upon a comparison of the +Scandinavian and Celtic races in these two articular points, as +they existed at the time of the Tudors. We are confident that a +detailed survey of both would result in a glorious vindication +of the Irish character, although, owing to six hundred years of +cruel wars with Dane and Anglo-Norman, the actual prosperity of +the country was far inferior to that of England. But the outline +of so vast a subject must content us here. + +In judging of the elevation of a nation's sentiments, the first +thing that strikes us is the motive assigned by the Irish +representatives for refusing to pass the bill of supremacy. +"Five or six changes of religion in twelve years were too much +for conscientious people." Such was the answer sent back to +Elizabeth, and spoken as though easy of comprehension. Had they +deemed that their language could have been misunderstood, they +would undoubtedly have expressed themselves in stronger terms. + +Strange that such an obvious and common-sense remark had never +occurred to the intelligent and highly-civilized members of the +English Parliament--those ardent lovers of freedom--when applied +to by a new English monarch to acknowledge and confirm, as law, +the religious system he had determined to establish! + +Apparently, then, at this time, Ireland possessed a conscience +which England either laid no claim on, or made no pretensions to; +and it might not be too much to lay this down as the first +reason why Ireland remained faithful to her religion. In fact, +the whole history of the period bears out this general +observation. The subserviency of the proud English aristocracy, +of those pretended statesmen and legislators, in matters so +intimately connected with the soul, its convictions and its +morality, shows conclusively that the word "conscience" had no +meaning for them, or that, if they were aware of the existence +of such a thing, they made so little account of it that they +were ready at all times to barter it for position, what they +considered honor, and wealth. + +On the other hand, the constant, unshaken, and emphatic refusal +of the Irish to renounce their religion for the novel +"speculations" of pretended theologians-- in reality, heretical +teachers --at the beck of king or queen; their willingness to +submit to all the rigor of extreme penal laws rather than +disobey their sense of right, proves too well that they +possessed a conscience, knew what it meant, and resolved to +follow it. There is not a single fact of their, history, general +or particular, taking them collectively as a nation, when, by +their actions, they spoke as one people or individually, when +priest and friar, great man or mean man, chose to lose position, +property, name--life itself--rather than be false to their +religion and God--which does not prove that they owned a +conscience and obeyed its voice. + +Can a nation, deprived of this, be esteemed really free and +truly civilized? and can a nation which possesses it be +considered barbarous? The answer cannot be doubtful, and is of +itself a sufficient solution of the question under examination. + +But, to come to more special details. The Irish idea of +civilization was certainly of a very different character from +that of the English; but was it the less true? From the landing +of the first invasion, the Norman nobles and prelates looked +down on the invaded people as barbarous and uncouth, as they +previously looked down upon the Anglo-Saxons. Later on, they +spoke of the Irish customs as "lewd;" and, later still, the +majority of them adopted those "lewd customs." + +If the question be merely one of refinement of outward manners, +and aquaintance with the artificial code established by a +society with which the Irish, up to that time, had never come in +contact, the Normans may be granted whatever benefit may accrue +to them from such, though, even here, the Irish chieftains might +later on compare favorably with their foes. For instance, if is +doubtful whether Hugh O'Donnell and O'Sullivan Beare, one of +whom went to Spain, and the other to Portugal--and the second, +Philip II. commanded to be treated as a Spanish grandee --were +not as courteous and dignified as Cecil or Walsingham, or Essex +or Raleigh, at the court of Elizabeth. And, if we take the case +of the descendants of Strongbow's warriors, who became "more +Irish than the Irish," there is no reason why we should not +prefer the manners and bearing of young Gerald Desmond, when, +after leaving Rome, he appeared at the court of Tuscany, to +those of the young lords who danced at Windsor, under the eyes +of Henry, with Anne Boleyn. But, treating the subject seriously, +and examining it more closely, we may find a necessity for +reversing the opinion which is too commonly entertained. + +Civilization does not consist only, or chiefly, in refinement of +manners, but in all things which exalt a nation; and, after the +"conscience" of which we have spoken, nothing is so important in +making a nation civilized as the institutions under which it +lives. + +The laws are the great index of a people's civilization, chiefly +as regards their execution. Nothing can be more indicative of it +than the criminal code of a people. + +The law of England at that time compares poorly with the Irish +compilation known as the "Senchus Mor," which scholars have only +recently been able to study, and which is being printed as we +write, and to be illustrated with learned notes. From all +accounts given by competent reviewers, it is clear that wisdom, +sound judgment, equity, and Christian feeling, constitute the +essence of those laws which Edmund Campian found the young +Irishmen of his day studying under such strange circumstances +and with such ardor and application as to spend sixteen or +eighteen years at it. + +And in what manner were those very Christian enactments which +lay at the foundation of the English legislation executed at the +same period? What, for instance, were the features of its +criminal code? It is unnecessary to depict what all the world +knows. + +In extenuation of the barbarous blood-thirstiness which +characterized it, it may be said that torture, cruel punishments, +and fearful chastisement for slight offences, formed the +general features of the criminal code of most Christian nations. +They had been handed down by barbarous ancestors, the relics of +Scandinavian cruelty for the most part, added to the Roman slave +penalties, which were the remnants of pagan inhumanity. This +answer would be insufficient when comparing the English with the +Brehon law, but it does not hold good even with reference to +other Continental nations. In no country at that time was +punishment so pitiless as in England. The details, now well +known, can only be published for exceptional readers; to find a +comparison for them Dr. Madden says: + +"We must come down to the reign of terror in France, to the +massacres of September, to the wholesale executions of +conventional times; to find the mob insulting the victims, and +the executioner himself adding personal affront to the +disgusting fulfilment of his horrible office." + +Passing from the laws to the usages of warfare, and chiefy to +domestic strife, here the most vulnerable point in the Irish +character shows itself. The constant feuds resulting from the +clan system furnish a never-failing theme to those who accuse +the Irish of barbarism. Yet is there no parallel to them in the +horrors of those dynastic revolutions which preceded the Tudors +in England, and which the Tudors only put an end to by the +completest despotism, and by shedding the best blood of the +country in torrents? The Irish feuds never depopulated the +country. It is even admitted by most reliable historians that, +while those dissensions were rifest, the land was really teeming +with a happy people, and rich in every thing which an +agricultural country can enjoy. The great battles of the various +clans resulted often in the killing of a few dozen warriors. +Such, in fact, was the manner in which chroniclers estimated the +gains or losses of each of those victories or defeats. + +But, in the Wars of the Roses, England lost a great part of her +adult population; so much so, that she was altogether +incapacitated from waging war with any external nation. She +could not even afford to send any reenforcements to the English +Pale in Ireland--not even a few hundred which at times would +have proved so serviceable. It was in fact high time and almost +a happy thing for England that the crushing despotism of the +Tudors came in to save the nation from total ruin. + +Finally, can it be said that the Irish were inferior in +civilization to the English by reason of their social habits, +when Danes, Anglo-Saxons and Normans, in turn, invariably +adopted Irish manners in preference to their own, after living a +sufficient time in the country to be able to appreciate the +difference between the one and the other? + +The writers of whom we speak ascribe the spread of Protestantism +not only to a higher civilization, or at least a special aptness +and fitness for it, but also say that it was due to the greater +love for freedom which possessed those who accepted it; whereas +the Irish, as they allege, have been forever priest-ridden and +cowered under the lash. + +The connection between English Protestantism and freedom has +been sufficiently touched upon. But in Ireland the whole +resistance of the Irish people to the change of religion is the +most conspicuous proof which could be advanced of their inherent +love for freedom. + +What is the meaning of this word "priest-ridden?" If, as +attached to the Irish, it means that they have remained +faithfully devoted to their spiritual guides, and protected them +at cost of life and limb against the execution of barbarous laws, +this epithet which is flung at them as a reproach is a glory to +them, and a true one. + +Are they to be accused of cowardice because they were never bold +enough to demolish a single Catholic chapel--a favorite +amusement of the English mobs from Elizabeth's reign to +Victoria's--or because they could not find the courage in their +hearts to mock a martyr at the stake, or imbrue their hands in +his blood, as did the nation of a higher civilization and a more +ardent love for freedom? + +The Irish cower under the lash! It could never be applied, until +calculating treachery had first rendered them naked and +defenceless, and removed from their reach every weapon of +defence. And the man who in such a case receives the lash is a +coward, while he who safely applies it is a hero! + +Our observations so far have cleared the ground for the right +solution and understanding of the present question. It may now +be said that the Irish were not prepared for the reception of +Protestantism, and remained firm in their faith because-- + +1. They possessed a conscience. + +2. There had existed no religious abuses, worthy of the name, in +their country which called for reform. Such abuses had in +England and Germany furnished the pretext for a change of +religion. It was a mere pretext, for the alleged abuses might +all be remedied without intrenching on the domain of faith, and +unsettling the religious convictions of the whole nation. There +is no greater crime possible than to introduce among people +enjoying all the benefits resulting from a firm belief in holy +truth a simple doubt, a simple hesitating surmise, calculated to +make them waver in the least in what had previously been a solid +and well-grounded faith. But to consider that crime carried to +the extent of so sapping the foundation of Christian belief as +to bring about the inevitable consequence of opening under +nations the fearful abyss of atheism and despair--there is no +word sufficiently strong to express the indignation which such a +course of action must naturally excite. And that the ultimate +result of the new heresy was to carry men to the very brink of +the abyss is plain enough to-day, and was foreseen by Luther +himself. In all probability he had a clear perception of it, +since the latter half of his life was devoted to propping up the +crumbling walls of his hastily-erected edifice by whatever +supports he could steal from the old faith, and fighting hard +against all those who had already drawn the ultimate conclusions +of his own principles. + +For those, then, who in the sixteenth century set in motion the +chaos which threatens to overwhelm us to-day, the religious +abuses existing at the time can offer no excuse for their +destruction of Religion, because stains happened to sully the +purity of her outward garment. + +But in Ireland no such abuses existed; and consequently there +was there not even a pretext for the introduction of +Protestantism, and by the very reason of their sense of good and +right the Irish were unprepared for heresy. + +3. Even had it entered into their minds to wish for a +reformation of some kind, they were certainly unprepared for the +one offered them. The first reform of the new order was to close +the religious houses which the people loved, which were the +seats of learning, holiness, and education. Their Catholic +ancestors had founded those religious houses; they themselves +enjoyed the spiritual and even temporal advantages attached to +them, for they constituted in fact the only important and useful +establishments which their country possessed; they had been +consecrated by the lives and deaths of a thousand saints within +their walls; and they suddenly beheld pretended ministers of a +new religion of which they knew nothing, backed by ferocious +Walloon or English troopers, turn out or slay their inmates, +close them, set them on fire, pillage them, or convert them into +private dwellings for the convenience of an imported aristocracy. +This was the first act of the "introduction " of the +"Reformation " into Ireland. The people were enabled to judge of +the sanctity of the new creed at its first appearance among them. + And this alone, apart from their firm adherence to the faith of +their fathers, was quite enough to justify them in their +resistance to such a substitute. + +But, above all, when they beheld how the inmates of those holy- +houses were treated, when they saw them cast out into the world, +penniless, reduced to penury and want, persecuted, declared +outcasts, hunted down, insulted by the soldiery, arrested, +cruelly beaten, bound hand and foot, and hung up either before +the door of their burning monastery, or even in the church +itself before the altar--what wonder that they were unprepared +to receive the new religion? + +The barbarity displayed throughout England and Ireland toward +Catholicism was specially fiendish when directed against +religious of both sexes; and, as in Ireland no class of persons +was more justly and dearly loved, what wonder that the Irish +literally hated the religion that came to them from beyond the +sea? + +Without going over the other aspects of the religious question +of the time, and comparing article with article of the new and +old beliefs, this single feature of the case alone is sufficient. +The process might be carried out with advantage, but is not +necessary. + +4. The new order of things, in one word, resolved itself into +rapacity and wanton bloodshed. And, despite whatever may be said +of Irish outrages by those who are never tired of alluding to +them, Irish nature is opposed to such excesses. If they are ever +guilty of such, it is only when they have previously been +outraged themselves, and in such cases they are the first to +repent of their action in their cooler moments. On the other +hand, the men who first set all these outrages going never find +reason to accuse themselves of any thing, are even perfectly +satisfied with and convinced of their own perfection; and, as +from the first they acted coolly and systematically, their self- +equanimity is never disturbed, they continue unshaken in the +calm conviction that they have always been in the right, +whatever may have been the consequences of the initiative +movement and its steady continuance. + +But we repeat advisedly--the Irish nature is opposed to rapacity +and wanton shedding of blood, and this formed another strong +reason for their opposition to the religious revolution which +immersed them in so bloody a baptism. + +5. Yet perhaps the most radical and real cause of their +persistent refusal to embrace Protestantism lies in their +traditional spirit, of which we have previously spoken. There is +no rationalistic tendency in their character. + +And all the points well considered, which, after all, is the +better, the simply traditional or strictly rationalistic nature? +What has been the result of those philosophical speculations +from which Protestantism sprang? Whither are men tending to-day +in consequence of it? Would it not have been better for mankind +to have stood by the time-honored traditions of former ages, +independently of the strong and convincing claims which +Catholicity offers to all? This is said without in the least +attributing the fault to sound philosophy, without casting the +slightest slur on those truly great and illustrious men who have +widened the limits of the human intellect, and deserved well of +mankind by the solid truths they have opened up in their works +for the benefit and instruction of minds less gifted than their +own. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +THE IRISH AND THE STUARTS.--LOYALTY AND CONFISCATION. + +Upon the death of Elizabeth, in 1603, the son of the unfortunate +Mary Stuart was called to the throne of England, and for the +first time in their history the Irish people accepted English +rule, gave their willing submission to an English dynasty, and +afterward displayed as great devotedness in supporting the +falling cause of their new monarchs, as in defending their +religion and nationality. + +This feeling of allegiance, born so suddenly and strangely in +the Irish breast, cherished so ardently and at the price of so +many sacrifices, finally raising the nation to the highest pitch +of heroism, is worth studying and investigating its true cause. + +What ought to have been the natural effect produced on the Irish +people by the arrival of the news that James of Scotland had +succeeded to Elizabeth? The first feeling must have been one of +deep relief that the hateful tyranny of the Tudors had passed +away, to be supplanted by the rule of their kinsmen the Stuarts-- +kinsmen, because the Scottish line of kings was directly +descended from that Dal Riada colony which Ireland had sent so +long ago to the shores of Albania, to a branch of which +Columbkill belonged. + +For those who were not sufficiently versed in antiquarian +genealogy to trace his descent so far back, the thought that +James was the son of Mary Stuart was sufficient. If any people +could sympathize with the ill-starred Queen of Scots, that +people was the Irish. It could not enter into their ideas that +the son of the murdered Catholic queen, should have feelings +uncongenial to their own. It is easy, then, to understand how, +when the news of Elizabeth's death and of the accession of James +arrived, the sanguine Irish heart leaped with a new hope and +joyful expectation. + +As for the real disposition of that strangest of monarchs, James +I,, writers are at variance. Matthew O'Connor, the elder, who +had in his hands the books and manuscripts of Charles O'Connor +of Bellingary, is very positive in his assertions on his side of +the question: + +"James was a determined and implacable enemy to the Catholic +religion; he alienated his professors from all attachment to his +government by the virulence of his antipathy. One of his first +gracious proclamations imported a general jail-delivery, except +for 'murderers and papists.' By another proclamation he pledged +himself 'never to grant any toleration to the Catholics,' and +entailed a curse on his posterity if they granted any." + +Turning now to Dr. Madden's "History of the Penal Laws," we +shall feel disposed to modify so positive an opinion. There we +read: + +"It is very evident that his zeal for the Protestant Church had +more to do with a hatred of the Puritans than of popery, and +that he had a hankering, after all, for the old religion which +his mother belonged to, and for which she had been persecuted by +the fanatics of Scotland." + +Hume seems to support this judgment of Dr. Madden when he says +that "the principles of James would have led him to earnestly +desire a unity of faith of the Churches which had been separated." + +Both opinions, however, agree in the long-run, since Dr. Madden +is obliged to confess that "new measures of severity, as the +bigotry of the times became urgent, were wrung from the timid +king. He had neither moral nor political courage." + +Still, on the day of his coronation, the Irish could little +imagine what was in store for them at the hands of the son of +Mary Stuart; hence their great rejoicing, till the first stroke +of bitter disappointment came to open their eyes, and awaken +them to the hard reality. This was the flight of Tyrone and +Tyrconnell, which had been brought about by treachery and low +cunning. These chieftains were, as they deserved to be, the +idols of the nation. They were compelled to fly because, as Dr. +Anderson, a Protestant minister, says, "artful Cecil had +employed one St. Lawrence to entrap the Earls of Tyrone and +Tyrconnell, the Lord of Devlin, and other Irish chiefs, into a +sham plot which had no evidence but his." + +The real cause of their flight was that adventurers and +"undertakers" desired to "plant" Ulster, though the final treaty +with Mountjoy had left both earls in possession of their lands. +That treaty yielded not an acre of plunder, and was consequently +in English eyes a failure. The long, bloody, and promising wars +of Elizabeth's reign had ended, after all, in forcing coronets on +the brows of O'Neill and O'Donnell, with a royal deed added, securing +to them their lands, and freedom of worship to all the north. + +James was met by the importunate demand for land. O'Neill, +O'Donnell, and several other Irish chieftains, were sacrificed +to meet this demand; they were compelled to fly; and they had +scarcely gone when millions of acres in Ulster were declared to +be forfeited to the crown, and thrown open for "planting." + +And here a new feature in confiscation presents itself, which +was introduced by the first of the Stuart dynasty, and proved +far more galling to Irishmen than any thing they had yet +encountered in this shape. + +In the invasion led by Strongbow, in the absorption of the +Kildare estates by Henry VIII., in the annexation of King's and +Queen's Counties under Philip and Mary, even in the last +"plantation" of Munster by Elizabeth's myrmidons at the end of +the Desmond war, the land had been immediately distributed among +the chief officers of the victorious armies. The conquered knew +that such would be the law of war; the great generals and +courtiers who came into possession scarcely disturbed the +tenants. A few of the great native and Anglo-Irish families +suffered sorely from the spoliation; the people at large +scarcely felt it, except by the destruction of clanship and the +introduction of feudal grievances. Moreover, the new proprietors +were interested in making their tenants happy, and not +unfrequently identified themselves with the people--becoming in +course of time true Irishmen. + +But, with the accession of the first of the Stuarts to the +English throne, a great alteration took place in the disposal of +the land throughout Ireland. + +The Tyrone war had ended five years before, and those who had +taken part in the conflict had already received their portion; +the vanquished, of misfortune--the conquerors, of gain. James +brought in with him from Scotland a host of greedy followers; +and all, from first to last, expected to rise with their king +into wealth and honor. England was not wide enough to hold them, +nor rich enough to satiate their appetites. The puzzled but +crafty king saw a way out of his difficulties in Ireland. He no +longer limited the distribution of land in that country to +soldiers and officers of rank chiefly. He gave it to Scotch +adventurers, to London trades companies. He settled it on +Protestant colonies whose first use of their power was to evict +the former tenants or clansmen, and thus effect a complete +change in the social aspect of the north. + +Well did they accomplish the task assigned them. Ulster became a +Protestant colony, and the soil of that province has ever since +remained in the hands of a people alien to the country. + +Yet the Ulstermen had been led to believe that James purposed +securing them in their possessions; for, according to Mr. +Prendergast, in his Introduction to the "Cromwellian settlement:" + +"On the 17th of July, 1607, Sir Arthur Chichester, Lord Deputy, +accompanied by Sir John Davies and other commissioners, +proceeded to Ulster, with powers to inquire what land each man +held. There appeared before them, in each county they visited, +the chief lords and Irish gentlemen, the heads of creaghts, and +the common people, the Brehons and Shanachies, who knew all the +septs and families, and took upon themselves to tell what +quantity of land every man ought to have. They thus ascertained +and booked their several lands, and the Lord-Deputy promised +them estates in them. 'He thus,' says Sir John Davies, 'made it +a year of jubilee to the poor inhabitants, because every man was +to return to his own house, and be restored to his ancient +possessions, and they all went home rejoicing.' + +"Notwithstanding these promises, the king, in the following year, +issued his scheme for the plantation of Ulster, urged to it, it +would seem, by Sir Arthur Chichester, who so largely profited by +it. . . . It could not be said that the flight of the earls gave +occasion for this change, inasmuch as the king, immediately +after, issued a proclamation--which he renewed on taking +possession of both earls' territories--assuring the inhabitants +that they should be protected and preserved in their estates." + +It looks, indeed, as though the whole transaction, including the +promises and the call for ascertaining the quantity of land +occupied by each inhabitant, as also the sham plot into which +the earls were inveigled, was but a cunning device to bring +about the plantation, in which manors of one thousand, fifteen +hundred, and three thousand acres, were offered to such English +and Scotch as should undertake to plant their lots with British +Protestants, and engage that no Irish should dwell upon them. +Meanwhile, all who had been in arms during Tyrone's war were to +be transplanted with their families, cattle, and followers, to +waste places in Munster and Connaught, and there set down at a +distance from one another. + +Over and above this, the Irish were indebted to James for a new +project--a most ingenious invention for successful plunder. He +was the real author of the celebrated "Commission for the +investigation of defective titles." + +It would seem that the province of Ulster was too small for the +rapacity of those who were constantly urging upon the king a +greater thoroughness in his plans. It was clear, moreover, that +the English occupation of the other three provinces had hitherto +proved a failure. The island had failed to become Anglicised, +and it was necessary to begin the work anew. + +The new commission was presented to the Irish people in a most +alluring guise. That political hypocrisy, which to-day stands +for statesmanship, is not a growth of our own times. The +intention of James confined itself to putting an end to all +uncertainty on the subject of titles, and bestowing on each land- +owner one which, for the future, should be unimpeachable. But +the result went beyond his intention. This measure became, in +fact, an engine of universal spoliation. It failed to secure +even those who succeeded in retaining a portion of their former +estates in possession, as Strafford made manifest, who, despite +all the unimpeachable titles conferred by James, managed to +confiscate to his own profit the greater part of the province of +Connaught. + +It is fitting to give a few details of this new measure of James, +in order to show the gratitude which the Irish owed the Stuarts, +if on that account only. In "Ireland under English Rule," the +Rev. A. Perraud justly remarks: "Most Irish families held +possession of their lands but by tradition, and their rights +could not be proved by regular title-deeds. By royal command, a +general inquiry was instituted, and whoever could not prove his +right to the seat of his ancestors, by authentic documents, was +mercilessly but juridically despoiled of it; the pen of the lawyer +thus making as many conquests as the blade of the mercenary." + +The advisers of James--those who aided him in this scheme --were +fully alive to its efficiency in serving their ends. A few years +previously, Arthur Chichester and Sir John Davies had only to +consult the Brehon lawyers and the chroniclers of the tribes, +whose duty it was to become thoroughly acquainted with the +limits of the various territories, and keep the records in their +memory, in order to procure from the Ulster men the proofs of +their rights to property. Up to that time the word of those who +were authorized, by custom, to pronounce on such subjects, was +law to every Irishman. And, indeed, the verdict of these was all- +sufficient, inasmuch as the task was not overtaxing to the +memory of even an ordinary man, since it consisted in +remembering, not the landed property of each individual, but the +limits of the territory of each clan. + +The clan territories were as precisely marked off as in any +European state to-day; and, if any change in frontier occurred, +it was the result of war between the neighboring clans, and +therefore known to all. To suppose, then, under such a state of +land tenure, that the territory of the Maguire clan, for +instance, belonged exclusively to Maguire, and that he could +prove his title to the property by legal documents, was +erroneous--in fact, such a thing was impossible. Yet, such was +the ground on which the king based his establishment of the +odious commission. + +The measure meant nothing less than the simple spoliation of all +those who came under its provisions at the time. Matthew +O'Connor has furnished some instances of its workings, which may +bring into stronger light the enormity of such an attempt. + +"The immense possessions of Bryan na Murtha O'Rourke had been +granted to his son Teige, by patent; in the first year of the +king's reign, and to the heirs male of his body. Teige died, +leaving several sons; their titles were clear; no plots or +conspiracies could be urged to invalidate them. By the medium of +those inquisitions, they were found, one and all, to be bastards. +The eldest son, Bryan O'Rourke, vas put off with a miserable +pension, and detained in England lest he should claim his +inheritance. Yet, in this case, the title was actually in existence. + +"In the county of Longford, three-fourths of nine hundred and +ninety-nine cartrons, the property of the O'Farrells, were +granted to adventurers, to the undoing and beggary of that +princely family. Twenty-five of the septs were dispossessed of +their all, and to the other septs were assigned mountainous and +barren tracts about one-fourth of their former possessions. + +"The O'Byrnes, of Wicklow, were robbed of their property by a +conspiracy unparalleled even in the annals of those times; +fabricated charges of treason, perjury, and even legal murder, +were employed; and, though the innocence of those victims of +rapacious oppression was established, yet they were never restored." + +With regard to the Anglo-Irish, and even such of the natives as +had consented to accept titles from the English kings, those +titles, some of which went back as far as Strongbow's invasion, +were brought under the "inquiry" of the new commission--with +what result may be imagined. An astute legist can discover flaws +in the best-drawn legal papers. In the eye of the law, the +neglect of recording is fatal; and it was proved that many +proprietors, whose titles had been bestowed by Henry VIII. and +Elizabeth, were not recorded, simply by bribing the clerks who +were charged with the office of recording them. + +This portion of our subject must present strange features to +readers acquainted with the laws concerning property which +obtain among civilized nations. In making the necessary studies +for this most imperfect sketch, the writer has been surprised at +finding that not one of the authors whom he has consulted has +spoken of any thing beyond the cruelty of compelling Irish +landowners to exhibit title-deeds, which it was known they did +not and could not possess. Not a single one has ever said a word +of "prescription;" yet, this alone was enough to arrest the +proceedings of any English court, if it followed the rules of +law which govern civilized communities. + +Most of the estates, then declared to be escheated to the king, +had been in possession of the families to which the holders +belonged, for centuries; we may go so far, in the case of some +Irish families and tribes, as to say for thousands of years. But, +to disturb property which has been held for even less than a +century, would convulse any nation subjected to such a revolutionary +process. No country in the world could stand such a test; it would +loosen in a day all the bonds that hold society together. + +If the commission set on foot by James did not go to the extreme +lengths to which it was carried by those who came after him, he +it was who established what bore the semblance of a legal +precedent for the excesses of Strafford, under Charles I., which +reached their utmost limits in the hands of Cromwell's +parliamentary commissioners. James set the engine of destruction +in action: they worked it to its end. The Irish might justly lay +at his door all the woes which ensued to them from the +principles emanating from him. Even during his reign they saw, +with instinctive horror, the abyss which he had opened up to +swallow all their inheritance. The first commission of James +commenced its operations by reporting three hundred and eighty- +five thousand acres in Leinster alone as "discovered," inasmuch +as the titles "were not such as ought " (in their judgment) "to +stand in the way of his-Majesty's designs." + +Hence, long before the death of James, all the hopes which his +accession had raised in the minds of the Irish had vanished; yet, +strange to say, they were not cured of their love for the +Stuart dynasty. They hailed the coming of Charles, the husband +of a Catholic princess, with joy. His marriage took place a year +previous to the death of his father; and, to know that Henrietta +of France was to be their queen, was enough to assure the Irish +that, henceforth, they would enjoy the freedom of their religion. +The same motive always awakes in them hope and joy. Men may +smile at such an idea, but it is with a profound respect for the +Irish character that such a sentence is written. Hope of +religious freedom is the noblest sentiment which can move the +breast of man; and if there be reason for admiration in the +motive which urges men to fight and die for their firesides and +families, how much more so in that which causes them to set +above all their altars and their God! + +This time their hope seemed well-founded; for the treaty +concluded between England and France conferred the right on the +Catholic princess of educating her children by this marriage +till the age of thirteen. And, in addition, conditions favorable +to the English Catholics were inserted in the same treaty. + +But people were not then aware of the reason for the insertion +of those conditions. Hume, later on, being better acquainted +with what at the time was a secret, states in his history that +"the court of England always pretended, even in the memorials to +the French court, that all the conditions favorable to the +English Catholics were inserted in the marriage treaty merely to +please the Pope, and that their strict execution was, by an +agreement with France, secretly dispensed with." + +The Irish rejoiced, however; and Charles and his ministers +encouraged their expectations. Lord Falkland, in the name of the +king, promised that, if the Catholic lords should present +Charles, who needed money, with a voluntary tribute, he would in +return grant them certain immunities and protections, which +acquired later on a great celebrity under the name of "graces." + +The chief of these were--to allow "recusants" to practise in the +courts of law, and to sue out the livery of their land, merely +on taking an act of civil allegiance instead of the oath of +supremacy; that the claims of the crown should be limited to the +last sixty years--a period long enough in all conscience; and +that the inhabitants of Connaught should be allowed to make a +new enrolment of their estates, to be accepted by the king. A +Parliament was promised to sit in a short time, in order to +confirm all these "graces." + +The subsidy promised by the Irish lords amounted to the then +enormous sum of forty thousand pounds sterling, to be paid +annually for three years. Two-thirds of it was paid, according +to Matthew O'Connor, but no one of the "graces" was forthcoming, +the king finding he had promised more than he could perform. + +Instead of enabling the land-owners of Connaught to obtain a new +title by a new enrolment, Strafford, with the connivance of +Charles, devised a project which would have enabled the king to +dispose of the whole province to the enriching of his exchequer. +This project consisted in throwing open the whole territory to +the court of "defective titles." To legalize this spoliation, +the parchment grant, five hundred years old, given to Roderic +O'Connor and Richard de Burgo, by Henry II., was set up as +rendering invalid the claims of immemorial possession by the +Irish, although confirmed by recent compositions. + +In the counties of Roscommon, Mayo, and Sligo, juries were found +for the crown. The honesty and courageous resistance of a Galway +jury prevented the carrying out of the measure in that county. +Strafford resented this rebuff deeply; and the brave Galway +jurors were punished without mercy for their "contumacy," for +they had been told openly to find for the king. Compelled to +appear in the Castle chamber, they were each fined four thousand +pounds, their estates seized, and themselves imprisoned until +their fines should be paid; while the sheriff, who was also +fined to the same amount, not being able to pay, died in prison. +Such were a few of the "graces" granted the Irish on the +accession of Charles I. + +Meanwhile, the king's difficulties with his English subjects +drove him to turn for hope to the Scotch, upon whom he had +attempted to force Episcopalianism. The resistance of the Scotch, +and the celebrated Covenant by which they bound themselves, are +well known. Charles, finally, granted the Covenanters not only +liberty of conscience, but even the religious supremacy of +Presbyterianism, paying their army, moreover, for a portion of +the time it passed under service in the rebellion against +himself. + +The example of the Scotch was certainly calculated to inflame +the Irish with ardor, and drive them likewise into rebellion. +What was the oppression of Scotland compared to that under which +Ireland had so long groaned? Surely the final attempt of the +chief minister of Charles to rob them of the one province which +had hitherto escaped, was enough to open their eyes, and convert +their faith in the Stuart dynasty into hatred and determined +opposition. Yet were they on the eve of carrying their devotion +to this faithless and worthless line to the height of heroism. +The generosity of the nature which is in them could find an +excuse for Charles. "He would have done us right," they thought, +"had he been left free." From the rebellion of his subjects, in +England and Scotland, they could only draw one conclusion--that +he was the victim of Puritanism, for which they could entertain +no feeling but one of horror; and it is a telling fact that +their attachment to their religion kept them faithful to the +sovereign to whom they had sworn their allegiance, however +unworthy he might be. + +Thus in the famous rising of 1641, when in one night Ireland, +with the exception of a few cities, freed herself from the +oppressor (the failure of the plan in Dublin being the only +thing which prevented a complete success; the English of the +Pale still refusing to combine with the Irish), the native Irish +alone, left to their own resources, proclaimed emphatically in +explicit terms their loyalty to the king, whom they credited +with a just and tolerant disposition, if freed from the +restraints imposed upon him by the Puritanical faction. A +further fact stranger still, and still more calculated to shake +their confidence in the monarch, occurred shortly after, which +indeed raises the loyalty of the nation to a height +inconceivable and impossible to any people, unless one whose +conscience is swayed by the sense of stern duty. + +When the Scottish Covenanters, whose rebellion had secured them +in possession of all they demanded, heard of the Irish movement, +they were at once seized with a fanatical zeal urging them to +stamp out the Irish "Popish rebellion." King Charles, who was +then in Edinburgh, expressed his gratification at their proposal, +and no time was lost in shipping a force of two thousand Scots +across the Channel. They landed at Antrim, when they began those +frightful massacres which opened by driving into the sea three +thousand Irish inhabitants of the island Magee. + +When, according to M. O'Connor's "Irish Catholics," "letters +conveying the news of the intended invasion of the Scots were +intercepted; when the speeches of leading members in the English +Commons, the declaration of the Irish Lord-Justices, and of the +principal members of the Dublin Council, countenanced those +rumors; when Mr. Pym gave out that he would not leave a Papist +in Ireland; when Sir Parsons declared that within a twelvemonth +not a Catholic should be seen in the whole country; when Sir +John Clotworthy affirmed that the conversion of the Papists was +to be effected with the Bible in one hand and the sword in the +other," and the King all the while seemed to allow and consent +to it, the Irish were not in the least dismayed by those rumors, +but set about establishing in the convulsed island a sort of +order in the name of God and the king! + +Then for the first time did native and Anglo-Irish Catholics +take common side in a common cause. This was the union which +Archbishop Browne had foreseen, which had shown itself in +symptoms from time to time, but which had oftener been broken by +the old animosity. But, at last, convinced that the only party +on which they could rely, and the party which truly supported +the reigning dynasty, was that of the Ulster chiefs, the +Catholic lords of the Pale threw themselves heart and soul into +it, and, under the guidance of the Catholic bishops who then +came forward, together they formed the celebrated "Confederation +of Kilkenny" in 1642. + +Had Charles even then possessed the courage, honesty, or wisdom +to recognize and acknowledge his true friends, he might have +been spared the fate which overtook him; but all he did was +almost to break up the only coalition which stood up boldly in +his favor. + +A circumstance not yet touched upon meets us here. Protestantism +was at this time effecting a complete change in the rules of +judgment and conduct which men had hitherto followed. In place +of the old principles of political morality which up to this +period had regulated the actions of Christians, notions of +independence, of subversion of existing governments, of +revolutions in Church and state, were for the first time in +Christian history scattered broadcast through the world, and +beginning that series of catastrophes which has made European +history since, and which is far from being exhausted yet. The +Irish stood firm by the old principles, and, though they became +victims to their fidelity, they never shrank from the +consequences of what they knew to be their duty, and to those +principles they remain faithful to-day. + +To return from this short digression: The Irish hierarchy, the +native Irish and the Anglo-Irish lords of the Pale, had combined +together to form the "Confederation of Kilkenny," in which +confederation lay the germ of a truly great nation. Early in the +struggle the Catholic hierarchy saw that it was for them to take +the initiative in the movement, and they took it in right +earnest. They could not be impassive spectators when the +question at issue was the defence of the Catholic religion, +joined this time with the rights of their monarch. They met in +provincial synod at Kells, where, after mature deliberation, the +cause of the confederates, "God and the king," freedom of +worship and loyalty to the legitimate sovereign, was declared +just and holy, and, after lifting a warning voice against the +barbarities which had commenced on both sides, and ordaining the +abolition and oblivion of all distinctions between native Irish +and old English, they took measures for convoking a national +synod at Kilkenny. + +It met on the 10th of May, 1643. An oath of association bound +all Catholics throughout the land. It was ordained that a +general assembly comprising all the lords spiritual and temporal +and the gentry should be held; that the assembly should select +members from its body to represent the different provinces and +principal cities, to be called the Supreme Council, which should +sit from day to day, dispense justice, appoint to offices, and +carry on the executive government of the country. + +Meanwhile the Irish abroad, the exiles, had heard of the +movement, and several prominent chieftains came back to take +part in the struggle; while those who remained away helped the +cause by gaining the aid of the Catholic sovereigns, and sending +home all the funds and munitions of war they could procure. +Among these, one of the most conspicuous was the learned Luke +Wadding, then at Rome engaged in writing his celebrated works, +who dispatched money and arms contributed by the Holy Father. +John B. Rinuccini, Archbishop of Fermo, sent by the Pope as +Nuncio, sailed in the same ship which conveyed those +contributions to Ireland. + +The Catholic prelates thus originated a free government with +nothing revolutionary in its character, but combining some of +the forms of the old Irish Feis with the chief features of +modern Parliamentary governments. Matthew O'Connor makes the +following just observations on this subject in his "Irish +Catholics:" + +"The duty of obedience to civil government was so deeply +impressed on the Catholic mind, at this period, in Ireland, that +it degenerated into passive submission. These impressions +originated in religious zeal, and were fostered by persecution. +The spiritual authority of the clergy was found requisite to +soften those notions, and temper them with ideas of the +constitutional, social, and Christian right of resistance in +self-defence. The nobility and gentry fully concurred in those +proceedings of the clergy, and the nation afterward ratified +them in a general convention held at Kilkenny, in the subsequent +month of October. The national union seemed to be at last +cemented by the wishes of all orders, and the interests of all +parties." + +The fact is, the nation had been brought to life, and took its +stand on a new footing. When the general assembly met, in +October, eleven bishops and fourteen lay lords formed what may +be called the Irish peerage; two hundred and twenty-six +commoners represented the large majority of the Irish +constituencies; a great lawyer of the day, Patrick Darcy, was +elected chancellor; and a Supreme Council of six members from +each province constituted what may be called the Executive. + +This government, which really ruled Ireland without any +interference until Ormond succeeded in breaking it up, was +obeyed and acknowledged throughout the land. It undertook and +carried out all the functions of its high office, such as the +coining of money, appointing circuit-judges, sending ambassadors +abroad, and commissioning officers to direct the operations of +the national army. Among these latter, one name is sufficient to +vouch for their efficiency: that of Owen Roe O'Neill, who had +returned, with many others, from the Continent, in the July of +that year, and formally, assumed the command of the army of +Ulster. + +Owen Roe O'Neill was grand-nephew to Hugh of Tyrone. Unknown, +even now, to Europe, his name still lives in the memory of his +countrymen. "The head of the Hy-Niall race, the descendant of a +hundred kings, the inheritor of their virtues, without a taint +of their vices, he would have deserved a crown, and, on a larger +theatre, would have acquired the title of a hero."--(M. O'Connor.) + +Had Charles recognized this government, which proclaimed him +king, discharged from office the traitors, Borlase and Parsons, +who plotted against him, and not surrendered his authority to +Ormond, Ireland would probably have been saved from the horrors +impending, and Charles himself from the scaffold. Whatever the +issue might have been, the fact remains that the Irish then +proved they could establish a solid government of their own, and +that it is an altogether erroneous idea to imagine them +incapable of governing themselves. + +It is impossible to enter here upon the details of the intricate +complications which ensued--complications which were chiefly +owing to the plots of Ormond; but, it may be stated fearlessly +that, the more the history of those times is studied, the more +certainly is the "national" party, with the Nuncio Rinuccini for +head and director, recognized as the one which, better than any +other, could have saved Ireland. At least, no true Irishman will +now pretend that the "peace party," headed by Ormond, which was +pitted against the "Nuncionists," could bring good to the +country; on the contrary, its subsequent misfortunes are to be +ascribed directly to it. + +To stigmatize it as it deserves, needs no more than to say that +among its chief leaders were Ormond, its head and projector, and +Murrough O'Brien, of Inchiquin, to this day justly known as +Murrough of the burnings. These two men were the product of the +"refined policy" of England to kill Catholicism in the higher +classes by the operation of one of the laws that governed the +oppressed nation--wardship. + +Both Inchiquin and Ormond were born of Catholic fathers, and all +their relations, during their lives, remained Catholics. But, +their fathers dying during the minority of both, the law took +their education out of the hands of the nearest kin, to give it +to English Protestant wardens, in the name of the king, who was +supposed by the law to be their legitimate guardian. This was +one of the fruits of feudalism. They were duly brought up by +these wardens in the Protestant religion, and received a +Protestant education. They grew up, fully impressed with the +idea that the country which gave them birth was a barbarous +country; the parents to whom they owed their lives were +idolaters; and their fellow-countrymen a set of villains, only +fitted to become, and forever remain, paupers and slaves. + +There is no exaggeration in these expressions, as anybody must +concede who has studied the opinions and prejudices entertained +by the English with regard to the Irish, from that period down +almost to our own days. At any rate, to one acquainted with the +workings of the "Court of Wards," there is nothing surprising in +the fact that Ormond, the descendant of so many illustrious men +of the great Butler family--a family at all times so attached to +the Catholic faith, and which afterward furnished so many +victims to the transplantation schemes of Cromwell--should +himself become an inveterate enemy to the religion of his own +parents, and to those who professed it; and that he should +employ the great gifts which God had granted him, solely to +scheme against this religion, and prevent his native countrymen +from receiving even the scanty advantages which Charles at one +time was willing to concede to them, through Lord Glanmorgan. + +It was Ormond who prevented the execution of the treaty between +that lord and the confederates, the provisions of which were-- + +1. The Catholics of Ireland were to enjoy the free and public +exercise of their religion. + +2. They were to hold, and have secure for their use, all the +Catholic churches not then in actual possession of Protestants. + +3. They were to be exempt from the jurisdiction of the +Protestant clergy. + +But, thanks to his education, such provisions were too much for +Ormond, the son of a Catholic father, and whose mother, at the +very time living a pious and excellent life, would have rejoiced +to see those advantages secured to her Church and herself, in +common with the rest of her countrymen and women. + +In like manner, Murrough O'Brien, the Baron of Inchiquin, the +descendant of so many Catholic kings and saints, whose name was +a glory in itself, and so closely linked to the Catholic glories +of the island, was converted, by the education which he had +received, into a most cruel oppressor of the Church of his +baptism. His expeditions, through the same country which his +ancestors had ruled, were characterized by all the barbarities +practised at the time by Munro, Coote, and all the parliamentary +leaders of the Scotch Puritans, and would have fitted him as a +worthy compeer of Cromwell and Ireton, who were soon to follow. +The name of Cashel and its cathedral, where he murdered so many +priests, women, and children, around the altar adorned by the +great and good Cormac McCullinan, would alone suffice to hand +his name down to the execration of posterity. + +Ormond and Murrough being the two chiefs of the "peace party," +what wonder that the prelates, who had so earnestly labored at +the formation of the Kilkenny Confederation, and the Nuncio at +their head, refused to have aught to do with projects in which +such men were concerned, when it is borne in mind also that +several provisions of that "peace treaty" were directly opposed +to the oath taken by the Confederates? But, unfortunately, +Ormond was a skilful diplomat, had been dispatched by the king, +and was supposed to be carrying out the ideas suggested to him +by the unhappy monarch. His representations, therefore, could +not fail to carry weight, principally with the Anglo-Irish lords +of the Pale, many of whom, influenced by his courtly manners and +address, declared openly for the proposed peace. + +Thus did the peace sow the germs of division and even war among +the Irish. The unity among the Catholics, so full of promise, +was soon broken up; and those who had met each other in such a +brotherly spirit in the day when the native chiefs and Anglo- +Irish lords assembled together at Tara, who swore then that the +division of centuries should exist no longer, began to look upon +each other again as enemies. Without going at length into the +vicissitudes of those various contentions, it is enough to say +that in the end war broke out between those who had so recently +taken the oath of confederation together. Owen Roe O'Neill, the +victor of Benburb, and the only man who could direct the Irish +armies, was attacked by Preston and other lords of the Pale, and +died, as some historians allege, of poison administered to him +by one of them. + +This was the result of the intrigues of Ormond; nevertheless, +Charles continued to place confidence in him, and though he had +been twice obliged to resign his lieutenancy, and once to fly +the country, the infatuated sovereign sent him back once more. + +If was only at the end of the struggle, when the ill-fated king +was at length in the hands of his enemies, that Ormond could be +brought to consent to conditions acceptable to the national +party. But then it was too late; the parliamentary forces had +carried every thing before them in England; England was already +republican to the core; and the armies which had been employed +against the Cavaliers, once the efforts of the latter had ceased +with the death of the king, were at liberty to leave the country, +now submissive to parliamentary rule, and cross over to Ireland, +with Cromwell at their head, to crush out the nation almost, +and concentrate on that fated soil, within the short space of +nine months, all the horrors of past centuries. + +By the death of Owen Roe O'Neill just at that time, Ireland was +left without a leader fit to cope with the great republican +general. The country had already been devastated by Coote, Munro, +St. Leger, and other Scotch and English Puritans; but the +massacres which, until the coming of Cromwell, had been, at +least, only local and checked by the troops of Owen Roe, soon +extended throughout the island, unarrested by any forces in the +field. The Cromwellian soldiers, not content with the character +of warriors, came as "avengers of the Lord," to destroy an +"idolatrous people." + +That their real design was to exterminate the nation, and use +the opportunity which then presented itself for that purpose, +there can by no doubt. It was only after a fair trial that the +project was found to be impossible, and that other expedients +were devised. Coote had previously acted with this design in +view, as is now an ascertained fact, and had been encouraged in +the course he pursued by the Dublin government. 1 (1 See Matthew +O'Connor's "Irish Catholics.") The same might be shown of St. +Leger, in Munster, toward the beginning of the insurrection. At +all events, all doubt in the matter, if any existed, ceased with +the landing of Cromwell in 1649, when the real object of the war +at once showed itself everywhere. + +The result of this man's policy has been painted by Villemain, +in his "Histoire de Cromwell," in a sentence: "Ireland became a +desert which the few remaining inhabitants described by the +mournful saying, 'There was not water enough to drown a man, not +wood enough to hang him, not earth enough to bury him.'" + +The French writer attributes to the whole island what was said +of only a part of it. To this day, the name of Cromwell is +justly execrated in Ireland, and "the curse of Cromwell " is one +of the bitterest which can be invoked upon a person's head. But, +at present, the fidelity of the Irish to the Stuarts concerns us, +and a few reflections will put it in a strong but true light +before us. + +Ever since the restoration of Charles II., many Englishmen have +professed great reverence for the memory of the "martyr-king." +Even the subsequent Revolution of 1658 left the monument erected +to him untouched. Many British families continued steady in +their devotion to the Scotch line, and the name of Jacobite was +for them a title of honor. Yet what were their sufferings for +the cause of the king during his struggle with the Parliament, +and after his execution? A few noblemen lost their lives and +estates; some went into exile and followed the fortunes of the +Pretenders who tried to gain possession of the throne. But the +bulk of the nation--England--may be said to have suffered +nothing by the great revolution which led to the Commonwealth. +On the contrary, it is acknowledged that the administration of +Cromwell at least brought peace to the country, and raised the +power of Great Britain to a higher eminence in Europe than it +had ever known before. As usual, the English made great +profession of loyalty, but, as a rule, were particularly careful +that no great inconvenience should come to them from it. + +Treated with contempt and distrust by Charles and his advisers, +so insulted in every thing that was dear to her that it is still +a question for historians if, in many instances, the king and +the royalists did not betray her, Ireland alone, after having +taken her stand for a whole decade of years for God and the king, +resolved to face destruction unflinchingly in support of what +she imagined to be a noble cause. + +After the landing of Cromwell, when to any sensible man there no +longer remained hope of serving the cause of the king, when the +desire which is natural to every human heart, of saving what can +be saved, might, not only without dishonor, but with justice and +right, have dictated the necessity of coming to terms with the +parliamentarians, and of abandoning a cause which was hopeless, +"on the 4th of December, 1649, Eber McMahon, Bishop of Clogher, +a mere Irishman by name, by descent, by enthusiastic attachment +to his country, exerted his great abilities to rouse his +countrymen to a persevering resistance to Cromwell, and to unite +all hearts and hands in the support of Ormond's administration. . + . . All the bishops concurred in his views, and subscribed a +solemn declaration that they would, to the utmost of their power, +forward his Majesty's rights, and the good of the nation. . . . +Ormond, at last, either sensible that no reliance could be +placed on them, or that the treachery of Inchiquin's troops was, +at least, on the part of the Irish, a fair ground of distrust +and suspicion of the remainder, consented to their removal."-- +("Irish Catholics.") + +"At last!" will be the reader's exclamation, while he wonders if +another people could be found forbearing enough to wait eight +years for the adoption of such a necessary measure. + +And the only reward for their fidelity to King Charles I. could +under the circumstances be destruction. They waited with +resignation for the impending gloom to overshadow them. Terrible +moment for a nation, when despair itself fails to nerve it for +further resistance and possible success! Such was the position +of the Irish at the death of Charles. + +Who shall describe that loyalty? After Ormond had met with the +defeat he deserved in the field; after the cities had fallen one +after another into the hands of the destroyer, who seldom +thought himself bound to observe the conditions of surrender; +after the chiefs, who might have protracted the struggle, had +disappeared either by death or exile, the doom of the nation was +sealed; yet it shrank not from the consequences. + +The barbarities of Cromwell and his soldiers had depopulated +large tracts of territory to such an extent that the troops +marching through them were compelled to carry provisions as +through a desert. The cattle, the only resource of an +agricultural country, had been all consumed in a ten years' war. +It was reported that, after every successful engagement, the +republican general ordered all the men from the age of sixteen +to sixty to be slaughtered without mercy, all the boys from six +to sixteen to be deprived of sight, and the women to have a red- +hot iron thrust through their breasts. Rumors such as these, +exaggerated though they may be, testify at least to the terror +which Cromwell inspired. As for the captured cities, there can +be no doubt of the wholesale massacres carried out therein by +his orders. Of the entire population of Tredagh only thirty +persons survived, and they were condemned to the labor of slaves. +Hugh Peters, the chaplain of Fairfax, wrote after this +barbarous execution: "We are masters of Tredagh; no enemy was +spared; I just come from the church where I had gone to thank +the Lord." + +The same fate awaited Wexford, and, later on, Drogheda. Cromwell, +when narrating those bloody massacres, concluded by saying, +"People blame me, but it was the will of God." + +The Bible, the holy word of God, misread and misunderstood by +those fanatics, persuaded them that it would be a crime not to +exterminate the Irish, as the Lord punished Saul for having +spared Agag and the chief of the Amalekites. Whoever wishes for +further details of these sickening atrocities, committed in the +name of God, may find them in a multitude of histories of the +time, but chiefly in the "Threnodia" of Friar Morrison. + +Certain modern Irish historians would seem not to understand the +heroism of their own countrymen. "Bitterly," says A. M. +O'Sullivan, "did the Irish people pay for their loyalty to an +English sovereign. Unhappily for their worldly fortunes, if not +for their fame, they were high-spirited and unfearing, where +pusillanimity would certainly have been safety, and might have +been only prudence." + +But the verdict of posterity, always a just one, calls such a +high-spirited and unfearing attitude true heroism, and spurns +pusillanimity even when it insures safety and may be called +prudence, if its result is the surrender of holy faith and +Christian truth. Safety and prudence characterized the conduct +of the English nation under the iron rule of Cromwell, as under +the tyranny of the Tudors. Can the reader of history admire the +nation on that account? Who shall affirm that the result of the +craven spirit of the English was the prosperity which ensued, +and that of Irish heroism destruction and gloom? The history of +either nation is far from ended yet; and bold would be the man +who dare assert that the prosperity of England is everlasting, +and the humiliation of Ireland never to know an end. + +However that may be, this at least is undeniable: the opinion +current of the Irish character is demonstrated to be altogether +an erroneous one by the incontrovertible facts cursorily +narrated above. Determination of purpose, adherence to +conscience and principle, consistency of conduct, are terms all +too weak to convey an idea of the magnanimity displayed by the +people, and of their heroic bearing throughout those stirring +events. + +At last, after a bloody struggle with Cromwell and Ireton, on +May 12, 1652, "the Leinster army of the Irish surrendered at +Kilkenny on terms which were successively adopted by the other +principal bodies of troops, between that time and the September +following, when the Ulster forces came to composition." Then +began the real woes of Ireland. Never was the ingenuity of man +so taxed to destroy a whole nation as in the measures adopted by +the Protector for that purpose. It is necessary to present a +brief sketch of them, since all that the Irish suffered was +designed to punish them for their attachment to their religion, +and, be it borne in mind, their devotion to the lawful dynasty +of the Stuarts. + +First, then, to render easy of execution the stern and cruel +resolve of the new government, the defenders of the nation were +not only to be disarmed, but put out of the way. Hence Cromwell +was gracious enough to consent that they be permitted to leave +the country and take service in the armies of the foreign powers +then at peace with the Commonwealth. Forty thousand men, +officers and soldiers, adopted this desperate resolution. + +"Soon agents from the King of Spain, the King of Poland, and the +Prince de Conde, were contending for the service of the Irish +troops. Don Ricardo White, in May, 1672, shipped seven thousand +in batches from Waterford, Kinsale, Galway, Limerick, and Bantry, +for the King of Spain. Colonel Christopher Mayo got liberty in +September to beat his drums, to raise three thousand more for +the same destination. Lord Muskerry took with him five thousand +to the King of Poland. In July, 1654, three thousand five +hundred went to serve the Prince de Conde. Sir Walter Dungan and +others got liberty to beat their drums in different garrisons +for various destinations."--(Prendergast.) + +To prove that the desperate resolution of leaving their country +did not originate with the Irish, notwithstanding what some have +written to the contrary, it is enough to remark that their +expatriation was made a necessary condition of their surrender +by the new government. For instance, Lord Clanrickard, according +to Matthew O'Connor, "deserted and surrounded, could obtain no +terms for the nation, nor indeed for himself and his troops, +except with the sad liberty of transportation to any other +country in amity with the Commonwealth." + +To prove, if necessary, still further that the expatriation of +the Irish troops was part of a scheme already resolved upon, it +is enough to remember the indisputable fact that from the +surrender at Kilkenny in 1652, until the open announcement in +the September of 1653, that the Parliament had assigned +Connaught for the dwelling-place of the Irish nation, whither +they were to be "transplanted" before the 1st of May, 1654, the +various garrisons and small armies which had fought so gallantly +for Ireland and the Stuarts were successively urged (and urged +by Cromwell meant compelled) to leave the country; and it was +only when the last of the Irish regiments had departed that the +doom of the nation was boldly and clearly announced. + +But these forced exiles were not restricted to the warrior class. +"The Lord Protector," says Prendergast, "applied to the Lord +Henry Cromwell, then major-general of the forces of Ireland, to +engage soldiers . . . . and to secure a thousand young Irish +girls to be shipped to Jamaica. Henry Cromwell answered that +there would be no difficulty, only that force must be used in +taking them; and he suggested the addition of fifteen hundred or +two thousand boys of from twelve to fourteen years of age. . . . +The numbers finally fixed were one thousand boys and one +thousand girls." + +The total number of children disposed of in the same way, from +1652 to 1655, has been variously estimated at from twenty +thousand to one hundred thousand. The British Government at last +was compelled to interfere and put a stop to the infamous +traffic, when, the mere Irish proving too scarce, the agents +were not sufficiently discriminating in their choice, but +shipped off English children also to the Tobacco Islands. + +At last the island was left utterly without defenders, and +sufficiently depopulated. It is calculated that, when the last +great measure was announced and put into execution, only half a +million of Irish people remained in the country, the rest of the +resident population being composed of the Scotch and English, +introduced by James I., and the soldiers and adventurers let in +by Cromwell. + +The main features of the celebrated "act of settlement" are +known to all. It was an act intended to dispose quietly of half +a million human beings, destined certainly in the minds of its +projectors to disappear in due time, without any great violence-- +to die off --and leave the whole island in the possession of +the "godly." + +Connaught is famed as being the wildest and most barren province +of Ireland. At the best, it can support but a scanty population. +At this time it had been completely devastated by a ten years' +war and by the excesses of the parliamentary forces. This +province then was mercifully granted to the unhappy Irish race; +it was set apart as a paradise for the wretched remnant to dwell +in all Connaught, except a strip four miles wide along the sea, +and a like strip along the right bank of the Shannon. This +latter judicious provision was undoubtedly intended to prevent +them from dwelling by the ocean, whence they might derive +subsistence or assistance, or means of escape in the event of +their ever rising again; and, on the other hand, from crossing +the Shannon, on the east side of which their homes might still +be seen. This cordon of four miles' width was drawn all around +what was the Irish nation, and filled with the fiercest zealots +of the "army of the Lord" to keep guard over the devoted victims. + +Surely the doom of the race was at last sealed! + +But let all justice be done to the Protector. The act was to the +effect that, on the first day of May, 1654, all who, throughout +the war, had not displayed a constant good affection to the +Parliament of England in opposition to Charles I., were to be +removed with their families and servants to the wilds of a poor +and desolated province, where certain lands were to be given +them in return for their own estates. But, who of the Irish +could prove that they had displayed a "constant good affection" +to the English Parliament during a ten years' war? The act was +nothing less than a proscription of the whole nation. The +English of the Pale were included among the old natives, and +even a few Protestant royalists, who had taken of the cause of +the fallen Stuarts. The only exception made was in favor of +"husbandmen, ploughmen, laborers, artificers, and others of the +inferior sort." The English and Scotch--constituted by this act +of settlement lords and masters of the three richest provinces +of Ireland-- could not condescend to till the soil with their +own hands and attend to the mechanical arts required in civil +society. Those duties were reserved for the Irish poor. It was +hoped that, deprived of their nobility and clergy, they might be +turned to any account by their new masters, and either become +good Protestants or perish as slaves. Herein mentita est +iniquitas sibi. + +The heart-rending details of this outrage on humanity may be +seen in Mr. Prendergast's "Cromwellian Settlement." There all +who read may form some idea of the extent of Ireland's +misfortunes. + +It is a wonder which cannot fail to strike the reader, how, +after so many precautions had been taken, not only against the +further increase of the race, but for its speedy demolition, how, +reduced to a bare half million, penned off on a barren tract of +land, left utterly at the mercy of its persecutors, without +priests, without organization of any kind, it not only failed to +perish, but, from that time, has gone on, steadily increasing, +until to-day it spreads out wide and far, not only on the island +of its birth, but on the broad face of two vast continents. + +In the space at our disposal, it is impossible to satisfy the +curiosity of the reader on this very curious and interesting +topic. A few remarks, however, may serve to broadly indicate the +chief causes of this astonishing fact, taken apart from the +miraculous intervention of God in their favor. + +First, then, Connaught became more Irish than ever, and a +powerful instrument, later on, to assist in the resurrection of +the nation. In fact, as will soon be seen, it preserved life to +it. Again, the outcasts, who were allowed to remain in the other +three provinces as servants, or slaves, rather, were not found +manageable on the score of religion; and, although new acts of +Parliament forbade any bishop or priest to remain in the island, +many did remain, some of them coming back from the Continent, +whither they had been exported, to aid their unfortunate +countrymen in this their direst calamity. + +As Matthew O'Connor rightly says : "The ardent zeal, the +fortitude and calm resignation of the Catholic clergy during +this direful persecution, might stand a comparison with the +constancy of Christians during the first ages of the Church. In +the season of prosperity they may have pushed their pretensions +too far"--this is M. O'Connor's private opinion of the +Confederation of Kilkenny-- "but, in the hour of trial, they +rose superior to human infirmities. . . . Sooner than abandon +their flocks altogether, they fled from the communion of men, +concealed themselves in woods and caverns, from whence they +issued, whenever the pursuit of their enemies abated, to preach +to the people, to comfort them in their afflictions, to +encourage them in their trials;. . . their haunts were objects +of indefatigable search; bloodhounds, the last device of human +cruelty, were employed for the purpose, and the same price was +set on the head of a priest as on that of a wolf."--(Irish +Catholics.) + +But, the expectation that the Irish of the lower classes, bereft +of their pastors as well as of the guidance of their chieftains, +would fall a prey to proselytizing ministers, and lose at once +their nationality and their religion, was doomed to meet with +disappointment. + +Perhaps the cause more effective than all others in preserving +the Irish nation from disappearing totally, came from a quarter +least expected, or rather the most improbable and wonderful. + +No device seemed better calculated to succeed in Protestantizing +Ireland than the decree of Parliament which set forth that not +only the officers, but even the common soldiers of the +parliamentary army should be paid for their services, not in +money, but in land; and that the estates of the old owners +should be parcelled out and distributed among them in payment, +as well as among those who, in England, had furnished funds for +the prosecution of the war. Although many soldiers objected to +this mode of compensation, some selling for a trifle the land +allotted to them and returning to their own country, the great +majority was compelled to rest satisfied with the government +offer, and so resolved to settle down in Ireland and turn +farmers. But a serious difficulty met them: women could not be +induced to abandon their own country and go to dwell in the +sister isle, while the Irish girls, being all Catholics, a +decree of Parliament forbade the soldiers to marry them, unless +they first succeeded in converting them to Protestantism. After +many vain attempts, doubtless, the Cromwellian soldiers soon +found the impossibility of bringing the "refractory" daughters +of Erin to their way of thinking, and could find only one mode +of bridging over the difficulty--to marry them first, without +requiring then to apostatize; and secure their prize after by +swearing that their wives were the most excellent of Protestants. +Thus while perjury became an every-day occurrence, the +victorious army began to be itself vanquished by a powerful +enemy which it had scarcely calculated upon, and was utterly +unprepared to meet, and finally resting from its labors, enjoyed +the sweets of peace and the fat of the land. + +But woman, once she feels her power, is exacting, and in course +of time the Cromwellian soldiers found that further sacrifices +still were required of them, which they had never counted upon. +Their wives could, by no persuasion, be induced to speak English, +so that, however it might go against the grain, the husbands +were compelled to learn Irish and speak it habitually as best +they might. Their difficulties began to multiply with their +children, when they found them learning Irish in the cradle, +irresistible in their Irish wit and humor, and lisping the +prayers and reverencing the faith they had learned at their +mothers' knees. So that, from that time to this, the posterity +of Cromwell's "Ironsides," of such of them at least as remained +in Ireland, have been devoted Catholics and ardent Irishmen. + +The case was otherwise with the chief officers of the +parliamentary army, who had received large estates and could +easily obtain wives from England. They remained stanch +Protestants, and their children have continued in the religion +received with the estates which came to them from this wholesale +confiscation. But the bulk of the army, instead of helping to +form a Protestant middle class and a Protestant yeomanry, has +really helped to perpetuate the sway of the Catholic religion in +Ireland, and the feeling of nationality so marked to-day. This +very remarkable fact has been well established and very plainly +set forth, a few years ago, by eminent English reviewers. + +Meanwhile, Ireland was a prey to all the evils which can afflict +a nation. Pestilence was added to the ravages of war and the +woes of transplantation, and it raged alike among the conquerors +and the conquered. Friar Morrisson's "Threnodia" reads to-day +like an exaggerated lament, the burden of which was drawn from a +vivid imagination. Yet can there be little doubt that it +scarcely presented the whole truth; an exact reproduction of all +the heart-rending scenes then daily enacted in the unfortunate +island would prove a tale as moving as ever harrowed the pitying +heart of a reader. + +And all this suffering was the direct consequence of two things-- +the attachment of the Irish to the Catholic religion, and their +devotion to the Stuart dynasty. Modern historians, in +considering all the circumstances, express themselves unable to +understand the constancy of this people's affection for a line +of kings from whom they had invariably experienced, not only +neglect, but positive opposition, if not treachery. In their +opinion, only the strangest obliquity of judgment can explain +such infatuation. Some call it stupidity; but the Irish people +have never been taxed with that. Even in the humblest ranks of +life among them, there exists, not only humor, but a keenness of +perception, and at times an extraordinary good sense, which is +quick to detect motives, and find out what is uppermost in the +minds of others. + +There is but one reading of the riddle, consistent with the +whole character of the people: they clung to the Stuarts because +they were obedient to the precepts and duties of religion, and +labored under the belief, however mistaken, that from the +Stuarts alone could they hope for any thing like freedom. Their +spiritual rulers had insisted on the duty of sustaining at all +hazard the legitimate authority of the king, and they were +firmly convinced that they could expect from no other a +relaxation of the religious penal statutes imposed on them by +their enemies. The more frequent grew their disappointments in +the measures adopted by the sovereigns on whom they had set +their hopes, the more firmly were they convinced that their +intentions were good, but rendered futile by the men who +surrounded and coerced them. + +Religion can alone explain this singular affection of the Irish +people for a race which, in reality, has caused the greatest of +their misfortunes. + +The subsequent events of this strange history are in perfect +keeping with those preceding. A few words will suffice to sketch +them. + +On the death of Oliver Cromwell, his son Richard, being unable +and indeed unwilling to remain at the head of the English state, +the nation, tired of the iron rule of the Protector, fearful +certainly of anarchy, and preferring the conservative measures +of monarchy to the ever-changing revolutions of a commonwealth, +recalled the son of Charles I. to the throne. + +But a kind of bargain had been struck by him with those who +disposed of the crown; and he undertook and promised to disturb +as little as possible the vested interests created by the +revolution, that is to say, he pledged himself to let the +settlement of property remain as he found it. In England that +promise was productive of little mischief to the nation at large, +though fatal to the not very numerous families who had been +deprived of their estates by the Parliament. But, in Ireland, it +was a very different matter; for there the interests of the +whole nation were ousted to make room for these "vested +interests" of proprietors of scarcely ten years' standing. + +The Irish nobility and gentry, at first unaware of the existence +of this bargain, were in joyful expectation that right would at +last be done them, as it was for loyalty to the father of the +new king that they had been robbed of all their possessions. +They were soon undeceived. To their surprise, they learned that +the speculators, army-officers, and soldiers already in +possession of their estates, were not to be disturbed, short as +the possession had been; and that only such lands as were yet +unappropriated should be returned to their rightful owners, +provided only they were not papists, or could prove that they +had been "innocent papists." + +The consequences of this bargain are clear. The Irish of the old +native race who had been, as now appeared, so foolishly ardent +in their loyalty to the throne, were to be abandoned to the fate +to which Cromwell had consigned them, and could expect to +recover nothing of what they had so nobly lost. So flagrantly +unjust was the whole proceeding, that after a time many +Englishmen even saw the injustice of the decision, and lifted up +their voices in defence of the Irish Catholics who alone could +hope for nothing from the restoration of royalty. To put a stop +to this, the infamous "Oates" fabrication was brought forward, +which destroyed a number of English Catholic families and +stifled the voice of humanity in its efforts to befriend the +Irish race; and so sudden, universal, and lasting, was the +effect of this plot in closing the eyes of all to the claims of +the Irish, that when its chief promoter, Shaftesbury, was +dragged to the Tower and there imprisoned as a miscreant, and +Oates himself suffered a punishment too mild for his villany, +nevertheless no one thought of again taking up the cause of the +Irish natives. + +It is almost impossible in these days to realize what has +occupied our attention in this chapter. The unparalleled act of +spoliation by which four-fifths of the Irish nation were +deprived of their property by Cromwell because of their devotion +to Charles I., for the alleged reason that they could not prove +a constant good affection for the English regicide Parliament, +that spoliation was ratified by the son of Charles within a few +years after the rightful owners, who had sacrificed their +property for the sake of his father, had been dispossessed, +while the parliamentarians, who by force of arms had broken down +the power of Charles and enabled the members of the Long +Parliament to try their king and bring him to the block, those +very soldiers and officers were left in possession of their ill- +gotten plunder, at a time when many of the owners were only a +few miles away in Connaught, or even inhabiting the out-houses +of their own mansions, and tilling the soil as menial servants +of Cromwell's troopers. + +The case, apparently similar, which occurred in after-years, of +the French emigrant nobility, cannot be compared with the result +of this strange concession of Charles II. In fact, it may be +said that the spoliations of 1792-'93 in France would probably +never have taken place but for the successful example held up to +the eyes of the legislators of the French Republic by the +English Revolution. + +As for the share which Charles II. himself bore in the measure, +it is best told by the fact that the work of spoliation was +carried on so vigorously during the reign of the "merry monarch," +that when a few years later William of Orange came to the +throne there was no land left for him to dispose of among his +followers save the last million of acres. All the rest had been +portioned off. Well might Dr. Madden say: "The whole of Ireland +has been so thoroughly confiscated that the only exception was +that of five or six families of English blood, some of whom had +been attainted in the reign of Henry VIII., but recovered +flourished ever since. Yet did they not refuse the accessory +with the principal. Deluded men they may be called by many; but +people cannot ordinarily understand the high motives which move +men swayed only by the twofold feeling of religion and nationality. + +Nothing in our opinion could better prove that the Irish were +really a nation, at the time we speak of, than the remarks just +set forth. When all minds are so unanimous, the wills so ready, +the arms so strong and well prepared to strike together, it must +be admitted that in the whole exists a common feeling, a +national will. Self-government may be wanting; it may have been +suppressed by sheer force and kept under by the most unfavorable +state of affairs, but the nation subsists and cannot fail +ultimately to rise. + +In those eventful times shone forth too that characteristic +which has already been remarked upon of a true conservative +spirit and instinctive hatred for every principle which in our +days is called radical and revolutionary. Had there existed in +the Irish disposition the least inclination toward those social +and moral aberrations, productive to-day of so many and such +widespread evils, surely the period of the English Revolution +was the fitting time to call them forth, and turn them from +their steady adherence to right and order into the new channels, +toward which nations were being then hurried, and which would +really have favored for the time being their own efforts for +independence. Then would the Irish have presented to future +historians as stirring an episode of excitement and activity as +was furnished by the English and Scotch at that time, by the +French later on, and which to-day most European nations offer. + +The temptation was indeed great. They saw with what success +rebellion was rewarded among the English and Scotch. They +themselves were sure to be stamped as rebels whichever side they +took; and, as was seen, Charles II. allowed his commissioners in +his act of settlement so to style them, and punish them for it-- +for supporting the cause of his father against the Parliament. + +Would it not have been better for them to have become once, at +least, rebels in true earnest, and reap the same advantage from +rebellion which all around them reaped? Yet did they stand proof +against the demoralizing doctrines of Scotch Covenanter and +English republican. Hume, who was openly adverse to every thing +Irish, is compelled to describe this Catholic people as "loyal +from principle, attached to regal power from religious education, +uniformly opposing popular frenzy, and zealous vindicators of +royal prerogatives." + +All this was in perfect accord with their traditional spirit and +historical recollections. Revolutionary doctrines have always +been antagonistic to the Irish mind and heart. This will appear +more fully when recent times come under notice, and it may be a +surprise to some to find that, with the exception of a few +individuals, who in nowise represent the nation, the latest and +favorite theories of the world, not only on religion, science, +and philosophy, but likewise on government and the social state, +have never found open advocates among them. They, so far, +constitute the only nation untouched, as yet, by the blight +which is passing over and withering the life of modern society. +Thus, it may be said that the exiled nobility still rules in +Ireland by the recollection of the past, though there can no +longer exist a hope of reconstructing an ancient order which has +passed away forever. The prerogatives once granted to the +aristocratic classes are now disowned and repudiated on all +sides; in Ireland they would be submitted to with joy tomorrow, +could the actual descendants of the old families only make good +their claims. It must not be forgotten that the Irish nobility, +as a class, deserved well of their country, sacrificed +themselves for it when the time of sacrifice came, and therefore +it is fitting that they should live in the memory of the people +that sees their traces but finds them not. The dream of finding +rulers for the nation from among those who claim to be the +descendants of the old chieftains, is a dream and nothing more; +but, even still to many Irishmen, it is within the compass of +reality, so deeply ingrained is their conservative spirit, and +so completely, in this instance, at least, are they free from +the influx of modern ideas. + +The Stuarts, then, were supported by the Irish, not merely from +religious, but also from national motives, inasmuch as that +family was descended from the line of Gaelic kings, and, however +unworthy they themselves may have been, their rights were upheld +and acknowledged against all comers. But, the Stuarts gone, +allegiance was flung to the winds. + +The success of Cromwell and his republic was the doom of all +prospects of the reunion of the two islands; and the subsequent +Revolution of 1688, which commenced so soon after the death of +the Protector, left the Irish in the state in which the +struggles of four hundred years with the Plantagenets and Tudors +had placed and left them in relation to their connection with +England--a state of antagonism and mutual repulsion, wherein the +Irish nation, the victim of might, was slowly educated by +misfortune until the time should come for the open +acknowledgment of right. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +A CENTURY OF GLOOM.--THE PENAL LAWS. + +William III., of Orange, was inclined to observe, in good faith, +the articles agreed upon at the surrender of Limerick, namely, +to allow the conquered liberty of worship, citizen rights, so +much as remained to them of their property, and the means for +personal safety recognized before the departure of Sarsfield and +his men. + +The lords justices even issued a proclamation commanding "all +officers and soldiers of the army and militia, and all other +persons whatsoever, to forbear to do any wrong or injury, or to +use unlawful violence to any of his Majesty's subjects, whether +of the British or Irish nation, without distinction, and that +all persons taking the oath of allegiance, and behaving +themselves according to law, should be deemed subjects under +their Majesties' protection, and be equally entitled to the +benefit of the law."--(Harris, "Life of William.") + +This first proclamation not having been generally obeyed, +another was published denouncing "the utmost vengeance of the +law against the offenders;" and the author above quoted adds +that "the satisfaction given to the Irish was a source of +lasting gratitude to the person and government of William." + +It is even asserted that, not only did the new monarch thus +ratify the treaty of Limerick, but that "he inserted in the +ratification a clause of the last importance to the Irish, which +had been omitted in the draught signed by the lords justices and +Sarsfield. That clause extended the benefits of the capitulation +to "all such as were under the protection of the Irish army in +the counties of Limerick, Clare, Kerry, Cork, and Mayo. A great +quantity of Catholic property depended on the insertion of this +clause in the ratification, and the English Privy Council +hesitated whether to take advantage of the omission. The honesty +of the king declared it to be a part of the articles." + +The final confirmation was issued from Westminster on February +24, 1692, in the name of William and Mary. + +But the party which had overcome the honest leanings of James I., +if he ever had any, and of his son and grandson, was at this +time more powerful than ever, and could not consent to extend +the claims of justice and right to the conquered. This party was +the Ulster colony, which Cromwell's settlement had spread to the +two other provinces of Leinster and Munster, and which was +confirmed in its usurpation by the weakness of the second +Charles. The motives for the bitter animosity which caused it to +set its face against every measure involving the scantiest +justice toward its fellow-countrymen may be summed up in two +words--greed and fanaticism. + +Until the time when the first of the Stuarts ascended the +English throne, all the successive spoliations of Ireland, even +the last under Elizabeth, at the end of the Geraldine war, were +made to the advantage of the English nobility. Even the younger +sons of families from Lancashire, Cheshire, and Dorsetshire, who +"planted" Munster after the ruin of the Desmonds, had noble +blood in their veins, and were consequently subject more or less +to the ordinary prejudices of feudal lords. The life of the +agriculturist and grazier was too low down in the social scale +to catch their supercilious glance. The consequence of which was, +that the Catholic tenants of Munster were left undisturbed in +their holdings. Instead of the "dues" exacted by their former +chieftains, they now paid rent to their new lords. + +But the rabble let loose on the island by James I. was afflicted +with no such dainty notions as these. To supercilious glances +were substituted eyes keen as the Israelites', for the "main +chance." The new planters, intent only on profit and gain, +thought with the French peasant of an after-date, that, for +landed estate to produce its full value, "there is nothing like +the eye of a master." The Irish peasant was therefore removed +from at least one-half the farms of Ulster, and driven to live +as best he might among the Protestant lords of Munster. And in +order to have an entirely Protestant "plantation," it became +incumbent on the new owners so to frame the legislation as to +deprive the Irish Catholics of any possibility of recovering +their former possessions. Thus, laws were passed declaring null +and void all purchases made by "Irish papists." + +Who has not witnessed, at some period in his life, the effect +produced on the people in his neighborhood by one avaricious but +wealthy man, intent only on increasing his property, and +profiting by the slavish labor of the poor under his control? +Who has not detested, in his inmost soul, the grinding tyranny +of the miser gloating over the hard wealth which he has wrung +from the misery and tears of all around him, and who boasts of +the cunning shrewdness, the success of which is only too visible +in the desolation that encircles him? Imagine such scenes +enacted throughout a large territory, beginning with Ulster, +spreading thence to Munster and Connaught, and finally through +the whole island, and we have an exact picture of the effects of +the Protestant "plantation." Each year, almost, of the +seventeenth century witnessed fresh swarms of these foreign +adventurers settling on the island, interrupted in their +operations only by the Confederation of Kilkenny, but +multiplying faster and faster after the destruction of that +truly national government, until at the time now under our +consideration, "Scotch thrift," as it is called, had become the +chief virtue of most of the owners of land--Scotch thrift, which +is but another name for greed. + +It were easy to show, by long details, that this great +characteristic of the new "plantation" would suffice to explain +that general and terrible pauperism which has since become the +striking feature of once-happy Ireland. But only a few words can +be allowed. + +It is the fanaticism of the new "planters" which will chiefly +occupy our attention. These were composed, first, of the Scotch +Presbyterians of Knox, whom James I. had dispatched, and +afterward of the ranting soldiers and officers of Cromwell's +army, more Jew than Christian, since their mouths were ever +filled with Bible texts of that particular character wherein the +wrath of God is denounced against the impious and cruel tribes +of Palestine. It is doubtful whether the ideas of God and man, +promulgated and spread among the people by Calvin and Knox, have +ever been equalled in evil consequences by the most +superstitious beliefs of ancient pagans. Let us look well at +those teachings. According to them, God is the author of evil: +he issues forth his decrees of election or reprobation, +irrespective of merit or demerit; inflicting eternal torments on +innumerable souls which never could have been saved, and for +whom the Son of God did not die. What any rational being must +consider as the most revolting cruelty and injustice, these men +called acts of pure justice executed by the hand of God. God +saves blindly those whom he saves, and takes them home to his +bosom, though reeking with the unrepented and unexpiated crimes +of their lives--unexpiable, in fact, on the part of man--merely +because they persuade themselves that they are of "the elect." + +In that system, man is a mere machine, unendowed with the +slightest symptom of free-will, but inflated with the most +overbearing pride; deeming all others but those of his sect the +necessary objects of the blind wrath of God, cast off and +reprobate from all eternity in the designs of Providence; for +whom "the elect" can feel no more pity or affection than +redeemed men can for the arch-fiend himself, both being alike +redeemless and unredeemed. + +No system of pretended religion, invented by the perverted mind +of man, under the inspiration of the Evil One, could go further +in atrocity than this. + +Yet such was the pure, undiluted essence of Calvinism in its +beginning. In our times its doctrines have been radically +modified, as its adherents could not escape the soothing +operations of time and calm reason. But, at the period of which +we speak, its absurd and revolting tenets were fresh, and taken +religiously to the letter. + +The new colonists, therefore, believed, and acted on the belief, +that all men outside of their own body were the enemies of God +and had God for their enemy. What a convenient doctrine for men +of an "itching palm! " The papists, in particular, were worse +than idolaters, and to "root them out" was only to render a +service to God. In the event of this holy desire not being +altogether possible of execution, the nearest approach to the +goodly work was to strip them of all rights, and render the life +of such reprobates more miserable than the death which was to +condemn them to the eternal torments planned out for them in the +eternal decrees, and so give them a foretaste here of the life +destined for them hereafter. + +The reader, then, may understand how the Scotch Presbyterians of +the time, overflowing as they were with free and republican +ideas as far as regarded their own welfare, when it came to a +question of extending the same to their Catholic fellow-men, if +they would have admitted the term, scouted such a preposterous +and ungodly idea. These latter were unworthy the enjoyment of +such benefit. And thus the hoot of Protestant ascendancy, +"Protestant liberty and right! " came up as war-cries to stifle +out all efforts tending to extend even the most ordinary +privileges of the liberty which is man's by nature, to any but +Protestants of the same class as themselves. + +Here a curious reflection, full of meaning, and causing the mind +almost to mock at the type of a free constitution, presents +itself. The eighteenth century witnessed the development of the +British Constitution as now known. It embraced in its bosom all +British citizens, raising up the nation to the pinnacle of +material prosperity, while at the same time and all through it, +whole classes of citizens of the British Empire, both in Great +Britain and Ireland, were openly, unblushingly, legally, without +a thought of mercy or pity--not to mention such an ugly word as +logic--denied the protection of the common charter and the +common rights. + +Under Cromwell the doctrines of Calvin and Knox did not show +themselves quite so obtrusively. The officers and soldiers of +his armies, in common with their general, thought the +Presbyterian Kirk too aristocratic and unbending. They formed a +new sect of Independents, now called Congregationalists. But the +chief feature of the new religious system became as productive +of evil to Ireland as the stern dogmas of Calvin ever could be. +The principle that the Scriptures constituted the only rule of +faith was beginning to bear its fruits. It is needless to remark +that Holy Scripture, when abandoned to the free interpretation +of all, becomes the source of many errors, as it may be the +source of many crimes. The historian and novelist even have ere +now frequently told us to what purpose the "Word of God " was +manipulated by Scottish Covenanter and Cromwellian freebooter. + +The Covenanter, or freebooter, saw in the antagonists of his +"real rebellion" and opposers of the designs of his dark policy, +only the enemies of God and the adversaries of his Providence. +He believed himself divinely commissioned to destroy Catholics +and butcher innocent women and children, as the armies of Joshua +were authorized to fight against Amalek, and possess themselves +of a country occupied by a people whose cruel idolatry was +ineradicable, and rendered them absolutely irreconcilable. Thus +to the stern and odious tenets of Calvinism the new invaders +joined the fanaticism of self-deluded Jews, never having +received any commission from the God whom they blasphemed, yet +bearing themselves with all the solemnity of his instruments. + +There is consequently nothing to surprise us in the atrocities +committed by the Scotch troops in 1641, when they first invaded +the island from the north, as little as there is in the numerous +massacres which first attended the march of the troops of +Cromwell, Ireton, and other leaders, and which were only +discontinued when the voice of Europe rose up in revolt at the +recital, and they themselves became thoroughly convinced that +the complete destruction of the people was impossible, and the +only next best thing to be done was to export as many as could +be exported and reduce the rest to slavery. + +Thus did the new colony commence its workings, and it is easy to +comprehend how such intensely Protestant doctrines, remaining +implanted in the breasts of the people who came to make Ireland +their home, could not fail to oppose an insurmountable barrier +to the fusion of the new and the old inhabitants, and impart a +fearful reality to the theory of "Protestant ascendancy" and +"Protestant liberty and right "--the liberty and right to +oppress those of another creed. + +These watchwords form the key to the understanding of all the +miseries and woes of Irishmen during the whole of the eighteenth +century. We now turn to contemplate the commencement of the +workings of this fanatic intolerance which ushered in the +century of gloom. + +The lords justices had just returned, after concluding the +treaty of peace with Sarsfield, when the first mutterings of the +thunder were heard that presaged the coming storm. Dr. Dopping, +the Protestant Bishop of Meath, while preaching before them on +the Sunday following their return to Dublin, reproached them +openly in Christ Church for their indulgence to the Irish, and +urged that no faith was to be kept with such a cruel and +perfidious race. This sort of doctrine has been heard before, +and from men of the stamp of Dr. Dopping; it is still heard +every day, but it is generally thrown into the teeth of +Catholics and saddled on them as their doctrine, however +frequently refuted. + +The doctor stated broadly that with such people no treaties were +binding, and that therefore the articles of Limerick were not to +be observed. + +William and his Irish government endeavored to check this +intemperance; but the feelings of the sectarians were too ardent +to be thus easily smothered, and the greater the opposition they +encountered, the more they insisted on proclaiming their views, +to which naturally they gained many adherents among the +colonists of the Protestant plantation. + +The Irish Parliament soon assembled in Dublin. The majority, +imbued with the gloomy Calvinism of the times, and fearing to +face the opposition of the respectable minority of Catholic +members, who had come to take their seats, passed an act +imposing a new oath, in contradiction to one of the articles of +the treaty. That oath included an abjuration of James's right de +jure, a renunciation of the spiritual authority of the Pope, and +(as though that were not enough to exclude Catholics) a +declaration against the doctrine of transubstantiation and other +fundamental tenets of their creed. Persons who refused to take +this oath were debarred from all offices and emoluments, as well +as from both Houses of the Irish Parliament. + +The Catholic members were compelled to withdraw at once; and no +Catholic ever took part in the legislation of his own country +from that day until the Emancipation in 1829. + +After this withdrawal, which in the times of the French +Convention would have been called an epuration, the Irish +Parliament became the bane of the country. In fact, it only +represented parliamentary England, and subjected Ireland to +every measure required by English ultraists for the attainment +of their selfish purposes. Possessed by a gloomy fanaticism, its +main object was to root out of the island every vestige that +remained of the religion which had once flourished there. All +its legislative spirit was concentrated in the two questions: +Are the laws already in existence against the further growth of +Popery rigidly enforced? and, cannot some new law be introduced +to further the same object.? + +Many a time were these two questions put in the assembly called +the Irish Parliament, until near the end of the eighteenth +thunder were heard that presaged the coming storm. Dr. Dopping, +the Protestant Bishop of Meath, while preaching before them on +the Sunday following their return to Dublin, reproached them +openly in Christ Church for their indulgence to the Irish, and +urged that no faith was to be kept with such a cruel and +perfidious race. This sort of doctrine has been heard before, +and from men of the stamp of Dr. Dopping; it is still heard +every day, but it is generally thrown into the teeth of +Catholics and saddled on them as their doctrine, however +frequently refuted. + +The doctor stated broadly that with such people no treaties were +binding, and that therefore the articles of Limerick were not to +be observed. + +William and his Irish government endeavored to check this +intemperance; but the feelings of the sectarians were too ardent +to be thus easily smothered, and the greater the opposition they +encountered, the more they insisted on proclaiming their views, +to which naturally they gained many adherents among the +colonists of the Protestant plantation. + +The Irish Parliament soon assembled in Dublin. The majority, +imbued with the gloomy Calvinism of the times, and fearing to +face the opposition of the respectable minority of Catholic +members, who had come to take their seats, passed an act +imposing a new oath, in contradiction to one of the articles of +the treaty. That oath included an abjuration of James's right de +jure, a renunciation of the spiritual authority of the Pope, and +(as though that were not enough to exclude Catholics) a +declaration against the doctrine of transubstantiation and other +fundamental tenets of their creed. Persons who refused to take +this oath were debarred from all offices and emoluments, as well +as from both Houses of the Irish Parliament. + +The Catholic members were compelled to withdraw at once; and no +Catholic ever took part in the legislation of his own country +from that day until the Emancipation in 1829. + +After this withdrawal, which in the times of the French +Convention would have been called an epuration, the Irish +Parliament became the bane of the country. In fact, it only +represented parliamentary England, and subjected Ireland to +every measure required by English ultraists for the attainment +of their selfish purposes. Possessed by a gloomy fanaticism, its +main object was to root out of the island every vestige that +remained of the religion which had once flourished there. All +its legislative spirit was concentrated in the two questions: +Are the laws already in existence against the further growth of +Popery rigidly enforced? and, cannot some new law be introduced +to further the same object.? + +Many a time were these two questions put in the assembly called +the Irish Parliament, until near the end of the eighteenth +Popery, and, in the next place, it makes evident the necessity +there is of cultivating and preserving a good understanding +among all Protestants in this kingdom."' + +Let the reader bear in mind that language such as this, and its +result in the shape of atrocious legislation, continued +throughout the whole of the eighteenth century in Ireland, and +he will find no difficulty in understanding the meaning of +Edmund Burke's words when he said : "The code against the +Catholics was a machine of wise and elaborate contrivance; and +as well fitted for the oppression, impoverishment, and +degradation of a people, and the debasement in them of human +nature itself, as ever proceeded from the perverted ingenuity of +man." And, elsewhere: "To render men patient under the +deprivation of all the rights of human nature, every thing which +could give them a knowledge and feeling of those rights was +rationally forbidden. To render humanity fit to be insulted, it +was fit that it should be degraded." + +But it is very pertinent to our purpose to give a sketch of +those good laws, as Wharton calls them, before seeing how the +Irish preferred to submit to them rather than lose their faith +by "conforming." The subject has been already investigated by +many writers, and of late far more completely than formerly. But +the authors never presented the laws as a whole, contenting +themselves, for the most part, by transcribing them in the +chronological order in which they were enacted, or, if +occasionally they endeavored to combine and thus present a more +striking idea of the effect which such laws must have produced +on the people, they were never, as far as is known to the writer, +reduced to a plan, and consequently fail to bring forth the +effect intended to be produced by them. + +It is impossible here to give the text of those various laws-- +impossible even to give a fairly accurate idea of the whole. +They shall be classified, however, to the best of our ability, +and as fully as circumstances permit. + +Mr. Prendergast seems to consider their ultimate object always +to have been the robbing of the Irish of their lands, or +securing the plunder if already in possession. That this was one +of the great objects always kept in view in their enactment, we +do not feel inclined to contest; but that it was their only or +even chief cause, we may be allowed to question, with the +greatest deference to the opinion of the celebrated author of +the often-quoted "Cromwellian Settlement." + +We believe those laws to have been produced chiefly by sectarian +fanaticism; or, if some of their framers, such as Lord Wharton, +possessed no religious feelings of any kind, and could not be +called fanatics, their intent was to pander to the real +fanaticism of the English people, as it existed at the time, and +particularly of the colony planted in Ireland, which hated +Popery to the death, and would have given all its possessions +and lands for the destruction of the Scarlet Woman. + +In order to attain the great result proposed, the aim of the +"penal statute" was one in its very complexity. For it had to +deal with complex rights, which it took away one after another +until the unity of the system was completed by the suppression +of them all. + +We classify these under the heads of political, civil, and human +rights. The result of the whole policy was to degrade the Irish +to the level of the wretched helots under Sparta, with this +difference: while the slaves of the Lacedaemonians numbered but +a few thousands, the Irish were counted by millions. + +The system, as a whole, was the work of time, and, under William +of Orange--even under Queen Anne--it had not yet attained its +maturity, though the principal and the severest measures were +carried and put in force from the very beginning. The ingenious +little devices regarding short and small leases, the possession +of valuable horses, etc., were mere fanciful adjuncts which the +witty and inventive legislators of the Hanoverian dynasty were +happy enough to find unrecorded in the statute-books, and which +they had the honor of setting there, and thus adding a new +piquancy and vigorous flavor to the whole dish. + +Toward the middle of the eighteenth century, the system may be +said to have reached its perfection. After that time it would, +in all likelihood, have been impossible to improve further, and +render the yoke of slavery heavier and more galling to the Irish. +The beauty and simplicity of the whole consisted in the fact +that the great majority of these measures were not decreed in so +many positive and express terms against Catholics in the form of +open and persecuting statutes. It was merely mentioned in the +laws that, to enjoy such and such a particular right, it was +necessary that every subject of the crown should take such and +such an oath, which no Catholic could take. Thus, the entire +Irish population was set between their religion and their rights, +and at any moment, by merely taking the oath, they were at +liberty to enjoy all the privileges which rendered the colonists +living in their midst so happy and contented, and so proud of +their "Protestant ascendency." + +It was hoped, no doubt, that, if at first and for a certain time, +the faith of the Irish would stand proof and prompt them to +sacrifice every thing held dear in life, rather than surrender +that faith, nevertheless, worn out at length, and disheartened +by wretchedness, unable longer to sustain their heavy burden, +they would finally succumb, and, by the mere action of such an +easy thing as recording an oath in accordance with the law, +though against their conscience, become men and citizens. It was +what the French Conventionalists of 1793 called "desoler la +patience" of their victims. + +This unholy hope was disappointed; and, with the exception of a +comparatively few weak Christians among their number, the nation +stood firm and preferred the "ignominy of the cross of Christ" +to the enjoyments of this perishable life. + +Their political rights were, as was seen, the first to be taken +away. The Parliament of 1691 required of its members the oath +referred to, and for the repudiation of which, all the Catholic +members were compelled at once to withdraw. But the contrivance +of swearing being found such an excellent instrument to use +against men possessed of a conscience, the ruling body--now +reduced to the former Protestant majority--required that the +same oath be taken by all electors, magistrates, and officers of +whatever grade, from the highest to the lowest in the land. + +The oath itself was an elastic formula, capable of being +stretched or contracted, according to circumstances, so that, by +the addition of an incidental phrase or two, it might be framed +to meet new exigencies, and give expression to the lively +imagination of ingenious members of Parliament. It would be +curious to collect an account of the variety of shapes it +assumed, and to comment on the different occasions which gave +rise to these different developments. A long history of +persecuting frenzy might thus be condensed into a commentary of +a comparatively few pages. Even at the so-called Catholic +Emancipation it was not abolished; on the contrary, it was +sacredly preserved, and two new formulas drawn up, the one for +the Protestant and the other for the Catholic members of the +legislature, Lords and Commons, and so it remains, to this day, +except that the most offensive clauses of the last century have +disappeared. + +Imagine, then, the spectacle offered by the island whenever an +election for representatives, magistrates, or petty officers, +took place; whenever those entitled to select holders of offices +which were not subject to election, made known the persons of +their choice. This vast array of aristocratic masters was chosen +from the ranks of the English colonists, and had for its avowed +object to preserve the Protestant ascendency, and consequently +grind under the heel of the most abject oppression the whole +mass of the population of the island. There was no other meaning +in all these political combinations and changes, recurring +periodically, and heralded forth by the voice of the press and +the thunder of the hustings. Politics in Ireland was nothing +else than the expression given to the despotism of an +insignificant minority over almost the entire body of the people. +For, despite all their repressive measures, the enemies of the +Catholic faith could never pretend even to a semblance in point +of numbers, much less to a majority, over the children of the +creed taught by Patrick. Ireland remained Catholic throughout; +and its oppressors could not fail to feel the bitter humiliation +of their constant numerical inferiority. Hence the words quoted +in the speech of Wharton, the lord-lieutenant. + +This has always been the case, in spite of the combination of a +multitude of circumstances adverse to the spread of the Catholic +population. It may not be amiss to give room for the statistics +and remarks of Abbe Perraud on this most interesting subject, +contained in his book on "Ireland under British rule." + +"In 1672, the total population of Ireland was 1,100,000 (it is +to be remembered that this was after the massacres and +transportations of Cromwell's period). Of that number + + 800,000 were Catholics. + 50,000 " Dissenters. + 150,000 " Church-of-Ireland men. + +"In 1727, the Anglican Primate of Ireland, Boulter, Archbishop +of Armagh, wrote to his English colleague, the Archbishop of +Canterbury, that 'we have, in all probability, in this kingdom, +at least five Papists for every Protestant.' Those proportions +are confirmed by official statistics under Queen Anne. + +"In 1740, according to a kind of official census, confirmed by +Wakefield, the number of Protestant heads of families did not +exceed 96,067. + +"Twenty-six years later, the Dublin House of Lords caused a +comparative table of Protestant and Catholic families to be +drawn up for each county. The result was the following: + +Protestant families . . 130,263 +Catholic families . . 305,680 + +"In 1834, exact statistical returns being made of the members of +each communion, the following was the result: The total +population being estimated at 7,943,940, the Church-of-Ireland +members amounted only to the number of 852,064. The remaining 7, +091,876 were thus divided: + +Presbyterians . . . . . . 642,350 +Other Dissenters . . . . 21,808 +Catholics . . . . . . . 6,427,718 + +"The censuses of 1841 and 1851 contained no information upon +this important question. Thirty years had therefore elapsed +since official figures had given the exact proportions of each +Church. + +"This silence of the Blue Books had given rise, among the +Protestant press of England and Ireland, to the opinion, too +hastily adopted on the Continent by publicists of great weight, +that emigration and famine had resulted in the equalization of +the numbers of Protestants and Catholics in Ireland. The evident +conclusion joyfully drawn from this supposed fact by the +defenders of the Anglican Church was, that the scandal of a +Protestant establishment in the midst and at the expense of a +Catholic people was gradually dying away. + +"The forlorn hope of the Tory and Orange press went still +further. They boldly disputed Ireland's right to the title of +Catholic. So, although, ten years and twenty years before, these +same journals furiously opposed the admission of religious +denominations into the statistics of the census, yet, when the +census of 1861 drew near, they quite as loudly demanded its +insertion. They made it a matter of challenge to the Catholics. + +"The ultramontane journals accepted the challenge. The Catholics +unanimously demanded a denominational census. The results were +submitted to the representatives of the nation in July, 1861. No +shorter, more decisive, or more triumphant answer could have +been given to the sarcasms and challenges of the old Protestant +party." + +We confine ourselves here to the total sums, leaving out minor +details: + +Catholics . . . . . . . . 4,490,583 +Establishment . . . . . . 687,661 +Dissenters . . . . . . . 595,577 +Jews . . . . . . . . . . 322 + +Thus in this century, as throughout the whole of the century of +gloom, the island is truly and really Catholic. + +By way of contrast, a few words on the same subject may not be +out of place with reference to England. We have already stated, +and given some of the reasons for so doing, that, at the death +of Elizabeth, England was already Protestant to the core. + +In his "Memoirs," vol. ii., Sir John Dalrymple has published a +curious official report of the numbers of Catholics in England, +in the reign of William of Orange, found after his death in the +iron chest of that vigilant monarch. From this authentic +document we take the following extract: + +Number of Freeholders in England.1 (1 Dr. Madden's "Penal Laws.") + + Conformists. Papists. Non-Conformists. +Province of +Canterbury, 2,123,362 93,151 11,878 + +Province of +York, 353,892 15,525 1,978 + +Totals 2,477,254 108,676 13,856 + +It is known also that, under George III., the number of +Catholics in the whole of Great Britain did not exceed sixty +thousand, so thorough had been the separation of England from +the true Church. + +To return to the ostracism of a whole nation from its political +rights. No individual really belonging to it could take the +slightest share in the administration of its affairs. They were +all left to the control of aliens, whose boast it was that they +were English; and whose chief object was to secure English +ascendency, and subject every thing Irish to the rule of force. + +Yet all this while a new era was dawning on the world; a +multitude of voices were proclaiming new social and political +doctrines; all were to be free, to possess privileges that might +not be intrenched upon--to wit, a voice in the affairs of the +nation, trial by their peers, no taxation without due +representation, and the like--while a whole nation by the +unanimous consent of the loudest of these freedom-mongers was +excluded from every benefit of the new ideas, was literally +placed in bondage, and left without the possibility of being +heard and admitted to the enjoyment of the common rights, +because the one voice which would have declared in their favor, +which in former times had so often and so loudly spoken, when so +to speak was to offend the powers of this world, was deprived of +the right of being heard. The doctrine that the Papal supremacy +was a usurpation, and the Pope himself an enemy of freedom, was +laid down as a cardinal principle. After such public +renunciation of former doctrines, all these new and so-called +liberal theories were a mere delusion and a snare. There was no +possibility of effectually securing freedom, in spite of so much +promised to all and granted to some; no possibility of really +protecting the rights of all. The public right newly proclaimed +ended finally in might. Majorities ruled despotically over the +minorities, and, as the despotism of the multitude is ever +harsher and more universal than that of any monarch, the reign +of cruel injustice was let in upon Ireland. And in her case the +injustice was peculiarly aggravated, inasmuch as it was a small +alien minority which trampled under foot the rights of a great +native majority. + +But, although the deprivation of political rights is perhaps +more fatal to a nation than that of any other, on account of +what follows in its train, particularly in the framing of the +laws, nevertheless the deprivation of civil rights is generally +more acutely felt, because the grievances resulting from it meet +man at every turn, at every moment of his life, in his household +and domestic circle. In fact, the penal laws stripped Catholics +of every civil right which modern society can conceive, and it +was chiefly there that the ingenuity of their oppressors labored +during the greater part of a century to make a total wreck of +Irish welfare. + +Those rights may be classified generally as the right of +possessing and holding landed property, the right of earning an +honorable living by profession or trade, the right of protection +against injustice by equal laws, the right of fair trial before +condemnation: such are the chief. It is doubtful if there is any +thing of importance left of which a citizen can be deprived, +unless indeed he be openly and unjustly deprived of life. + +It has been already indicated how the policy of England, with +regard to Ireland, from that first invasion, in the time of +Henry II., was prompted by the desire of gaining possession of +the soil, and how after seven hundred years of struggle it +succeeded in attaining its object; so that the whole island had +been confiscated, and in some instances two or three times over. +The object of the penal laws, therefore, could not be to deprive +the Irish of the land which they no longer possessed, but to +prevent them acquiring any land in any quantity whatever, and +from reentering into possession, by purchase or otherwise, of +any portion of their own soil and of the estates which belonged +to their ancestors. So harsh and cunning a design, we doubt not, +never entered the minds of any former legislators, even in pagan +antiquity. + +The great stimulus to exertion in civil society consists of the +acquisition of property, chiefly of land. In feudal times +seignorial estates could be purchased by none but those of noble +blood; but with allodial estates it was different all through +Europe. Yet just at the time when feudal laws were passing into +disuse the Irish were prevented, by carefully-drawn enactments, +from purchasing even a rood of their native soil. "The +prohibition had been already extended to the whole nation by the +Commonwealth government, and when the lands forfeited by the +wars of 1690 came to be sold at Chichester House in 1703, the +Irish were declared by the English Parliament incapable of +purchasing at the auction, or of taking a lease of more than two +acres."--(Prendergast.) + + +The same author adds in a note: "But it was when the estate was +made the property of the first Protestant discoverer, that +animation was put into this law. Discoverers then became like +hounds upon the scent after lands secretly purchased by the +Irish. Gentlemen fearing to lose their lands, found it now +necessary to conform--namely, to abjure Catholicism. Between +1703 and 1709 there were only thirty-six conformers in Ireland; +in the next ten years (after the Discovery Act), the conformists +were one hundred and fifty." + +But the full object was not only to prevent the Irish from +becoming even moderately rich in land; they were to be reduced +to actual pauperism. Hence the prohibitory laws did not stop at +this first outrage; almost impossible occurrences were supposed +and provided for, lest there might be a chance of their +realization at some time. It was actually provided that, if the +produce of their farms brought a greater profit to the Irish +than was expected, notwithstanding all these measures against +the possible occurrence of such an evil, the lease was void, and +the "discoverer" should receive the amount. + +There was no loop-hole by which the people might escape from +this degradation. But there was still the chance left of +engaging in trade, acquiring personal property by its practice, +and becoming the owners of a sum of money in bank, or of a +dwelling-house in the city. The English law of succession was +understood to be a law for all, and consequently, in some out-of- +the-way cases, a stray Irish family might be found in course of +time with an elder branch possessed of a fair amount of property, +and able to emerge from the dead level of the common misery. +Such a possibility could not of course be permitted by the +English colonists who ruled the land. So the law of gavelkind, +to which the Irish had at one time been so attached, was now to +be forced upon them, and upon them alone of all the British +subjects. It was decreed that, upon the death of every Irishman, +whatever of personal property he left behind him was to be +divided equally among all his children, who, being generally +numerous, would each receive but a trifle, and so perpetrate the +pauperism of the race. + +Where the surprise, then, in finding the whole nation reduced +since that time to a state of the most abject poverty? It was +the will of the rulers that so it should be, and their scheme, +guarded and enforced by so many legislative acts, could not fail +to succeed in producing the effect intended. Granting even the +smallest amount of truth in what is so often flung at the Irish +as a reproach--their carelessness and want of foresight--how +could it be otherwise, to what cause can such failings, even if +they exist, be assigned, save to the utter impossibility of +succeeding in any effort which they chose to make? + +The true origin of the state in which the Irish at home now +appear to the eyes of foreign travellers, is the deliberate +intention, sternly acted upon for more than a century, to make +the island one vast poorhouse. + +The wretched situation in which they have ever since remained, +confessed by all to be without parallel on earth, is certainly +not to be laid at the door of the present population of England, +nor even to the colony still intrenched on Irish soil; but with +what right can it be brought forward as a reproach against the +Irish themselves, when its real cause is so evident, and when +history speaks so plainly on the subject? + +All sensible Englishmen of our days will readily acknowledge +that, without indulging in mutual recrimination, the duty of all +is to repair the injuries of the past, and to do away with the +last remnants of its sad consequences. Wounds so deep and many +in a nation cannot be healed by half measures; and it is only a +thorough change of system, and a complete reversal of +legislation, that can leave the English of to-day without +reproach. + +Pauperism, then, is the necessary misfortune, not the crime of +Ireland; we may even go further, and assert that, if millions of +Irishmen have lived and died paupers, owing to the barbarous +laws enacted for that special purpose, few indeed among them +have been reduced even by hard necessity and the extreme of +misery to manifest a pauper spirit and a miserly bent. + +There is no doubt that the almost invariable result of suffering +and want is to create selfishness in the sufferer, and cause him +to cling desperately to the little he may possess. Self +preservation and self-indulgence, in such a case, form the law +of human nature, and no one even expects to find a really poor +man generous, when he can scarcely meet his bare necessities and +the imperious wants of his family. It is the peculiarity of the +Irish to know how to combine generosity with the deprivation +almost of the common necessaries of life. When masters of their +own soil, a large hospitality and a free-handed "bestowing of +gifts"--such, we believe, was the Irish expression--was +universal among them; the poorest clansman would have been +ashamed not to imitate, in his degree, the liberal spirit of his +prince. They often gave all they had, regardless of the future; +and, when their chieftains demanded of the clansmen what the +Book of Rights imposed upon them, their exclamation was, "Spend +me but defend me." + +Though the people of Erin have been reduced to the sad necessity +of forgetting that old proverb of the nation, the spirit which +gave rise to it lives in their hearts and is proved by their +deeds. What other nation, even the richest and most prosperous, +could have accomplished what the world has seen them bring to- +pass during this century? The laws which, so long ago, forbade +them to be generous, and prohibited them from providing openly +for the worship of their God, for the education of their +children, for the help of the sick and needy among them, have at +last been made inoperative by their oppressors. But, when they +were at length left free to follow the freedom and generosity of +their hearts, they found--what? In their once beautiful and +Christian country, a universal desolation; the blackened ruins +of what had been their abbeys, churches, hospitals, and asylums; +the very ground on which they stood stolen away from them, and +the Protestant establishment in full enjoyment of the revenues +of the Catholics. They found every thing in the same state that +they had known for centuries. Nothing was restored to them. They +were at liberty to spend what they did not possess, since they +were as poor as men could be. Every thing had to be done by them +toward the reestablishing of their churches, schools, and +various asylums, and they had nothing wherewith to do it. + +There is no need of going item by item over what they did. The +present prosperous state of the Irish Catholic public +institutioris-- churches, schools, and all--is owing to their +poorly-filled pockets. God alone knows how it all came about. We +can only see in them the poor of Christ, rich in all gifts, +"even alms-deeds most abundant." + +It is only too evident that the degradation which the English +wished to fasten upon them forever, could not be accomplished +even by the measures best adapted to debase a people. The Celtic +nature rose superior to the dark designs of the most ingenious +opponents, and continued as ever noble, generous, and +openhearted. Nevertheless, the sufferings of the victims were at +times unutterable; and one of the inevitable effects of such +tyrannical measures soon made itself fearfully active and +destructive in the shape of those periodical famines which have +ever since devastated the island. + +In the days of her own possession, there was never mention of +famine there. The whole island teemed with the grain of her +fields, consumed by a healthy population, and was alive with +vast herds of cattle and flocks of sheep. What were the heca- +tombs of ancient Greece compared with the thousands of kine +prescribed annually by the Book of Rights? Who ever heard of +people perishing of want in the midst of abundance such as this? +Even during the fiercest wars, waged by clan against clan, we +often see the image of death in many shapes, but never that of a +large population reduced to roots and grass for food. + +When, later on, the wars of the Reformation transformed Munster +into a wilderness, and we read for the first time in Irish +history of people actually turning green and blue, according to +the color of the unwholesome weeds they were driven to devour in +order to support life, at least it was in the wake of a terrible +war that famine came. It was reserved for the eighteenth century +to disclose to us the woful spectacle of a people perishing of +starvation in the midst of the profoundest peace, frequently of +the greatest plenty, the food produced in abundance by the labor +of the inhabitants being sold and sent off to foreign countries +to enrich absentee landlords. Nay, those desolating famines at +last grew to be periodical, so that every few years people +expected one, and it seemed as though Ireland were too barren to +produce the barely sufficient supply of food necessary for her +scanty population. The people worked arduously and without +intermission; the land was rich, the seasons propitious; yet +they almost constantly suffered the pangs of hunger, which +spread sometimes to wholesale starvation. This was another +result of those laws devised by the English colonists to keep +down the native population of the island, and prevent it from +becoming troublesome and dangerous. Such was the effect of the +humane measures taken to preserve the glory of Protestant +ascendency, and secure the rights and liberties of a handful of +alien masters. + +It is proper to describe some of those awful scourges, which +have never ceased since, and at sight of which, in our own days, +we have too often sickened. For the Emancipation of 1829 was far +from removing all the causes of Irish misery. On the 17th of +March, 1727, Boulter, the Protestant Archbishop of Armagh, wrote +to the Duke of Newcastle: "Since my arrival in this country, the +famine has not ceased among the poor people. The dearness of corn +last year was such that thousands of families had to quit their +dwellings, to seek means of life elsewhere; many hundred perished." + +At the same period Swift wrote: "The families of farmers who pay great +rents, live in filth and nastiness, on buttermilk and potatoes." + +The following is a short and simple description of the famine of +1741, given by an eye-witness, and copied by Matthew O'Connor +from a pamphlet entitled "Groans of Ireland," published in the +same year: + +"Having been absent from this country some years, on my return +to it last summer, I found it the most miserable scene of +distress that I ever read of in history. Want and misery on +every face, the rich unable to relieve the poor, the roads +spread with dead and dying bodies; mankind the color of the +docks and nettles which they fed on; two or three, sometimes +more, on a car, going to the grave for want of bearers to carry +them, and many buried only in the fields and ditches where they +perished. The universal scarcity was followed by fluxes and +malignant fevers, which swept off multitudes of all sorts, so +that whole villages were laid waste. If one for every house in +the kingdom died--and that is very probable--the loss must be +upward of four hundred thousand souls. If only half, a loss too +great for this ill-peopled country to bear, as they are mostly +working people. When a stranger travels through this country, +and beholds its wide, extended, and fertile plains, its great +flocks of sheep and black cattle, and all its natural wealth and +conveniences for tillage, manufacture, and trade, he must be +astonished that such misery and want should be felt by its +inhabitants." + +At the time these lines were written, the astonishment was +sincere, and the answer to the question "How can this be?" +seemed impossible; the phenomenon utterly inexplicable. In our +own days, when this same picture of woe has been so often presented +in the island, the reasons for it are well known; and what seems +inexplicable is that, the cause being so clear, and the remedy +so simple, the remedy has not yet been thoroughly applied. + +In 1756 and 1757, the same scenes were repeated, with the same +frightful results. Charles O'Connor, at that time the champion +of his much- abused countrymen, wrote thus, in his letter to Dr. +Curry, May 21, 1756: + +"Two-thirds of the inhabitants are perishing for want of bread; +meal is come to eighteen-pence a stone, and, if the poor had +money, it would exceed by--I believe--double that sum. Every +place is crowded with beggars, who were all house-keepers a +fortnight ago, and this is the condition of a country which +boasts of its constitution, its laws, and the wisdom of its +legislature." + +These words, although sweeping enough, and universally +applicable, are far from conveying to our minds, to-day, the +real picture of the state of the country. When the writer speaks +of "meal," it must be understood to mean rye, oats, and, barley; +and even this coarse and heavy food being, as he remarks, +inaccessible to the poor, potatoes had become the only bread of +the country, and the inhabitants were perishing for the want of it. + +For the first time in the history of the two nations, the +English Government thought of relieving the distress of the +people, and to this purpose applied the magnificent sum of +twenty thousand pounds. Such was the generous amount granted by +a wealthy and prosperous country to procure food for the +inhabitants of an island as large as Ireland is known to be. As +to effecting any change in the laws, which were really the cause +of this unutterable misery, such an idea never entered into the +heads of the legislators. Hence it is not surprising to hear +that "the distress in the interior of the country revived the +frightful image of the miseries of 1741, nor did the calamity +cease, until the equilibrium between the population and the +means of subsistence was restored by the accumulated waste of +famine and pestilence;" that is to say, until all those had been +destroyed whom the laws of the time could, as they had been +designed to do, destroy. + +These details appear calculated only to shock the feelings of +the reader, already sufficiently acquainted with the lot of the +Irish cottier and laborer, from the beginning of the last +century. Nevertheless, we cannot close this part of our subject +without giving publicity to the following description of the +mass of the Irish population in 1762, by Matthew O'Connor: + +"The popery laws had, in the course of half a century, +consummated the ruin of the lower orders. Their habitations, +visages, dress, and despondency, exhibited the deep distress of +a people ruled with the iron sceptre of conquest. The lot of the +negro slave, compared with that of the Irish helot, was +happiness itself. Both were subject to the capricious cruelty of +mercenary task-masters and unfeeling proprietors; but the negro +slave was well-fed, well clothed, and comfortably lodged. The +Irish peasant was half starved, half naked, and half housed; the +canopy of heaven being often the only roof to the mud-built +walls of his cabin. The fewness of negroes gave the West India +proprietor an interest in the preservation of his slave; a +superabundance of helots superseded all interest in the comfort +or preservation of an Irish cottier. The code had eradicated +every feeling of humanity, and avarice sought to stifle every +sense of justice. That avarice was generated by prodigality, the +hereditary vice of the Irish gentry, and manifested itself in +exorbitant rack-rents wrung from their tenantry, and in the low +wages paid for their labor. Since the days of King William, the +price of the necessaries of life had trebled, and the day's hire- +-fourpence-- had continued stationary. The oppression of tithes +was little inferior to the tyranny of rack-rents; while the +great landholder was nearly exempt from this pressure, a tenth +of the produce of the cottier's labor was exacted for the +purpose of a religious establishment from which he derived no +benefit. . . . The peasant had no resource: not trade or +manufactures--they were discouraged; not emigration to France-- +the vigilance of government precluded foreign enlistment; not +emigration to America --his poverty precluded the means. Ireland, +the land of his birth, became his prison, where he counted the +days of his misery in the deepest despondency." + +Is it to be wondered at that conspiracies, secret associations, +and insurrections, were the result; or should the wonder be that +such commotions were less universal and prolonged? + +The craving of hunger is perpetual in Ireland. Multitudes of +details from a multitude of different and independent sources +might be brought forward to show this. + +Duvergier de Hauranne, a Frenchman who visited the island in +1826, writes: "Ireland is the land of anomalies; the most +deplorable destitution on the richest of soils. . . . Nowhere +does man live in such wretchedness. The Irish peasant is born, +suffers, and dies--such is life for him." + +In 1836, Dr. Doyle, Bishop of Kildare, being asked what was the +state of the population, wrote: "What it has always been; people +are perishing as usual." + +In 1843, Mr. Thackeray, as little a friend to Ireland as he was +a foe to his own country, recounting what he saw in his travels, +said that, in the south and west of the island, the traveller +had before him the spectacle of a people dying of hunger, and +that by millions, in the very richest counties. + +There is no need of repeating what has been written of the +fearful scourge that swept over the country in 1846 and 1847. +The details are too harrowing. At last even the London Times had +to acknowledge the cause of these calamities: "The ulcer of +Ireland drains the resources of the empire. It was to be +expected that it should be so. The people of England have most +culpably and foolishly connived at a national iniquity. Without +going back beyond the Union (in 1800), and only within the last +half-century, it has been notorious all that time that Ireland +was the victim of an unexampled social crime. The landlords +exercise their rights there with a hand of iron, and deny their +duty with a brow of brass. Age, infirmity, sickness, every +weakness, is there condemned to death. The whole Irish people is +debased by the spectacle and contact of beggars and of those who +notoriously die of hunger; and England stupidly winked at this +tyranny. We begin now to expiate a long curse of neglect. Such +is the law of justice. If we are asked why we have to support +half the population of Ireland, the answer lies in the question +itself; it is that we have deliberately allowed them to be +crushed into a nation of beggars!" + +The writers of the Times laid the true cause of that appalling +misfortune at the door of the landlords. They would not trace +back the origin of the evil beyond 1800: they could not or would +not appreciate the Christian heroism displayed by the nation +while under the infliction of such a fatal scourge. But it must +not be forgotten by all admirers of virtue that, in the midst of +a distress which baffles description, many of the victims of +famine were at the same time martyrs to honesty and faith. "Come +here and let us die together," said a wife to her husband, +"rather than touch what belongs to another." + +The civil right of acquiring land and enjoying its products has +so far been the only one considered by us; and the subject has +been entered upon at some length, as agriculture has at all +times formed the chief occupation of the Irish people. But the +penal laws embraced many other objects; and, as their intent was +evidently to debase the people and reduce it to a state of +actual slavery and want, other civil rights were equally invaded +by their tyrannical provisions. + +A portion of the population in all countries devotes itself to +the intellectual pursuits necessary for the life of every +cultivated nation. Whoever chooses must have the right of +devoting his life to the professions of medicine and law, of +entering the Church or the army, if his tastes run in any one of +those directions. Not so in Catholic Ireland. The oath to be +taken by every barrister prevented the Catholic Irishman from +devoting his powers to such a purpose. There was only one Church +for him, and that one proscribed. In the army not only could he +not attain to any rank, but he was not allowed to enter it even +as a private, the holding of a musket being prohibited to him. +So that, through mere fanatical hatred of every thing Catholic, +England deprived herself for a whole century of the services of +a people, forming to-day more than half of her army and navy, +whose efforts have helped to cover her flag with honor, and +whose memorable absence from the English ranks at Fontenoy wrung +that bitter expression from the heart of George II. when the +victorious tide of the English battle was rolled back by the Irish +brigade, "Cursed be the laws which deprive me of such subjects!" + +These few words are enough to show that the penal laws were in +reality a decree of outlawry against the Irish--stamping them, +not as true subjects, but as mere slaves and helots, fit only to +be hewers of wood and drawers of water at the bidding of their +lords and masters. + +But there are mere human rights, inalienable in man, and sacred +among all nations, which were trampled upon in that desolated +land together with all inferior rights. Such are the rights of +worshipping God, of properly educating children, of preserving a +just subordination in the family and promoting harmony and +happiness among its members. These natural rights were more +openly and shamelessly violated, if that were possible, than all +others; and this in itself would have made the eighteenth +century one of gloom and woe for Irishmen. + +It was for their religion chiefly that the Irish had undergone +all the calamities and scourges which have been described. Had +they only, at the very beginning of the Reformation, bowed to +the new dogma of the spiritual supremacy of the English kings; +had they a little later accepted the Thirty-nine Articles of +Queen Elizabeth; had they, at a subsequent epoch, opined in +chorus with the Scotch Presbyterians, and given the Bible as +their authority for all kinds of absurdities and atrocities, +mental and moral; had they, in a word, as they remarked to +Sussex, changed their religion four times in twelve years, they +would have escaped the wrath of Henry VIII., the crafty and +cruel policy of Elizabeth, the shifty expediency of the Stuarts, +the barbarity of the Cromwellian era, and finally the ingenious +atrocities of the penal laws. + +Even if, in the midst of some of the extremities to which they +had been reduced, they had at any time resolved to conform and +take the oaths prescribed, all their miseries would have been at +an end, and their immediate admission to all the rights and +privileges of British citizens secured. From time to time, in +individual cases, they witnessed the sudden and magical effect +produced by conformity on the part of those who gave up +resistance altogether, and who, from whatever motive, bowed to +the inevitable conditions on which men were admitted to live +peaceably on Irish soil, and to the enjoyment of the blessings +of this life; such condition being the abjuration of Catholicity. +But so few were found to take advantage of this easy chance +forever held out to them, that a man might well wonder at their +constancy did he not reflect that they set their duty to God +above all things. The fact is patent--they had a conscience, and +knew what it meant. + +Having then surrendered their all for the sake of their religion, +the free exercise of that might at least have been left them; +and since the choice lay between the two alternatives of +enjoying the natural right of worshipping their God or +submitting to all the sacrifices previously mentioned (seemingly +the meaning of the various oaths prescribed by law), it can only +be looked upon as an additional cruelty to violently deprive +them of what they chose to preserve at all cost. But the authors +of the statutes did not see the matter in this light. They could +not lose such an opportunity of inflicting new tortures on their +victims; on the contrary, they would have considered all their +labor lost had they not endeavored to coerce the very thing +least subject to coercion, the religious feeling of the human +soul. Accordingly, the resolution was taken to deprive them of +every possible facility for the exercise of their religion, that +the fire within might give no sign of its warmth. + +True, the Irish Catholics were not, as the Christians under the +edicts of old Rome, to be summoned before the public courts and +there abjure their religion or die. It is strange that the +rulers of Ireland stopped short at this; that they invented +nothing in their laws at least equivalent, unless the statutes +that compelled every person under fine to be present at +Protestant worship on Sundays be interpreted to mean, what it +very much resembles, an attempt at coercion of the very soul. +Still there was no edict openly proscribing the name of Catholic, +and punishing its bearer with death. + +But the measures adopted and actually enforced were in reality +equivalent, and would more effectually than any pagan edict have +produced the same result, if the Irish race had shown the least +wavering in their traditional steadiness of purpose. + +The first of the measures devised for this end would have been +completely efficacious with any other people or race. It was a +twofold measure: 1. All bishops, priests, and monks, were to +depart from the kingdom, liable to capital punishment should +they return. 2. All laymen were to be compelled to assist at the +Protestant service every Sunday, under penalty of a fine for +each offence: the fine mounting with the repetition of the +offence, so that, in the end, it would reach an enormous sum. +Only let such a policy as this be persevered in for a quarter of +a century in any country on earth except Ireland, and, in that +country the Catholic religion will cease to exist. + +"The Catholic clergy," says Matthew O'Connor--and the reader +will remember he was a witness of what he described-- "submitted +to their hard destiny with Christian resignation. They repaired +to the seaport towns fixed for their embarcation, and took an +everlasting farewell of their country and friends, of every +thing dear and valuable in this world. Many of them were +descending in the vale of years, and must have been anxious to +deposit their bones with the ashes of their ancestors; they were +now transported to foreign lands, where they would find no fond +breast to rely upon, no 'pious tear' to attend their obsequies. +Yet their enemies could not deprive them of the consolations of +religion: that first-born offspring of Heaven still cheered them +in adversity and exile, smoothed the rugged path of death, and +closed their last faltering accents with benedictions on their +country, and prayers for their persecutors. + +"Such as were apprehended after the time limited for deportation, +were loaded with irons and imprisoned until transported, to +attest, on some foreign shore, the weakness of the government, +and the cruelty of their countrymen. Some few, disabled from age +and infirmities from emigration, sought shelter in caves, or +implored and received the concealment of Protestants, whose +humane feelings were superior to their prejudices, and who +atoned, in a great degree, by their generous sympathy, for the +wanton cruelty of their party. + +"The clause inflicting the punishment of death on such as should +return from exile was suited only for the sanguinary days of +Tiberius or Domitian, and shocked the humanity of an enlightened +age. William of Orange, whose necessities compelled him to give +his sanction to the clause, would never consent to its execution." + +Nevertheless, it was afterward enforced on several occasions, +and, during the whole century of penal laws, it not only +remained on the statute-book ad terrorem, but whatever clergyman +disregarded it could only expect to be treated with its utmost +rigor. From Captain South's account, it appears that in 1698 the +number of clergy in Ireland consisted of four hundred and ninety- +five regulars and eight hundred and ninety-two seculars; and the +number of regulars shipped off that year to foreign parts +amounted to four hundred and twenty-four--namely, from Dublin, +one hundred and fifty-three; from Galway, one hundred and ninety; +from Cork, seventy-five; and twenty-six from Waterford. + +But such a measure was of too sweeping a character to be carried +out to the letter; many of the proscribed priests, seculars for +the most part, escaped the pursuit of the government spies, and +remained concealed in the country. The bishops had all been +obliged to fly; but a few years later, under Anne, several +returned, for they knew that, without the exercise of their +religious functions, the Catholic religion must have perished; +and, in order that they might continue the succession of the +priesthood, confirm the children, and encourage the people to +stand firm in their faith, they ran the hazard of the gibbet. Of +this fact the persecutors soon became aware, and the Commons of +Ireland declared openly that "several popish bishops had lately +come into the kingdom, and exercised ecclesiastical jurisdiction +within the same, and continued the succession of the Romish +priesthood by ordaining great numbers of popish clergymen, and +that their return was owing to defect in the laws." + +To cover this defect, they invented the "registry law." They did +not state in express terms their intention of exporting them +again, but their object was clearly manifested by the subsequent +enactment of 1704. By the registry law "all popish priests then +in the kingdom should, at the general quarter sessions in each +county, register their places of abode, age, parishes, and time +of ordination, the names of the respective bishops who ordained +them, and give security for their constant residence in their +respective districts, under penalty of imprisonment and +transportation, and of being treated as 'high traitors' in case +of return." + +It is clear that, with the execution of this law, the exertions +of the police and of informers would have been superfluous, as +the clergy were compelled to act as their own police and inform +on themselves. The act, moreover, seems to have been prepared +with a view to another bill, which was soon after passed, for +total expulsion. It was therefore nothing else than a +preliminary measure devised to insure the success of this second +act, and prevent the recurrence of the former "defect in the +laws." + +A new explanatory statute was accordingly drawn up, requiring +the clergy to take the oath of abjuration before the 23d of +March, 1710, under the penalties of transportation for life, and +of high-treason if ever after found in the country. This bill, +then, set them the alternative of abandoning either their +country or their principles. + +At the same time, for the encouragement of informers, the +Commons resolved that "the prosecuting and informing against +papists was an honorable service." Never before had a like +declaration issued from any body in any nation, least of all by +legislators, in favor of the confessedly meanest of all +occupations; and it is doubtful if the most tyrannical of the +Roman Caesars would ever have thought of mentioning the +"honorable service" of the delatores whom they employed for the +speedy destruction of those whose wealth they coveted. "Genus +hominum," says Tacitus, "publico exitio repertum." + +While on this subject, it has been remarked that most of the +Irish informers amassed wealth by their bills of "discovery," +whereas those of the days of Tiberius generally fell victims to +their own artifices. + +The eagerness for blood-money tracked the clergy to their +loneliest retreats, and dragged them thence before persecuting +tribunals, by whose sentence they were doomed to perpetual +banishment. They must all have finally disappeared from the +island, if the people, at last grown indignant at such baseness +and cruelty, had not, by the loudness of their execrations, +checked the activity of the priest-hunters. Wherever they dared +show themselves, they were pelted with stones, and exposed to +the summary vengeance of a maddened people. + +The detestable "profession" became at last so infamous and +unprofitable that foreign Jews were almost the only ones found +willing to undertake this "honorable service;" and it is stated +in the "Historia Dominicana," that one Garzia, a Portuguese Jew, +was the most active of those human blood-hounds, and that, in +1718, he contrived to have seven of the proscribed clergy +detected and apprehended. + +We cannot speak of the most revolting measure ever intended to +be taken against Catholic priests; namely mutilation, so long +and with such energy denied by Protestants, who were themselves +indignant at the mere mention of it, but now clearly proved by +the archives of France, where documents exist showing that the +non-enactment of such an infamy was solely due to the severe +words of remonstrance sent to England by the Duke of Orleans, +regent of France during the minority of Louis XV. + +As late as the middle of the century, in 1744, a sudden increase +of rigor took place; intentions of conspiracy were ascribed to +Catholics as usual, and without any motive whatever, unless it +was caused by the sight of some religious houses, which had been +quietly and unobtrusively reopened during the few years previous. +All at once the government issued a proclamation for "the +suppression of monasteries, the apprehension of ecclesiastics, +the punishment of magistrates remiss in the execution of the +laws, and the encouragement of spies and informers by an +increase of reward." + +It was a repetition of the old story; a cruel persecution broke +out in every part of the island. From the country priests fled +to the metropolis, seeking to hide themselves amid the multitude +of its citizens. Others fled to mountains and caverns, and the +holy sacrifice was again offered up in lone places under the +bare heavens, with sentinels to watch for the "prowling of the +wolf," and no other outward dignity than that the grandeur of +the forest and the rugged mountains gave. + +In the cities the Catholics assisted at the celebration of the +divine mysteries in stable-yards, garrets, and such obscure +places as sheltered them from the pursuit of the magistrates. On +one occasion, while the congregation (assembled in an old +building) was kneeling to receive the benediction, the floor +gave way, and all were buried beneath the ruin; many were killed, +the priest among others; some were maimed for life, and +remained to the end of their lives monuments of the cruelty of +the government. The dead and dying, and the wounded, were +carried through the streets on carts; and the sad spectacle at +last moved the Protestants themselves to sympathy. The +government was compelled to give way, and allow the persecuted +Catholics to enjoy without further molestation the private +exercise of their religion. + +But that this was not a willing concession on the part of the +reigning power is manifest enough from the steady, unswerving, +contrary policy pursued until that time. It was simply forced to +give way to outraged public opinion, then openly opposed +throughout Europe to persecution for conscience' sake. + +With religion education was also proscribed. Already, under +William of Orange, had papist school-masters been forbidden to +teach, but the penalty of their disobedience to the law did not +go beyond a fine of a few pounds. So that the Irish youth could +still, with some precautionary prudence, find teachers of the +Greek and Latin languages, of mathematics, history, and +geography. In Munster particularly schools and academies of +literature flourished; the ardor of the people for the +acquirement of knowledge could not be balked by such paltry +obstacles as the laws of William III. + +But the Irish Parliament under Anne could not rest satisfied +with such mild measures. By the "Explanatory Act" of 1710, the +school-master in Ireland was subjected to the same punishment as +the priest whom he accompanied everywhere. Prison, +transportation, death itself, became the reward of teaching. And +in proportion as other laws, severer yet, prevented the people +from sending their children abroad to be educated, and these +laws were renewed occasionally and made more stringent and +effective, the result was the total impossibility of Catholic +children receiving any education higher than that of the house. + +The final result is known to all. The "hedge-school" was +established, that being the only way left of imparting +elementary knowledge; and it required Irish ingenuity and Irish +aptitude for shifts to invent such a system, for system it was, +and carry it through for so long a time. + +But even the last sanctuary of home was yet to be sacrilegiously +invaded; the most sacred of human rights could not be left to +the persecuted people, and the strongest bonds of family +affection were if possible to be broken asunder. What tyranny +had never yet dared attempt in any age or country was to become +a law in Ireland; and that holy feeling by which the members of +a family are held together, in obedence to one of the most +necessary and solemn commandments of God, could not be left +undisturbed in the bosom of an Irish child. The father's rule +over his children and the honor and love due by the child to its +parent, were, in fact, declared by English legislation of no +value, and fit subjects for cruel interference, introducing +irresistible temptation. + +Yes, by the laws enacted in the reign of Anne, the son was to be +set against the father, and this for the sake of religion! It +was a part of the Irish statutes, and for a long time it took +occasional effect, that any son of a Catholic who should turn +Protestant at any age, even the tenderest, should alone succeed +to the family estate, which from the day of the son's conversion +could neither be sold nor charged even with a debt of legacy. +From that same day the son was taken from his father's roof and +delivered into the custody of some Protestant guardian. No tie, +however sacred, no claim, however dear, was respected by those +statesmen, who at the very time were the loudest to boast of +their love for freedom, while trampling under foot the most +indispensable rights of Nature. + +The wickedest ingenuity of man could certainly not go beyond +this to debase, degrade, and destroy a nation. After +unprecedented calamities of former ages, we find millions of men +reduced by other men, calling themselves Christians, to a +condition of pagan helots, deprived of all rights and treated +more barbarously than slaves. And all the while they were +allowed, induced, encouraged to put an end to their misery by +simply saying one word, taking one oath, "conforming " as the +expression had it. Nevertheless they steadily refused to speak +that word, to take that oath, to conform; that is to say, to +abjure their religion. A few, weak in faith, or carried away by +sudden passion, a burst of despair, subscribe to the required +oath, assist as demanded at the religious services on Sunday, +suddenly rise to distinction, are sure of preserving their +wealth, or even enter into sole possession of the family +property, to the exclusion of all its other members. But such +rare examples, instead of rousing the envy of the rest, excite +only their contempt and execration. To them they are henceforth +apostates, renegades to their faith, cast out from the bosom of +the nation; and their countrymen hug their misery rather than +exchange it for honors and wealth purchased by broken honor, +lost faith, and cowardly desertion of the cause for which their +country was what it was. + +While the cowards were so few, and the brave men so many, the +latter constituting indeed the whole bulk of the people, they +were knit together as a band of brethren, never to be estranged +from each other. If any thing is calculated to form a nation, to +give it strength, to render it indestructible, imperishable, it +is undoubtedly the ordeal through which they passed without +shrinking, and out of which they came with one mind, one purpose, +animated by one holy feeling, the love of their religion, and +the determination to keep it at all hazard. + +Yes, at any moment throughout this long century, they might have +changed their condition and come out at once to the enjoyment of +all the rights dear to men, by what means is best expressed in +the few words of Edmund Burke: + +"Let three millions of people" (the number of Irishmen at the +time he spoke) "but abandon all that they and their ancestors +have been taught to believe sacred, and forswear it publicly in +terms most degrading, scurrilous, and indecent, for men of +integrity and virtue, and abuse the whole of their former lives, +and slander the education they have received, and nothing more +is required of them. There is no system of folly, or impiety, or +blasphemy, or atheism, into which they may not throw themselves, +and which they may not profess openly and as a system, +consistently with the enjoyment of all the privileges of a free +citizen in the happiest constitution in the world." + +Thus does the reason of man commend their constancy; but that +constancy required something more than human strength. God it +was who supported them. He alone could grant power of will +strong enough to uphold men plunged for so long a time in such +an abyss of wretchedness. To him could they cry out with truth: +"It is only owing to Divine mercy that we have not perished;" +misericordias Domini, quod non sumus consumpti! + +But human reason can better comprehend the effect produced on a +vast multitude of people by oppression so unexampled in its +severity. An immense development of manhood and self-dependence, +an heroic determination to bear every trial for conscience' sake, +and a certainty of succeeding, in the long-run, in breaking the +heavy chain and casting off the intolerable yoke --such was the +effect. + +It has been asserted by some authors, who have written on that +terrible eighteenth century in Ireland, that the spirit of the +people was entirely broken, that there was no energy left among +them, and that the imposition of burdens heavier still, were +such a thing possible, could scarcely elicit from them even the +semblance of remonstrance. It was only natural to think so; but, +in our opinion, this is only true of the external despondency +under which the people was bowed, but utterly false with respect +to a lack of mental energy. + +There certainly was no general attempt at insurrection on their +part; nor did they take refuge in that last resource of despair-- +death after a vain vengeance. If the writers referred to would +have preferred this last fatal resource of wounded pride, they +are right in their estimate of the Irish; but they forget that +the victims were Christians, and could lend no ear to a +vengeance which is futile and a despair which is forbidden. +There was a better course open before them, and they followed it: +to resign themselves to the will of a God they believed in and +for whom they suffered, and wait patiently for the day of +deliverance. It was sure to come; and if those then living were +doomed not to see that happy day, they knew that they would +leave it as an inheritance to their children. + +Those writers would doubtless have been satisfied of the +existence of a will among the people, and their conduct would +have met with greater approval, had the attempts of some +individuals at private revenge been more general and successful; +if the bands of Rapparees, White Boys, and others, had wrought +more evil upon their oppressors, although they could not prepare +them to renew the struggle on a large scale with better prospect +of success. + +But this could not be; success could never have been reached by +such a road, and it was useless to attempt it. At that time, +there existed no possibility of the Irish recovering their +rights by force. Meanwhile Providence was not forgetful of those +who were fighting the braver moral battle of suffering and +endurance for their religion. It was preparing the nation for a +future life of great purposes, by purifying it in the crucible +of affliction, and preserving the people pure and undebased. + +Nowhere has the period of calamity been so protracted and so +severe. Ireland stands alone in a history of wretchedness of +seven centuries' duration. She stands alone, particularly +inasmuch as, with her, the affliction has gone on continually +increasing until quite recently, unrefreshed by periods of +relief and glimpses of bright hope. The sinking spirits of the +people, it is true, have been buoyed up from time to time by +sanguine expectations; but only to find their expectations +crowned with bitter disappointment and sink deeper again in the +sea of their afflictions. + +Nevertheless, through all that time the Irish continued morally +strong, and ready at the right moment to leap into the stature +of giants in strength and resolution. How they did so will be +seen, and the simplicity of the explanation will be matter for +surprise. But it is fitting first to set in the strongest light +the assertion that the Irish were really debased by the +calamities of that age, that they possessed no self-dependence +at a time when that was the only thing left to them. + +This view is thus expressed in Godkin's "History of Ireland:" +"Too well did the penal code accomplish its dreadful work of +debasement on the intellects, morals, and physical condition of +a people sinking in degeneracy from age to age, till all manly +spirit, all virtuous sense of personal independence and +responsibility was nearly extinct, and the very features--vacant, +timid, cunning, and unreflective--betrayed the crouching slave +within." + +And the writer, a well-disposed Protestant, did not see how it +could well be otherwise, and took it for granted that every one +would admit the truth of his assertions without the slightest +hesitation. + +For he adds, a little farther on: "Having no rights of franchise- +-no legal protection of life or property--disqualified to handle +a gun, even as a common soldier or a game-keeper-- forbidden to +acquire the elements of knowledge at home or abroad--forbidden +even to render to God what conscience dictated as his due--what +could the Irish be but abject serfs? What nature in their +circumstances could have been otherwise? Is it not amazing that +any social virtue could have survived such an ordeal--that any +seeds of good, any roots of national greatness could have +outlived such a long tempestuous winter? " + +Still Mr. Godkin was mistaken; the Irish had suffered no +"debasement of the intellects, of the morals, not even of the +physical condition," notwithstanding the plenitude of causes +existing to bring such results about. + +Their intellect had been kept in ignorance. Unable to procure +instruction for their children, except by stealth and in +opposition to the laws, few of them could acquire even the first +elements of mental culture. But the intellect of a nation is not +necessarily debased on that account. As a general rule, it is +true that ignorance begets mental darkness and error, and will +often debase the mind and sink the intellectual faculties to the +lowest human level. But this happens only to people who, having +no religious substratum to rest upon, are left at the mercy of +error and delusions. One great thought, at least, was ever +present to their minds, and that thought was in itself +sufficient to preserve their intellect from being degraded; it +was this "Man is nobler than the brute and born to a higher +destiny." This truth was deeply engraved in their minds; and in +defence of it they battled, and fought, and bled, all down the +painful course of their history. + +Had the intellect of the nation been really debased, would not +their religious principles have been the first things to be +thrown overboard? Would they not have adopted unhesitatingly all +the tenets successively proposed to them by the various +"reformers" of England? What is truth, when there is no mind to +receive it? It requires a strong mind indeed to say, "I will +suffer every thing, death itself, rather thin repudiate what I +know comes from God." It is useless to dwell longer on these +considerations. The man who sees not in such an heroic +determination proof of a strong and noble mind may be possessed +of a great, but to common-sense people it will look like a very +limited intelligence. + +Mr. Godkin cannot have duly weighed his expressions when he +spoke of the debasement of morals among the Irish. It is no +hyperbole to speak of the nation as a martyr; a martyr in any +sense of the word: to the Christian, a Christian martyr. And yet +it is by that fact guilty of immorality, or, as he puts it, +debased in morals! The point is not worth arguing. But in +contrasting the two nations, the nation debased and the nation +that wrought its debasement, we are irresistibly reminded of the +words used by Our Lord in reference to John the Baptist, then in +prison and liable at any moment to be condemned to death: "What +went ye out in the desert to see? A man clothed in soft +garments? Lo! they that are clothed in soft garments dwell in +the houses of kings." + +If we would find a people really debased in morals, we must go +to those whose material prosperity breeds corruption and gives +to all the means of satisfying their evil passions. The orgies +of the Babylonians under their last king, of the effeminate +Persians later on, of the Roman patricians during the empire, +need no more than mention. The cause of the immorality +prevailing at these several epochs is well known, and has been +told very plainly by conscientious historians, some of them +pagans themselves. But, that a people ground down so long under +a yoke of iron, gasping for very breath, yet refusing to +surrender its belief and the worship of its God as its countless +saints worshipped him, to follow the wild vagaries of sectarians +and fanatics, should at the same time be accused of corruption +and debasement of its morals, is too much for an historian to +assert or a reader to believe. + +But, beyond all argument, it has been generally conceded, in +spite of prejudices, that the Irish, of all peoples, had been +preeminently moral and Christian. No one has dared accuse them +of open vice, however they may have been accused of folly. +Intemperance is the great foible flung at them by many who, +careful to conceal their own failings, are ever, ready to "cast +the first stone" at them. It would be well for them to ponder +over the rebuke of the Saviour to the accusers of the woman +taken in adultery; when perhaps they may think twice before +repeating the time-worn accusation. + +Coming to the "people sinking in degeneracy from age to age;" if +by this is meant that, for a whole century, many of them have +suffered the direst want and died of hunger, that scanty food +has impressed on many the deep traces of physical suffering and +bodily exhaustion, no one will dispute the fact, while the blame +of it is thrown where it deserves to be thrown. But it will be a +source of astonishment to find that, despite of this, the race +has not degenerated even physically; that it is still, perhaps, +the strongest race in existence, and that no other European, no +Englishman or Teuton, can endure the labor of any ordinary +Irishman. In the vast territory of the United States, the public +works, canals, roads, railways, huge fabrics, immense +manufactories, bear witness to the truth of this statement, and +the only explanation that can be satisfactorily given for this +strange fact is, that their morals are pure and they do not +transmit to their children the seeds of many diseases now +universal in a universally corrupt society. + +There remains the final accusation of the "very features-- +vacant, timid, cunning, and unreflective--betraying the +crouching slave within." + +Granting the truth of this--which we by no means do, every +school-geography written by whatever hand attesting the contrary +to-day--where would have been the wonder that they, subjected so +long to an unbending harshness and never-slumbering tyranny, +accustomed to those continual "domiciliary visits" so common in +Ireland during the whole of last century, dragged so often +before the courts of "justice," to be there insulted, falsely +accused, harshly tried and convicted without proof--were obliged +to be continually on their guard, to observe a deep reserve, the +very opposite to the promptings of their genial nature, to +return ambiguous answers, full, by the way, of natural wit and +marvellous acuteness? It was the only course left them in their +forlorn situation. They pitted their native wit against a +wonderfully devised legislation, and often came off the victors. +Suppose it were true, was it not natural that, under such a +system of unrelaxing oppression and hatred toward them, their +faces should be "vacant, timid, cunning, and unreflective, +betraying the crouching slave within?" + +Could they give back a proud answer, when a proud look was an +accusation of rebellion? Are prudence, cunning, and just reserve, +vacancy and want of reflection? The man who penned those words +should remember the choice of alternatives ever present to the +mind of an Irishman, however unjustly suspected or accused--the +probability of imprisonment or hanging, of being sent to the +workhouse or transported to the "American plantations." + +The Irishman must have changed very materially and very rapidly +since Mr. Godkin wrote. The features he would stamp upon him +might be better applied to the Sussex yokel or the English +country boor of whatever county. The generality of travellers +strangely disagree with Mr. Godkin. They find the Irishman the +type of vivacity, good humor, and wit; and they are right. For, +under the weight of such a load of misery, under the ban of so +terrible a fate, the moral disposition of the Irishman never +changed; his manhood remained intact. To-day, the world attests +to the same exuberance of spirits, the same tenacity of purpose, +which were ever his. This indeed is wonderful, that this people +should have been thus preserved amid so many causes for change +and deterioration. Who shall explain this mystery? What had they, +all through that age of woe, to give them strength to support +their terrible trials, to preserve to them that tenacity which +prevented their breaking down altogether? Something there was +indeed not left to them, since it was forbidden under the +severest penalties; something, nevertheless, to which they clung, +in spite of all prohibitions to the contrary. + +It was the Mass-Rock, peculiar to the eighteenth century, now +known only by tradition, but at that time common throughout the +island. The principal of those holy places became so celebrated +at the time that, on every barony map of Ireland, numbers of +them are to be found marked under the appropriate title of +"Corrigan-Affrion"--the mass-rock. + +Whenever, in some lonely spot on the mountain, among the crags +at its top, or in some secret recess of an unfrequented glen, +was found a ledge of rock which might serve the purpose of an +altar, cut out as it were by Nature, immediately the place +became known to the surrounding neighborhood, but was kept a +profound secret from all enemies and persecutors. There on the +morning appointed, often before day, a multitude was to be seen +kneeling, and a priest standing under the canopy of heaven, amid +the profound silence of the holy mysteries. Though the surface +of the whole island was dotted with numerous churches, built in +days gone by by Catholics, but now profaned, in ruins, or +devoted to the worship of heresy, not one of them was allowed to +serve for a place where a fraction even of the bulk of the +population might adore their God according to the rites approved +of by their conscience. Shut off from these temples so long +hallowed by sweet remembrance as the spots once occupied by the +saints and consecrated to the true worship of their God, this +faithful nation was consecrating the while by its prayers, by +its blood, and by its tears, other places which in future times +should be remembered as the only spots left to them for more +than a century wherein to celebrate the divine rites. + +This was the only badge of nationality they had preserved, but +it was the most sacred, the surest, and the sweetest. Who shall +tell of the many prayers that went up thence from devoted minds +and hearts, to be received by angels and carried before the +throne of God? Who shall say that those prayers were not +hearkened to when to-day we see the posterity of those holy +worshippers receiving or on the point of receiving the full +measure of their desires? + +There, indeed, it was that the nation received its new birth; in +sorrow and suffering, as its Saviour was born, but for that very +reason sacred in the eyes of God and man. Their enemies had +sworn complete separation from them, eternal animosity against +them; the new nation accepted the challenge, and that complete +separation decreed by their enemies was the real means of their +salvation and of making them a People. + +As has already been observed, the various attempts to make +Protestants of them, attempts sometimes cunning and crafty, at +others open and cruel, always persevered in, never lost sight of, +began to imbue the people with a new feeling of nationality, +never experienced before, and constantly increasing in intensity. + +This was witnessed under the Tudors. Their infatuation for the +Stuart dynasty served the same end, and it may be said that, +from all the evils which that attachment brought upon them, +burst forth that great recompense of national sentiment which +almost compensated them for the terrible calamities which +followed in its train. It was under Charles I. that the +Confederation of Kilkenny first gave them a real constitution, +better adapted for the nation than the old regime of their Ard- +Righs. + +But it was chiefly under the English Commonwealth, when they +were so mercilessly crushed down by Cromwell and his brutal +soldiery, when there seemed no earthly hope left them, that the +solid union of the old native with the Anglo-Irish families, +which had already been attempted--and almost successfull by the +Confederation of Kilkenny yet never consummated was finally +brought about once for all; their common misery uniting them in +the bonds of brotherly affection, blotting out forever their +long-standing divisions and antipathies which had never been +quite laid aside. + +It was thus that the nation was formed and prepared by martyrdom +for the glorious resurrection, the greater future kept in store +for it by Providence; the people all the while remaining +undebased under their crushing evils. + +Lastly, the intensity of the suffering produced by the penal +laws, during the eighteenth century, linked the nation in closer +bonds of union still, and this time gave them a unanimity which +became invincible. Their final motto was then adopted, and will +stand forever unchanged. In the clan period it was "Our sept and +our chieftain;" under the Tudors, "Our religion and our native +lords;" under the Stuarts it suddenly became "God and the King; +"--it changed once more, never to change again: it was embraced +in one word, the name of Him who had never deserted them, who +alone stood firm on their side--"Our God!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +RESURRECTION.-DELUSIVE HOPES. + +By delusive hopes are here meant some of the various schemes in +which Irishmen have indulged and still indulge with the view of +bettering their country. This chapter will aim at showing that, +for the resurrection of Ireland, the reconstruction of her past +is impossible; parliamentary independence or "home rule," +insufficient, physical force and violent revolution, in +conjunction with European radicals particularly, is as unholy as +it is impracticable. + +The resurrection of the Irish nation began with the end of last +century. As, to use their own beautiful expression, "'Tis always +the darkest the hour before day," so the gloom had never settled +down so darkly over the land, when light began to dawn, and the +first symptoms of returning life to flicker over the face of the, +to all seeming, dead nation. Its coming has been best described +in the "History of the Catholic Association" by Wyse. On reading +his account, it is impossible not to be struck with the very +small share that men have had in this movement; it was purely a +natural process directed by a merciful God. As with all natural +processes, it began by an almost imperceptible movement among a +few disconnected atoms, which, by seeming accident approaching +and coming into contact, begin to form groups, which gather +other groups toward them in ever-increasing numbers, thus giving +shape to an organism which defines itself after a time, to be +finally developed into a strong and healthy being. This process +differed essentially from those revolutionary uprisings which +have since occurred in other nations, to the total change in the +constitution and form of the latter, without any corresponding +benefit arising from them. + +Before entering upon the full investigation of this uprising, it +may be well to dispel some false notions too prevalent, even in +our days, among men who are animated with the very best +intentions, who wish well to the Irish cause, but who seem to +fail in grasp in the right idea of the question. Reconstruction, +say they, is impossible-at least as far as the past history of +the country goes. Where are her leaders, her chieftains, her +nobility? Feudalism broke the clans, persecution put an +effectual stop to the labors of genealogists and bards. Where, +to-day, are the O'Neill, the O'Brien, the O'Donnell, and the +rest? Until new leaders are found, offshoots, if possible, of +the old families, more faithful and trustworthy than those who +so far have volunteered to guide their countrymen, how is it +possible to expect a people such as the Irish have always been, +to assume once more a corporate existence, and enjoy a truly +national government? + +I. That the Irish nobility has disappeared forever may be +granted. In giving our reasons for believing in the +impossibility of connecting the present with the past through +that class, and thus restoring a truly national government, and +in strengthening this opinion by what follows, we shall show at +the same time that, in that regard, Ireland is on a par with all +other nationalities, among whom the aristocratic classes have +quite lost the prestige that once belonged to them, and can no +longer be said to rule modern nations. + +The question of nobility is certainly an important one for the +Irish--nay, for all peoples. Up to quite recently, profound +thinkers never imagined it possible for a people to enjoy peace +and happiness save under the guidance of those then held to be +natural guides with aristocratic blood in their veins, who were +destined by God himself to rule the masses. We are far from +falling in with the fashion, so common nowadays, of deriding +those ideas. Men like Joseph de Maistre, who was certainly an +upholder of the theory, and who could not suppose a nation to +exist without a superior class appointed by Providence to guide +those whose blood was less pure, have a right to be listened to +with respect, and none of their deliberate opinions should be +treated with levity. + +And, in truth, no nobility ever existed more worthy of the title, +as far as the origin of its power went, than the Irish. Its +last days were spent, like those of true heroes, fighting for +their country and their God. It is a remarkable fact that they, +the truest, were the first of the aristocratic classes to fall. +After them, all the aristocracies of Europe, with the exception +perhaps of the English, which still exists at least in name, +gradually saw their power wrested from them, so that, to-day, it +may be said with truth that the "noble" blood has lost its +prerogative of rule. + +Various are the theories on these superior classes; a few words +on some of them may be as appropriate as interesting. + +Of all those advanced, Vico's are the least defensible, though +they seem to rest on a deep knowledge of antiquity. No Christian +can accept his view of a universal savage state of society after +the Flood; and his explanation of the origin of aristocratic +races, and of the plebeians, their slaves, is purely the work of +imagination, however well read in classic lore may have been the +author of "Scienza Nuova." To suppose with him that the primeval +"nobles" reached the first stage of civilization by inventing +language, agriculture, and religion, and by imposing the yoke of +servitude on the "brutes" who were not yet possessed of the +first characteristics of humanity, is revolting to reason, and +contradictory to all sound philosophy and knowledge of history. +His aristocracy is a brutal institution which he does well to +doom to extinction as soon as the plebs is sufficiently +instructed and powerful enough to seize upon the reins of +government, before it, in its turn, is brought under by the +progressive march of monarchy, with which his system culminates. + +The feudal ideas concerning "noble" blood rested on an entirely +different basis. The feudal monarch is but the first of the +nobles, and the possession of land is the true prerogative and +charter of nobility. The inferior classes being excluded from +that privilege, are also excluded from all political rights, and +are nothing more nor less than the conquered races which were +first reduced to slavery. Christianity was the only power which +effected a change, and a deep one, in the relations of these two +classes to each other; the rigorous application of the system by +the Northmen being entirely opposed to the elementary teachings +of our holy religion. + +From the change thus brought about resulted the Christian idea +of aristocratic and monarchical government which had the support +of some gifted writers of the last and present centuries. It was +in fact a return to the old system realized by Charlemagne in +the great empire of which he was the founder--a system whose +glorious march was interrupted by the invasion of feudalism in +its severest form, which, according to what was before said, +came down from Scandinavia in the time of Charlemagne's +immediate successors. Under the regime of the noble emperor, the +Church, the Aristocracy, and the People, formed three Estates, +each with its due share in the government. This mode of +administering public affairs became general in Europe, and stood +for nearly a thousand years. + +But is it the particular form of government necessary for the +happiness of a nation, as it was held to be by some powerful +minds? If it is, then are we born, indeed, in unhappy times; for +the corner-stone of the edifice, the aristocratic idea, has +crumbled away, and is apparently gone forever. + +Any one, looking at Europe as it stands to-day, must feel +constrained to admit that its history for the last hundred years +may be summed up in the one phrase: admission of the middle +classes of society to the chief seat of government. Russia now +makes the solitary exception to this rule; for in England, which +seems the most feudal of all nations, the middle classes have +attained to a high position, and, through their special +representatives, have often taken the chief lead in public +affairs, ever since the Revolution of 1688, a lead which is now +uncontested. And as individuals of the middle class are often +admitted into the ranks of the aristocracy, it would indeed be a +hard thing to find purely "noble" blood in the vast majority of +aristocratic families now existing in Great Britain. + +The history of the gradual decline of what is called the +nobility in the various states of Europe would require volumes. +In many instances it would certainly be found to have been +richly merited, in France particularly, perhaps, where the +corruption of that class was one of the chief causes which led +to the first French Revolution. + +But in Ireland the original idea of nobility was different from +that entertained elsewhere; the action of the institution on the +people at large was peculiar in its character; and if, in early +times, those rude chieftains were often guilty of acts of +violence and outrage against religion and morality, they atoned +for this by that last long struggle of theirs, so nobly waged in +defence of both. But the destruction of the order was final and +complete, and seems to have left no hope of resurrection. + +In our first chapter, when treating of the clan system, the +origin of chieftainship among the Celts was referred back to the +family: all the chieftains, or nobles, were each the head of a +sept or tribe, which is the nearest approach to a family; all +the clansmen were related by blood to the chieftain. The order +of nobility among the Celts was therefore natural and not +artificial; being neither the result of some conventional +understanding nor of brute force. Nature was with them the +parent of nobility and chieftainship; and the ennobling, or +raising a person by mere human power to the dignity of noble, +was unknown to them: a state of things peculiar to the race. + +In Vico's system, aristocracy sprang from physical force or +skill; consequently, nobility was founded on no natural right, +although the author does his best to prove the contrary, chiefly +by ascribing to the aristocratic class the discovery or +invention of right (jus) which thus becomes a mere derivative of +force. + +In feudalism, pure and unmixed, after it had penetrated farther +south, under the lead of the Scandinavians, nobility was derived +from conquest and armed force. It is true that, by this system, +the viking, monarch, or sovereign lord, was the one who +distributed the territory, won from conquered nations, among his +faithful followers, and thus land and its consequence, nobility, +were apparently the award of merit; but the merit in question +being equivalent to success in battle, it again resolved itself +into armed force. In fact, the power of feudalism proper rested +in the army; the chief nobles were duces or combats (dukes or +counts), the inferior nobles were equites (knights) and milites +(men-at-arms). All power and title began and ended with force of +arms, which was the only foundation of right: jus captionis et +possessionis--the right of taking and of keeping. + +Eventually feudal ideas underwent considerable change among the +aristocracy of Christendom, by the gradual spread of Christian +manners; and the first establishment of nobility by Charlemagne, +which was anterior to pure feudalism, afterward revived, and +lasted a thousand years. Then it was conferred by the monarch on +merit of any kind, and it was understood that those whom +superior authority had raised to the dignity had won their title +by their deeds, which were sufficient to prove their noble blood, +and that they were empowered to transmit the title to their +posterity. The idea was a grand one, and gave proof of its vast +political and social usefulness in the immense benefits which it +brought upon Europe during so many ages. Unfortunately, the +inroad of the Scandinavians, following closely on the death of +its great founder, introduced feudalism as better known to us, +interfered with the institution which Charlemagne had +established in such admirable equipoise, and added to it many +barbarous adjuncts, which for a long time entered into the idea +of nobility itself. Thus the titles of feudal lords were +retained--duce, comites, equites, milites--with, all the +paraphernalia of brute force which the harsh mind of northern +despotism had made divine. Thus was the holding of landed +property allowed to the nobles alone; the great mass of the +population being composed of men--ascripti glebae-- who were +incapable from their position of rising in the social scale; so +that all were duly impressed with the idea that the mass of the +people had been conquered and reduced, if not to slavery, to +what greatly resembled it--serfdom. From this order of things +arose that fruitful source of all modern revolutions, the +division of Europe into two great classes antagonistic to each +other and separated by an almost impassable gulf--the lords and +the "villeins." + +To be sure, the supreme lord had the power to raise even a +villein to the rank of noble, after he had proved his superior +elevation of mind by heroic achievements; but what superhuman +exertions did not those achievements call for; what a concourse +of fortuitous circumstances rarely occurring, so as to render +almost illusory the hope of rising held out by the feudal theory! +The Church alone opened her highest grades to all +indiscriminately; and, in her, true merit was really an +assurance of advance. + +Further details are not needed. The difference between the idea +of the nobility entertained in Celtic countries, and that held +by the rest of Europe, is already in favor of the former. + +For this reason the action of the Irish aristocracy on the +people at large was happily altogether free from those causes of +irritation so common in feudal countries. A close intimacy and +personal devotion naturally existed between the chieftain of a +clan and his men--an intimacy manifested by the free manners of +the humblest among them, and that ease of social intercourse +between all classes of people, which was a matter of so much +surprise to the Norman barons at their primitive invasion. + +At first sight, the Celtic system appears, in one respect at +least, inferior to that which prevailed throughout the rest of +Europe: the simple clansmen could never indulge in the hope of +attaining to the chieftainship, being naturally excluded from +that high office. Only the actual members of the chieftain's own +family could hope to succeed him after his death, by election, +and take the lead of the sept; thus nobility was entirely +exclusive, and regulated by the very laws of Nature. The office +was really not transferable, and no degree of exertion, of +whatever nature, could win it for any person born out of the one +family. But the difference was scarcely one in fact; and we know +how illusory, often was that ambition which the system of merit +inspired in the man born of an inferior class in other races +than the Celtic. The broad assertion, that no man could rise +from the condition in which he happened to be born, remains true +for nearly all cases. + +But, on the other hand, there were motives of ambition besides +that of becoming chieftain, or entering on the road thereto, by +being admitted into the ranks of the nobility, which lay open to +the Celt; and if the desire of a mere clansman to become a +chieftain lay within the bounds of possibility, the social state +of Celtic countries would have been broken up and become +intolerable, and society would have been dissolved into its +primitive elements. Two considerations of importance: + +The whole of Irish history teaches one lesson, or, rather, +impresses one fact: that every member of a clan took as much +pride in the sept to which he belonged, and labored as zealously +for its head, as he could have done had the advantage turned all +to himself. The peculiar features engendered by the system were +such that each man identified himself with the whole tribe and +particularly with its leader; and this is easily understood, as +we see the same sort of feeling existing to-day among families. +It is in the very essence of natural ties to merge the +individual in the community to which he belongs, as in questions +which affect the whole family to merge self in the whole, to +forget one's own identity, to be ready for any sacrifice, +particularly when the sacrifice is called forth in defence of a +beloved parent. + +To judge by the ancient annals of Ireland which are accessible, +this was undoubtedly the sentiment pervading Celtic clans, and +it is easy to conceive how, under such conditions, ambitious +thoughts of the chieftainship or nobility could not well enter +there. Moreover, we repeat, had such ambitious thoughts been +within the compass of realization, the whole system would have +been destroyed. + +The greatest source of quarrels, feuds, wars, and general +calamities among the Irish people, was the insane aspiration +among the inferior members of a chieftain's family after supreme +power. The institution of Tanist, or heir-apparent, particularly, +which was general for all offices, from the highest to the +lowest, was a constant source of trouble and contention to septs +which, without it, would have remained united and in harmony. +Montalembert has well said that it seems as if an incurable +fatality accompanied the Irish everywhere, and condemned nearly +all the highest among them to have their blood shed either by +others or by their own hand, and that few indeed are those +renowned chieftains and kings who died quietly in their beds. +Their annals are filled throughout with tales of blood; and, +when we know of their strong attachment to religion, of their +tenderheartedness for women, children, old and feeble men, it is +hard to conceive how they came to shed blood so often, and show +themselves proof against the simplest claims of humanity. + +But the difficulty is sufficiently explained by their own annals +and the state of society under which they lived. The Tanistry +was the great source of all those evils. The position of a +chieftain was so honorable, so influential, and powerful, that +all natural sentiments, even those of family affection, were +often extinguished by the insane ambition of attaining to it, in +those whom Nature had set on the road toward it. + +It looks like a contradiction, yet nothing is so well +established as their deep affection for their near relatives and +the fury engendered against their nearest of kin when allured by +the prospect of the chieftainship. What the case might have been, +had all the inferior clansmen been influenced by the same +motive, one shudders to think. Happily the possibility of such a +position was denied them, and thus were they spared all the +crime and horrors which it entailed. Let us now turn to the fall +of the Irish nobility, in order to see how that fall was final +and decisive, leaving little or no room for the hope of their +resurrection. + +The great wars of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth upon the island +often drove some of the Irish chieftains to quit their country +for a time; a thing scarcely ever known before, where the Pale +was so contracted and the power of the English kings so limited. +But those first voyages of Irish lords to foreign countries had +generally no other destination than England itself, whither they +sometimes repaired to justify themselves in the presence of the +sovereign against the imputations of their enemies, or to pay +court to him for the purpose of obtaining some coveted object. +Occasionally their children were brought up at the English court, +either with the view of instilling Protestantism into their +artless minds, or to make them friends of England, so that many +of them thus became king's or queen's men. In this manner the +Irish nobility first came to look out beyond their own country. + +When, as events went on, some great family was crushed or nearly +so, as were the Kildares by Henry Tudor and the Geraldines by +Elizabeth, the outraged nobility began to think of foreign +alliances, and cast their eyes abroad over Spain, Belgium, or +France, above all toward Rome, which was the centre of their +religion, attachment to which was one of their chief crimes, +where the Holy Father was ever ready to encourage and receive +them with open arms, Thus history tells us of the narrow escape +of young Gerald Desmond. + +He was still a child of twelve years, and the sole survivor of +the historic house of Kildare, when his life was sought after +with an eagerness which resembled that of Herod, but the +devotion of his clansmen defeated all attempts at his capture. +"Alternately the guest of his aunts, married to the daughter of +the chief of Offaly and Donegal, the sympathy everywhere felt +for him lead to a confederacy between the northern and southern +chieftains, which had long been felt wanting, and never could be +accomplished. A loose league was formed, including the O'Neills +of both branches, O'Donnell, O'Brien, the Earl of Desmond, and +the chiefs of Moylurg and Breffni. The child, object of so much +natural and chivalrous affection, was harbored for a time in +Munster; then transported, through Connaught, into Donegal; and +finally, after four years, in which he engaged more the minds of +the statesmen than any other individual under the rank of +royalty, he was safely landed in France."-(A. M. O'Sullivan.) + +But the intercourse between the Irish nobility and foreign +powers was chiefly increased during the reign of Elizabeth, when +by the great league of the Desmond Geraldines in the south, +which was followed by that of the O'Neills and O'Donnells in the +north, they entered into open treaty with the Popes and the +Kings of Spain; and, when reverses came, no other resource was +left to the outlawed chieftains than flight to the Continent, +where they abode till the storm blew over, sometimes for the +remainder of their lives. + +James Fitzmaurice stayed a long time in Italy, where, on hearing +of the imprisonment of his cousins, the Desmonds, he planned the +first great league in defence of religion, no longer for the +purpose only of righting family wrongs, but of waging a holy war +which might draw the cooperation of all the Catholic powers. + +These few details are here furnished, because they mark a new +starting-point in the history of the race, when the nobility of +the land first went abroad to live with a view of finding allies +for the Irish cause; while the Irish at home looked anxiously to +their chieftains abroad to return to them with the promised +succor. + +A few words on the policy exercised toward the Irish nobility by +Henry VIII., Elizabeth, and James I., at the beginning of his +reign, will give us a sufficiently clear insight into the means +adopted for the gradual attack upon them, which resulted first +in their partial subjugation, finally in their total destruction. +Those monarchs thought that, to reduce Ireland to an English +colony, all they had to do was to destroy the chieftains, and +the subjugation of the country was complete. They were +strengthened in this opinion by the outbreak of Protestantism, +which had deprived the lower classes not only of their material +comfort and religious consolations, but of all the immunities +and liberties which the middle ages had left to them. While the +mass of the nation was not only denied all political influence, +but even all right to any consideration whatsoever on the part +of the state, when the highest nobles were cowering at the feet +of royalty, utterly at the mercy of the Tudor despots, how could +the plebs of England and Ireland dare show its front even to +testify to mere existence? + +The English monarchs were aware that the spirit of the Irish +nobles was not broken like that of their English vassals; and +they resolved on bringing the proud lords of the Pale and the +chieftains of the old race to a like submission with their own +nobles. But of the common clansmen they made no more account +than of the English rabble, and herein lay their great mistake. +Subsequent history proved that the national leaders of the Irish +race might be utterly annihilated, and yet the Irish question +remain as great a difficulty as ever, owing to the stubborn, +though sometimes passive resistance of the peasantry. But at +that time such a thing was not contemplated. + +All the cunning of diplomacy, all the artifice of the law, +finally all the material resources of England, were called in, +one after the other, or together, to achieve that great object +of the policy of the Tudors and of the first Stuart. It is not +necessary to go over what every person conversant with the +history of the time knows by heart; it is only proper to +indicate, as briefly as possible, the gradual results of that +crafty and stern policy. + +The Geraldine war ended with the total destruction of the +Catholic Anglo-Irish nobles of the south, whose place was filled +by the younger sons of Protestant nobles from England. With the +Geraldines, or shortly after them, fell the O'Sullivans of Beare, +the McGeohegans, the O'Driscolls, and O'Connors of Kerry, whom +Spain and Portugal received. + +Then the whole efforts of Elizabeth were turned to the +destruction of the native chieftains of the north. She failed; +and the war resulted in a peace which left their lands and the +open practice of their religion to the Ulster chiefs. + +But James I., though he seemed willing to abide by the articles +of the treaty, was driven by hard pressure to employ deceit, +fraud, intimidation, and force, to bring the northern nobility +into his power, and "the flight of the earls" was the +consequence. + +From this date the "Irish exiles" began in good earnest, +originally consisting, for the most part, of families belonging +to the first blood of the land, with minor chiefs and captains +in their retinue. Many letters written at the time, which have +been preserved, as well as reports of spies and informers, +dispatched to the court of England from Spain, Portugal, Belgium, +France, and Italy, give us an insight into the life led by +those noblemen in foreign countries. They were sometimes +supported by the sovereigns who received them; but at others +neglected and reduced to shifts for a living. + +The "flight" itself and all its details are given by the Rev. C. +P. Meehan. The entire number of souls on board the small vessel +which bore them away was, according to Teigue O'Keenan, Ollamh +of Maguire, "ninety-nine, having little sea-store, and being +otherwise miserably accommodated." This was indeed the first +emigration of the Irish nobles and gentry, which was to be +followed by many another, to their final extinction. + +Sir John Davies took an English view of the subject when he +wrote, about that time, to Lord Salisbury: "We are glad to see +the day wherein the countenance and majesty of the law and civil +government hath banished Tyrone out of Ireland, which the best +army in Europe, and the expense of two million pounds sterling, +did not bring to pass. And we hope his Majesty's government will +work a greater miracle in this kingdom than ever St. Patrick did; +for St. Patrick did only banish the poisonous worms, but +suffered the men full of poison to inhabit the land still; but +his Majesty's blessed genius will banish all those generations +of vipers out of it, and make it, ere it be long, a right +fortunate island." + +Davies's prophecy ought to have been accomplished long ago, for +it is long since all the Irish nobility, "those generations of +vipers," has been destroyed; yet the poor island is still far +from being "right fortunate." + +The chief means employed at the time to encompass the +destruction of the nobles was the infamous revelations of spies +and informers. The existence of these agents has long been known +to all; but the extent of their workings was not suspected even +until the state papers and the correspondence of political men, +and holders of offices at the time, came to be examined by +writers desirous of investigating the whole truth. + +It was then found that every man in the English Government, +beginning from the highest, the king's ministers, through the +Lords-Lieutenants and Chief-Justices of Ireland, down to the +lowest officials, one and all kept in their pay men of all ranks +of life, who, at the bidding of their employers, were ready to +circumvent the victims of an odious policy, and under the guise +of friendship, interest, common acquaintance, to discover, and +even, if needed, to invent facts and circumstances which might +be turned against them, or against any other persons obnoxious +to England, with the view of destroying them. So that, to +England in Europe, and to Elizabeth in England, belongs the +dubious honor of having invented that great agent of modern +governments--the secret police. + +But the operations of those informers were not confined to +England and Ireland alone, although those two kingdoms may be +said to have literally swarmed with them; all foreign countries +were made the scenes of their infamous machinations, wherever in +fact the Irish nobles or English Catholics fled for refuge from +persecution. At the courts of Spain and Rome they were to be +found; in Brussels and Louvain, in Paris and Rheims, as well as +in the by-lanes of London and the lowest quarters of Dublin. The +ecclesiastical establishments particularly, which were founded +by the Irish Catholics for the education of their priesthood, +were infested with them: they found means to penetrate into +their most secluded recesses, and sometimes the vilest and most +shameful hypocrisy was resorted to in order to gain admittance +into those holy cloisters devoted to science and virtue. + +All the great houses and hotels in foreign countries, where the +banished nobility of Ireland passed the tedious hours, months, +and years, of their exile, were the places easiest of access to +those base tools of the English Government. + +On the reports furnished by these men the British policy was +based, and the nobility and gentry still left in the island fell +into the meshes so cautiously spread around them. How many of +their number were cast into the Tower of London or the Castle of +Dublin, on the mere word of these pests of society! How many, +suddenly warned of the treachery intended, had to fly in haste +lest they should fall into the hands of their enemies! We know +that the first "flight of the earls" was brought about by such +means as these, but our readers would be mistaken in imagining +that that was an exceptional case, scarcely ever repeated. It +was in reality the ordinary way of getting rid of this hated +race of Irishmen. + +The great misfortune was that, even among the Irish themselves, +nay, among friars and priests belonging to the race, the English +Government sometimes, though Heaven be thanked! rarely, found +ready tools and most useful informers. Mean and sordid souls are +to be found everywhere; our Lord himself was betrayed by an +apostle, while giving him the kiss of peace; but among the Irish, +people this class was confined to a few needy adventurers, +sometimes to men who, from some personal grievance, real or +imaginary, were blinded by the spirit of revenge to deliver +those whose destruction they thirsted for into the hands of +their common enemies, to their own eternal shame and perdition. +The common people were too noble-hearted ever to join in such +infamy, and to those who would have tempted them with gold to +betray the men concealed by them, the response was ever ready: +"The King of England is not rich enough to buy me!" + +Thus, piecemeal, as it were, during the reign of Elizabeth and +James I., and a part, at least, of that of Charles I., numbers +of the Irish nobles were imprisoned or slain at home, or +compelled to go into exile. + +Nor, when James I., going lower in the social scale, began to +dispossess the ordinary people, the clansmen, the tenants of +Ulster, in order to make room for his Scotch Presbyterians, was, +the war on the nobility discontinued on that account. The most +prominent and, in its results, universal feature of his reign, +was the breaking up of the clans all over the island, whereby he +effected a complete change in the social state of the country. +But the most efficacious means of bringing that result about was +the total destruction of the nobility and gentry. The crafty +monarch knew that so long as the Irish could see and converse +with their natural chieftains and lords, so long would it be +impossible to extinguish or abate, in the slightest degree, the +clan-spirit. It was only when the key-stone which held their +social edifice together-the head of the sept-had disappeared, +that the whole fabric would tumble into ruins. + +After a long trial of this policy of treachery and craft, came +Cromwell to complete the work with violence and brutal force. +There still remained in the island a great number of noble +families, and the ollamhs and genealogists kept clear the rolls +of the respective pedigrees. There is no doubt, at the time of +Cromwell's war of extermination, even when the English +Parliament had passed the Act of Settlement, that all the Irish +septs still knew where to find their lawful natural chiefs, who, +if no longer on the island, were at the head of some regiment in +Flanders, France, Austria, or Spain. But, as time went on, the +Irish brigades naturally came to identify themselves more and +more with the countries into whose service they had passed, and +where they had taken up their permanent abode; while in the +island itself, force came to degrade what was left of the nobles, +and to annihilate forever the national state institutions +preserved by the genealogists and bards. + +One of the features which most forcibly strikes the reader of +the history of those times is, what took place all over the +island when the English Parliament issued that celebrated +proclamation in which it was declared that "it was not their +intention to extirpate this whole nation."-(October 11, 1652.) + +By that time the chief officers of Cromwell's army had already +taken possession of a great number of the castles and estates of +the nobility who had not left the country. The rest had fallen +into the hands of the adventurers of 1641, who had advanced +money for the purpose of raising a private army to conquer lands +for themselves; while the body of Cromwell's troops looked on, +awaiting the small pittance of a few hundred acres; which was to +be their share of the spoil. Here is the strange and awe- +inspiring picture of the conquered island in the seventeenth +century: + +The nobles, who had survived the fighting and defeat, were +allowed to remain a short time until their transportation to +Connaught. But, driven away from their mansions, where the new +"landlords"-the word then came into use for the first time-- +occupied what had been their apartments, they had to live in +some ruinous out-buildings, and to till with their own hands a +few roods of land for the support of their perishing families. A +few garans (dray-horses), and a few cows and sheep, were the +only aid in labor and production left to them. They were allowed, +by sufferance; to raise some small crops of grain and roots, +but all their time had to be occupied in purely manual labor. + +Such is the image which fixes itself indelibly on the memory of +any one who reads attentively the common occurrences of those +days. It was a picture presented in every province of the island; +in the most distant mountain-fastnesses as well as in the still +smiling plains of the lowlands. + +The nobles were, as a class, utterly destroyed; few of them fell +to the inferior rank of yeomen; while the mass of the people-- +was at once plunged to the dead level of common peasants and +laborers. If some of the former class still retained a few +faithful servants, their help was required for the drudgery +about the farm or the miserable dwelling. None of them could be +spared to keep up "the glory of the house." Would it not have +been bitter irony to talk to this remnant of pedigree and their +long line of ancestors? And would their enemies, who were now +their masters, have countenanced the proscribed offices of files +and shanachies, when laws against them specially had been so +long enacted if not enforced? Now was the exact time for the +rigid execution of those laws so evidently designed for the +transformation of the freeborn natives into feudal serfs. + +Hence, when the bitter day at last came, which was to deprive +them of even the sight of the hereditary territory of the family, +which was to transplant them to Connaught-among countrymen, +indeed, but none the less strangers to them, whose presence +could not fail to be unwelcome, and bring disturbance, confusion, +and disorder-how, in such a case, could they hope to retain or +revive their prestige as the old lords of the country? It is +said that, for this, many of the Munster chieftains preferred to +go into exile to Spain, or even to the islands of America, +rather than take up their abode in Connaught, where they were +sure to find bitter enemies in the old inhabitants of that +desolate province. + +This state of things knew no change, except with a very few of +the Anglo-Irish, when Charles II. came to the throne, after the +death of the Protector. He was in truth merely the executor of +the great Act of Settlement, and carried into effect what had +been enacted by the Parliament which had brought his father to +the block, and driven himself into exile. + +He only restored their estates to a few families of "innocent +papists." Such was the phrase applied to them in derision, +doubtless. The generality of the old families continued to sink +deeper and deeper in degradation, and the forgetfulness of all +they had once been. + +It took the greater part of a century, from 1607 to 1689, to +effect the almost total disappearance of the Irish nobility. As +Colonel Myles Byrne, in his "Irish at Home and Abroad," says: +"Few facts in history are more surprising than the rapidity and +completeness of the fall of the Irish families stricken down by +the penal laws. Reduced to beggary at once, and with habits +acquired in affluence, surrounded only by contemporaries +similarly crushed, or by the despoilers revelling and rioting in +possession of their forfeited lands, friendless and unpitied, +regarded as 'suspects' from the reasons for discontent so +abundantly furnished them, they seemed struck with stupor, and +utterly incapable of any effort to rise out of the abyss into +which they had been precipitated. Dispirited, heart-broken, +unmanned, they suffered the little personal property left them +to melt away; and, on its exhaustion, were compelled to resort +to the most humiliating means to prolong existence, and to +accept for their helpless offspring the humblest condition which +promised them a maintenance. A 'trade' was the general resort +sought for the son of the chief of a clan, landholder, or +gentleman. + +"This gave rise to Swift's observation to Pope: 'If you would +seek the gentry of Ireland, you must look for them on the coal- +quay or in the liberty.' + +"Thus, in my youth, 'the Devoy,' the head of one of the most +powerful and distinguished of our septs, was a blacksmith, I +have often seen a mechanic, named James Dungan, who was said to +be a descendant of James Dungan, Earl of Limerick; and 'the +Chevers' (Lord Mount Leinster) was the clerk of Mrs. Byrnes, who +carried on the business of a rope-maker. + +"Maddened and embittered by humiliation and suffering, +renouncing all hope of recovering their stolen lands, those +victims of 'bills of discovery,' or of confiscation, burned or +destroyed, or threw aside, as worse than useless, the records of +their former possessions, the proofs of their former +respectability, and seemed, in fact, desirous to efface all +evidence of it. I know one case in which the title-deeds of an +estate were searched for an important occasion, and in which it +appeared that they had been given to tailors to cut into strips +or measures for purposes of their trade. + +"A claim was set up to a dormant peerage, and a relation of mine +having been applied to for information in support of it, he said: +'You are positively in remainder; but you are in the condition +of the descendants of many Irish families, whose great +difficulty is to prove who was their grandfather.'" + +The reader is naturally struck, when the sudden appearance of +James II. on the island presents to his eyes another Irish army, +and a new Irish nation, fighting again for God and the king, but +with few of the old names among those who then appeared on the +scene. The leaders throughout the three years' struggle, which +decided the ultimate fate of the country, for the most part have +names unknown to Ireland, and unassociated with its former +history, so completely had the aristocracy of the island +perished and disappeared. + +It may be well imagined, then, that, after the passage of +another century of woe such as was described in the last chapter, +it would be impossible to reconstruct the genealogies of the +old families who might be entitled to lead the rising generation. +Some few names are still advanced as entitled to the hereditary +honors of once noble families, and thus we still hear of +pretensions to title of "the O'Brien," "the O'Donaghue," and a +few others. That such pretensions are acknowledged by the +generality of the nation, it would be questionable to assert. + +To think, then, of reconstructing the Irish nation out of its +former elements, as they once existed, would be an idle dream. +Those elements are dissolved and forever destroyed, and all that +the nation can do with respect to its past is to preserve in +pious remembrance the former race of men who once shed down such +a glory over Irish annals. It was a happy and patriotic thought +of the antiquarian societies of the island to investigate the +old national records; to illustrate, explain, and bring them +before the public in a language intelligible to the present +generation. It is doubtful if in any other country the +aristocracy fell with a heroism and glory so pure and unalloyed. +Among all modern nations, as was said previously, the old class +of noblemen has either passed out of sight, or is fast +disappearing from living history. Ireland, then, does not stand +alone in that respect. She was the first to lose her nobility, +and she lost it more utterly than any other nation. But in the +variety of movements, complications, revolutions, which now go +to form the daily current of events in Europe, where do we find +the nobles regarded as a power, as an element calculated to +restore or even to preserve? The "noblemen" are well enough +satisfied nowadays, if they are not persecuted, proscribed, or +destroyed; if they are enabled to take their stand amid the +crowd of men of inferior rank and share in the affairs of their +country; content to see their names once so exclusively glorious, +set on a par with those of plebeians, to lead the modernized +peoples into the new paths whither they are rapidly drifting. +Nay, so low have the mighty fallen, that even dethroned kings +and princes sometimes ask to be admitted as simple citizens in +the countries which they or their ancestors once ruled. + +Here the thought will naturally occur: If the phenomenon is +universal with respect to the position allotted now to men of +"noble blood"--since it is evident that for those nations which +feel no veneration for it a future history is designed, and that +future is to be utterly independent of such an idea--then +Ireland is no worse off than any other country in that regard, +nay, the veneration for noble blood perhaps exists, in its right +sense, now in her bosom alone, and, though no longer available +for any purpose, is still an element of conservatism worthy of +preservation and far from despicable. + +Therefore, when we number among false hopes the one entertained +by a few Irishmen whose thoughts still cling fondly to the past, +and who would fain reconstruct it, it is not with the intention +of treating those aspirations slightingly, which we ought to +honor and would share, were there only the faintest possibility +of calling again to life what we cannot but consider passed away +forever. + +II. Let us move on to the consideration of our second delusive +hope, one of a much deeper import, which to-day of all others +occupies public attention--a separate Irish Parliament and home- +rule government. + +The desire for a separate Irish Parliament is certainly a +national aspiration, it may even be called a right; for the +people of the island can justly complain of being at the mercy +of a rival nation, of which they are supposed to form a part, +and are consequently heavily taxed for the support of it without +any adequate return. The day may not be far distant when this +wish of theirs will have to be complied with, as were so many +other rights once as strenuously denied. + +Nevertheless it is our opinion, and we say it advisedly, there +is no reason for believing that this would prove a universal +panacea for Ireland's woes, sure to bring health, happiness, and +prosperity to the nation, uniting in itself all blessings, all +future success, all germs of greatness; nor is there reason to +believe that with it the resurrection of the nation is assured, +as without it, it would remain dead. + +To speak still more clearly--the representation of a people by +its deputies being according to modern ideas an element of free +constitution for all nations, and Ireland having for so long a +time enjoyed a privilege very similar to it under her own +national monarchs, our object cannot be understood to depreciate +a political institution which seems to have become a necessity +of the times, owing to the eager aspiration of all minds and +hearts toward it. But we think it a delusion to imagine that, by +its possession, national happiness is necessarily and fully +secured. + +Whatever may be the general experience of parliamentary rule, +its record for Ireland is a sad one. The old Feis of the nation +are not here alluded to; they had very little in common with +modern Parliaments, being merely assemblies of the chief heads +of clans, to which were added in Christian times the prelates of +the Church. Neither is the "General Assembly," which was +intrusted with legislative and executive powers by the +Confederation of Kilkenny, alluded to; this could not be +reproduced to-day exactly as it then existed. + +The Parliament here meant is such as presents itself at once to +the mind of a man of the nineteenth century, with its members of +both Houses elected by the people, as in America, or those of +the Upper House in the nomination of the crown; its opposing +parties often degenerating into mere factions; its views limited +to material progress, and its aims and aspirations altogether +worldly; deeply imbued with the modern ideas of liberalism, yet +knowing very little, if any thing, of true liberty; often +following the lead of a few talented members, whose real merits +are seldom an index of conscience and sense of right. + +Such a liberal institution as this, which, if proposed to-day +for Ireland by the English Government, would be hailed with +unbounded joy by all ranks of people in that country, would +nevertheless be no sure harbinger of happiness to the nation, +and, to repeat what was said above, the record of such an +institution in Ireland is a sad one. + +There is no need of entering upon a history of Irish Parliaments. +If an impartial and fair-minded author were to take up such a +work, it might serve to open the eyes of many, and show them +that it is after all better to rely on Divine Providence than on +such an aid to national prosperity. + +Dr. Madden, in his "Connection of Ireland with England," +conclusively shows that the right of a free and independent +Parliament similar to that of England was granted to Ireland by +King John at the very beginning of the "Conquest." Such a +Parliament was granted to the handful of Anglo-Normans, who were +already busy in building their castles for the purpose of +reducing the whole mass of the clans to feudal slavery after +having deprived them of all their free national assemblies and +customs. For nearly four hundred years the Irish Parliaments, +when not completely subjected to English control, as they +finally were by "Poyning's Act," were mere legislative machines +devised for the purpose of subduing, cowing, and finally rooting +out every thing Irish in the land. The language of Sir John +Davies was very clear on this subject. + +This being such a well-known fact to-day, it seems strange that +a writer who is so well informed, so acute and discerning, and +so thoroughly Catholic, as Dr. Madden undoubtedly is, should +attach such great importance to the institution of Parliament as +first granted by the English monarchs. They had in their eye +only the small English colony settled on the island, with all +their feudal customs, and no thought of granting liberty to the +mass of the nation. The case of Molyneux, which is so often +quoted and praised by Irish writers, should be set aside and +forgotten by any man animated by a true love for Irish +prosperity. It was merely a revival of the old parties of +English by blood and English by birth, without a single thought +of the rights of Irishmen. It was a case of siding with one +English party against another, both aiming at making Ireland a +colony of England, the while the unfortunate country was crushed +between them, certain in either case to be the victim. The +native race had nothing to say or do in the matter, beyond +assisting at the spectacle of their enemies wrangling among +themselves. + +The same remarks will apply to the pamphlets of Dr. Lucas, which +created so much interest at the time, and which Dr. Madden +quotes at such length. Lucas, it will be remembered, was a +violent anti-Catholic, and consequently anti-Irish partisan. + +Yet the Catholic Association made all the use they could of the +arguments of Molyneux and Lucas, because these possessed some +vestige of the national spirit, inasmuch as they spoke for +Ireland, whose very name was hated by the opposite party; and at +that time the Association was perfectly right: but matters have +altered since then. + +It is certainly strange that, when serious attempts were made by +Henry VIII. to introduce Protestantism into Ireland, not only +were Anglo-Irish Catholics summoned to Parliament, but even +native chieftains also, some of whom spoke nothing but Irish, so +that their speeches required translating. + +But, as was previously shown, this was nothing more nor less +than a crafty device to make genuine Irishmen unconsciously +confirm, by what was called their vote, former decrees in which +the Act of Supremacy had been passed; to make it appear that +they had abjured their religion, and were now good Protestants; +and, worse still, to set in the statute-book, as acknowledged by +all, the law of spiritual supremacy vested in the king, of +abjuration of papal authority, of submission to all decrees +passed in England with the purpose of effecting an entire change +in the religion of the nation. + +To such vile uses was the machinery of Parliament reduced. +Thenceforth it became an engine for the issuing of decrees of +persecution. Catholic members occasionally appeared in it when a +lull in the execution of the laws occurred, and they could take +their seats without being guilty of apostasy. But, by making +close boroughs of his Protestant colonies, James I. secured, +once for all, the majority of representatives on the side of the +Protestants, and, as a natural consequence, nothing more +grinding, sharp, piercing, and strong, could be imagined than +this engine of law called the Irish Parliament, as it existed +under the Stuarts. "Nothing" would be incorrect: there was +something worse; it came in with the Revolution of 1688, and its +results have been witnessed in a previous chapter. + +Owing to the various oaths imposed upon members in the time of +William of Orange, no Catholic could any longer sit in the Irish +Parliament without abjuring his faith. And, thence-forth, the +state institution sitting in Dublin became more than ever a +persecuting and debasing power, intent only on making, altering, +improving, and enforcing laws designed for the complete +degradation of the people. + +There came, however, a period of eighteen years, called "the +Rise of the Irish Nation" by Sir Jonah Barrington. It would be a +pleasure to set this down as a real exception to the whole +previous or later history of Ireland; but such pleasure cannot +be indulged in. + +At the period referred to France had embraced the cause of the +North American colonies of Great Britain, and the English +vessels were not the only ones upon the seas. Large French +fleets were conveying troops to their new allies, and in 1779 +the English Government sent warning to Ireland that American or +French privateers were to be expected on the Irish coast, and no +troops could be dispatched for the protection of the island. +Then arose the great volunteer movement. Every Irishman entitled +to bear arms enrolled himself in some regiment raised with the +ostensible design of opposing a hostile landing, but really +intended by the patriots to force the repeal of Poyning's Act +from England, to obtain for the Parliament in Dublin real +independence of English dictation. + +The result is well known. One hundred thousand Irishmen were +soon under arms, who not only took the field as soldiers, and +formed themselves into regiments of infantry, troops of horse, +and artillery, but, strange to say, as citizens, sent delegates +to conventions, and demanded with a loud voice that England +should not only grant free trade to the sister isle, but +likewise invest the Irish Parliament with independent powers. + +This political open-air contest lasted two years, and, on the +receipt of the news that the British army had capitulated at +Yorktown, and that the American War had come to a successful +termination on the side of the colonists, the Ulster volunteers +decided to hold a national convention of delegates from every +city in the province. On Friday, February 15, 1782, the meeting +took place at Dungannon, County Tyrone, and there the delegates +swore allegiance to a new and as yet unwritten charter, refusing +to acknowledge "the claim of any body of men, other than the +King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland, to make laws to bind this +kingdom." + +The same resolution was adopted in successive meetings of +volunteer delegates, municipal corporations, and citizens +generally, all over the island. + +The English Government could not resist the pressure. After some +attempt at temporizing and delaying the concession, on April 15, +1782, by the firmness of Grattan and his supporters in the +Dublin House of Commons, the great measure was finally carried +unanimously: + +"That the kingdom of Ireland is a distinct kingdom, with a +Parliament of her own, the sole legislature thereof; that there +is no body of men competent to make laws to bind the nation, but +the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland, nor any Parliament +which has any authority or power of any sort whatever in this +country, save only the Parliament of Ireland; that we humbly +conceive that in this right the very essence of our liberty +exists, a right which we, on the part of all the people of +Ireland, do claim as their birthright, and which we cannot yield +but with our lives." The italics are our own. + +"The news," says Sir Jonah Barrington, "soon spread through the +nation; every city, town, or village, in Ireland blazed with the +emblems of exultation, and resounded with the shouts of triumph." + +Within a month the whole had been accepted by the new British +administration. "The visionary and impracticable idea had become +an accomplished fact; the splendid phantom had become a glorious +reality; the heptarchy-the old Irish constitution-had not been +restored; yet Ireland had won complete legislative independence." + +Thus does the kind-hearted author of the "Rise and Fall of the +Irish Nation" commemorate the great event. It is a pity that it +so soon ended, as it deserved to end, in smoke; for the +"unanimous vote" of the Dublin House of Commons was not sincere, +but intended to exclude from the benefit of the newly-acquired +liberty the great mass of the people; that is, all Catholics, +without exception. + +Already, during the volunteer excitement, Catholics had looked +on at the movement with pleasure and hope that, at least, some +relaxation of the barbarous code enacted against them might +ensue. Unable to take an active part in the movement, the laws +not allowing them to bear arms and enlist, they willingly +brought such muskets as they possessed to give to their +Protestant neighbors. When the final burst of enthusiasm came at +the news that a free and independant Parliament was to meet at +Dublin, surely they were justified in expecting that, at last, +their natural and civil rights might be restored them in an age +so enlightened. They had heard too of the success of the +American colonies in winning those rights for all in their happy +country, beyond the Atlantic; and we may be sure that not a few +of them had heard how, at the conclusion of the War of +Independence, the chief officers of the American army had gone +in state with their French allies to the Catholic Church in +Philadelphia, there to join in thanksgiving to the Almighty, +before a Catholic altar. Moreover, they had Grattan and many of +the volunteers on their side. + +The all-comprehensive phrase, too, had been inserted in the +resolution so unanimously carried, and made law by the British +Government: "We humbly conceive that, in this right, the very +essence of our liberty consists, a right which we, on the part +of all the people of Ireland, do claim as their birthright, and +which we cannot yield but with our lives." + +Was it possible for the originators and successful promoters of +this great change in the government of the nation to interpret +such a phrase in a restricted sense? Did not the Irish Catholics, +the great bulk of the people, form a part, at least, of "all in +Ireland?" One would imagine so: yet what followed soon after +showed the preposterousness of such an idea. + +The new Parliament met; several measures favorable to the trade +and manufactures of the island had been carried; but it was soon +found that the electoral law, as it stood, failed to correspond +with the altered circumstances of the time. The legislative body +was returned by an antiquated electoral system which could not +be said to represent the nation. Boroughs and seats were openly +and literally owned by particular families or private persons; +the voting constituency sometimes not numbering more than a +dozen. As a matter of fact, less than one hundred persons owned +seats or boroughs capable of constituting a majority in the +Commons! + +As everywhere else in revolutionary times, the question of +parliamentary reform was not debated in the Parliament only; +every man in the nation, each in his own sphere, took part in +the stormy contest which began to rage all over the island. The +volunteers were still in their glory. Flushed with victory, they +did not cease from their political agitations. In September, +1783, they met once more in convention at Dungannon, the +specific object of which, Dr. Madden tells us, was parliamentary +reform, and they then determined "to hold another grand national +convention of volunteer delegates in Dublin, in the month of +November following." + +In that extraordinary assembly, the question of the rights of +Catholics was naturally brought up, and, to his honor be it said, +the Protestant Bishop of Derry proposed to extend the elective +franchise to them. + +That some fanatics would oppose this motion was only to be +expected; and it would have caused no surprise to find the +opposition confined to a number of men of inferior station, +still deeply imbued with narrow Protestant ideas. But when the +leaders of the movement for national independence, Lord +Charlemont and Mr. Flood, appeared in the ranks of the +determined opponents of the proposition, it was cause for wonder +indeed. It was chiefly owing to the exertions and influence of +Lord Charlemont that the efforts of the revolution had been +finally turned to the side of freedom; while Flood was a greater +nationalist than Grattan himself, whose eloquence was so +memorable in the last momentous debates of the Irish House of +Commons. Flood carried his patriotism so far as to suspect the +British Government of not being sincere in its concessions, when +Grattan thought that "nothing dishonorable and disgraceful ought +to be supposed in motives until facts render them suspicious." + +Nevertheless, it was Charlemont and Flood who stood firm for the +exclusion of Catholics from the franchise demanded for them by a +Protestant bishop; and Flood's plan was the one finally adopted. + +In order to make a stronger impression on the public mind, a +number of delegates, who were also members of Parliament, +proceeded, on November 29th, directly from the convention to the +House of Commons, some of them dressed in their volunteer +uniforms, for the purpose of supporting the plan of Mr. Flood to +exclude the Catholics from the franchise. + +In the midst of the tumult, the bill of reform failed, seventy- +seven voting for, and one hundred and fifty against it. There +was therefore no change in the Parliament, and Catholics +remained in their old position, in consequence of the blunders +of the chiefs of the volunteer movement for independence. + +It is true that, at the same time, the whole volunteer movement +itself fell to the ground. From that moment it dragged on a +doomed life. "One would have thought," says Dr. Madden, "there +was national vigor in it for more than an existence of fifteen +years, and power to effect more than an ephemeral independence +which lasted only eighteen years." + +But the Catholics had their eyes opened; they saw that the day +of resurrection was not yet come for them. It was not to be +brought about by any Irish Parliament. So far, therefore, we +were right in stating that the parliamentary record for Ireland +is a sad one. It should be said, however, that, from that time, +many Protestants, like the Bishop of Derry, Grattan, and others, +have always been firm in their demand for freedom to all, and +have remained the stanchest supporters of Catholic rights. What +we have hitherto called James I's Ulster colony, thus was +reduced to the Orange party; and, in that sense, the volunteer +movement was a real and permanent benefit to the country. There +is no need to mention the names of many distinguished Protestants +of our own times, whose whole life has been devoted by act, or +speech, or both, to the service of all. All honor to them! + +But it is alleged that the Irish Legislature, as framed by the +Constitution of 1782, gave to the country an uninterrupted flow +of prosperity for eighteen years, and hence the volunteer +movement was of great benefit to the race, at least temporarily. +We will present the case in the strongest light possible +contrary to our own opinion, and for this we can do no better +than borrow the arguments of Mr. W.J. O'N. Daunt, in his +pamphlet on the "Irish Question" (1869): + +"Accustomed as we are," he says, "since the Union-in 1800-to the +national distress and chronic disturbance attested by the Devon +Commissions, Famine Reports, and other official sources of +information, there seems something scarcely credible in the +account of Irish pre-Union prosperity-a prosperity which +contrasted so strongly with the condition of Ireland under a +Parliament which is called 'Imperial,' but which is essentially +and overwhelmingly English. But the accounts are given on +unimpeachable authority. + +"Mr. Jebb, member for Callan in the Irish Parliament, thus +speaks of the advance of the country in prosperity, in a +pamphlet published in 1798: + +"'In the course of fifteen years, our commerce, our agriculture, +and our manufactures, have swelled to an amount that the most +sanguine friends of Ireland would not have dared to +prognosticate.' + +"The bankers of Dublin, tolerably competent witnesses, held a +meeting on the 18th of December, 1798, at which they resolved, +'that, since the renunciation of Great Britain, in 1782, to +legislate for Ireland, the commerce and prosperity of this +kingdom have eminently increased.' + +"The Dublin Guild of Merchants did the same on the 14th of +January, 1797." + +But this testimony and that of others whom we could quote was +the testimony of men opposed to the "Union." Let us look at a +few admissions made by the supporters of that measure: + +"First comes its author, Mr. Pitt, who, in his speech in the +English House of Commons, January 31, 1799, having alluded to +the prosperous condition of Irish commerce in 1785, goes on to +say: 'But how stands the case now? The trade is at this time +infinitely more advantageous to Ireland.' + +"Lord Clare, one of Mr. Pitt's chief instruments in effecting +the Union, published, in 1798, a pamphlet containing, as quoted +by Grattan, the following account of Irish progress subsequently +to 1782: 'There is not a nation on the habitable globe which has +advanced in cultivation and commerce, in agriculture and +manufactures, with the same rapidity in the same period.' + +"Finally, Mr. Secretary Coke, in a Unionist pamphlet, said at +that time: 'We have had the experience of these twenty years; +for it is universally admitted that no country in the world ever +made such rapid advances as Ireland has done in these respects.'" + +All this was undoubtedly true; and it is not our intention to +admire what was called the Union, nor to advocate it. Those of +the various writers cited, who spoke so dogmatically in the +above passages, had in their minds only material and external +prosperity, and that even of only one class of citizens. Those +who wish well to Ireland cannot be satisfied with this. + +Not a single name of the favorers or opposers of the Union, here +quoted as witnesses, is Celtic. It would be interesting to know +what the Celts of the island, that is, the greater part of its +inhabitants, thought at the time, not of the Union, but of their +own Parliament, and how much of this great material prosperity +fell to their portion. + +Surely they were all opposed to a Union which for a variety of +reasons had grown odious in their sight; but, did they, could +they, approve of the acts of their Legislature prior to the +Union with England? Were they satisfied with those tokens of +prosperity in favor of a class which had systematically +oppressed them? Even granting that they were Christian enough +not to feel envy at the success of their Protestant fellow- +countrymen, did they not, and were they not right to, rue the +day which, by an act of that same Legislature, shut them off as +a body from all those advantages. + +For it must be remembered that it was at the instigation of many +of those volunteers who had been so ready to receive the muskets +from their Catholic neighbors, for the purpose of striking a +blow for liberty, that none of the penal statutes were repealed, +and the Irish Catholics continued to groan, at least as far as +the law went, under the fearful oppressions of which the last +chapter furnished a feeble sketch. Hence, to speak in their +presence of their commerce, of their manufactures, of their +agriculture, of the increase of their wealth, and so on, was a +bitter mockery, which they could not but resent in their inmost +soul. + +Was the cause of all their miseries removed by such a free and +independent Parliament? Where could be the agricultural +prosperity of a people which was not entitled, legally, to own +an inch of their soil, or lease more than two acres of it? How +could they engage in prosperous trade when, at the suit of a +"discoverer," they were liable to be compelled to hand over to +him the surplus of a paltry income? How could they even +contemplate engaging in any manufactures, when the laws reduced +them to the frightful state of pauperism which we have +shudderingly glanced at? And those laws were preserved, and +retained on the statute-book, by the very men who vaunted of the +prosperity of Ireland! + +It cannot, then, be too strongly reasserted that the social +position of Ireland had experienced no change whatever, and that +the separation of classes, spoken of with such well-merited +rebuke by Edmund Burke, still stood unaltered: + +"They divided the nation into two distinct parties, without +common interest, sympathy, or connection. One of these bodies +was to possess all the franchises, all the property, all the +education; the other was to be composed of drawers of water and +cutters of turf for them. + +Every measure was pleasing and popular just in proportion as it +tended to harass and ruin a set of people who were looked upon +as enemies to God and man; and, indeed, as a race of bigoted +savages, who were a disgrace to human nature itself. + +"To render humanity fit to be insulted, it was fit that it +should be degraded." + +And, even supposing the prosperity of which so much talk was +made to have been universal, so that all had a real share in it, +how long would it have remained so, if the Irish Parliament had +continued to exist, and not become merged in the English, or, as +it was termed, Imperial Legislature? How long could the two +separated bodies, sitting, the one in Dublin, the other in +Westminster, have acted in concert, without breaking out into +violent and mutual recrimination, with all its attendant evils? + +The difficulty showed itself at the very outset, and when the +first question of the relative status of both Legislatures arose. + +Mr. Fox, the great Liberal minister of the king, endeavored to +solve this difficulty by making a distinction between internal +and external legislation: Ireland was never to be interfered +with in her Parliament, with respect to her internal questions, +while the English legislative body possessed the right to step +in in all measures regarding external legislation. This seems +very much like what is now proposed by home-rule. + +Here is the answer given to this in the tribune of Dublin by Mr. +Walsh: "With respect to the fine-spun distinction of the English +minister between the internal and external legislation, it seems +to me the most absurd position, and at the same time the most +ridiculous one, that possibly could be laid down, when applied +to an independent people. + +"Ireland is independent, or she is not; if she is independent, +no power on earth can make laws to bind her, internally or +externally, but the King, Lords, and Commons of Ireland." + +Mr. Walsh, a very influential member of the Irish House of +Commons, saw, as doubtless did many others, cause of disturbance +already for the mutual tranquillity of the two nations. And, +indeed, his fears soon showed themselves only too well grounded. +Dr. Madden tells the story; + +"A month had scarcely elapsed since the opening of the new Irish +Parliament in 1782, before Lord Abingdon, in the British House +of Peers, moved for leave to bring in a declaratory bill, to +reassert the right of England to legislate externally for +Ireland, in matters appertaining to the commerce of the latter. +A similar motion was made in the British House of Commons by Sir +George Young. + +"One clause of Lord Abingdon's bill stated that Queen Elizabeth, +having formerly forbade the King of France to build more ships +than he then had, without her leave first obtained, it is +enacted that no kingdoms, as above stated, Ireland as well as +others, should presume to build a navy or any ships-of-war, +without leave from the Lord High Admiral of England." + +It is easy to foresee the pretty quarrel preparing. Once again, +then, it may be asserted that the record of Irish Parliaments is +a sad one. + +But could more have been expected of it? Is the scope of +measures, within the capabilities of any legislative assembly of +modern times, comprehensive enough to embrace every thing of +importance to a Catholic people, such as the Irish nation has +ever been? + + +The general question of parliamentary rule is a very complicated +one. The modern Parliament is a very different thing from the +old assemblies of the representatives of various orders in any +state. With the Church originated those ancient institutions, +which in certain parts of Europe partook at once of the twofold +nature of councils and political assemblies. + +This order has passed away, and no one thinks to-day of reviving +those time-honored institutions, however much political writers +may be inclined to favor despotism on the one hand, or anarchy +on the other. What, then, is the origin of the modern +Parliament? It grew into being in England during the seventeenth +and eighteenth centuries, emanating as it were, slowly, out of +the decomposition of the old Parliaments; the aristocracy, and +the Church chiefly, losing more and more the influence once +belonging to them, which, in old times, made them paramount in +those state deliberations. This is one of the chief features of +the newly-modelled British Constitution, which is of very recent +growth, and became fixed and settled only after the downfall of +the Stuart dynasty, receiving additional modifications in the +contest of parties under the Brunswick and Hanover lines of +kings. + +It is, consequently, an altogether British growth of recent date, +particularly well adapted for England, whose prosperity since +its establishment has ever been on the increase. But it is very +doubtful whether other countries have derived equal benefit from +its adoption. + +Toward the end of last century, some few Frenchmen of note +attempted, with Mounier at their head, to reproduce a feeble +copy of it in France. Their failure is too well known to the +world: how their English ideas were scouted by the people, while +a far more radical revolution swept away every vestige of the +old French Constitution, without substituting in its stead any +thing save crude and infidel ideas, which resulted in anarchy. + +The lamentable failure of the first attempt was no +discouragement to other political theorists; and the century has +witnessed and still witnesses every day essays at English +legislation, as embodied in the constitution of its Parliaments +chiefly, all over Europe; and all, as sanguine writers would +have us believe, to serve as the stepping-stone for the +"Universal Republic," which is to regenerate the world. + +The great questions in all those assemblies are of material +interests, material prosperity, material projects. Of the moral +well-being of the people seldom or never a word is heard; and, +whenever a moral question does come up for discussion, the +vagueness of the theories advanced and discussed, the indecision +of the measures proposed, the want of unity in the views +developed, show how unfit are modern legislators for even +touching on what concerns the soul of man. The legislators +themselves feel that their character is far from being a sacred +one, and that the spiritual element is not comprehended in their +world. And they are certainly right. + +Even the measures of external policy are not universally +successful in securing the material well-being of the people. In +France, at least, the various legislatures which have succeeded +one another have perhaps been productive of as much harm in that +regard as the liberty of the press and freedom of public +discussion, which have always had and always will have their +ardent advocates, and the existence of which is compatible with +public order in some countries, but not in others. + +The same, with certain reservations, is true of the Spanish- +American republics, Brazil, and now of Spain, Italy, and other +European nations. The legislative machine which is found to work +so well in England, and what were or still are her colonies, +seems to get out of order in climates and among nations +unaccustomed to it, even as far as material prosperity is +concerned. + +But it is neither our object to write a history of Parliaments, +nor absolutely to condemn those modern institutions by the few +words devoted to them. All we wish to insist upon is, that all +the evils of nations are not cured by them, and that they should +not be taken as in themselves absolutely desirable and all- +sufficient. + +As to their probable fate in the future, their modern dress is +not yet two centuries old, and the seeds of decay already appear +in many places. A few questions are sufficient to demonstrate +this: Can a Parliament, as understood to-day, last for any +length of time and work successfully, when composed for a great +part of corrupt legislators who have been returned by corrupt +electors? Has not the progress of corruption on both sides, +elected and electors, been of late alarmingly on the increase? +What space of time is requisite for legislation to come to a +stand-still, and prove to modern nations the impossibility of +carrying on even material affairs with such corrupt machinery? +It requires no great foresight to reply to these questions. + +And yet it is on this tottering institution that the Ireland of +our days has set her hope. She imagines that, this once gained, +prosperity and happiness are insure; that, without it, she +cannot but be discontented, as she is and must be if she +possesses any feeling. And such is the anomaly of her position +that, with this conviction firmly set before us, we believe she +is right in demanding home-rule, and that by insisting upon it +she will eventually attain it; yet are we convinced that, having +obtained it, her evils will not be cured, nor her happiness +served. We prize her highly enough to think her worthy of +something better, which "something" we are sure God keeps in +reserve for her. + +Suppose her earnest wish granted, and a home Parliament given +her. Suppose even the old question of her relations with the +English Legislature determined. A great difficulty has been +settled satisfactorily, though it is difficult to see how this +may come about. But supposing the questions for her discussion +and free-determination being clearly defined, home-rule becomes +possible without exciting the opposition of the rival Parliament +of Great Britain. + +What is likely to be the composition of her state institution? +and what the programme of its labors? + +In the composition of her two Houses, if she have two, the +Catholics will not be excluded as they were in 1782; a great +change certainly, and fraught no doubt with great benefit to the +country. But will the English element cease to predominate? The +native race has been kept so long in a state of bondage that few +members of it certainly will take a leading part in the +discussions. How many even will be allowed to influence the +election of members by their votes or their capacity? Universal +suffrage can scarcely be anticipated, perhaps even it would not +be desirable. The question is certainly a doubtful one. Of one +thing are we certain regarding the composition of an Irish +Parliament: it would not really represent the nation. + +For the nation is Catholic to the core; the sufferings of more +than two centuries have made religion dearer to her than life; +all she has been, all she is to-day, may be summed up in one +word--Catholic. Nothing has been left her but this proud and +noble title, which of all others her enemies would have wrested +from her. The nation exists to-day, independently of +parliamentary enactments, in spite of the numberless +parliamentary decrees of former times; she is living, active, +working, and doing wonders, which shall come under notice. See +how busy she has been since first allowed to do. Her altars, her +religious houses, her asylums, every thing holy that was in +ruins--all have been restored. + +Not satisfied with working so energetically on her own soil, she +has crossed over to England, where the great and unexpected +Catholic revival, which has struck such awe and fear into the +hearts of sectarians, is in great measure due to her. + +Cross the broad Atlantic, and even the vast Southern Ocean, and +the contemplation of Irish activity in North America, Australia, +and all the English colonies, the intense vitality displayed by +this so long down-trodden people is amazing. But all this +activity, all this vitality, is employed in establishing on a +firm and indestructible basis everywhere the holy Catholic +Church. + +Looking on all this, say then whether Ireland is truly Catholic, +whether the nation is any thing but Catholic. + +But can her new Parliament be Catholic? + +No! No one imagines such a thing possible; no one thinks, no one +dreams of it. It is clear, then, that it cannot represent the +nation. + +Who will go to compose it? Men who will discard-such is the +modern expression-discard their creed, and leave it at the door. +Nothing better can be expected. It is true that the bitter +feeling engendered for so long a time by religious questions is +not likely to show itself again; or though, to speak more +correctly, a religious question never was raised in Ireland, the +whole people being one on that subject; but it may be hoped that +the bitter persecution against every thing Catholic is not +likely to recur, whatever may be the composing elements of the +new Houses of Parliament. + +In the impossibility of even guessing at the probable opinions +of the men who are to have the future fate of Ireland in their +hands, it may be fairly predicted that, within their legislative +halls, religious and consequently moral questions will only be +approached in the spirit of liberalism. Probably, the only thing +attempted will be the rendering of the people externally happy +and prosperous, supposing the majority of the members animated +by true patriotic principles; and indeed the aspirations of all +who wish well to Ireland are limited to external or material +prosperity; and, for our own part, we do not consider this of +slight moment. But is this all that the Irish people require? + +They have been brought so low in the scale of humanity that +every thing has to be accomplished to bring about their +resurrection; and the "every thing" is comprised in substituting +flesh-meat for potatoes and good warm clothing for rags. Whoever +says that the Irish people can be contented with such a +restoration as this, knows little of their noble nature, and has +never read their heart. + +Assuredly, they have a right to those worldly blessings of which +they have been so long deprived; and we would not be understood +as saying that one of the primary objects of good government is +not to confer those material blessings on the people; nay, it is +our belief that, when a whole nation has been so long subjected +to all the evils which not only render this life miserable, but +absolutely intolerable, it is incumbent on those intrusted with +the direction of affairs to remedy those evils instantly, and +endeavor to make the people forget their misfortunes by, at +least, the enjoyments of this life's ordinary comforts. +Forgetfulness of the past can be obtained by no other means. And +this is a very simple, but, at the same time, very satisfactory +answer to the question so often put and so often replied to in +such a variety of ways, "Why is Ireland discontented?" + +But, while admitting the truth, nay, the necessity of all this, +the government of a Catholic people has not fulfilled its whole +duty when it has exerted itself to the utmost to procure, and +finally succeeded in procuring, the temporal happiness of the +nation. In addition to this, it must consult its moral and +religious wants, or a great part of its duty remains neglected. + +This, indeed, does not nowadays occur to the minds of the +majority of men, who have, it would appear, agreed among +themselves to consider it an axiom of government that the rulers +of a people should have no other object in view than the +material comfort and welfare of the masses. They do not reflect +that the wants of a nation must be satisfied in their entirety, +and that its moral and religious needs are of no less importance, +to say the least, than the temporal. This is evident in all +those countries where, in imitation of England, or at her +instigation, parliamentary governments are now in operation-- +countries which include not only Europe, without excepting +Greece and her chief islands, but Southern Africa at the Cape, +America, North and South, Australia, and the, large islands of +Jamaica, Tasmania, New Zealand, and several groups of Polynesia, +preparing Asia for the boon which, probably, is destined to show +itself in Japan first, spreading thence all over the largest +continent of the world. + +Wherever modern Parliaments flourish, there material interests +alone are consulted. This is a new feature of Japhetism; and God +alone knows how long nations will be satisfied with such a state +of things! + +But if non-Catholic nations thus limit their aspirations, there +is all the more reason why a Catholic people cannot imitate them +in such a course, particularly if that people has for centuries +submitted to every evil of this life in order to preserve its +religion, showing that, in its eyes, religious blessings rank +far above all imaginable material advantages; and we all know +such to be the case for Ireland. + +But, it may be asked, what are those religious wants which must +be satisfied, and how are we to know them? The answer, to a +Catholic, is plain, and nothing is easier of recognition. What +the spiritual guides of the nation consider of paramount +importance and of absolute necessity, is of that character, and +the government which neglects to listen to remonstrances coming +from such a quarter, shows thereby that it is ignorant of, or +slights, its plain duty. Ever since the load of tyranny, which +weighed down the Irish people, has been removed, if not entirely, +at least suffered a very appreciable reduction, since the +rulers of the Church in that unhappy country have been able to +lift up their voice, and proclaimed what they considered of +supreme importance to those under their charge, is it not a +strange truth that their voice has never ceased remonstrating, +and that, at this very moment, it is as loud in protestation as +ever? When has it been listened to as it should be? Is it likely +to meet more regard if Ireland obtains home-rule? It grieves us +to say that the only answer which can be given to this last +question is still an emphatic "No!" + +And for the very simple reason, already given, that Ireland +cannot have a truly Catholic Parliament, and that all the great +measures which would occupy the attention of the Catholic +members, in the event of their meeting at Dublin, would be +shemes for the advancement of manufactures, trade, the +construction of ships, tenant-right laws, etc.; all very +excellent things in their way, and to which Ireland has an +undoubted right, which will be strongly contested, and in the +struggle for which she may again be worsted; which, even if she +obtains, will not enable her to compete with England, and which, +after and above all, do not correspond to the heart-beat of the +nation--the restoration complete and entire of the Catholic +Church all over her broad land. + +It may be well to remark that the broad assertion just laid down +involves no reprisals against the rights of the minority. That +minority, backed by the English Government, has enjoyed nearly +three centuries of oppression and tyranny, has taxed human +ingenuity to the utmost for the purpose of concocting schemes of +destruction against the majority: it has failed. The majority, +which at last breathes freely, can well afford not to raise a +finger in retaliation, and to leave what is called freedom of +conscience to those who so long refused it. The result may be +left to the operation of natural laws and the holy workings of +Providence. But their religious rights ought, at east, to be +secured to them entire; the rights of their Church to be left +forever perfectly free and untrammelled. + +But, how much has been done against this, even of late? Why has +a Protestant university so many privileges, while a similar +Catholic institution is refused recognition? To answer what +purpose have the Queen's Colleges been established? The Catholic +bishops certainly possess rights with regard to the education of +their flocks; with what persistence have not those rights been +either attacked or circumvented! If the Protestant Establishment +has been finally abolished, have not its ministers obtained by +the very act of abolition concessions which give them still +great weight, morally and materially, in the scale opposed to +Catholic proselytism, nay, preservation? Is it not a stain even +yet, if not in the eye of the law, at least in that of the +English colonized in Ireland, to be a "Roman Catholic?" Is +"souperism" so completely dead that it never can revive? How +many means are still left in the hands of the Protestant +minority to vex, annoy, and impoverish the supposed free +majority? + +Whoever considers the matter seriously cannot but acknowledge +that in Ireland there exists still a vast amount of open or +silent opposition to the Church of the majority, and a Church +which the majority loves with such deep affection that, so long +as the least remnant of the old oppression remains, so long must +Ireland remain discontented. + +And it is more than doubtful whether home-rule would be a +sufficient remedy for such a state of things, owing to the fact, +already insisted upon, that the new Parliament could not be a +Catholic Parliament. + +The reader may easily perceive what was meant by saying that the +entire restoration of the Catholic Church in the island does not +suppose the consequent extirpation of heresy; but it clearly +supposes the perfectly free exercise of all her rights by the +Church. Nothing short of this can satisfy the Irish people. + +III. We pass on to the consideration of a third delusive hope, +that of the people regaining all their rights by the +overwhelming force of numbers and armed resistance to tyranny-- +the advocacy of physical force, as it is called; in other words, +the right and necessity of open insurrection, or underhand and +secret associations, evidently requiring for success the +cooperation of the numerous revolutionary societies of Europe: a +criminal delusion, which has brought many evils upon the country, +and which is still cherished by too many of her sons. Though we +purpose speaking freely on this subject, we hope that our +language may be that of moderation and justice. + +To a Catholic, who has either witnessed or heard of the +frightful evils brought on modern nations by the doctrine of the +right of insurrection, of armed force, of open rebellion, +against real or fancied wrong, that doctrine cannot but be +loathsome and detestable. + +True, there is for nations, as for individuals, something +resembling the right of self-defence. No Catholic theologian can +assert that a people is bound to bow under the yoke of tyranny, +when it can shake that tyranny off; and it is this truth which +affords a pretext to many advocates of what is called the right +of insurrection. Moreover, there is no doubt that, in the case +of Ireland particularly, the Irish had for many centuries a +legitimate government of their own, and when attacked by +foreigners, who landed on their shores under whatever pretext, +they had a perfect right, nay, it was the duty of the heads of +clans, the provincial kings and princes, to protect the whole +nation, and the part of it intrusted to their special care in +particular, against open or covert foes. The name of "rebels" +was given them by the invaders, with no shadow of possible +pretext, and the name was as justly resented as it was unjustly +applied. + +Under the Stuart dynasty the state of the case is still more +clear: for then they were fighting on the side of the English +sovereigns to whom they had submitted; and, in waging war +against the enemies of their king and country, they were not +only enforcing their right, but performing a highly-meritorious +and in some cases heroic duty. Yet the name of "rebels" was +again applied to them, and its penalty inflicted upon them, as +has been seen. + +After their complete subjugation, the right of retaliating on +their oppressors, even if justifiable in theory, was often +illusory and indefensible in fact, because of the impossibility +of successful resistance; and the secret associations known +under the names of "Tories," "Rapparees," "White Boys," +"Ribbonmen," were, with the exception of the first, condemned by +the Church. + +But in modern times the right of insurrection cannot possibly be +defended, if, as can scarcely be avoided, the cause of a +Catholic nation is linked with the various revolutionary +societies and conspiracies which disgrace modern Europe, +endanger society, and have all been condemned by the sovereign +Pontiff. + +An extensive discussion of both cases--the stubborn resistance +made after the fall of the Stuarts, and some of the attempts at +independence of later times--would show at once the difference +between the two cases, and prevent thinking men from ranking the +"Tories" of ancient times with the avowed revolutionists of our +days. Mr. Prendergast has given a fair sketch of the former in +the second edition of his "Cromwellian Settlement." + +The reader who may peruse this very interesting account can +notice a remarkable coincidence; one, however, which to our +knowledge has not yet been pointed out: the very scenes enacted +in Ireland, during the long resistance offered to oppression +after the downfall of the Stuart dynasty, were reenacted in +France during the Reign of Terror, and for some time after, +throughout the districts which had risen in insurrection against +the tyranny of the Convention, and both cases were certainly +examples of right warring against might. + +In fact, to a person acquainted with the history of the violent +changes which, during the last century, modern theories, +metaphysical systems, and, above all, the working of secret +societies, have caused, the reading of the history of England +and Ireland, from the Reformation down, offers new sources of +interest, by showing how the last frightful convulsion in France +was merely a copy of the first in England, at least as far as +the means employed in each go, if not in the ultimate object. + +In England the revolution was begun by the monarch himself, with +a view of rendering his power more absolute and universal by the +rejection of the papal supremacy, and, consequently, the +destruction of the Catholic Church. In France the revolution was +begun by the leaders of the middle classes, who made use of the +immense power given them by the secret societies which then +flourished, and the influence of an unbridled press, to destroy +royalty and aristocracy, that they might themselves obtain the +supreme power and rule the country. The object of the two +revolutions was therefore widely different; but the means +employed in bringing them about, when considered in detail, are +found to have been perfectly identical. + +In both countries, on the side of the revolutionary party or of +the National Assembly, various oaths were imposed and enforced, +troops dispatched, battles fought, devastating bands ravaged the +country while in a state of insurrection, the same barbarous +orders in La Vendee as in Ireland, so that the language even +employed in the second case is an exact counterpart of that in +the first. There is destruction resolved upon; then the +authorities desisting and resolving on a change of policy, +though with a rigid continuance of the police measures, +including in both cases "domiciliary visits," inquests by +commissioners, courts-martial in the first case, revolutionary +tribunals in the second--consequent wholesale executions on both +sides. There were the decrees of confiscation carried out with +the utmost barbarity, resulting in sudden changes of fortune, +the class that was aristocratic being often reduced to beggary, +while its wealth was enjoyed by the new men of the middle +classes. The peasants derive very little benefit from the +revolution in France--none whatever, or rather the very reverse +of benefit, in Ireland. And, to go into the minutest details, +there are the same informers, spies, troops of armed police, or +adventurers on the hunt to discover, prosecute, and destroy the +last remnants of the insurgents in France as well as in Ireland. + +In considering the religious side of the question, the parallel +would be found still more striking, as the proscribed ministers +of religion were of the same faith in France as in the British +Isles, while the means adopted for their destruction were +exactly similar. + +On the side of the insurgents the same comparison holds good. In +both cases there is the first refusal to obey unjust decrees, +the same stubborn opposition to more stringent acts of +legislature, the emigration of the aristocratic classes, the +devotedness of the clergy, with here and there an unfortunate +exception, the same mode of concealment resorted to--false doors, +traps, secret closets, disguise, etc.; the flying to the +country and concealment in woods, caves, hills, or mountains; +and, when the burden grows intolerable, and open resistance, +even without hope of success, becomes inevitable, there are the +same resources, method of organization, attack, call to arms, +call to Heaven, the same heroism: yes, and the same approval of +religion and admiration of all noble hearts throughout the world. + +The only difference consists in the fact that in France the +struggle lasted a few years only; in Ireland, centuries. In +France the fury of the revolution soon spent itself in horrors; +in Ireland the sternness of the persecuting power stood grim and +unrelaxing for ages, adding decree to decree, army to army. In +France, numerous hunters of priests and of "brigands," as they +were called, flourished only for a short decade of years; in +Ireland similar hunters of priests and of "Tories" carried on +their infamous trade for more than a century. + +In the case of the latter country, too, the confiscation was +much more thorough and permanent, the emigration complete and +final; but, in both cases, the Catholic religion outlived the +storm, and lifted up her head more gloriously than ever as soon +as its fury had abated. + +Finally, to come to the point, which calls now more immediately +for attention, if the campaigns of Owen Roe O'Neill, of +Brunswick, and Sarsfield, were the models of the great +insurrection of La Vendee and Brittany, the bands of "Tories" +and "rebels," scattered through Ireland at the time of the +Cromwellian settlement, gave an example for the "Chouan" raids +which in France followed the blasted hopes of the royalists. + +How ought both cases to be considered with reference to the +general rules of morality? How were they considered at the time +by religious and conscientious men? + +There is no doubt that excesses were committed by Tories in +Ireland, and Chouans in France, which every Christian must +condemn; but there can also be little doubt that such of them as +were not deranged by passion, but allowed their inborn religious +feelings to speak even in those dreadful times, were restrained, +either by their own consciences or by the advice of the men of +God whom they consulted, from committing many crimes which would +otherwise have resulted from their unfortunate position. All +this, however, resolves itself into a consideration of +individual cases which cannot here be taken into account. + +Our only question is the cause of both Tories and Chouans in the +abstract. From the beginning it was clearly a desperate cause, +and, admitting that the motive which prompted it was generous, +honorable, and praiseworthy, nothing could be expected to ensue +from its advocacy but accumulated disaster and greater +misfortunes still. Of either case, then, abstractly considered, +religion cannot speak with favor. + +But, when an impartial and fair-minded man takes into +consideration all the circumstances of both cases, particularly +of that presented in Ireland, as given by Mr. Prendergast, with +all the glaring injustice, atrocious proceedings, and barbarous +cruelty of the opposing party taken into account, who will dare +say that men, driven to madness by such an accumulation of +misery and torture, were really accountable before God for all +the consequences resulting from their wretched position? + +In the words quoted by the author of the "Cromwellian Settlement:" +"Had they not a right to live on their own soil? were they +obliged in conscience to go to a foreign country, with the +indelible mark left on them by an atrocious and originally +illegitimate government?" And, if the simple act of remaining in +their country, to which they had undoubtedly a right, forced +them to live as outlaws, and adopt a course of predatory warfare, +otherwise unjustifiable, but in their circumstances the only +one possible for them, to whom could the fault be ascribed? Are +they to be judged harshly as criminals and felons, worthy only +of the miserable end to which all of them, sooner or later, were +doomed? Is all the reproach and abuse to be lavished on them, +and not a breath of it to fall on those who made them what they +were? Who of us could say whether, if placed in the same position, +he would not have considered the life they led, and the inevitable +death they faced, as the only path of duty and honor? + +We are thoroughly convinced that the first Irish "Tories" deemed +it their right to make themselves the avengers of Ireland's +wrongs, and consider themselves as true patriots and the heroic +defenders of their country, and that many honorable and +conscientious men then living agreed with them. And the people, +who always sided with and aided them, had after all certainly a +right to their opinion as the only true representatives of the +country left in those unfortunate times. + +Thus far we have considered the right of resistance on the part +of the old "Tories;" we now come to what has been called the +second case--the right of insurrection advocated by modern +revolutionists, chiefly when connected with the unlawful +organizations so widely spread to-day. This, indeed, is the +great delusive hope of to-day, which must be gone into more +thoroughly, in order to show that Ireland, instead of +encouraging among her children the slightest attachment to the +modern revolutionary spirit, ought to insist on their all, if +faithful to the noble principles of their forefathers, opposing +it, as indeed the great mass of the nation has opposed it, +strenuously, though it has met with the almost constant support +of England, who has spread it broadcast to suit her own purposes. +Ireland's hope must come from another quarter. + +Let us look clearly at the origin and nature of this +revolutionary spirit, so different from the lawful right of +resistance always advocated by the great Catholic theologians. + +The nature of this spirit is to produce violent changes in +government and society by violent means; and it originated in +first weakening and then destroying the power of the Popes over +Christendom. Two words only need be said on both these +interesting topics--words which, we hope, may be clear and +convincing. + +The very word revolutionary indicates violence; and it is so +understood by all who use it with a knowledge of its meaning. A +revolutionary proceeding in a state, is one which is sanctioned +neither by the law nor the constitution, but is rapidly carried +on for any purpose whatever. Violence has always been used in +the various revolutions of modern times, and, when people talk +of a peaceful revolution, it is at once understood that the term +is not used in its ordinary significance. + +On this point, probably, all are agreed; and, therefore, there +is no need of further explanation. On the other hand, many will +be inclined to controvert the second proposition; and, therefore, +its unquestionable truth must be shown. + +That the position held by the Popes at the head of Christendom +for many ages was of paramount influence, and that to them, in +fact, is due the existence of the state of Europe, known as +Christendom, is now admitted almost by all since the +investigations of learned and painstaking historians, +Protestants as well Catholics, have been given to the world. But +had the Popes any particular line of policy, and did they favor +one kind of government more than another? This is a very fair +question, and well worthy of consideration. + +Any kind of government is good only according to the +circumstances of the nation subjected to it. What may suit one +people would not give happiness to another, and democratic, +aristocratic, or monarchical governments, have each their +respective uses, so that none of them can be condemned or +approved absolutely. No one will ever be able to show that the +Roman Pontiffs held any exclusive theory on this subject, and +adopted a stern policy from which they did not recede. + +But a positive line of policy they did hold to, namely, the +insuring the stability of society by securing the stability of +governments. + +Whoever reads the life of Gregory VII side by side with that of +William the Conqueror, is at first astonished to find Hildebrand, +who, though not yet Pope, was already powerful in the counsels +of the Papacy, favoring the Norman king, although William +eventually proved far from grateful. But, when the reader comes +to inquire what can have moved the great monk to take up this +line of action, he will find that a deep political motive lay at +the bottom of it, which throws a flood of light over the policy +of the Popes and the history of Europe during the middle ages. +He finds Hildebrand persuaded that William of Normandy possessed +the true hereditary right to the crown of England, and the +policy of the Popes was already in favor of hereditary right in +kingdoms, thereby to insure the stability of dynasties, and +consequently that of society itself. + +Harold, son of Godwin, belonged in no way to the royal race of +Anglo-Saxon kings. The Dukes of Normandy had contracted +alliances by marriage with the Anglo-Saxon monarchs, and were +thought to be more nearly related to Edward the Confessor than +Harold, whose only title was derived from his sister. + +What had been the state of Europe up to that time? Since the +establishment and conversion of the northern races, a constant +change of rulers, an ever-recurring moving of territorial limit, +and consequently an endless disturbance in all that secures the +stability of rights, was common everywhere: in England, under +the heptarchy; in France, under the Carlovingians; in the +various states of Germany; everywhere, except, perhaps, in a +part of Italy, where small republics were springing up from +municipal communes, which were better adapted to the wants of +the people. + +The great evils of those times were owing to these perpetual +changes, which all came from the undefined rights of succession +to power, as left by Charlemagne; a striking proof that a +monarch may be a man of genius, a great and acceptable ruler, +and still fail to see the consequences to future times of the +legacy he leaves them in the incomplete institutions of his own +time. Well has Bossuet said, that "human wisdom is always short +of something." + +Those rapid, and, to us, wonderful partitions of empires and +kingdoms; those loose and ill-defined rules of succession in +Germany, France, England, and elsewhere; productive of +revolution at the death of every sovereign, and often during +every reign, showed the Popes that hereditary rights ought to be +clear and fixed, and confined to one person in each nation. From +that period, date the long lines of the Capetians in France, the +Plantagenets in England; while rights of a similar kind are +introduced into Spain and Portugal; likewise into the various +states of Northern Germany, or Scandinavia; and Southern Italy, +or Norman Sicily--the rest of Italy and Germany are placed on a +different footing, the empire and the popedom being both +elective. + +Such was the grand policy of the Popes inaugurated by Hildebrand, +which came out in all its strong features, at the same time, +under his powerful influence. Such was the policy which insured +the stability of Europe for upward of six hundred years; a set +of views to which a word only can be devoted here, but on which +volumes would not be thrown away. + +In consequence of it, for six hundred years dynasties seldom +changed; the territorial limits of each great division of Europe +remained, on the whole, settled; and an order of society ensued, +of such a nature that any father of a family might rest assured +of the state of his children and grandchildren after him. + +In this respect, therefore, as in many others, the papacy was +the key-stone of Christendom. + +But as soon as Protestantism came to contest, not only the +temporal, but even the spiritual supremacy of the Popes; when, +taking advantage of the trouble of the Church, the so-called +Catholic sovereigns, while pretending to render all honor to the +spiritual supremacy of the sovereign Pontiffs, refused to +acknowledge in them any right of lifting their warning voice, +and calling on the powers of the world to obey the great and +unchangeable laws of religion and justice, then did the long- +established stability of Europe begin to give way, while the +whole continent entered upon its long era of revolution, which +is still in full way, and, as yet, is far from having produced +its last consequences. + +England, the most guilty, was the first to feel the effect of +the shock. The Tudors flattered themselves that, by throwing +aside what they called the yoke of Rome, they had vastly +increased their power, and so they did for the moment, while the +dynasty that succeeds them sees rebellion triumphant, and the +head of a king fall beneath the axe of an executioner. + +She is said to have benefited, nevertheless, by her great +revolution, and by the subsequent introduction of a new dynasty. +She has certainly chanted a loud paean of triumph, and at this +moment is still exultant over the effects of her modern policy, +from the momentary success of the new ideas she has disseminated +through the world, and above all from that immense spread of +parliamentary governments which have sprung into existence +everywhere under her guidance, and mainly through her agency. + +And the cause of her triumph was that, after a few years of +commotion, she seemed to have obtained a kind of stability which +was a sufficiently good copy of the old order under the Popes, +and won for her apparently the gratitude of mankind; but that +stability is altogether illogical, and cannot long stand. There +is an old, though now trite, saying to the effect that when you +"sow the wind you must reap the whirlwind," and no one can fail +to see the speedy realization of the truth of this adage on her +part. Over the full tide of her prosperity there is a mighty, +irresistible, and inevitable storm visibly gathering. At last +she has come to nearly the same state of mental anarchy which +she has been so powerful to spread in Europe. After reading +"Lothair," the work of one of her great statesmen, all +intelligent readers must exclaim, "Babylon! how hast thou fallen! +" Within a few years, possibly, nothing will remain of her +former greatness but a few shreds, and men will witness another +of those awful examples of a mighty empire falling in the midst +of the highest seeming prosperity. + +When a nation has no longer any fixed principle to go by, when +the minds of her leaders are at sea on all great religious and +moral questions, when the people openly deny the right of the +few to rule, when a fabric, raised altogether on aristocracy, +finds the substratum giving way, and democratic ideas seated +even upon the summit of the edifice, there must be, as is said, +"a rattling of old bones," and a shaking of the skeleton of what +was a body. + +How long, then, will the mock stability established by the deep +wisdom of England's renowned statesmen have stood? A century or +two of dazzling material prosperity succeeded by long ages of +woe, such as the writer of the "Battle of Dorking," with all his +imagination, could not find power enough to describe; for no +Prussian, or any other foreign army, will bring that catastrophe +about, but the breath of popular fury. + +But our purpose is not to utter prophecies--rather to rehearse +facts already accomplished. + +England, then, was the first to feel the shock of the earthquake +which was to overthrow the old stability of Europe. It is known +how Germany has ever since been a scene of continual wars, +dynastic changes, and territorial confusion. What evils have not +the wars of the present century brought upon her! Yet, owing to +the phlegmatic disposition, one might call it the stolidity of +the majority of Germans, the disturbances have been so far +external, and the lower masses of society have scarcely been +agitated, except by the first rude explosion of Protestantism, +and the sudden patriotic enthusiasm of young plebeians, in 1814. +But mark the suddenness with which, in 1848, all the thrones of +Germany fell at once under the mere breath of what is called +"the people!" It is almost a trite thing to say that, where +religion no longer exists, there no longer is security or peace. +Impartial travellers, Americans chiefly, have observed of late +that, in certain parts of France, there is, in truth, very +little religious feeling; while in all Protestant Germany, +particularly in that belonging to Prussia, there is none at all. +How long, then, is the "new Germanic Empire," so loudly trumpeted +at Versailles, and afterward so gloriously celebrated at Berlin, +without the intervention of any religion whatever, likely to stand? +How long? Can it exist till the end of this century? He would be +a bold prophet who could confidently say, "Yes." + +As to France, formerly the steadiest of all nations, so deeply +attached to her dynasty of eight hundred years, although some of +her kings were little worthy true affection; many of whose +citizens have been born in houses a thousand years old, from +families whose names went back to the darkness of heroic times; +which was once so retentive of her old memories, living in her +traditions, her former deeds of glory, even in the monuments +raised in honor of her kings, her great captains, her +illustrious citizens; which was chiefly devoted to her time- +honored religion, mindful that she was born on the day of the +baptism of Clovis; that she grew up during the Crusades; that a +virgin sent by Heaven saved her from the yoke of the stranger; +that, on attaining her full maturity, it was religion which +chiefly ennobled her; and that her greatest poets, orators, +literary men, respected and honored religion as the basis of the +state, and, by their immortal masterpieces, threw a halo around +Catholicism--France, which still retains in her external +appearance something of her old steadiness and immutability, so +that to the eye of a stranger, who sees her for the first time, +solidity is the word which comes naturally to his mind, as +expressive of every thing around him, has only the look of what +she was in her days of greatness, and on the surface of the +earth there is not to-day a more unsteady, shaky, insecure spot, +scarcely worthy of being chosen by a nomad Tartar as a place +wherein to pitch his tent for the night, and hurry off at the +first appearance of the rising sun on the morrow. Can the +shifting sands of Libya, the ever-shaking volcanic mountains of +equatorial America, the rapidly-forming coral islands of the +southern seas, give an idea of that fickleness, constant +agitation, and unceasing clamor for change, which have made +France a by-word in our days? Who of her children can be sure +that the house he is building for himself will ever be the +dwelling of his son; that the city he lives in to-day will +tomorrow acknowledge him as a member of its community? Who can +be certain that the constitution of the whole state may not +change in the night, and he wake the next day to find himself an +outlaw and a fugitive? + +It is a lamentable fact that for the last hundred years a great +nation has been reduced to such a state of insecurity, that no +one dares to think of the future, though all have repudiated the +past, and thus every thing is reduced for them to the present +fleeting moment. + +And what is likely to be the future destiny of a nation of forty +million souls, when their present state is such, and such the +uncertainty of their dearest interests? They are unwilling to +quit the soil; for they have lost all power of expansion by +sending colonies to foreign shores; it is difficult for them to +take a real interest in their own soil, for the great moving +spring of interest is broken up by the total want of security. +May God open their eyes to their former folly; for the folly was +all of their own making! They have allowed themselves to be thus +thoroughly imbued with this revolutionary spirit--the first +revolution they hailed with enthusiasm; when they saw it become +stained with frightful horrors, they paused a moment, and were +on the point of acknowledging their error; but scribblers and +sophists came to show them that it failed in being a glorious +and happy one only because it was not complete; another and then +another, and another yet, would finish the work and make them a +great nation. Thus have they become altogether a revolutionary +people; and they must abide by the consequences, unless they +come at last to change their mind. + +But the worst has not been said. This terrible example, instead +of proving a warning to nations, has, on the contrary, drawn +nearly all of them into the same boiling vortex. England and +France have led the whole European world captive: people ask for +a government different to the one they have; revolution is the +consequence, and, with the entry of the revolutionary spirit, +good-by to all stability and security. Let Italy and Spain bear +witness if this is not so. + +And the great phenomenon of the age is the collecting of all +those revolutionary particles into one compact mass, arranged +and preordained by some master-spirits of evil, who would be +leaders not of a state or nation only, but of a universal +republic embracing first Europe, and then the world. So we hear +to-day of the Internationalists receiving in their "congresses" +deputies not only from all the great European centres, not only +from both ends of America, which is now Europeanized, but from +South Africa, from Australia, New Zealand, from countries which +a few years back were still in quiet possession of a +comparatively few aborigines. + +To come back, then, to the point from which we started, it is in +this revolutionary spirit, in those conspiracies for revolutions +to come, that some Irishmen set their hopes for the regeneration +of their country. It would be well to remind them of the sayings +of our Lord: "Can men gather grapes from thorns?" "By their +fruits ye shall know them." + +Let the Irish who are truly devoted to their country reflect +well on the kind of men they would have as allies. What has +Ireland in common with these men? If they know Ireland at all, +they detest her because of her Catholicism; and, if Ireland +knows them, she cannot but distrust and abominate them. + +It has seemed a decree of kind Providence that all attempts at +rebellion on her part undertaken with the hope of such help, +have so far not only been miserable failures, but most +disgracefully miscarried and been spent in air, leaving only +ridicule and contempt for the originators of and partakers in +the plots. + +If the vast and unholy scheme which is certainly being organized, +and which is spreading its fatal branches in all directions, +should ever succeed, it could not but result in the most +frightful despotism ever contemplated by men. Ireland in such an +event would be the infinitesimal part of a chaotic system worthy +of Antichrist for head. + +But we are confident that such a scheme cannot succeed and come +to be realized, unless indeed it enter for a short period into +the designs of an avenging God, who has promised not to destroy +mankind again by another flood, but assured us by St. Peter that +he will purify it by fire. + +As a mere design of man, intended for the regeneration of +humanity and the new creation of an abnormal order of things, it +cannot possibly succeed, because it is opposed to the nature of +men, among whom as a whole there can be no perfect unity of +external government and internal organization, owing to the +infinite variety of which we spoke at the beginning, which is as +strong in human beings as elsewhere. No other body than the +Catholic Church can hope to adapt itself to all human races, and +govern by the same rules all the children of Adam. The decree +issued of old from the mouth of God is final, and will last as +long as the earth itself. It is contained in Moses' Canticle: + +"When the Most High divided the nations, when he separated the +sons of Adam, he appointed the bounds of each people, according +to the number of the children of Israel," or, as the Hebrew text +has it, "He fixed the limits of each people." On this passage +Aben Ezra remarks that interpreters understand the text as +alluding to the dispersion of nations (Genesis xi.). Those +interpreters, were clearly right, although only Jewish rabbies. + +When God deprived man of the unity of language, he took away at +the same time the possibility of unity of institutions and +government; and it will be as hard for men to defeat that design +of Providence as for Julian the apostate to rebuild the Temple +of Jerusalem, of which our Saviour had declared that there +should not remain "a stone upon a stone." + +But, though the monstrous scheme cannot ultimately succeed, it +can and will produce untold evils to human society. By alluring +workmen and other people of the lower class, it draws into the +intricate folds of conspiracy, dark projects, and universal +disorder, an immense array of human beings, whom the +revolutionary spirit had not yet, or at least had scarcely, +touched; it undermines and disturbs society in its lowest depths +and widest-spread foundations, since the lower class always has +been and still is the most numerous, including by far the great +majority of men. It consequently renders the stability of order +more difficult, if not absolutely impossible; it opens up a new +era of revolutions, more disastrous than any yet known; for, as +has already been remarked, and it should be well borne in mind, +in order that the whole extent of the evil in prospect may be +seen, so far, all the agitations in Europe, all the convulsions +which have rendered our age so unlike any previous one, and +productive of so many calamities, private as well as public, +have been almost exclusively confined to the middle classes, and +should be considered only as a reaction of the simple +bourgeoisie against the aristocratic class. Those agitations and +convulsions are only the necessary consequence of the secular +opposition, existing from the ninth and tenth centuries and +those immediately following, between the strictly feudal +nobility, which arrogated to itself all prerogatives and rights, +and the more numerous class of burghers, set on the lower step +of the social ladder. These latter wanted, not so much to get up +to the level of their superiors, as to bring them down to their +own, and even precipitate them into the abyss of nothingness +below. They have almost succeeded; and the prestige of noble +blood has passed away, perhaps forever, in spite of Vico's well- +known theory. But the now triumphant burgher in his turn sees +the dim mass, lost in the darkness and indistinctness of the +lowest pool of humanity, rising up grim and horrible out of the +abyss, hungry and fierce and not to be pacified, to threaten the +new-modelled aristocracy of money with a worse fate than that it +inflicted upon the old nobility. + +And, to render the prospect more appalling, the chief means, +which so eminently aided the bourgeoisie to take their position, +namely, the wide-spread influence of secret societies, whose +workings even lately have astonished the world by the facile and +apparently inexplicable revolutions effected in a few days, are +now in the full possession of the lower classes, who, no longer +rude and unintelligent, but possessed of leaders of experience +and knowledge, can also powerfully work those mighty engines of +destruction. + +In the presence of those past, present, and coming revolutions, +the face of heaven entirely clouded, the presence of God +absolutely ignored, his rights over mankind denied, the designs +of his Providence openly derided, and man, pretending to decide +his own destiny by his own unaided efforts, scornfully rejecting +any obligation to a superior power, not looking on high for +assistance, but taking only for his guide his pretended wisdom, +his unbounded pride, and his raging passions; such is now our +world. + +Is Ireland to launch herself on that surging sea of wild impulse, +in whose depths lies destruction and whose waves never kiss a +peaceful coast? When she claimed and exercised a policy of her +own, she wisely persisted in not mixing herself up with the +troubles of Europe, content to enjoy happiness in her own way, +on her ocean-bound island, she thanked God that no portion of +her little territory touched any part of the Continent of Europe, +stretching out vainly toward her shores. So she stood when, +under God, she was mistress of her own destiny. If ever she +thought of Europe, it was only to send her missionaries to its +help, or to receive foreign youth in her large schools which +were open to all, where wisdom was imparted without restriction +and without price. But to follow the lead of European theorists +and vendors of so-called wisdom and science; to originate new +schemes of pretended knowledge, or place herself in the wake of +bold adventurers on the sea of modern inventions, she was ever +steadfast in her refusal. + +And now that her autonomy is almost once again within her grasp, +now that she can carve out a destiny of her own, would she hand +over the guidance of herself to men who know nothing of her, who +have only heard of her through the reports of her enemies, and +who will scarcely look at her if she is foolish enough to ask to +be admitted within their ranks? + +Every one who wishes well to Ireland ought to thank God that so +far few indeed, if any, of her children have ever joined in the +plots and conspiracies of modern times, and that in this last +scheme just referred to, not one of them, probably, has fully +engaged himself. In the late horrors of the Paris Commune, no +Irish name could be shown to have been implicated, and, when the +contrary was asserted, a simple denial was sufficient to set the +question at rest. Let them so continue to refrain from sullying +their national honor by following the lead of men with whom they +have nothing in common. + +After all, the great thing which the Irish desire is, with the +entire possession of their rights, to enjoy that peace and +security in their own island, which they relish so keenly when +they find it on foreign shores. But no peace or security is +possible with the attempt to subvert all human society by wild +and impracticable theories, in which human and divine laws are +alike set at naught. Further words are unnecessary on this +subject, as the simple good sense and deep religious feeling of +the Irish will easily preserve them from yielding to such +temptation. + +Yet, a last consideration seems worthy of note. When, later on, +we present our views, and explain by what means we consider that +the happiness of the Irish nation may be secured, and its +mission fulfilled, a more fitting opportunity will be presented +of speaking of the ways by which Providence has already led them +through former difficulties, and the consideration of those holy +designs and past favors may enable us better to understand what +may be hoped and attempted in the future. + +Here it is enough to observe that, in whatever progress the +Irish have made of late in obtaining a certain amount of their +rights, insurrection, revolution, plots, and the working of +secret societies condemned by the Church, have absolutely gone +for nothing, and the little of it all, in which Irishmen have +indulged, really formed one of the main obstacles to the +enjoyment of what they had already obtained, and to the securing +of a greater amount for the future. + +There is no doubt that revolutions abroad and dangers at home +have been the greatest inducements to England to relax her grasp +and change her tyrannical policy toward Ireland. The success of +the revolt of the North American colonies was the main cause of +the volunteer movement of 1782, and of the concessions then +temporarily granted. The fearful upheaval of revolutionary +France, which filled the English heart with a wholesome dread, +was also a great means of obtaining for Ireland the concession +of being no longer treated as though it were a lair of wild +beasts or a nest of outlaws. The act of Catholic Emancipation in +1829 was certainly granted in view of immediate revolutions +ready to burst forth, one of which did explode in France in the +year following. But, in all those outbursts of popular fury, +Ireland never joined; and if she found in them new ground for +hope, if she awaited anxiously the anticipated result turning in +her favor, she never took any active part whatever in them. She +only relied on God, who always knows how to draw good from evil; +she, however, profited by them, and saw her shackles fall off of +themselves, and herself brought back, step by step, to liberty. + +But so soon as any body of Irishmen entered into a scheme of a +similar nature, imitating the secret plottings and deeds of +European revolutionists, Ireland never gained a single inch of +ground, nor reaped the slightest advantage from such attempts. +On the contrary, ridicule, contempt, increase of burdens, +penalties, and harsh treatment, were the only result which ever +came from them, and, worst of all, no one pitied the victims of +all those foolish enterprises. There is no need of entering here +into details. The first of those attempts failed long ago; the +last is still on record, and cannot be yet said to belong to +past history. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +RESURRECTION.-EMIGRATION. + +To the eye of a keen beholder, Ireland to-day presents the +appearance of a nation entering upon a new career. She is +emerging from a long darkness, and opening again to the free +light of heaven. Whoever compares her present position with that +she occupied a century ago, cannot fail to be struck with wonder +no less at the change in her than at the agencies which brought +that change about. And when to this is added the further +reflection that she is still young, though sprung from so old-an- +origin-young in feeling, in buoyancy, in aspirations, in purity +and simplicity-the conclusion forces itself upon the mind that a +high destiny is in store for her, and that God proposes a long +era of prosperity and active life to an ancient nation which is +only now beginning to live. + +In such cases, whether it be a people or an individual, which is +entering upon its life, crowds of advisers are ever to be found +ready to display their wisdom and lay down the plans whose +adoption will infallibly bring prosperity and happiness to the +individual or people in question. + +Ireland, to-day, suffers from no lack of wise counsellors and +ardent well-wishers. Unfortunately, their various projects do +not always harmonize; indeed, they are sometimes contradictory, +and, as their number is by no means small, the only difficulty +is where to choose which road the nation should take in order to +march in the right direction. + +In entering upon this portion of our work, where we have to deal +with actual questions of the day, and if not to draw the +horoscope of the future, at least to give utterance to our ideas +for the promotion of the welfare of the nation, we shall appear +to come under the same catalogue of advisers, fully persuaded, +with the rest, that our advice is the right, our voice the only +one worthy of attention. + +Our purpose is far humbler; our reflections take another shape; +we merely say + +During the last hundred years, Ireland has changed wonderfully +for the better; and although the old wounds are not yet quite +healed up, though they still smart, though she is still poor and +disconsolate, and her trials and afflictions far from being +ended; nevertheless, though sorely tried, Providence has been +kind to her. Many of her rights have been restored, and she is +no longer the slave of hard task-masters. When she now speaks, +her voice is no longer met by the gibe and sneer, but with a +kind of awe akin to respect, her enemies seeming to feel +instinctively that it is the voice of a nation which no longer +may be safely despised. + +This fact being indisputable, the conviction forces itself upon +us that her improved condition is mainly, perhaps solely, due to +Providence; and that the career upon which she has entered, and +which she is now pursuing with a clear determination of her own, +has been marked out, designed, and already partially run, under +the guidance of that God for whom alone she has suffered, and +who never fails in his own good time to dry up the tears shed +for his sake, and crown his martyrs with victory. + +Our task is merely to examine the progress made, the manner of +its making, the direction toward which it tends, with the aim, +if possible, of adding to its speed. We have no new plan to +offer, no gratuitous advice to give. The plan is already +sketched out--God has sketched it; and our only aim is to see +how man may cooperate with designs far higher than any proposed +by human wisdom. + +The first thing that strikes us, standing on the verge of this +new region, opening out dimly but gloriously before our eyes, is +one great fact which is plain to all; which is greater than all +England's concessions to Ireland, more fruitful of happy +consequences, not alone to the latter country itself, but to the +world at large; a fact which is the strongest proof of the +vitality of the Irish race, which now begins to win for it +respect by bringing forth its real strength, a strength to +astonish the world; which began feebly when the evils of the +country were at their height, but has gone on constantly +increasing until it has now grown to extraordinary proportions; +and which instead of, as their enemies fondly supposed, wresting +Ireland from the Irish, has made their claim to the native soil +securer than ever, by spreading strong supporters of their +rights through the world. This great fact is emigration. + +At this moment, Irishmen are scattered abroad over the earth. In +many regions they have numbers, and form compact bodies. +Wherever this occurs, they acquire a real power in the land +which they have made their new home. That power is certainly +intended by Almighty God to be used wisely, prudently, but +actively and energetically; not only for the good of those who +have been thus transplanted in a new soil, but also for the good +of the mother-country which they cannot, if they would, forget. +How can they utilize for such a purpose the power so recently +acquired, the wealth, the influence, the consideration they +enjoy, in their new country? How may such a course benefit the +land of their nativity as of their origin? These are important +questions; they are not airy theories, but rise up clearly from +a standing and stupendous fact. The turning their power of +expansion to its right use, the reproduction with Christian aim +of that old power of expansion peculiar to the Celtic race three +thousand years ago, is what we call the first true issue of the +Irish question:- Emigration and its Possible Effects. + +In order to judge with proper understanding of the prospective +effects of Irish emigration, it is fitting to study the fact in +all its bearings; to examine the origin and various phases of +the mighty movement, the religious direction it has invariably +taken, the immediate good it has produced, and the special +consideration of the vast proportions which it has finally +assumed. The task may be a long one; but it is certainly +important and interesting; and it is only after the details of +it have been thoroughly sifted that one may be in a position to +judge rightly of the aid it has already furnished, and which it +is destine to furnish in a still greater degree, to the uprising +of the nation. + +The movement originated with the Reformation. It began with the +flight of a few of the nobility in the reign of Henry VIII.; +their number was increased under Elizabeth, and grew to larger +proportions still under James I.; but a far greater number, +sufficient to make a very sensible diminution in the population +of the country, was doomed to exile by Cromwell and the Long +Parliament. It then became a compulsory banishment. + +The next following movement on a large scale occurred after the +surrender of Kilkenny, when the Irish commanders, Colonel +Fitzpatrick, Clanricard, and others, could obtain no better +terms than emigration to any foreign country then at peace with +England. The Irish troops were eagerly caught up by the various +European monarchs, so highly were their services esteemed. The +number that thus left their native land, many of them never to +return, amounted, according to well-informed writers, to forty +thousand men, of noble blood most of them, many of the first +nobility of the land, and almost all children of the old race. +The details of this first exodus are to be found in the pages of +many modern authors, particularly in Mr. Prendergast's +"Cromwellian Settlement." + +The example thus given was followed on many occasions. The +Treaty of Limerick, October 3, 1691, gave the garrison under +Saarsfield liberty to join the army of King William or enter the +service of France. Mr. A.M. O'Sullivan has given a spirited +sketch of the making of their choice by the heroic garrison as +it defiled out of the city: + +"On the morning of the 5th of October the Irish regiments were +to make their choice between exile for life or service in the +armies of their conqueror. At each end of a gently-rising ground +beyond the suburbs were planted on one side the royal standard +of France, and on the other that of England. It was agreed that +the regiments, as they marched out with all the honors of war, +drums beating, colors flying, and matches lighted, should, on +reaching the spot, wheel to the left or to the right, beneath +that flag under which they elected to serve. At the head of the +Irish marched the Foot Guards, the finest regiment in the +service, fourteen hundred strong. All eyes were fixed on this +splendid body of men. On they came, amid breathless silence and +acute suspense; for well both the English and Irish generals +knew that the choice of the first regiment would powerfully +influence all the rest. The Guards marched up to the critical +spot, and in a body wheeled to the colors of France, barely +seven men turning to the English side! Ginckle, we are told, was +greatly agitated as he witnessed the proceeding. The next +regiment, however (Lord Iveagh's), marched as unanimously to the +Williamite banner, as did also portions of two others. But the +bulk of the Irish army defiled under fleur-de-lys of King Louis, +only one thousand and forty-six, out of nearly fourteen thousand +men, preferring the service of England." + +From that time out a large number of the Irish nobility and +gentry continued to enlist under French, Spanish, or Austrian +colors; and the several Irish brigades became celebrated all +over Europe until the end of the eighteenth century. It is said +by l'abbe McGeohegan that six hundred thousand Irishmen perished +in the armies of France alone. The abbe is generally very +accurate, and from his long residence in France had every means +at his disposal of arriving at the truth. Some pretend that +double the number enlisted in foreign service. There is no doubt +that in all a million men left the island to take service under +the banners of Catholic sovereigns, and it is needless to dwell +on the bravery and devotion of those men whom the persecution of +an unwise and cruel Protestant government drove out of Ireland +during the eighteenth century-it is needless to dwell upon it, +for the record is known to the world. + +Without following the fortunes of the Irish brigades, the +history of one of which, that in the service of France, has been +given us in the very interesting and valuable narrative of John +R. O'Callaghan-its various fortunes and final dissolution at the +breaking out of the French republic, when the English Government +was glad to receive back the scattered remnants of it-the +question which bears most on our present subject is: What was +the occupation of those Irishmen on the Continent when not +actually engaged in war? What service did their voluntary or +compulsory exile do their native country? Was that long +emigration of a century productive of something out of which +Providence may have drawn good? + +The first departure of a few under Hugh O'Neill and Hugh +O'Donnell had already spread the name of Ireland through Spain, +Italy, and Belgium. The reports of the numerous English spies, +employed to dog their steps and watch their movements, reports +some of which have been finally brought to light, conclusively +prove that most of the exiles held honorable positions in Spain +and Portugal, at Valladolid and Lisbon, where the O'Sullivans +and O'Driscolls lived; at the very court of Spain, or in the +Spanish navy, like the Bourkes and the Cavanaghs. + +In Flanders, under the Austrian archdukes, were stationed the +McShanes, on the Groyne; the Daniells at Antwerp; the posterity +of the earls themselves with that of their former retinue. All +held rank in the Austrian army, and even in times of peace were +occupied in thinking of possible entanglements whereby they +might serve their country, while they made the Irish name +honored and respected all over that rich land. In Italy, at +Naples, Leghorn, Florence, and Rome, in the great centres of the +peninsula, the same thing was taking place, and there, at least, +the calumnies, everywhere so industriously circulated about +Ireland, could not penetrate, or, if they did, only to be +received with scorn. + +But, when the next emigration, at the end of the Cromwellian and +Williamite wars, landed forty thousand soldiers, and twelve +thousand more a few years afterward, on the European Continent, +these armed men proved to the nations, by their bravery, their +deep attachment to their religion, their perfect honor and +generosity, that the people from which a persecuting power had +driven them forth could not be composed of the outlaws and blood- +thirsty cutthroats which the reports of their enemies would make +them. How striking and permanent must have been the effect +produced on impartial minds by the contrast between the aspect +of the reality and the base fabrications of skilfully-scattered +rumor! + +And be it borne in mind that those men founded families in the +countries where they settled; as well as those who continued to +flock thither during the whole of the eighteenth century. They +carried about with them, in their very persons even, the history +of Ireland's wrongs; and the mere sight of them was enough to +interest all with whom they came in contact in favor of their +country. Hence the esteem and sympathy which Ireland and her +people have always met with in France, where the calumnies and +ridicule lavished on them could never find an entrance. + +It would be a great error to imagine that they were to be found +only in the camp or in the garrisons of cities. They made +themselves a home in their new country, and their children +entered upon all the walks of life opened up to the citizens of +the country in which they resided. Thus, at least, the name of +Ireland did not die out altogether during that age of gloom, +when their native isle was only the prison of the race, where it +was chained down in abject misery, out of the sight of the world, +the life of it stifled out in the deep dungeon of oblivion. + +In all honorable professions they became distinguished-in the +Church and in trade, as in the army. Thus, speaking only of +France, an Irishman-Edgeworth-was chosen by Louis XVI. to +prepare him for death and stand by him during his last ordeal of +ignominy; another-Lally Tollendal-would have wrested India from +England, if his ardent temperament had not brought him enemies +where he ought to have met with friends; another yet-Walsh- +during the American War, employed the wealth acquired by trade, +in sending cruisers against the English to American waters. + +It would take long pages to record what those noble exiles +accomplished for the good of their country and religion, quite +apart from the heroism they displayed on battle-fields, and +their fidelity to principle during times of peace. Their very +presence in foreign countries was, perhaps, the best protest +against the enslavement of their own. They showed by their +bearing that they owed no allegiance to England, and that brute +force could never establish right. By identifying themselves +with the nations which offered them hospitality and a new right +of citizenship, they proved to the world that their native isle +could be governed by native citizens. Their honorable conduct +and successful activity in every pursuit of life showed that, as +they were capable of governing themselves, so likewise could +they claim self-government for their country. + +The moral condition of France during the eighteenth century, and +the depths of corruption into which the higher class sank in so +short a time, are known to all. To the honor of the Irish +nobility and gentry then in France, not a single Irish name is +to be met with in that long list of noble names which have +disgraced that page of French history. Not in the luxurious +bowers and palaces of Louis XV. were they to be found, but on +the battle-fields of Dettingen and Fontenoy. It was a Scotchman- +Law-who infected the higher circles of the natives with the rage +for speculation, and the folly of gambling in paper. It was an +Italian- Cagliostro-who traded on the superstitious credulity of +men who had lost their faith. It was an Englishman-Lord +Derwentwater-and another Scotchman-Ramsay-who, by the +introduction of the first Masonic Lodge into France, opened the +floodgates of future revolutions. + +Among those of foreign birth, no Irishman was found in France to +contribute to the corruption of the nation, and give his aid to +set agoing that long era of woe not yet ended. + +And needless is it to add that never is one of them mentioned, +among those who were so active in propagating that broad +infidelity peculiar to that age. If a few of them shared to some +extent in the general delusion, and took part with the vast +multitude in the insane derision, then so fashionable, of every +thing holy, their number was small indeed, and none of them +acquired in that peculiar line, the celebrity which crowned so +many others. -the Grimms, the Gallianis, and later on the Paines, +the Cloots, and other foreigners. + +As a body, the Irish remained faithful to the Church of their +fathers, honoring her by their conduct, and their respectful +demeanor toward holy names and holy things. Eventually they, in +common with all Frenchmen, had to share in the misfortunes, +brought on by the subversion of all the former guiding +principles; but, though sharing in the punishment, they took no +part in the great causes which called it down. + +These few words will suffice for the emigration of the Irish +nobility, and its effects on foreign countries; as well as +Ireland itself. + +But another class of noblemen had emigrated to the Continent +side by side with those of whom we have just spoken; namely, +bishops, priests, monks, and learned men. England would not +suffer the Catholic clergy in Ireland; she was particularly +careful not to allow Irish youth the benefit of any but a +Protestant education. Irish clergymen were compelled to fly and +open houses of study abroad. Their various colleges in Spain, +France, Belgium, and Italy, are well known; they have already +been referred to, and it is not necessary to enlarge on the +subject. But, though mention has been made of the renown thus +acquired by Irishmen then residing on the Continent, it is +fitting to speak of them again in their character of emigrants. + +They took upon themselves the noble task of making the +literature and the history of their nation known to all people; +and in so doing they have preserved a rich literature which must +otherwise have perished. + +What was their situation on the Continent? They had been driven +by persecution from their country, sometimes in troops of exiles +to be cast on some remote shore; sometimes escaping singly and +in disguise, they went out alone to end their lives under a +foreign sky. Behind them they left the desolate island; their +friends bowed down in misery, their enemies triumphant and in +full power. The convents, where they had spent their happiest +days, were either demolished or turned to vile uses; their +churches desecrated; heresy ruling the land, truth compelled to +be silent. All the harrowing details given by the "Prophet of +Lamentations" might be applied to their beloved country. + +True, they could find peace and rest among those who offered +them their hospitality; at least, the worship of God would be +free and untrammelled there. But it was not the place of their +birth, where they had received their first education; it was not +the mission intrusted to them when they consecrated their lives +to God. They would bear another language, see around them +different manners, begin life anew, perhaps, in their old age. +What a contrast to their former hopes! What a sad ending to the +closing days of their life! + +Nevertheless, they might be of use to their countrymen. It was +not for them now to convert Europe, and preach Christianity to +barbarous tribes, as did their ancestors of old. The world which +received them was languishing with excess of refined +civilization; corruption had entered in, and was fast destroying +it; and they could scarcely hope to hold it back from its +downward career. But, at least, they might open houses for the +reception of the youth of their own country, where they should +receive an education according to the teachings of the true +Church, which was denied them at home. So they went to Salamanca, +to Valladolid, to Paris, Louvain, Douai, Rheims, Rome, wherever +there was hope or possibility of directing Irish youth in the +ways of true piety and learning. + +The labors to which they devoted themselves, though unknown to +posterity, were of great utility at the time. They saw the youth +they educated grow up under their care; when their studies were +concluded, they sent them to labor in the ministry among their +countrymen; they heard of them from time to time of their +arduous life, the dangers they braved, the many persecutions +they underwent, their imprisonment when captured, their +conviction, torture often, and death by martyrdom. And thus, +through the exertions of those emigrant monks and priests, the +true Gospel was preached in Ireland, and the faith of the people +kept alive and strong. + +A few of them chose another path, and consecrated the remainder +of their days to literary labors, which have shed down on their +persecuted country a halo of immortal glory. + +Some Franciscan friars (two of them the brothers O'Cleary) had +already begun this work in the island itself, when driven from +their quiet homes to take refuge in the obscure "convents," that +is, out-of-the-way farm-houses mentioned before, where they were +received and hidden away from the world. The literature of +Ireland was fast perishing; the rage of their enemies being as +violently directed against their books as against their houses +and churches. Precious manuscripts were every day given to the +flames and wantonly destroyed, seemingly for the mere pleasure +of destruction. A very few years would have sufficed to render +the former history of the country a perfect blank. In no spot of +the same size on earth had so many interesting books ever been +written and treasured up; but before long there would remain no +friars on the island to preserve them, no library to contain +them, no one to care for them in the least. The brothers +O'Cleary saw this with dismay; and they, with two companions, +became known as the "Four Masters." They interested in their +work the faithful Irish who still retained possession of a farm, +or a cabin with a few acres of ground attached; the men, and +women even, were to search the country round for every volume +concealed or preserved, for every parchment and relic, for +vellum manuscripts, even a stray solitary page, did one remain +alone. The annals of Ireland were thus saved by the literary +patriotism of poor and unknown peasants. All that remains of +Irish lore was collected together in the rural convent of the +O'Clearys, and an ardent flame was enkindled which lasted the +whole of the seventeenth century. + +To this initiative must be referred the subsequent labors of +Ward, Colgan, Lynch, and others; herculean labors truly, which +have enabled antiquarians of our days to resume the thread, so +near being snapped, of that long and tangled web of history +wherein is woven all that can interest the patriot and the +Christian of the island. + +Knowing the position in which the writers found themselves, it +is astonishing to see what they wrote. It was not a work of +fancy to which their pens were devoted: A strong, feeling heart +and an active imagination were certainly theirs; but of little +service could either prove to them in the ungrateful task of +collecting manuscripts, classifying, reading them through, +ascertaining their age and authenticity, and finally using them +for the purpose of preserving the annals and hagiography of the +nation. + +The large libraries they found in the various cities which +received them could be of little use to them. They had first to +collect their own libraries, to summon their authorities from +distant lands; many books were to be procured from Ireland +itself. With what precautions! It was real, (though lawful) +smuggling; for the export of Irish books was not only under +tariff, but strictly prohibited; the mere sight of them was more +hateful to a British custom-house officer of those days than the +sight of a crucifix to a Japanese official of Nagasaki. It would +be interesting to know the various stratagems devised to conceal +them, tarry them away, and convey them triumphantly to Louvain, +Paris, or Rome. + +But Ireland was not the only repository of Irish books. Many +letters, official documents, copies of old MSS., interesting +relics of antiquity, had been gathered ages before and during +all the intervening time, in convents, churches, houses of +education, on the Continent, along the Rhine chiefly. It is said +that even to-day the richest mines of yet unexplored lore of +this character are scattered along both sides of the great +German river. The frequent movements of various armies, the +sieges of cities, the horrors of war which have raged there +constantly from the days of Arminius and Varro down, have not +destroyed every thing, could not exhaust the rich deposit of +Irish manuscripts there concealed. But the labor of striking the +mine!-of' opening those musty pages falling to pieces between +the fingers and leaving in the hand nothing but illegible +fragments of half-blackened parchment; and the further labor of +deciphering them, of discovering what they speak about, and if +they are likely to prove useful to the purposes. + +It is needless to descant on such a theme. It is impossible to +give any true idea of the literary labors of those men, without +having seen and perused their huge folios, many of which have +not yet been published to the world. Poor Colgan could give us +little more than his "Trial Thaumaturga and that was only +destined to form the portal of the edifice he purposed erecting +as a shrine to the memory of the whole host of saints nurtured +in the island-the Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae + +The grand idea, which first germinated in the minds of those men, +expanded afterward in others under circumstances more favorable. +Did they not suggest to Bollandus and his fellows the thought +whose realization has immortalized them? + +In tasks such as these were the Irish emigrant monks of the time +employed. + +There was yet another class of involuntary Irish exiles those +shipped to the " plantations" of America, to the 11 tobacco" and +11 sugar" islands, to Virginia and Jamaica, but principally to +the Barbadoes. The origin of this new kind of emigration, +already touched upon, is worthy of the times and of the men who +called it forth. + +After forty thousand soldiers had been allowed, or rather +compelled, by Cromwell to enlist in foreign armies, it was found +that many had left behind them their wives and children. What +was to be done with these " widows" whose husbands and numerous +offspring were still living ? They could not be sent to Coff as +women, with children only, could not be expected to "plant" that +desolate province; they could not be expected to "plant" that +desolate province; they could not be allowed to remain in their +native place, as the decree had gone forth that all the Irish +were to "transplant" or be transported: it would have been +inconvenient and inexcusable to do what had been so often done +in the war-massacre them in cold blood-as the war was over. + +To relieve the government of this difficulty, Bristol merchants, +and merchants probably from other English cities, trading with +the new British colonies of North America, thought it a +providential opening for a great profit to accrue to the soils +of the benighted Irish women and children, and likely at the +same time to add something to their own purses and those of +their friends, the West India planters. + +It was only under Elizabeth that permanent colonies were sent +out from England to the continent and islands of the New World. +The Cavaliers of Virginia are as well known in the South as the +Puritans of New England in the North. This last colony dated +only from the time of the Stuart dynasty. The great question for +all those transatlantic establishments was that of labor; but in +the South it was more difficult of solution than in the North, +where Europeans could work in the fields, a thing scarcely +possible in the tropics. The natives as we know, were first +employed in the South by the Spaniards, and soon succumbed to +the demands of European rapacity. + +In the West Indies, natives of two different races existed: the +soft and delicate Indian of Hayti and Cuba, and the ferocious +Caribs of many other islands. The first race soon disappeared; +the other continued refractory, indomitable, choosing to perish +rather than labor; and some remnants of it still remain, saved +by the Catholic Church. As yet, African negroes had not been +conveyed there in sufficient numbers. + +A brilliant thought struck the minds, at once pious, active, and +business-like, of those above-mentioned Bristol merchants-a +thought which was the doom of thousands of Irish women and +children. + +The names of a few of those Bristol firms deserve to be handed +down. Those of Messrs. James Sellick and Leader, Mr. Robert +Yeomans, Mr. Joseph Lawrence, Dudley North, and John Johnson, +are furnished by Mr. Prendergast, who tells us that- + +"The Commissioners of Ireland under Cromwell gave them orders +upon the governors of garrisons to deliver them prisoners of war +. . . . upon masters of work-houses, to hand over to them the +destitute under their care, `who were of an age to labor,' or, +if women, those 'who were marriageable, and not past breeding;' +and gave directions to all in authority, to seize those who had +no visible means of livelihood, and deliver them to these agents +of the Bristol merchants; in execution of which latter +directions, Ireland must have exhibited scenes in every part +like the slave-hunts in Africa." + +A contract was signed on September 14, 1653, by the Com +missioners of Ireland and Messrs. Sellick and Leader, "to supply +them (the merchants) with two hundred and fifty women of the +Irish nation, above twelve years and under the age, of forty- +five." + +The fate reserved for the human cattle, as they must have been +looked upon by the godly gentlemen who bartered over them, may +be well imagined. It is calculated that, in four years, those +English firms of slave-dealers had shipped six thousand and four +hundred Irish men and women, boys and maidens, to the British +colonies of North America. + +The age requisite for the females who were thus shipped off may +be noted; the boys and men were not to be under twelve or over +fifty. These latter were condemned to the task of tilling the +soil in a climate where the negro only can work and live. As all +the cost to their masters was summed up in the expense of +transportation, they were not induced to spare them, even by the +consideration of the high price which, it is said, caused the +modern slave-owners of America to treat their slaves with what +might be called a commercial humanity. It is easy to imagine, +then, the life led by so many young men forced to work in the +open fields, under a tropical sun. How long that life lasted, we +do not know; as their masters, on whom they entirely depended, +were interested in keeping the knowledge of their fate a secret. +It is well understood that, when the unfortunate victims, had +once left the Irish harbor from which they set sail, no one ever +heard of them again; and, if the parents still lived in the old +country, they were left to their conjectures as to the probable +situation of their children in the new. + +Sir William Petty says that "of boys and girls alone "-exclusive, +consequently, of men and women-" six thousand were thus +transplanted; but the total number of Irish sent to perish in +the tobacco-islands, as they were called, was estimated in some +Irish accounts at one hundred thousand." + +The "Irish accounts" may have been exaggerated, but the English +atoned for this by certainly falling below the mark, as is clear +from the fact that, according to them, the Commissioners of +Ireland required the "supply" for New England alone to come from +"the country within twenty miles of Cork, Youghall, Kinsale, +Waterford, and Wexford;" that "the hunt lasted four years," and +was carried on with such ardor by the agents of many English +firms that those men-catchers employed persons "to delude poor +people by false pretenses into by-places, and thence they forced +them on board their ships; that for money sake they were found +to have enticed and forced women from their husbands, and +children from their parents, who maintained them at school; and +they had not only dealt so with the Irish, but also with the +English." For this reason, the order was revoked, and the "hunt" +forbidden. + +When agents were reduced to such straits after the government +had used force, as Henry Cromwell acknowledged, the large extent +of country mentioned above must have been well scoured and +depopulated; and certainly a far greater number of victims must +have been secured by all those means combined than is given in +the English accounts. We believe the Irish. + +One other source of supply deserves mention. Not only women and +children, but priests also, were hunted down and shipped off to +the same American plantations; so that persons of every class +which is held sacred in the eyes of God and man for its +character and helplessness, were compelled to emigrate, or +rather to undergo the worst possible fate that the imagination +of man can conceive. + +In 1656 a general battue for priests took place all over Ireland. +The prisons seem to have been filled to overflowing. "On the 3d +of May, the governors of the respective precincts were ordered +to send them with sufficient guards, from garrison to garrison, +to Carrickfergus, to be there put on board of such ships as +should sail with the first opportunity to the Barbadoes. One may +imagine the sufferings of this toilsome journey by the petition +of one of them. Paul Cashin, an aged priest, apprehended at +Maryborough, and sent to Philipstown, on the way to +Carrickfergus, there fell desperately sick; and, being also +extremely aged, was in danger of perishing in restraint from +want of friends and means of relief. On the 27th of August, the +commissioners having ascertained the truth of his petition, they +ordered him sixpence a day during his sickness, and (in answer, +probably, to this poor prisoner's prayer to be saved from +transplantation) their order directed that the sixpence should +be continued to him in his travel thence (after his recovery) to +Carrickfergus, in order to his transplantation to the Barbadoes. +"-- (Cromwellian Settlement.) + +In that burning island of the West Indies, deprived of all means, +not only of exercising their ministry among others, but even of +practising their religion themselves, of fulfilling their holy +obligation of prayer and sacrifice, these victims of such an +atrocious persecution were employed as laborers in the fields: +their transplantation had cost money, and the money had to be +repaid a hundred-fold by the sweat of their brow. + +Ship-loads of them had been discharged on the inhospitable shore +of that island; each with a high calling which he could no +longer carry out; each, therefore, tortured in his soul, with +all the sweet or bitter memories of his past life crowding on +his mind, and the dreary prospect spreading before him, to the +end of his life, of no change from his rude and slavish +occupation under the burning sun, hearing no voice but that of +the harsh taskmaster; his eyes saddened and his heart sickened +by the open and daily spectacle of immorality and woe, with no +ending but the grave. + +It seems, however, that these holy men found some means of +fulfilling their sacred duty as God's ministers, for the inhuman +traffic in such slaves as these to the Barbadoes lasted but one +year. In 1657 it was decreed that this island should no longer +be their place of transportation, but, instead, the desolate +isles of Arran, opposite the entrance to the bay of Galway, and +the isle of Innisboffin, off the coast of Connemara. Mr. +Prendergast thinks that this change of policy in their regard +may have been caused by the price of their transportation, which +probably mounted to a high aggregate sum. But he must be +mistaken. They certainly cost no more than women and children, +and their labor in the West Indies surely covered this expense. +The reason for the change is more plainly visible in the nature +of the site substituted for the Barbadoes as their place of +exile. The "holy isles" of Arran and the isle of Innisboffin +were then, as now, bare of every thing--almost of inhabitants. +The priests could be there kept as in a prison, and, though they +might be of no profit to their masters, they could not hear a +voice or see a face other than those of their fellow-captives. +In the West India islands there existed an already thick +population, and the very women and children who had been +transported thither before them would be consoled by their +ministry, though practised by stealth, and strengthened in their +faith, which might thus have not only been kept alive among them, +but spread over the whole country. + +Who can say if the faith, preserved among the many Irish living +in the island until quite recently, was not owing to their +exhortations? + +"The first Irish people who found permanent homes in America," +says Thomas D'Arcy McGee, "were certain Catholic patriots +banished by Oliver Cromwell to Barbadoes. . . . In this island, +as in the neighboring Montserrat, the Celtic language was +certainly spoken in the last century,1 (1 The Celtic language-- +that sure sign of Catholicity--was not only spoken there last +century, but is still to-day. The writer himself heard last year +(1871), from two young American seamen, who had just returned +from a voyage to this island, that the negro porters and white +longshoremen who load and unload the ships in the harbor, know +scarcely any other language than the Irish, so that often the +crews of English vessels can only communicate with them by signs.) +and perhaps it is partly attributable to this early Irish +colonization, that Barbadoes became 'one of the most populous +islands in the world.' At the end of the seventeenth century, it +was reported to contain twenty thousand inhabitants." + +Although Barbadoes is the chief island concerned in the present +considerations, nevertheless nearly all the British colonies +then existing in America, received their share of this +emigration. Several ship-loads of the exiles were certainly sent +to New England, at the very time that New-Englanders were +earnestly invited by the British Government to "come and plant +Ireland;" Virginia, too, paid probably with tobacco for the +young men and maidens sent there as slaves. The "Thurloe State +Papers" disclose the fact that one thousand boys and one +thousand girls, taken in Ireland by force, were dispatched to +Jamaica, lately added to the empire of England by Admiral Penn, +father of the celebrated Quaker founder of Pennsylvania. + +Thus, then, began the first extensive emigration of the Irish to +various parts of British America--a movement quite compulsory, +which in our days has become voluntary, and is productive of the +wonders soon to claim our attention. + +The involuntary emigration of soldiers and clergymen to the +Continent of Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth +centuries, was, as has been seen, the cause of great advantages +to Ireland, and became, in the designs of a merciful Providence, +a powerful means of drawing good from evil. At first sight, it +seems impossible to discover a similar advantage in this other +most involuntary emigration to the plantations of America. + +A pagan has declared that "there is no spectacle more grateful +to the eyes of God than a just man struggling with adversity;" +and where, except in the first ages of Christianity, could more +innocent victims, and a more cruel persecution, be witnessed? + +After the horrors of a civil war, horrors unparalleled perhaps +in the annals of modern nations, the children and young people +of both sexes are hunted down over an area of several Irish +counties, dragged in crowds to the seaports, and there jammed in +the holds of small, uncomfortable, slow-going vessels. What +those children must have been may be easily imagined from the +specimens of the race before us to-day. We do not speak of their +beauty and comeliness of form, on which a Greek writer of the +age of Pericles might have dilated, and found a subject worthy +of his pen; we speak of their moral beauty, their simplicity, +purity, love of home, attachment to their family, and God, even +in their tenderest age. We meet them scattered over the broad +surface of this country--boys and girls of the same race, coming +from the same counties, chiefly from sweet Wexford, the +beautiful, calm, pious south of Ireland. Who but a monster could +think of harming those pure and affectionate creatures, so +modest, simple, and ready to trust and confide in every one they +meet? And what could be said of those maidens, now so well known +in this New World, of whom to speak is to praise, whom to see is +to admire? Such were the victims selected by the Bristol firms, +by "Lord" Henry Cromwell, Governor-General of Ireland, or by +Lord Thurloe, secretary and mouth-piece of the "Protector." They +were to be violently torn from their parents and friends, from +every one they knew and loved, to be condemned, after surviving +the horrible ocean-passage of those days, the boys to work on +sugar and tobacco plantations, the girls to lead a life of shame +in the harems of Jamaica planters! + +Such of them as were sent North, were to be distributed among +the "saints" of New England, to be esteemed by the said "saints" +as "idolaters," "vipers," "young reprobates," just objects of +"the wrath of God;" or, if appearing to fall in with their new +and hard task-masters, to be greeted with words of dubious +praise as "brands snatched from the burning," "vessels of +reprobation," destined, perhaps, by a due imitation of the +"saints," to become some day "vessels of election," in the mean +time to be unmercifully scourged by both master and mistress +with the "besom of righteousness" probably, at the slightest +fault or mistake. + +Such was the sorrowful prospect held out to them; there was no +possibility of escape, no hope of going back to the only country +they loved. In the South they soon, very soon, sank into an +obscure grave. In the North a prolonged life was only a +prolongation of torment. For, who among them could ever think of +becoming a "convert?" They had been taken from their island-home +when over twelve years of age; they had already received from +their mothers and hunted priests a religious education, which +happily could never be effaced; they were to bury in their +hearts all their lives long the conviction of their holy faith, +supported by the only hope they now had, the hope of heaven. + +Could the eyes of God, looking down over the earth, and marking +in all places with deep pity his erring children, find souls +more worthy of his vast paternal love? Can we imagine that the +ears of Heaven were deaf to their prayers poured out unceasingly +all those long days and nights of trials and of tears? Can we +read in the designs of Providence the blessed decrees which such +scenes called forth? Blind that we are, unable often to judge +rightly of our own thoughts, often an enigma to ourselves, how +shall we dare to judge of what is so far above us? No Christian +at least can pretend that all those miseries, accumulated on the +heads of so many innocent victims, had no other object than to +make them suffer. Ireland will yet profit by all the merits, +unknown and untold, gained by so many thousand human hearts and +souls and bodies given over to misfortunes which baffle +expression. + +And as yet we have said nothing of those cargos of priests +shipped from Carrickfergus to Barbadoes, and afterward to Arran +and Innisboffin. Deprived of all means of making their new +country in America a witness of Catholic prayer and worship--not +one of them probably being able to offer the holy sacrifice even +for a single day, nor administer any sacrament unless perhaps +that of penance-by stealth; not one dared open his mouth and +preach the truth publicly to all. What could they do? They +offered the sacrifice of themselves; the very sight of them +possessed almost the virtue of a sacrament, and their lives +preached a sermon more eloquent than any of those which entrance +the vastest audience of a solemn cathedral. + +No! the first emigration of 'the Irish to America was not +unfruitful in its results. And were we to attribute the great +progress made by Catholicity on the American Continent in the +present age to the merits of those numerous victims of +persecution, who could prove us to be in error, and say that +between the sufferings of innocence in the seventeenth and the +glorious success of their countrymen in the nineteenth century +there is no connection? The old phrase of Tertullian, "Sanguis +martyrum, semen Christianorum," has been proved true too often +in the annals of the Catholic Church to be falsified in this one +instance; yet, if what our days witness be not the result of +former sufferings and sacrifices, those trials were barren, and +are consequently inexplicable. Every cause must have its effect; +and it is a truth which no Christian can hesitate to admit, that +the most efficacious source of blessings is the tear of the +innocent, the anguish of the pure of heart, the humble prayer of +the persecuted servant of God. + +When we come to speak of the emigration of the race to the +American Continent, which is now in progress, the stupendous +facts which will make our narrative and excite our admiration +must be regarded and accounted for from a religious and Catholic +stand point, and we shall then be able to refer to this first +and apparently barren emigration. Many losses, spiritual as well +as temporal, may stagger the unreflecting, particularly when the +whole designs of Providence are as yet scarcely in their +inceptive stage; but the more they are developed before our eyes, +the more the truth is made clear; every difficulty vanishes; +and the soul of the beholder exclaims "Yes, God is truly wise +and merciful!" + +But it is time at last to enter on the consideration of what we +esteem the first great issue involved in the resurrection of +Ireland, namely, all the probable consequences of the present +emigration, which is the true point we are aiming at, as our +purpose is to show the benefit that Ireland has already derived, +and is sure to derive later on, from that incessant flow of the +great human wave starting from her shore to oversweep vast +continents and islands of the sea. What aid will it afford to +her own resurrection at home, in order to render that complete +and lasting? This may be said to have been our main object in +writing these pages; for, although it may be impressive enough +for those who regard the subject attentively, and although it +will certainly be a source of wonder to those who come after us, +nevertheless it fails to strike as it ought the great mass of +beholders. + +Often in the history of nations, while the mightiest revolutions +are in progress, they are scarcely perceptible to the actors in +them; all their circumstances, their most active and effective +operations, being like the silent workings of Nature, scarcely +sensible to those around, until the end comes and the great +result is achieved; then history records the event as one +fraught with the greatest blessings, or misfortunes, to mankind. +So will it be, we have no doubt, with that strange concatenation +of small domestic facts which now form the universal phenomenon +of all English-speaking countries: the spread of the Irish +everywhere. + +What were its beginnings? Nothing at all. What good effects +followed it? None perceptible for a long time. These two +reflections claim our attention first, for we must study the +phenomenon, in all its circumstances and bearings. + +This new emigration we call voluntary, to distinguish it from +the first, which was forced upon large portions of the Irish +race. But, in reality, the Irish undertook it at the beginning +with reluctance; the intolerable state of existence which they +were compelled to undergo in their own land acting upon them +with a kind of moral compulsion amounting to an almost +irresistible force. For it was either the famine or persecution +of the century preceding which first drove them to emigrate. + +Necessity of expansion is a great characteristic of their race, +an instinctive impulse which three thousand years ago carried a +part of it into the heart of Asia. But this particular branch +had been rooted to the soil for so many centuries, by the stern +necessity of repelling a series of successive invasions, that +this great characteristic appeared for a long time to be totally +extinct in it. They seemed neither to know nor care any more for +foreign countries; and no race in Europe, from the ninth to the +eighteenth century, showed itself so completely wedded to the +soil, and incapable of the thought of spreading abroad. + +At last they began to move. And what was the first origin of the +new movement? No one can say precisely. Only, in various +accounts of occurrences taking place in the island during the +last century, we occasionally meet with such entries as the +following by Matthew O'Connor, in his "Irish Catholics:" + +"The summer of 1728 was fatal. The heart of the politician was +steeled against the miseries of the Catholics; their number +excited his jealousy. Their decrease by the silent waste of +famine must have been a source of secret joy; but the Protestant +interest was declining in a proportionate degree by the ravages +of starvation. . . + +"Thousands of Protestants took shipping in Belfast for the West +Indies. . . . The policy that would starve the Catholics at home +would not deny them the privilege of flight." + +This is the first mention of emigration, on any extensive scale, +which we could find in the records of last century; and, at the +time when the Protestant Irish went to America, where they +doubtless met with congenial minds in the Puritans of New +England, the Catholics still turned, as before, to Spain and +France. + +But a new entry in 1762 unfolds a new aspect. This time +Catholics alone are spoken of: "No resource remained to the +peasantry but emigration. The few who had means sought an asylum +in the American plantations; such as remained were allowed +generally an acre of ground for the support of their families, +and commonage for a cow, but at rents the most exorbitant." + +This is the first instance we meet with of Irish Catholics +emigrating to America, at least in comparatively large bodies. +They were no doubt encouraged to take this step by the accounts +which reached them of the success of the Ulster Protestants who +had gone before, and whose posterity is now to be found in the +South chiefly, as low down as Carolina and Georgia. + +But the relative prospects of the Protestants and Catholic were +at that time far from being equally good. The first, driven from +home by famine, found a land of plenty awaiting them, a genial +climate, perfect toleration of their religious tenets everywhere, +and in some districts they gained real political influence. +They were received with open arms by the colonists, who were +unable to occupy the land alone, and ready to welcome new fellow- +citizens, who would aid them in their contests with the Indians, +and add materially to their prosperity and resources. All +persons and all things then smiled on the new-comer, and within +a very short time he found himself possessed of more than he had +ever expected. Thus others were induced to follow from the north +of Ireland, and famine was no longer the only motive power which +impelled them to leave their native land. Mr. Bancroft tells us +they were called Scotch-Irish. + +On the other hand, the Irish Catholics found a fertile soil and +an inviting climate; Nature welcomed them, but man recoiled, +inflamed by a bitter hostility against their faith and their +very name. This feeling of opposition, on both accounts, was +already fast wearing away in Europe; but the "liberality" +springing up in the Old World, owing to a variety of +circumstances, had not yet penetrated into the British colonies +of North America. They were still, in this respect, in the state +in which the Revolution of 1688 had left them: Catholicity was +proscribed everywhere, and the penal laws of the Old World were +attempted to be enforced in the New, as far as the different +state of the country would permit. A few details, taken mainly +from Mr. Bancroft's history, will give us a tolerably exact idea +of the situation in which the newly-arrived Irish Catholic found +himself in that future land of liberty. + +The consequences of the downfall of James II. were soon fully +accepted by the British colonies, throughout which changes of +greater or less degree took place in the laws, not only without +any great opposition, but in the main with the full applause of +all parties. The Stuart dynasty was thrown over more easily in +America than it had been in the British Isles. + +It is universally admitted that one of the greatest consequences +of that downfall was the renewed persecution of Catholics in +England and Ireland. In the words of Mr. Bancroft: + +"The Revolution of 1688, narrow in its principles, imperfect in +its details, frightfully intolerant toward Catholics, forms an +era in the liberty of England and of mankind." + +It will be no surprise, then, on coming to review the various +colonies, to find the oppression of the Catholic Church common +to all without one exception. + +Beginning with the South, we find the new governor of South +Carolina, Archdale, a Quaker, and, on that account, personally +well disposed toward all, desirous of showing that a Quaker +could respect the faith of a "Papist," commencing his +administration by sending back to the Spanish Governor of +Florida four Indian converts of the Spanish priests, who were +exposed as slaves for sale in Carolina. He likewise enfranchised +the Huguenots of South Carolina, who, up to this time, had been +kept under by the High Church oligarchy. Yet, when he came to +urge the adoption of liberal measures toward all in the state, +the colonial Legislature consented to confer liberty of +conscience on all Christians, with the exception of "Papists." + +In North Carolina, the Church of England was actually made the +state Church, in 1704, and the Legislature enacted that "no one +who would not take the oath prescribed by law should hold a +place of trust in the colony." + +Of Virginia, Spotswood, the governor, could write to England, in +1711: "This government is in perfect peace and tranquillity, +under a due obedience to royal authority, and a gentlemanly +conformity to the Church of England." + +Of Maryland, Mr. Bancroft writes that the English Revolution was +a Protestant revolution. + +"A convention of the associates 'for the defence of the +Protestant religion' assumed the government, and, in an address +to King William, denounced the influence of the Jesuits, the +prevalence of popish idolatry, the connivance by the previous +government at murders of Protestants, and the danger from plots +with the French and Indians." + +Hence, a little farther on, we read: "The Roman Catholics alone +were left without an ally, exposed to English bigotry and +colonial injustice. They alone were disfranchised on the soil +which, long before Locke pleaded for toleration, or Penn for +religious freedom, they had chosen, not as their own asylum only, +but, with Catholic liberality, as the asylum of every +persecuted sect. In the land which Catholics had opened for +Protestants, the Catholic inhabitant was the sole victim to +Anglican intolerance. Mass might not be said publicly. No +Catholic priest or bishop might utter his faith in a voice of +persuasion. No Catholic might teach the young. If the wayward +child of a Papist would but become an apostate, the law wrested +for him from his parents a share of their property. The +disfranchisement of the proprietary related to his creed, not to +his family. Such were the methods adopted 'to prevent the growth +of Popery.'" + +Mr. Bancroft adds with much truth and force: "Who shall say that +the faith of the cultivated individual is firmer than the faith +of the common people? Who shall say that the many are fickle, +that the chief is firm? To recover the inheritance of authority, +Benedict, the son of the proprietary, renounced the Catholic +Church for that of England; the persecution never crushed the +faith of the humble colonists." + +Pennsylvania appears to form an exception to that universal +animosity against Catholics. It is said that, owing to William +Penn, "religious liberty was established, and every public +employment was open to every man professing faith in Jesus +Christ. . . . In Pennsylvania human rights were respected: the +fundamental law of William Penn, even his detractors concede, +was in harmony with universal reason, and true to the ancient +and just liberties of the people." + +Such may have been the written law--the theory; but the law as +executed--the fact--was far from realizing those fine promises. +As late as the end of the Revolutionary War, the Catholics of +Philadelphia were compelled to hide away their worship in a +small chapel, surrounded by buildings whose only access was a +dark and winding alley still in existence a few years back. + +It is known, moreover, that Penn himself, in 1708, forbade mass +to be celebrated in the colony. According to T. D. McGee, +Governor Gordon, in 1734, prohibited the erection of a Catholic +church in Walnut Street; and, in 1736, a private house having +been purchased at the corner of Second and Chestnut streets for +the same object, it was again prohibited. + +New Jersey showed her liberality in the form sacred to all the +other colonies: "Liberty of conscience was granted to all but +papists." + +There was as yet no homogeneity in New York, the Dutch still +preserving great power, and, consequently, "the idea of +toleration was still imperfect in New Netherlands; equality +among religious sects was unknown." If this was the case with +several Protestant organizations, what must it have been with +the Catholics? It is well known that no one dared openly avow +his faith in the true Church, and that John Ury was hanged in +1741 for being a priest, though whether he was a priest or not +is still a question. + +Rhode Island had proclaimed in the beginning "entire freedom of +mind;" but, after the Revolution of 1688, the colony +"interpolated into the statute-book the exclusion of papists +from the established equality." + +The spirit of Connecticut is well expressed in the words of the +address sent by the colony to King William of Orange, on his +accession: "Great was the day when the Lord who sitteth upon the +floods did divide his and your adversaries like the waters of +Jordan, and did begin to magnify you like Joshua, by the +deliverance of the English dominions from popery and slavery." +We wonder how the taciturn Hollander received this effusion of +Connecticut? There is nothing more to add on the situation of +the Catholics in the land of the "blue laws." + +In Massachusetts it will be no surprise to hear that "every form +of Christianity, except the Roman Catholic, was enfranchised." + +This short sketch is eloquent enough with reference to the +position in which the poor Irish immigrant found himself on +landing on the shores of the New World. His faith he found +proscribed as severely almost as in his own country. He was +compelled to conceal it; and, even had he been free to make open +profession of it, he could find no minister of his creed +tolerated anywhere. The country was a perfect blank as far as +the ceremonies of his religion went. In his native land he knew +where to find a priest; he was advised of the day and of the +precise place where he might assist at the sacred mysteries of +his religion; and, were it in the cave or on the mountain-top, +in the bog or the morass, he knew that there he could adore and +receive his God as truly and as worthily as in the magnificent +domes looking proudly to heaven under Catholic skies. But in +British North America, except in a few counties of Maryland, +where the true faith had once been openly planted and taken root, +where some clergymen of his own creed were even still to be +found, though forced to conceal, or at least not expose +themselves too freely, he knew that elsewhere it was useless for +him to inquire, not only for a sacred edifice where he might go +to thank his God on landing, but even to look for a priest +should he find himself at the point of death. + +At the present day it is almost impossible to give any details +and move the reader by a picture of the complete spiritual +destitution of the Irish immigrant in his new home. Here and +there, however, we meet, in reading, facts apparently +insignificant in themselves, which at first sight seem to have +no connection whatever with the subject on hand, yet which, with +the aid of reflection, throw quite a flood of light on it, as +convincing as it is unexpected. Take, for instance, the +following: + +"In the last year of the administration of Andros in +Massachusetts," says Mr. Bancroft, "the daughter of John Goodwin, +a child of thirteen years, charged a laundress with having +stolen linen from the family. Glover, the mother of the +laundress, a friendless immigrant, almost ignorant of English, +like a true woman, with a mother's heart, rebuked the false +accusation. Immediately, the girl, to secure revenge, became +bewitched. The infection spread. Three others of the family, the +youngest a boy of less than five years old, soon succeeded in +equally arresting public attention. . . . Cotton Mather went to +pray by the side of one of them, and, lo! the child lost her +hearing till prayer was over. What was to be done? The four +ministers of Boston and the one of Charlestown assembled in +Goodwin's house, and spent a whole day of fasting in prayer. In +consequence, the youngest child, the little one of five years +old, was 'delivered.' But if the ministers could thus by prayer +'deliver' a possessed child, there must have been a witch. The +honor of the ministers required a prosecution of the affair; and +the magistrates, William Stoughton being one, with a 'vigor' +which the united ministers commended as 'just,' made 'a +discovery of the wicked instrument of the devil.' The culprit +was evidently a wild Irishwoman, of a strange tongue. Goodwin, +who made the complaint, 'had no proof that could have done her +any hurt;' but the 'scandalous old hag,' whom some thought +'crazed in her intellectuals,' was bewildered, and made strange +answers, which were taken as confessions, sometimes, in +excitement, using her native dialect. . . . It was plain the +prisoner was a Roman Catholic; she had never learned the Lord's +Prayer in English; she could repeat the Pater Noster fluently +enough, but not quite correctly; so, the ministers and Goodwin's +family had the satisfaction of getting her condemned as a witch +and executed." + +The position of this poor woman, who had never openly declared +herself a Catholic, but which fact the people were led to infer +from various circumstances, expresses the condition of all Irish +immigrants at the time. A further fact recorded by the same +historian shows what the feeling toward Catholics was at the +time in Massachusetts: + +"The girl, who knew herself to be a deceiver, had no remorse, +and to the ministers it never occurred that vanity and love of +power had blinded their judgment." + +The reason was plain: Glover was a Catholic. How could the girl +be expected to feel remorse for having brought about her death? +How could the ministers feel the least concern because their +"vanity and love of power" had effected the hanging of such a +creature?--"a vessel of wrath," in any case; a "predestined +reprobate," beyond doubt, whose ignominious death on earth and +eternal punishment afterward were "a true source of joy in +heaven and an increase of glory for the infinite justice of God, +" if there was any truth in Calvinism. + +Another fact, as suggestive as the above, is found in McGee's +"Irish Settlers in America:" "The first Catholic church that we +find in Pennsylvania, after Penn's suppression of them in 1708, +was connected with the house of a Miss Elizabeth McGauley, an +Irish lady, who, with several of her tenantry, settled on land +on the road leading from Nicetown to Frankfort. Near the site of +this ancient sanctuary stood a tomb, inscribed, 'John Michael +Brown, ob. 15th December, A. D. 1750. R. I. P.' He had been a +priest residing there incognito." + +Miss E. McGauley was not poor, like Glover. On coming to America +with some of her tenantry, she secured herself beforehand +against the difficulty of practising her religion; and, knowing +well that no priest was to be found in the country, she brought +one with her. All the remainder of his life did this minister of +God reside in her house incognito, keeping the ministry +intrusted to him for the service of all a profound secret. He +never attempted, probably, to enlighten his prejudiced and +ignorant neighbors; the knowledge of his character and the +benefits arising from his presence were confined to the lady of +the house and her faithful tenantry. Even after his death the +secret was still kept, and only the cabalistic characters "R. I. +P." remain to tell an intelligent reader that he was neither +Quaker nor Protestant; and, probably, tradition alone, preserved +doubtless in the neighborhood, could assure us that he was a +priest. + +How many Catholics scattered over the broad colony of +Pennsylvania, immigrants like Miss McGauley, but unlike her in +their poverty, and therefore unable to hire a clergyman, never +knew that they might unburden their consciences and enjoy the +consolations of their religion, by travelling a hundred miles or +so to the house "on the road leading from Nicetown to +Frankfort?" How many lived and died within a short distance, and +never knocked at the door, owing to their ignorance of the class +of inmates? Thus, although there were some ministers of God in +the country, their number was so small, and they were so far +distant from each other, that their labors were utterly +unavailing for the great body of the Catholic immigrants, who +would have rejoiced to throw themselves at their feet, and ease +their hearts and purify their souls by confession. + +Some Irishmen, it is true, had emigrated before such concealment +was requisite, in Maryland at least, where an asylum for all had +been opened by Lord Baltimore, a Catholic. Thus, the Carrolls +had settled in Prince George County. They were at liberty to +make open use of the services of the English fathers of the +Society of Jesus, who for a long time officiated undisguisedly +among their English Catholic flocks; but, as was seen, after the +Revolution of 1688, Catholics were disfranchised in Maryland +even, their religious rites proscribed, and penalties enacted +against the open profession of their worship. + +Thus, concealment became a necessity, there also; the policy of +keeping the existence of clergymen and the celebration of the +holy mysteries secret had to be adopted there as in other +colonies. The Carroll family, like Miss Elizabeth McGauley, gave +refuge in their house to a minister of their own religion, and +it was in such a chapel-house that John Carroll was born, on the +8th of January, 1735--the first Bishop and Archbishop of +Baltimore. + +It is therefore no matter for wonder that the number of children +of the Church in North America did not increase in proportion to +the number of Catholic immigrants; on the contrary, the +posterity of the majority of those who chose the British +colonies, for their home was lost to her. The immigrants +themselves, we are confident, never lost their faith. Although +living for years without any exterior help, without receiving a +word of instruction or advice, without the celebration of any +religious rite whatever, or the reception of any sacrament, yet, +faith was too deeply rooted in their minds and hearts to be ever +eradicated, or shaken even. + +But, though they themselves clung fast to their faith in the +midst of so many adverse circumstances, what of their children? + +There is no doubt that many of them did, individually, every +thing possible to transmit that faith to their children; but all +they could do was to speak privately, to warn then against +dangers, and set up before them the example of a blameless life. +Not only was there no priest to initiate them into the mysteries, +granted by Christ to the redeemed soul; there was not even a +Catholic school-master to instruct them. Even the "hedge-school" +could not be set on foot. Books were unknown; Catholic +literature, in the modern sense, had not yet been born; there +was no vestige of such a thing beyond, perhaps, an occasional +old, worn, and torn, yet dearly-prized and carefully-concealed +prayer-book, dating from the happy days of the Confederation of +Kilkenny. + +There is no reason, then, for surprise in the fact that, +although the families of those first Irish settlers were +numerous and scattered over all the district which afterward +became the Middle and Southern States, only a faint tradition +remained among many of them that they really belonged to the old +Church and "ought to be Catholics." How often was this the case +thirty years ago, particularly in the South! + +It would not be right to conclude that all this was a pure and +unmitigated loss to the Church of Christ. Later on, we shall +have to speak of more numerous and serious losses: but a few +words on this first one may not be thrown away. + +As in the material world an infinite number of germs are lost, +and quantities of seeds, wafted on the breeze from giant trees +and humble plants, fall and perish on a barren rock, in the +eddies of a swift-running brook, or, oftener still, on the hard +and unkind soil on which they have happened to alight; so that, +out of a thousand germs, a few only find every thing congenial +to their growth, and attain to the full size allotted them by +Nature --nevertheless, despite this loss, the species is not +only preserved, but so multiplied as to produce on the beholder, +in after-time, the impression that, not only no loss has been +sustained, but that much has been gained. So is it with the +Catholic Church in general, and in particular with the momentous +events now being considered. + +The cultivated field of the "father of the family" was about to +be extended over a new and vast area. A whole continent was to +be "fenced around," and "olive-trees," and "fig-trees," and all +plants useful and ornamental, were destined to flourish in that +vast garden to the end of time. The great and eternal Father was, +by his providence, directing the mighty operation from above, +and marking the various points of the compass to which the +floating germs were to be wafted. He knew that he was planting a +new garden for his Son, who would, as usual, be the first +husbandman, and employ many workmen to help him. + +How could it be expected that all would be gain without loss, +when the harvest-time had not yet arrived, and the "enemy" was +busy sowing "tares" in all directions? Was not the work human as +well as divine? and, as human, did not the work partake of the +imperfection of human things? + +The continent had evidently been predestined to form one of the +strongest branches of the great Catholic tree. Discovered before +the modern heresies of Protestantism had shown themselves, it +was to bring into the fold of Christ new nations, when some old +ones were to be cut off and wither away. This has long ago been +pointed out; but another mighty design of Providence there was +which only now begins to show itself. + +Columbus was in search of Asia and the holy sepulchre when he +stumbled on the New World. Nor was the idea of his great mind +altogether a delusion. The new continent was in future ages to +be used as the highway from Europe to the Orient; China, Japan, +India, vast regions filled with innumerable multitudes of human +beings, had, so far, scarcely been touched, could scarcely be +touched, by Catholicism coming from Europe. In fact it was too +far away, and the means of intercommunication were too +inadequate. The holy Catholic Church increases as "things which +grow;" a few husbandmen--missionaries--are required to set the +first seedlings and plants in the soil, to water them, watch +over them, and see that they thrive and flourish; the rest of +the process is a matter of seeds wafted by the wind, falling and +taking root in a fertile soil, which has been already prepared +for their reception. If there were no other means of propagation +than the toil and sweat of the husbandman, how long would it +take to cover the whole earth with vegetation? The first +propagation of Christianity was done in this way; hence it took +more than ten centuries to Christianize Europe. In the fifth +century, Rome was still thoroughly pagan. Were the vast regions +of that dim, far-away East to undergo a similar slow and painful +process, necessitating an immense amount of labor, centuries and +centuries in duration? God hastened the process by adding to it +the wafting of seeds, and America was to be the vast nursery +from which those seeds were to come. It was from that long and +alternately widening and narrowing belt of land, running down +the sea from north to south, that the Japhetic race was to +invade the "tents of Sem." + +Thus was the dream of Columbus to be realized. Asia would be +reached by Europe, of which America would form a part. The east +of Asia would become contiguous to a real European population, +large masses of which would easily come in contact with the +Mongolian and Malay races of their immediate neighborhood, steam +and modern improvements in travel reducing the intervening +distance to a matter of a few days. Thus the Japhetic movement +could be carried out on a large scale, and European civilization +come to supersede the obsolete manners of those old and effete +races of Eastern Asia. The unity of mankind would be vindicated +against its blasphemers; and, to crown the whole, Christianity +would find its way back to the cradle of man, then, to its own +birthplace, Calvary and the sepulchre of Christ. Thus would the +conjectural vision of the great Genoese become only an +explanation of the old prophecy of the second father of mankind.1 +(1 The reader will understand that all this is merely "a view, +" and not given as a pure interpretation of Scripture or past +history.) + +Thus would the Church at last become rigorously Catholic, and +not as some theologians imagined, in their desire to make actual, +incomplete facts coincide with a far wider theory, only +Catholic by approximation. + +If it were allowed us to read the designs of Providence +reverently, we might say, without presumption, that it seems +such is to be future history, although simple conjecture may +produce too strong an impression on our minds. But, at the +period of which we speak, shortly after the middle of the last +century, any one who would have spoken thus would have been +justly deemed a visionary. The south of America, though +possessed of the true religion, seemed inert; the North was +already showing signs of an intense future activity, but all +opposed to the truth. God was about to change those appearances, +and, by infusing the Irish element into the North, produce, in a +comparatively short space of time, the wonderful phenomenon +which we witness. + +Yet, so short-sighted are we, that some are almost staggered in +their faith, because the children of the earliest Irish +emigrants to this country, were apparently lost to the Church. + +Nevertheless, several circumstances might be brought forward to +show that a real gain accrued to the Church from these lost +children of the first Irish settlers. How many prejudices, so +deeply rooted in the country as to seem ineradicable, owe their +destruction to them! How many harsh and uncharitable feelings +against Catholics were smoothed away or softened down by their +instrumentality! + +Those men who, in after-life, remembered that they "ought to be +Catholics," were not ready to accept, on the word of a "minister," +all the absurd calumnies spread against the Church throughout +those vast regions. They had heard, by a kind of tradition, kept +alive in their families, of what their ancestors had formerly +suffered, and they at least were not inclined to join in the +universal denunciation of a creed which they were conscious +"ought to be" their own. + +Who shall say whether it is not the old Catholic blood, running +in the veins of these children of Irish Catholic parents, which +has been mainly instrumental in creating that spirit of true +liberality which inspires the honorable conduct of the majority +of the American people, and in which the Church has at all times +found her safety? + +It is certain that there is a vast difference between that +American spirit and the atmosphere of distrust pervading other +countries, and that the rapid spread of the Church throughout +the broad regions of the Union has been singularly favored by +the soft breeze of a liberal and kindly feeling so common to +those even who are not born within the fold. And that the +children of Irish parents, themselves lost to the Church, have +exercised great influence from the start, in that regard, cannot, +we think, be denied. + +But, perhaps, too much space has been devoted to that first +emigration from Ireland; it is time to come to a more recent +period of which there are more certain and positive accounts. + +There is no need to speak of the happy change effected in the +position of the Catholic Church in America by the Revolution; +Washington, in his reply to the address of the Catholics of the +country, has given expression to the feelings of the nation in +terms so well known that they require no comment. + +From that date commences the real history of the Catholic Church +in North America, outside of the provinces originally settled by +the French and Spaniards. The influx of Irish immigrants now +attracts our chief attention. + +From the year 1800, when the "Union" was effected between +England and Ireland, the number of immigrants increased suddenly +and rapidly, and the situation of the new-comers on their +arrival was very different from that of their predecessors. They +found liberty not only proclaimed, but established; few churches +indeed, but, such as there were, known and open, and a bishop +and clergymen already practising their ministry. + +Before entering upon the extent, nature, and effects of this +second Irish immigration--which may be studied from documents +existing--it will be well to say a few words on the elements +which constituted the Catholic body when first organized. We are +concerned, it is true, with the new element introduced by the +great movement of which we begin to speak; but we are far from +undervaluing other sources of life, which not only affected the +Church at its birth in the United States, but have continued to +act upon her ever since with more or less of energy. The reader +should not imagine that, by not speaking of them, we are unjust +or blind to their efficiency; they simply lie without the scope +of our plan. + +In the North the French, and in the South the Spanish +missionaries, had imparted to Catholicity a vitality which could +not be extinguished; but its operations were almost entirely +confined to limits outside those which circumscribe the field of +our investigations. The French element, however, grew into +prominence even at the outset within those limits, either +through the acquisition of Louisiana, or in consequence of the +French immigration during the terrible revolution of last +century. It is only necessary to open the pages of Mr. R. H. +Clarke's recently-published "Lives of the American Bishops," to +be struck with the importance of that element. It may be said +that, for the first twenty-five years of the republic, French +prelates and clergymen, together with several American +Marylanders, were intrusted with the care of the infant Church. +Ireland seems to have had scarcely any office to fulfil in that +great work, save through the humble exertions of a few devoted +but almost unknown missionaries; so that, when bishops of Irish +birth were first chosen, they were either taken from Ireland +itself, as was Dr. England, Bishop Kelly, of Richmond, or +Conwell, of Philadelphia, or from the monasteries of Rome, as +were Bishops Connolly and Concanen, of New York. Bishop Egan, of +Philadelphia, can scarcely be called an exception, as he had +only spent a very few years in this country when he was elevated +to the episcopal dignity. The German element showed itself only +in Pennsylvania. + +It was under circumstances such as these that that stream of +desolate people began to flow, spreading gradually through +immense regions, and bringing with it only its unconquerable +faith. + +From the "mustard-seed" a noble tree was to spring up; but as +yet it was only a weak sapling. In 1785, Bishop Carroll made an +estimate of the Catholic population of the States: "In Maryland, +seventeen thousand; in Pennsylvania, over seven thousand; and, +as far as information could be obtained, in other States, about +fifteen hundred." New York City could not yet boast of a hundred +Catholics. + +Like all things durable and mighty, the first swelling of that +great wave was slow and silent, and scarcely perceptible, until +little by little the ripple spread over the vast ocean. + +The first apparent causes have been well expressed by T. D. +McGee, in his "Irish Settlers:" "The breaking out of the French +War in 1793, and the degrading legislative Union of 1800, had +deprived many of bread, and all of liberty at home, and made the +mechanical as well as the agricultural class embark to cross the +Atlantic. + +"Hitherto the Irish had colonized, sowed and reaped, fought, +spoken, and legislated in the New World, if not always in +proportion to their numbers, yet always to the measure of their +educational resources. Now they are about to plant a new emblem - +-the Cross--and a new institution--the Church--throughout the +American Continent. For, the faith of their fathers they did not +leave behind them; nay, rather, wheresoever six Irish roof-trees +rise, there you will find the cross of Christ reared over all, +and Celtic piety and Celtic enthusiasm, all sighs and tears, +kneeling before it." + +Let us look at a few particular signs of the coming of this +great wave in its first scarcely perceptible movement. + +"John Timon was born at Conewago, Pennsylvania, February 12, +1797, and baptized on the 17th of the same month; his parents, +James Timon and Margaret Leddy, had quite recently arrived in +this country from Ireland, and were from Belturbet, County Cavan. +A family of ten children, of whom John was the second son, +blessed the Catholic household of these pious parents."--(Lives +of American Bishops.) + +"Francis Xavier Gartland was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1805; +he came to America, while yet a child, and made his studies at +Mount St. Mary's, Emmettsburg."--(Ibid.) + +"John B. Fitzpatrick was born in Boston, November 1, 1812. His +parents emigrated from Ireland, and settled in Boston in 1805."-- +(Ibid.) + +What did the parents of the future bishop find on their arrival +at Boston? In the year previous, the first Catholic congregation +was assembled in that city by the Abbe La Poitre, a French navy- +chaplain, who had remained in America after the departure of the +French fleet, which rendered such powerful assistance in the +struggle for American independence. In 1808, four years before +the birth of him who was destined to wear the mitre, the +Catholics had obtained the old "French Church" in School Street, +which was probably a Calvinist meeting house. + +Another wavelet of a precious kind was the following: "Bishop +Lanigan was meditating" (in Ireland) "the establishment of a +religious community in the city of Kilkenny, and designed Miss +Alice Lalor for one of its future members. But, in 1797, her +parents emigrated from Ireland and settled in America, and she +felt it to be her duty . . . . to accompany them. But she +promised the bishop to return in two years. On arriving at +Philadelphia, she became acquainted with the Reverend Leonard +Neale. . . . Feeling convinced that it was not the design of +Providence that she should abandon America for Ireland, Father +Neale released her from her promise to return to Kilkenny, in +order that she might become his cooperator in the foundation of +a religious order in the United States (the Visitation Nuns)."-- +(Ibid.) + +Already was the young church robbing the old of some of its best +members, who were to give some weight to the Irish element in +this country. + +"George A. Carrell was born at Philadelphia. . . . He was the +seventh child of his Irish parents, and the house they occupied, +and in which he was born, was the old mansion of William Penn, +at the corner of Market Street and Letitia Court."-- (Ibid.) + +Two short observations naturally present themselves here. +Philadelphia is the city oftenest mentioned whenever foreigners +are spoken of as landing in North America at that time. It was +then the great harbor of the country, New York not having +attained the preeminence she now enjoys. Hence, the Church +counted seven thousand children in Pennsylvania; but very few +north of that city. Thither came the German Catholics, also, in +great numbers to spread themselves chiefly West and South. Such +was the direction then taken by the Catholic wave. + +Our second remark only concerns the house in which he who became +Bishop Carrell was born. It seemed only fitting that an Irish +Catholic family should thus early take possession of the very +dwelling-place of the founder of the colony, as the Catholic +Church was destined, through the Irish element chiefly, to +supplant and outlive the little church of the "Friends." + +All the facts, however, just quoted are exceptional, and regard +only the select few. What became of the mass, meanwhile? As +usual, history for the most part is silent with regard to it. A +very few words constitute the only record which can afford us a +glimpse of the real situation of the vast majority of those poor, +friendless, obscure immigrants, on whom, nevertheless, the +great hopes of the future were built. + +We have, happily, some means left us of forming an opinion; and +it will be seen that their situation was much the same as that +of their earlier compatriots. For instance, in the "Lives of +American Bishops" we read the following startling story: + +"The Abbe Cheverus very frequently made long journeys to convey +the consolations of religion or perform acts of charity. About +this time (1803) he received a letter from two young Irish +Catholics confined in Northampton prison, who had been condemned +to death without just cause, as was almost universally believed, +imploring him to come to them and prepare them for their sad and +cruel fate. He hastened to their spiritual relief, and inspired +them with the most heroic sentiments and dispositions, which +they persevered in to the last fatal moment of their execution. +According to custom, the prisoners were carried to the nearest +church, to hear a sermon preached immediately before their +execution; several Protestant ministers presented themselves to +preach the sermon; but the Abbe Cheverus claimed the right to +perform that duty, as the choice of the prisoners themselves, +and, after much difficulty, he was allowed to ascend the pulpit. +His sermon struck all present with astonishment, awe, and +admiration." + +Here, in 1803, we have almost a repetition of the death of the +poor woman Glover; and, had it not been for the high character +of the admirable man who hastened to their assistance, those two +young Irish Catholics would have had for their only religious +preparation before death a sermon from one or more Protestant +ministers; and, as the great and good Cheverus could not be +everywhere in New England, there is little doubt but that such +was the fate of more than one of the newly-arrived immigrants. + +In 1800 and the following years a comparatively large number of +Irishmen landed at New York, and the future terrible scourge of +their race, ship-fever, soon broke out among them. Dr. Bailey, +the father of Mrs.Seton, was Health Physician to the port of New +York at the time, and he allowed his daughter to visit and do +good among them. She was deeply impressed by the religious +demeanor of the Irish just landed. The Rev. Dr. White relates in +her "Life:" "'The first thing,' she said, 'the poor people did +when they got their tents was to assemble on the grass, and all, +kneeling, adore our Master for his mercy; and every morning sun +finds them repeating their praises.' In a letter to her sister- +in-law she describes their sufferings under the 'plague' in the +following golden words: + +"'Rebecca, I cannot sleep; the dying and the dead possess my +mind--babies expiring at the empty breast of their mother. And +this is not fancy, but the scene that surrounds me. Father says +that such was never known before; that there are actually twelve +children that must die from mere want of sustenance, unable to +take more than the breast, and from the wretchedness of their +parents deprived of it, as they have laid ill for many days in +the ship, without food, air, or changing. Merciful Father! Oh, +how readily would I give them each a turn of my child's treasure, +if in my choice! But, Rebecca, they have a provider in heaven, +who will soothe the pangs of the suffering innocent.'" + +When she wrote the above, Mrs. Seton was not yet professedly a +Catholic; but how truly animated with the spirit of the Church +of Christ! Happy would the poor immigrants have been had they +only met with Protestants of her stamp on landing, and of her +father's, who, although he prevented her becoming foster-mother +to those poor children, as her first duty regarded her own child, +died himself, a victim to his charity toward their parents, +contracting, in the fulfilment of his office, the fever they had +brought with them, which he was striving to allay! + +The following fact, which will conclude this portion of our +inquiry, happened a little later, but, on that very account, +will serve as a connecting link with the considerations which +are to follow, and will open our eyes to the real position of +that already swelling mass of immigrants. + +"During the year 1823, Bishop Connolly (of New York) made the +visitation of his entire diocese. . . . He extended his journey +along the route of the Erie Canal, which was commenced in 1819, +where large numbers of Irish laborers had been attracted, and +among whom the bishop labored with indefatigable zeal." At that +time the clergy of the whole diocese consisted of eight priests +with their bishop. + +At last we find the "Irish people" at work. The spectacle is +full of sadness; and the only emotion which can fill the heart +is one of deep pity. In that vast wilderness of the West, for +such it then was, along public works extending hundreds of miles, +large gangs of men--such is the expression we are compelled to +use--are hard at work along that dreary Mohawk River; blasting +rocks, digging in the hard clay, uprooting trees, clearing the +ground of briars, tangled bushes, and the vast quantity of +debris of animal and vegetable matter accumulated during +centuries. This was the work which "attracted" large numbers of +Irish laborers. They had left their country, crossed the ocean +under circumstances that should come under our notice, and +landed on these (at that time) inhospitable shores, to find work; +and they found the occupation just mentioned. We can picture +the "shanties" in which they lived, the harpies who thrived on +them, the innumerable extortions to which they were subjected. +Bearing in mind that, in the immense State of New York and in +one-half of New Jersey, there were just eight priests with their +bishop, we may form some idea of the way in which they lived and +died. + +How they must have blessed this bishop, who had left Rome, his +second country, and the noble associations which surrounded him +in the Eternal City, to come to the succor of his unfortunate +countrymen scattered away in a New World! And well did he +deserve that blessing! + +But his passage along the Erie Canal could be nothing more than +a veritable passage--a transient sojourn of a few days or weeks +at most. What became of those gangs of men after, what had +happened to them before, no one has said, no one has told us, no +one now can ascertain; we are only left to conjecture, and the +spectacle, as we said, is too sad to dwell upon. + +But, hidden within this melancholy view, lies a great and +glorious fact. It was the beginning of an "apostolic mission" on +the part of a whole people, a mission which will form one of the +most moving and significant pages of the ecclesiastical history +of the nineteenth century. Every Christian knows that apostolic +work is rough work; the brunt of the battle must be borne by the +earliest in the field, that it may be said of their successors +in the words of the Gospel: "Vos in labores eorum introistis." + +Such being the hard lot of the immigrants in the interior of the +country, was that of those who remained in the cities much more +enviable? On this point we are enabled to judge, at least as +regards New York. In a letter written by Bishop Dubois, and +published in vol. viii. of the "Annals of the Propagation of the +Faith," we meet with the following exhaustive description: + +"At the beginning of this century, the newly-arrived immigrants +were employed as day-laborers, servants, journeymen, clerks, and +shopmen. Now, the condition of this class here is precisely the +same as its condition in England; it is entirely dependent upon +the will of the trader: not because by law are they forced +thereto, but because the rich alone, being able to advance the +capital necessary for factories, steam-engines, and workshops, +the poor are obliged to work for them upon the masters' own +conditions. These conditions, in the case of servants especially, +sometimes degenerate into tyranny; they are frequently forced +to work on Sundays, permission to hear even a low mass being +refused them; they are obliged betimes to assist at the prayers +of the sect to which their masters belong, and they have no +other alternative than either to do violence to their conscience, +or lose their place at the risk of not finding another. Add to +this the insults, the calumnies against Catholics, which they +are daily forced to hear--a kind of persecution at the hands of +their masters, who do every thing to turn them away from their +religion; consider the dangers to which are exposed numbers of +orphans who lose their fathers almost immediately upon landing; +add to this the want of spiritual succor, a necessary +consequence of the scarcity of missionaries; and you will have a +feeble idea of the obstacles of every kind which we have to +surmount. . . . Supposing an immigrant, the father of a family, +to die, the widow and orphans have no other resources but public +charity; and if a home is found for the children, it is nearly +always among Protestants, who do every thing in their power to +undermine their faith." + +This picture of immigrant-life in New York was certainly +repeated through all the other large cities. Under such a +combination of adverse circumstances it is most probable that +men and women of any other nation would have entirely lost their +faith. Such, then, was the dreary prospect for the new-comers. +Who at that time would have dared hope to witness the consoling +spectacle which followed soon after? To begin with the dawn of +that bright day, we must pass on to a new period of immigration, +commencing in 1815 or shortly after, and continuing down to the +"exodus" of 1846. + +It may be well, before entering upon it, to look at the causes +which drove so many to leave the shores of Ireland. From the +year 1815 the number of immigrants increased considerably and +kept on a steady increase until it swelled to the startling +proportions of 1850 and the following years. + +It is easy to demonstrate that the causes were twofold: 1. The +wretched state of the vast majority of the Irish at the best of +times. 2. The periodical famines which have regularly visited +the island since the beginning of last century. At any time it +was in the power of the English to remedy both causes by +effecting certain changes in the existing laws. The first of +these is evidently the necessary result of the penal laws which +had converted the Irish, designedly and with the wilful intent +of the legislators, into a nation of paupers. The second can +only be the result of the laws affecting the tenure of land and +the trade and manufactures of the country. + +To attribute the pauperism which now seems a part and parcel of +the Irish nation while in their own country to the indolence and +want of foresight on the part of the natives themselves, as it +is a fashion with English writers to do, is wilfully to close +the eyes to two very important things: their past history in +their own land, and their present history outside of it. + +As to their past history in their own land, it is an established +fact that pauperism was unknown in the island, until Protestant +legislators introduced it by their confiscations and laws with +the manifest intent of destroying, rooting out, or driving away +the race. What has been previously stated on this point cannot +be gainsaid; and it suffices for the vindication of a falsely- +accused people. There might be some hope for a speedier and +happier solution of the vexed "Irish difficulty" did the +grandsons of those who wrought the evil only honestly +acknowledge the faults of their ancestors--the least that might +be expected of them; and it would not be too much to imagine +them honest enough to repair those faults in these days of +severe reckoning and self-scrutiny. + +As to the present history of the race outside their own land, +now that it has been scattered, by these grievous calamities, +all over the world, whatever characteristics its children may +present, indolence and want of foresight can scarcely be +numbered among them, in view of the success which attends their +march everywhere. And if these qualities would seem to be rooted +in the native soil, they are only "importations" like the men +who fastened them there, and due only to the cramped position in +which their legislators so carefully confined them. Where should +there be energy, when every motive that could urge it has been +taken away? How is it possible to improve their condition, when +every improvement only imposes an additional burden upon them in +the shape of rack-rent or eviction? + +In his work on "The Social Condition of the People," Mr. Kay +quotes from the Edinburgh Review of January, 1850, the evidence +on this point given by English, German, and Polish witnesses +before the Committee of Emigration, and the proofs gathered from +every source as to the rapid improvement of the Irish emigrant, +wherever he goes, are certainly convincing. + +As for the foolish (for it is nothing else, unless it be wicked) +assertion that those frightful famines referred to are to be +attributed to the sufferers themselves, it is only necessary to +say in refutation that in the very years when thousands were +being swept away daily by their ravages in Ireland--1846 and +1847-- the harbors of the island were filled with English +vessels, loaded with cargoes of provisions of every kind to be +transported to England in order to pay the rents due to absentee +landlords: and all these provisions were the product of the +famine-stricken land, won by the toil of the famine-stricken +nation. This has invariably been the case when famine has swept +over the island: the island's riches were in her harbors, stored +in the holds of foreign vessels, to be carried away and +converted into money that these noble Anglo-Irish landlords +might be enabled to "sustain" life + +Others have ascribed these periodical visitations to a surplus +population; but, without entering into a discussion on the +subject, Sir Robert Kane, in his "Industrial Resources of +Ireland," shows that, taking the island in her present state and +under the existing system of cultivation, she could support with +ease eighteen million inhabitants; that, if the best methods of +farming were generally adopted, the soil, by double and even +triple crops, could feed without difficulty, not only twenty- +five million, the figure stated by Mr. Gustave de Beaumont, a +French publicist of eminence, but as many as from thirty to +thirty-five million inhabitants. + +But, as the same judicious writer observes, "the enormous +quantity of cattle annually shipped off from Ireland to England +would, in that case, be consumed in the country which produces +it." + +It is clear, therefore, that the pretended surplus population of +Ireland is, as Sir Robert Kane says, a piece of pure imagination, +perfectly ideal, and that it is its unequal and not its +aggregate amount which is to be deplored. + +But no one has presented the question more clearly and solved it +more precisely than Mr. Gustave de Beaumont in his admirable +work on Ireland, from which we note one or two telling passages, +as given in Father Perraud's "Ireland under English Rule." + +"The celebrated French publicist, who was the first to present +to us (in France) a complete picture of the condition of Ireland, +examining in 1829 how emigration might or might not do away +with all the misery he had witnessed, proposed to himself the +following questions: + +"I. To what extent ought emigration to be carried, in order to +bring about a material change in the general state of Ireland? +namely, by taking away the pretended surplus population. + +"II. Would it be possible to carry it out to the proposed extent? + +"III. Supposing it practicable, would it be a radical and final +solution of existing difficulties? + +"The advocates of emigration replied to the first question by +estimating at a minimum of two million the number of individuals +who would have to leave Ireland, at one time, in order to +produce there that kind of vacuum which would improve the +conditions of labor and the existence of the rest of the +agricultural population. + +"Upon these data the solution of the second question was easy. +It was by no means difficult to prove that the system was +impracticable on so large a scale; impracticable on account of +the insufficiency of the means of transport at disposal; +impracticable on account of the enormous sums required to carry +it out. + +"In fact, supposing an emigrant-ship to carry a thousand +passengers--a very high figure--two thousand vessels would be +required to attain the end in view, namely, the sudden and +universal emigration of the whole so-called surplus population. +That is to say, the whole merchant navy of Great Britain would +have to be drawn off from the commerce of the world, and +chartered for the execution of this very chimerical plan. Where +was the sum required for the most necessary expenses and urgent +wants of two million passengers to be got? And what country in +the world would have submitted to a monster invasion like those +of barbarous times? Unless, indeed, these two million +individuals were beforehand coldly devoted to death by hunger, +was there a single country in which it could be hoped they would +immediately find work or the means of subsistence?" + +All those impossibilities, genuine indeed and at the time, 1829, +of unforeseen solution, became, under Providence, possible by +extending the period of transportation from one year to twenty; +so that, instead of two, in reality three million and a half +were thus transported. + +But, where M. de Beaumont displayed all his talent for +appreciation and keen reasoning was, when he came to consider +the third and most embarrassing question of all. Was it certain +that, the system of renting and cultivating land always +remaining the same, emigration would suffice to heal those +inveterate sores, and effect, in conformity with the wishes of +its partisans, a social transformation? + +On this point, he showed, in a manner admitting of no reply, +that the emigration of a third or even of half the population +would not radically put an end to the misery of the country. The +difficulty with Ireland does not consist in being unable to +produce wherewith to feed her population; it lies in the manner +in which landed property is managed, a system which no amount of +emigration can possibly modify; for, "if one of the first +principles of the landlord be that the farmer should gain by +tilling no more than is strictly necessary to support him--if, +in addition, this principle is, as a general rule, rigidly +followed out, and all economical means of living resorted to by +the farmer necessarily induce a rise in the rent--what, upon +this supposition (of the sad reality of which every one knowing +Ireland is perfectly conscious), can be the consequence of a +decrease of population?" + +Always obliged to live as sparingly as possible, in order to +escape a rise in the rent, and forced to undergo daily +privations in order to meet his engagements, how is the Irish +farmer to gain by the departure of his neighbor? "Thus, after +millions of Irishmen have disappeared, the fate of the +population which remains is in no wise changed; it will forever +be equally wretched." + +Then, glancing at the past, making a sad enumeration of +Ireland's losses during the last three centuries, and evoking +from these too eloquent figures the accents of a touching +eloquence, the writer asks himself how far so much bloodshed, +such armies of individuals, stricken down by death, or hurried +out of the country by transportation--so many families extinct, +and the like--had contributed to restore and save Ireland? + +"Open the annals of Ireland, and see the small amount of +influence which all those violent enterprises and all those +extraordinary accidental causes of depopulation have had upon +the social state of the country. Calculate the number of souls +that perished during the religious wars; count the thousands of +Irishmen that perished under the sword of Cromwell; to all that +the victor massacred add the myriads that he transported; think +of the hundreds of thousands who sank under famine, the number +of whom exceeded in one year, 1741, forty thousand; do not +overlook the formerly considerable number who yearly died by the +hand of the executioner; in fine, to this add the twenty-five or +thirty thousand individuals who emigrate from the country every +year" (this was written before 1830); "and, having laid down +these facts, you look for the consequences: when, in the midst +of these different crises, you see Ireland always the same, +always equally wretched, always crammed with paupers, always +bearing about with her the same hideous and deep wounds, you +will then recognize that the miseries of Ireland do not arise +from the number of her inhabitants; you will conclude that it is +the nature of her social condition to generate unmitigated +indigence and infinite distress; that, supposing millions of +poor swept out of her by a stroke of magic, others would be seen +rising up in abundance out of a well-spring of misery, which in +Ireland never dries up; and that the fault does not lie in the +number of her population, but in the institutions in force in +the country." + +The celebrated French writer had certainly pointed out what were +the real causes of the distress in Ireland. He had shown how +false were the pretended causes then assigned for it by +Englishmen; he touched the key-note--the land tenure; and, as a +well-wisher to Ireland, deprecating any new calamities, he was +firmly opposed to those various fancy projects of emigration en +masse, suggested by numerous British writers, many of whom, such +as the editors of the London Times, were induced to promulgate +them by their deep hatred for the old race, which led them to +represent under a modern garb the old Norman and Puritan +philanthropic desires of rooting out and sweeping off the Irish +from the land. + +The projects of emigration, therefore, were most eagerly +advanced by the enemies of the Irish, their real friends being, +on the whole, opposed to the movement at the time. But, the true +causes of Irish misery being either unseen or unappreciated, or, +if known, studiously fostered, with a view of bringing about the +one aim which ran all through the English policy, of emptying +the island and destroying the race, eventually it did actually +become a dire necessity for the people to fly; and therefore, +from 1815 to 1845, the wave of emigration began to rise fast, +and go on swelling in volume and widening in extent from year to +year. Midway between the two extreme points, about 1830, it +amounted to between twenty-five and thirty thousand. M. de +Beaumont could not see how two millions could be transported at +once. Nor were they. But he did not foresee that in the twenty +years succeeding that in which he wrote more than three millions +and a half would actually be shipped from the island; and all +the difficulties that he anticipated--the number of ships +requisite, the immense amount of money needed, the countries +where such numbers might be received--were furnished by +Providence for the spread of the Irish in many lands. But these +considerations can only be briefly touched upon here; they will +form the interesting subject of the next chapter. What we have +now to consider is the commencement of the great exodus, +confined so far to Canada and the United States, but already +working wonders over the vast stretch of country which spreads +away between the St. Lawrence and the Gulf of Mexico. + +According to the official records of emigration from the "United +Kingdom," from 1815 to 1860 inclusive, we find that, in general, +the greater number emigrated to Canada up to 1839; from that +epoch, but chiefly after 1845, the greater number went directly +to the United States. Let us first look for a reason for this +change of destination, and afterward for its result. + +Homer, wiser than many modern philosophers, tells us that "there +are beings which have a certain name among men and another quite +different among the gods." What is true of names, is true +likewise of what they represent, motives and things in general. +Men often assign to actions motives far different from those +known to God; and, in like manner, the motives of men, visibly +impelled by the Spirit of God, are often far beyond the +comprehension of "philosophers." We are far from presuming to +dive into the divine thoughts with the certainty of bringing to +the surface what lies hidden in their mysterious depths; but +every Christian should endeavor humbly to penetrate them, and +modestly set forth what he gathers from them. + +What object can be assigned for the Irish emigrating in such +large numbers to Canada for a quarter of a century, from 1815 to +1840? It cannot be because Canada is, as it then was, a British +colony: the English Emigration Commissioners had the honesty to +confess, later on, that the rush to the United States was in +consequence of their desire to avoid dwelling under the English +flag. It was not because, in Canada, a greater facility opened +up for obtaining good land; for, in Lower Canada, where they +tarried for a long time, the land was already occupied by French- +Canadians, and, in that severe climate, the soil is not over- +productive. It cannot have been the facility for transportation-- +during about six months of every year, the mouth of the St. +Lawrence is closed to ships, and travel through a frozen land is +not the most desirable thing, particularly to homeless and +moneyless immigrants. Last of all, it was not the similarity of +climate and language with those of their own island. What, then, +can it have been? + +In our own opinion, the human motive of the Irish can have been +no other than a religious one; in the Divine mind, the motive +was of a still higher and more merciful character. The Irish had +heard, from the few of their countrymen who had already +emigrated to the United States, of the great difficulty they +experienced in practising their religion. On the other hand, +they knew that, throughout Lower Canada, there was not a village +without its Catholic church and priest, and that Quebec and +Montreal were important and entirely Catholic cities. This great +fact blinded them to the many disadvantages they would have to +undergo in emigrating to such a country; or, rather, they saw +the disadvantages, but the thought that their religion and that +of their children would be safe in Canada was enough for them. +It is the same people ever, in the nineteenth century as in +those which preceded it, and all noble minds must respect them +for thus first looking to the supernatural. + +But, had the Almighty a design in directing them to the north of +the continent, and establishing so great a number of them +permanently in that country? We are fully persuaded that the +Irish race is now, and ever has been, predestined to fulfill a +high mission on this earth. What is now transpiring under our +eyes is too clear to be denied by any Christian; and admitting +the general fact that the race must be an instrument in the +hands of God to spread his Church throughout, in English- +speaking countries particularly, to correct, by their presence +and influence in every quarter of the globe, the evil effects of +the spread of what we call Japhetism among Oriental races--let +us endeavor to see how their coming to settle in Canada served +for that great end. + +The Gospel of our Lord was first preached in those dreary +regions by religious of the Gallic race. The labors of Catholic +missionaries in Canada, of the members of the Society of Jesus +particularly, are now well known and appreciated. The French +colony in Canada was from the first a Catholic colony: It was +not a conquest; it was not a commercial enterprise; it was not a +transatlantic garden for luxurious Frenchmen: it was what Mr. +Bancroft has well called it, "a mission." The desire of winning +souls to Christ had begun the work, had run all through it +almost to the end. The blood of martyrs had consecrated it; that +of Rasles, shed by heretics; of Lallemant, Brebeuf, and Jogues, +by pagans. But, after the surrender of the colony to England, +although the terms of the cession were as favorable to religion +as could be desired, and the British power could not introduce +there any of the penal laws still pressing so hard on English +and Irish Catholics, nevertheless, a great danger arose in +consequence, which is particularly visible now after more than a +century has passed away. Though Catholicity could not be +persecuted, and, for once, England faithfully observed the terms +of a capitulation which involved a religious side, as little +could heresy be excluded or denied some of the privileges which +it enjoys in the mother country. The government was to be +administered mostly by Protestant officials; the new-comers from +England would be composed, for the greater part, of Protestant +merchants and artisans. The Anglican Church would soon gain the +prestige of wealth and influence. The country in the east, it is +true, thickly settled by Catholic farmers, would long remain +Catholic; but in the large towns, Quebec and Montreal chiefly, +an influx of Protestants of every sect was to be expected; while +in the west, where the French had scarcely occupied the country, +the numerical majority would soon lean to the side of the new +arrivals from England and Scotland. The English tongue would +gradually supersede the French, and it might have been foreseen +from the beginning that, within a given time, notwithstanding +the rapid increase of French-Canadians by birth, Catholicity +would lose first its preeminence, and, perhaps, after a while, +occupy a very inferior rank. + +The religion professed by the many millions connected with the +centre of unity has never shrunk from an equal contest, and is +sure of victory when left free and untrammelled; but in Canada +it should be observed that, had it not been for the coming of +the Irish, the whole of the Catholic population would have +spoken French, being surrounded and absorbed almost by +sectarians of every hue, all speaking English. The strange +spectacle would there have shown itself--a spectacle, perhaps, +never witnessed hitherto-- of a Catholic and Protestant language. +The separation of the two camps would have rested chiefly upon +this peculiar basis; and there can be no doubt that, with the +vigorous youth of the United States, developing so rapidly in +the South, and destined to carry with it the English tongue over +all the Northern continent, together with the spread of the +English and Scotch North and West, the French language was +destined to become circumscribed within narrower and narrower +limits, and its final disappearance in America would be probably +only a work of time. + +If it is permitted us to study, love, and admire the designs of +Providence among men, who shall say that it is presumption to +assert that God's was the hand which directed the Irish exiles +and set them in their place, in order to prevent the sad +spectacle of a land settled by holy people, belonging almost +exclusively to God and to Christ, endeared to the true Church by +so many labors endured for the spread of truth, and memorable by +so many heroic virtues practised in those frozen wilds and +dreary forests, from falling sooner or later into the hands of +the most unrelenting enemies of the papacy? + +It cannot be presumptuous to attribute it to the designs of +Providence, as otherwise it is impossible to discover any reason +whatever which might influence the Irish in selecting that +desolate spot for their place of exile. They came, therefore, in +great numbers, to set themselves under the spiritual control of +priests unable to understand either their native language or the +borrowed English they brought with them; they came, confident +that all the Catholic churches built prior to their coming would +be open to them, and that the pastors of those French +congregations would receive them, not as strangers, but as long- +lost children, at last let loose from a land of bondage, come to +share the freedom secured by the settlers. + +The statistics of immigration having been accurately kept since +1815, it is easy to ascertain the number of Irish people who +landed in Canada during the precise period under investigation. +And, although a certain number, which increased with the years, +did not remain in the country where they first landed, but pushed +on immediately, or shortly after, south to the United States, still, +a large proportion settled permanently in the country. + +Half a million English-speaking persons arrived in Canada +between the years 1815 and 1839. At that time there was no +distinction made between the three different classes coming +respectively from England, Scotland, and Ireland; but, when this +classification afterward came to be made, the Irish formed a +steady three-fourths of the whole. Applying this proportion to +the time under consideration, we have the large amount of three +hundred and seventy-five thousand. The number was afterward +considerably increased, although a greater number still went +directly to the United States; so that it is ascertained that +within ten years, from 1839 to 1849, four hundred and twenty- +eight thousand Irish people arrived in Canada; that is to say, +at a rate of fifty thousand a year. + +The country in which they settled was certainly large, as it +comprised not only Canada proper, but also the British provinces +of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and the large islands in the +vicinity. But, as the Irish, contrary to their former custom, now +prefer to dwell in large towns and assemble together rather than +find themselves, as it were, lost in a sparsely-peopled district, +the population of important cities, such as Quebec and Montreal, +and of the growing western towns of Toronto, Kingston, and others, +was very sensibly affected by their arrival. The English was no +longer to be an exclusively Protestant tongue; and, as the more +rapid increase of the Irish by birth would soon equalize numbers, +and give them eventually the preponderance, it was clear that the +country would ultimately remain Catholic, even supposing that the +French tongue should be finally forgotten. + +The first extensive emigration to the large cities of Canada was +also owing to the fact that, the eastern provinces not having +come under the stipulation of the capitulation treaty, the penal +laws were still unrepealed in that district. Toward the +beginning of this century we find Father Burke, wishing to open +a school for Catholic children at Halifax, Nova Scotia, +threatened with the enforcement of the law by the then governor +of the province, if he persevered in his attempt, a threat which +was only prevented from being carried into execution by the +liberal spirit of the Protestant inhabitants. The flow of +emigration to the colonies south and east of the St. Lawrence +was, consequently, of a much later, in fact, for the most part, +of quite recent date. + +In Newfoundland the case was still worse. That region had been +ceded to Great Britain by France, in 1713, at the Treaty of +Utrecht; and, although that treaty stipulated that freedom of +worship should be guaranteed, nevertheless, the country remained +closed to Catholic clergymen, the stipulation being nullified by +the treacherous clause "as far as the laws of England permitted. +"Hence, the French Catholics with their clergy were soon +obliged to leave the colony, and as late as 1765, according to +Mr. Maguire ("Irish in America"), the governor of the island was +issuing orders worthy of the reign of Queen Anne. In the words +of Dr. Murdock, Bishop of St. John's, Newfoundland, "the Irish +had not the liberty of the birds of the air to build or repair +their nests; they had behind them the forest or the rocky soil, +which they were not allowed, without license difficultly +obtained, to reclaim and till. Their only resource was the +stormy ocean, and they saw the wealth they won from the deep +spent in other lands, leaving them only a scanty subsistence." + +The Irish had therefore to fall back on the cities of Lower +Canada, where, moreover, they found numerous churches and +priests. Hence, Quebec was their first place of refuge, and they +soon formed a large percentage of the population. Montreal was +their choice from the first, where they arrived in crowds, +attracted by the intense pleasure they felt at the happy chance +of living and dying in a really Catholic city, where, turn in +what direction they would, their eyes were gladdened by the +sight of magnificent churches, colleges, convents, hospitals, +with the cross, the symbol of their faith, surmounting nearly +all the public edifices of the city. + +Western Canada was as yet an uninviting field for the Irish. A +large number of Scotchmen and "Orangemen" had already settled +there, when the British Government, having adopted the scheme of +emigration for Ireland, offered them favorable conditions for +transport and settlement. It was on the west chiefly that an +invasion of English Protestantism threatened, and the Catholics +of Ireland were, in the dispensation of Providence, to meet that +danger. It is no surprise, then, to find the English Government +itself made subservient to designs very different from its own, +offering in 1825 to bear the whole expense of establishing large +bodes of Irishmen on these wilds--wilds then, but full of +promise for the future. Among other colonies transported bodily, +Mr. Maguire tells of four hundred and fifteen families, +comprising two thousand individuals, all from the south of +Ireland, genuine "Irish in birth and blood," transported from +Cork harbor to Western Canada, on board British ships, under the +auspices of the government. Their story will well repay the +reading, and above all their remonstrance to the governor of the +province, after they had surmounted the first difficulties of +their new position: "We labor under a heavy grievance, which, we +confidently hope, your Excellency will redress, and then we will +be completely happy, viz., the want of clergymen to administer +to us the comforts of our holy religion, and good schoolmasters +to instruct our children." + +In spite, however, of the efforts made by British statesmen to +direct the flow of Irish emigration to the northern part of the +American Continent, the number of those who voluntarily crossed +the Atlantic to settle directly in the United States was +steadily increasing. Not only did they find there perfect +freedom of religion, but the absence of clergymen was being +gradually less felt, and each new bishopric created became a +centre of religious life and vigor. + +Moreover, the new republic had turned out to be the most +energetic and enterprising nation which the world had yet seen. +A whole continent lay before it to subdue, and at once the young +giant prepared to grapple with the truly gigantic difficulty. +With the arrival of every "packet-boat," Europe was astonished +to hear of the amazing vitality displayed by a nation of +yesterday, composed of a few millions of individuals, who had +already spread their frontiers as far north as the whole line of +the great lakes, as far west as the Pacific coast, and southward +to the Gulf of Mexico. Louisiana fell in, and, from a state of +torpidity in which it had slumbered, the vast territory which +then went by that name waked suddenly into a prodigiously active +life. At the very beginning of the century, the Missouri had +been navigated to its source, and Lewis and Clarke, crossing the +high ridge of the Rocky Mountains, had descended the Columbia to +its mouth, and settled the boundary of the United States along +the far-spreading Pacific. The mighty Mississippi, in the midst +of that splendid domain, belonged from source to mouth to the +republic, and, with its tributaries, was already alive with +numerous steamboats, passing up and down, bearing their life and +all its belongings with them, and the (at that time more +numerous still) flatboats, carried down the stream, to reach, in +due time, New Orleans. + +There was small thought of hindering "foreigners" from coming to +take a share in the giant enterprise. All the inhabitants were +in fact foreigners to the soil; and the new-comers, no matter +from what country they came, had just as good a right to sit at +the common board as the first-landed. It was felt and wisely +acknowledged to be the real interest of the young nation to +welcome as great a number as Europe could send. + +Thus have we already seen large numbers of Irishmen laboring +along the Erie Canal. There was not a public work undertaken at +the time in which they did not bear a welcome hand. And what +race of men could be found better fitted for such work? It would +indeed be interesting to show from good statistical tables what +share Irishmen have really had in building up the prosperity of +the Union by their labor, skilled and unskilled. + +At the period we have now come to, they were already crowding in +at the harbors of the Atlantic, so astonishing to the newly- +arrived European by the extraordinary activity which +characterizes them; they were numerous in the factories just +starting into life, from the desire of not depending on England +for all manufactured goods; they were multiplying in large +hotels, in private families, in the fields outside the large +cities. Above all, the buildings erected at the time, in such +great numbers, employed many of them as mechanics and laborers; +and whenever some grand undertaking, which looked to the future +welfare of the country, demanded a large draft of men, there +were they to be seen as they had never been seen before, even in +their own country, where all labor was reduced to the individual +efforts of each, just sufficient to eke out a miserable life. + +At this time, about 1820, the Irish immigrants settled, for the +most part, on the Atlantic seaboard; few had yet crossed even +the ridge of the Alleghanies. In the Eastern States they found +occupation enough, and the steady growth of the country required +their willing aid. From that time the North formed their chief +point of attraction, and the States of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, +and New York, were their great resorts. Even New England was no +longer forbidden ground to them, and they began to spread +themselves over its rocky and unpromising surface, to effect +there a greater moral change than probably anywhere else in the +country. In 1827, during the first pastoral visitation of Bishop +Fenwick, when he erected, on the spot made memorable by the +apostolic labors of Father Rasles, a monument to the memory of +that saintly man, we read that "he then went in search of some +Irish Catholics living at Belfast, Maine, whom he found +suffering both for the necessaries of life and for the +sustenance of the soul. He relieved both their temporal and +spiritual wants, and imparted them his blessing, and some +wholesome advice." + +He was enabled to do more for them in the following year at +Charlestown, Massachusetts. On the 15th of October, 1828, +according to the Boston Gazette, "he laid the corner-stone of a +Catholic church near Craigie's Point, designed to accommodate +the Catholics of that place and of Charlestown, who were said to +be already numerous." There is no doubt that the several +churches built about that time in Maine, New Hampshire, +Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, were filled rather +by Irish immigrants than by American converts, although not a +few consoling examples of this latter method of the Church's +increase took place about this period. + +But New York was taking the lead as the landing of predilection +for the desolate children of Ireland. Thus, at the installation +of Bishop Dubois, in St. Patrick's Cathedral, November 9, 1826, +he addressed himself particularly to the Irish portion of his +congregation, observing that "he entertained for them the +liveliest feelings of affection. He reminded them of the +persecutions they had undergone in defence of their religion, of +the sacrifices many of them had made on leaving their native +country, and conjured them always to manifest that attachment to +the religion of their forefathers which had hitherto so +prominently distinguished them among their brother Catholics." + +The whole State was beginning to swarm with new arrivals from +the Green Isle. This detachment, however, only formed the +scarcely perceptible head of the great army which was to follow. +We shall soon return to see its masses steadily treading their +way on toward the West, and never halting till they reached the +Pacific coast; we will see for what purpose. + +Meanwhile, it is fitting to look at another wing of this army +taking its position directly south of Asia, the great continent +which holds the first dwelling of man on earth, and toward which +all the tendencies of modern civilization seem to turn. + +An immense island, to which geographers have now given the name +of the fifth continent, from the dawn of creation lay sleeping +between the seas known as the Indian and Pacific Oceans. A few +thousand savages, said to be the lowest type of the human family, +roamed aimlessly over its extensive wilds. Out of the ordinary +route of circumnavigating explorers, few European ships had +reached its coast, when the Dutch attempted to form +establishments on its southern and western sides, giving it the +name of New Holland. At the end of last century the English +Captain Cook formed the first successful European settlement-- +Botany Bay--in what he called New South Wales, at the south- +eastern extremity of the island. The French surveyed a +considerable portion of the western coast at the beginning of +this century. But finally, as has so far generally been the case +with other colonies, the English remained in possession of the +whole, and, though their first thought was to use it merely as a +penal settlement, they soon saw the importance of removing their +convicts to Van Diemen's Island, and now no less than four or +five distinct British colonies embrace the entire coast-line of +the continent, the interior still remaining an unknown desert. + +Immigration, other than the transport of criminals, began only +in 1825; and the white population of New South Wales, which in +1810 was only eight thousand three hundred, in 1821 only thirty +thousand, increased rapidly after the discovery of the gold- +fields in 1851, so that in 1861 more than seven hundred thousand +free colonists had been landed from British ships on the +continent and large islands of Van Diemen and New Zealand, +notwithstanding their enormous distance from Great Britain. + +The importance of this vast colony, or, rather, of this +agglomeration of colonies, should not be estimated from their +extent and productions alone, but chiefly from their proximity +to Asia toward the north, and to America toward the east. +Already lines of steamers connect the new continent with China +on the one side and San Francisco on the other; and when we +reflect that the English tongue is the only one spoken +throughout that vast territory; that English political +institutions, with all their attendant machinery of parliaments, +elections, municipal governments, and liberties, toleration, a +free press and free discussion, are day by day becoming more +deeply rooted in the habits of the people, it is easy to +perceive how soon the peculiarities of Japhetism, starting from +that centre, will invade the whole line of Southern and Eastern +Asia and the countless island-groups of Polynesia. The Catholic +reader will at once perceive how the true religion must have +been left to struggle, hopelessly almost, in its mission of +enlightenment and mercy, surrounded as it was by so many adverse +circumstances, had not the Irish element been at hand to fall +back on. + +Our information on this important branch of the subject is +unfortunately not extensive; nor is this to be wondered at, +since it is only from 1851 that Irish immigration really began +to show itself in Australia, and take an active part in the +European rush toward that quarter of the world, or, rather, to +use the phrase of Holy Writ, "to dwell in the tents of Sem." + +When Great Britain sent out her first cargoes of convicts to +Australia, it never entered into the ideas of that enlightened +power that such an attendant as a minister of religion might be +wanted, and, as Mr. Marshall says in his book on "Christian +Missions:" "The first ship which bore away its freight of +despair, of bruised hearts, and woful memories, and fearful +expectations, would have left the shores of England without even +a solitary minister of religion, but for the timely remonstrance +of a private individual. The civil authorities had deemed their +work complete, when they had given the signal to raise the +anchor and unloose the sails; the rest was no concern of theirs. +"He adds something more extraordinary and more to our purpose +still: + +"Among the emigrants to the new continent, soon some of those +children of Ireland, whom Providence seems to have dispersed +through all the homes of the Saxon race, that they might one day +rekindle among them the light of faith, which their own long +misfortunes have never been able to quench, were carried as the +first fruitful seeds of the ever-blooming tree of the Church." + +To these exiles it was necessary to convey the succors of +religion. The first Catholic priest who arrived in Australia on +his mission of charity, and whom the policy of self-interest, at +least, might have prompted the authorities to greet with eager +welcome, was treated with derision, and "was directed," as one +of his most energetic successors relates, "to produce his +permission," or "hold himself in readiness for departure by the +next ship." He was alone, and consequently a safe victim; and +though, as the latest historian of the colony observes, "his +ministrations would have been not less valuable in a social than +in a religious point of view," he was seized, put in prison, and +finally sent back to England, because his presence was irksome +to men who seem to have felt instinctively that his proffered +ministry was the keenest rebuke to their own cruelty and +profaneness. + +This first Catholic priest was the Rev. Mr. Flynn, on whom the +Holy See had conferred the title of archpriest, with power to +administer confirmation. Arrived at Sydney in 1818, he did much +good there in a short time. Mr. Marshall has told us how the +colonial authorities treated him. + +But a circumstance, not mentioned in this clever author's work +on "Missions," shows who and what were those Irish exiles whom +the priest had come to serve and direct in his spiritual +capacity. When suddenly carried off to prison, he left the +Blessed Sacrament in their little church at Sydney. There the +faithful frequently assembled during the two years which +followed his departure, as large a number as could muster, to +offer up their prayers to God, and look for consolation in their +affliction. The visible priest had been violently snatched away +from them; the Archpriest of souls, Christ, remained. + +The Rev. W. Ullathorne, now Bishop of Birmingham, England, was +afterward made Vicar-General Apostolic of that desolate mission +by the Holy See. He informs us, in a letter published among the +"Annals of the Propagation of the Faith," how these poor Irish +people were treated by their "masters" in Australia. + +"It was forbidden them to speak Irish, under pain of fifty +strokes of the whip; and the magistrates, who for the most part +belonged to the 'Protestant clergy,' sentenced also to the whip and +to close confinement those who refused to go hear their sermons, +and to assist at a service which their consciences disavowed." + +In 1820 two fresh missionaries replaced Mr. Flynn. They found +the little church where their predecessor had left our Lord two +years before still in the same state; and soon the insignificant +flock, which ever multiplies under persecution, began to +increase wonderfully, so that twelve years later, out of the +whole population of the colony--one hundred thousand--there were +from twenty to thirty thousand Catholics. + +Meanwhile, their emancipation in England had secured their +rights in the British colonies. There was no longer the threat +of the whip hanging over those who refused to hear Protestant +sermons; there was no longer fear of their missionary being sent +back by the first ship to England. Hence the Holy See immediately +established the hierarchy of the Church, on a regular and permanent +basis, there, Dr. Polding being the first bishop. + +This may be called an era in the history of the Catholic Church. +A hierarchy, independent of the state in heretic and even +infidel countries, is a modern thought inspired by the Holy +Spirit to the rulers of the flock of Christ to meet modern +requirements. By this new system the long list of so-called +Protestant countries was at once swept away. For no country can +be called Protestant which has its regularly-established bishops +of Holy Church, with their authority permanently secured. Their +dioceses cover the land, and the land consequently belongs to +the Church, however great may be the number of heretics or +infidels, and however powerful the organizations antagonistic to +Catholicity. The "people of God" is there, to multiply with the +years, and finally absorb all heterogeneous bodies. The Church, +as we saw, is a growth; other bodies are crystallized and do not +grow; more, they become materially and necessarily disintegrated +by the action of time and the friction of surrounding bodies, of +spreading roots and living organisms. + +This plain, unmistakable, eventual truth was the real cause +which brought about the violent explosion of fear and hatred +following directly the reestablishing of the Catholic hierarchy +in England. The opposing forces felt that their hour was come, +and they could not but shiver at their approaching annihilation, +small as was the body of the English Catholics at the time. But +it is not for us to enter here on these considerations, which +would call for long developments, and which belong more +fittingly to the general history of the Church than to Irish +emigration to Australia. + +The few facts glanced at above afford ample grounds for +picturing the state of the first Irish exiles who set foot on +that broad island of the Antipodes. It was only a repetition of +the scenes witnessed at the same time wherever the Irish strove +to propagate the true faith. Later on it will be our pleasure to +come back to this field and wonder at the growth of a blooming +garden which has replaced the old sterility. + +Of the other British colonies wherein a certain number of +Irishmen began to settle at the time of the present +investigation, no details can yet be furnished. It is easy to +suppose, however, without fear of mistake, that the spiritual +destitution and state of more or less open persecution which we +have found existing in America and Australia, prevailed also at +the Cape Colony, at Natal, in Guiana, Labuan, Ceylon, etc. A +very different spectacle is about to be unfolded before our eyes, +and we hasten on to behold its wondrous development and +splendor--a splendor, however, ushered in by scenes of extreme +woe. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +THE "EXODUS" AND ITS EFFECTS. + +The stream of Irish emigrants, starting from the one source, +separated now and continued flowing to the four quarters of the +globe, and, at length, its influence was beginning to be felt in +England itself, the last of the lands whither the Irish exiles +could think of turning. The poorest, unable to pay their passage- +money to North America, began to show themselves among the thick +populations of the great manufacturing centres of Great Britain. +More than fifty thousand departed annually to settle in other +climes and plant Catholicity in regions that, from a religious +point of view, were wildernesses. + +In 1846 came an awful calamity, to impart to the movement an +impetus of which no one could have dreamed, and which went very +far to realize what M. de Beaumont had a few years before +declared to be an impossibility--the almost sudden +transportation of millions of starving Irish. This was the great +famine, still so fresh in memory, and now appearing to those who +witnessed its effects like that terrible passage of the +destroying angel in the night. + +There is no better mode of accounting for this visitation than +that given by T. D. McGee, in his "Irish Settlers in America:" + +"The famine (of 1846) is to be thus accounted for: The act of +Union in 1800 deprived Ireland of a native legislature. Her +aristocracy emigrated to London. Her tariff expired in 1826, and, +of course, was not renewed. Her merchants and manufacturers +withdrew their capital from trade and invested it in land. The +land! the land! was the object of universal, unlimitable +competition. In the first twenty years of the century, the +farmers, if rack-rented, had still the war prices. After the +peace, they had the monopoly of the English provision and +produce markets. But in 1846 Sir Robert Peel successfully struck +at the old laws imposing duties on foreign corn, and let in +Baltic wheat and American provisions of every kind, to compete +with and undersell the Irish rack-rented farmers. + +"High rents had produced hardness of heart in the 'middleman,' +extravagance in the land-owner, and extreme poverty in the +peasant. The poor-law commission of 1839 reported that two +million three hundred thousand of the agricultural laborers of +Ireland were 'paupers;' that those immediately above the lowest +rank were ' the worst-clad, worst-fed, and worst-lodged ' +peasantry in Europe. True indeed! They were lodged in styes, +clothed in rags, and fed on the poorest quality of potato. + +"Partial failures of this crop had taken place for a succession +of seasons. So regularly did those failures occur, that William +Cobbett and other skilful agriculturists had foretold their +final destruction years before. Still, the crops of the summer +of 1846 looked fair and sound to the eye. The dark-green, crispy +leaves, and yellow-and-purple blossoms of the potato-fields, +were a cheerful feature in every landscape. By July, however, +the terrible fact became but too certain. From every town-land +within the four seas tidings came to the capital that the +people's food was blasted--utterly, hopelessly blasted. +Incredulity gave way to panic, panic to demands on the Imperial +Government to stop the export of grain, to establish public +granaries, and to give the peasantry such productive employment +as would enable them to purchase food enough to keep soul and +body together. By a report of the ordnance-captain, Larcom, it +appeared there were grain-crops more than sufficient to support +the whole population --a cereal harvest estimated at four +hundred millions of dollars, as prices were. But to all +remonstrances, petitions, and proposals, the imperial economists +had but one answer: 'They could not interfere with the ordinary +currents of trade.' O'Connell's proposal, Lord Georga Bentinck's, +O'Brien's, the proposals of the society called 'The Irish +Council,' all received the same answer. Fortunes were made and +lost in gambling over this sudden trade in human subsistence, +and ships laden to the gunwales sailed out of Irish ports, while +the charities of the world were coming in. + +"In August, authentic cases of death by famine, with the verdict, +'starvation,' were reported. The first authentic case thrilled +the country, like an ill wind. From twos and threes they rose to +tens, and, in September, such inquests were held, and the same +sad verdict repeated, twenty times in a day. Then Ireland, the +hospitable among the nations, smitten with famine, deserted by +her imperial masters, lifted up her voice, and uttered that cry +of awful anguish which shook the ends of the earth. + +"The Czar, the Sultan, and the Pope, sent their rubles and their +pauls. The Pacha of Egypt, the Shah of Persia, the Emperor of +China, the Rajahs of India, conspired to do for Ireland what her +so-styled rulers refused to do--to keep her young and old people +living in the land. America did more in this work of mercy than +all the rest of the world." + +The sudden effect of this fearful trial was to increase the +total emigration from the British Isles from ninety-three +thousand in 1845 to one hundred and thirty thousand in 1846; to +three hundred thousand in 1849; to nearly four hundred thousand +in 1852. In ten years from 1846, two million eight hundred +thousand had fled in horror from the country once so dear to +them. From May, 1847, to the close of 1866, the number of +passengers discharged at New York alone amounted to three +million six hundred and fifty-nine thousand! + +Those immense fleets of transports, which M. de Beaumont thought +necessary, but not to be found, were found. On such a sudden +emergency, every kind of tub afloat was thought suitable for the +purpose; and, all being sailing-vessels, the voyage was +proportionately long, the provision made for such numbers +insufficient, and the emigrants, already weakened by privations, +were fit subjects for the plague which, under the form of ship- +fever, rapidly spread among those receptacles of human misery, +so that, when the great caravan arrived in the St. Lawrence, +whither that first year all seemed to tend, the following was +the picture presented: + +"On the 8th of May, 1847, the Urania, from Cork, with several +hundred immigrants on board, a large proportion of them sick and +dying of the ship-fever, was put into quarantine at Grosse Isle, +thirty miles below Quebec. This was the first of the plague- +smitten ships of Ireland which that year sailed up the St. +Lawrence. But, before the first week of June, as many as eighty- +four ships, of various tonnage, were driven in by an easterly +wind; and of that enormous number of vessels there was not one +free from the taint of malignant typhus, the offspring of famine +and of the foul ship-hold." + +The effects of that awful misfortune may be found vividly +described in Mr. Maguire's book, from which the above extract is +taken, on the long line of march of that desolate army of +immigrants, leaving its thousands of victims at Grosse Isle, +near Quebec, at Pointe St. Charles, a suburb of Montreal, in +Kingston, in Toronto, Upper Canada, and, finally, at Partridge +Island, cpposite St. John's, New Brunswick. + +America was thus destined to witness some of those scenes so +often enacted on the soil of Ireland, to compassionate the +people of the holy isle, to open her friendly bosom for the +reception of the unfortunate beings, who in return gave her all +they possessed--their faith. + +But what M. de Beaumont so emphatically insisted upon, although +at first seemingly contradicted by the event, was nevertheless +true. England, the mighty mistress of the seas, did not possess +ships enough for the purpose of transportation; and her entire +navy added to all her merchant-vessels would scarcely have +sufficed. Ships had to be built, steamers chiefly, in order to +effect the transportation speedily, and diminish the dangers of +the passage. + +Then Providence worked upon the ingenuity of worldly-wise men, +and set them planning and studying the question in all its +bearings, to devise new schemes of transportation on a scale not +dreamed of hitherto. Watt, the Stephensons, Brunel, A. Maury, +and others, rose up to perfect the various steam-machines +already known and in use; to investigate the currents of the +ocean, the different qualities of its waters, its depth and +soundings, in order to make the paths of the deep easier and +surer to navigators. The ingenuity of ship-builders effected a +revolution in naval architecture, and rendered possible the +construction of vessels of from ten thousand to twenty-five +thousand tons burden. Merchant companies and capitalists arose +to embrace the whole world in their mighty speculations, +studying the capabilities of all countries for trade, the most +desolate as well as the most inviting, the meanest as keenly as +the mightiest, linking the whole world in one vast commercial +circle, that the European race might be borne on to the +mercantile conquest of the universe; and all this came about, +doubtless, to effect its deeper and more permanent moral +conquest by the despised, doom-trodden, starving, dying Irishman, +who laid claim to one arm, one possession only--his faith and +the blessing of the Church. + +Was not the Irish exodus intimately connected with all those +events? Was it not one of the mightiest causes of all those +gigantic enterprises? + +But where were the funds to be found for such immense +undertakings? The treasury of nations is continually drained of +vast sums at home, and dare not draw away a part of its metallic +basis sufficient for such a purpose. Moreover, it is limited, +and needs the precious metals as a solid foundation whereon to +rest, or the fabric built upon it will be the fabric of a dream, +as was that of Law in France at the beginning of the eighteenth +century. The gold and silver mines of Mexico and Peru seem +exhausted; the new ones of the Ural Mountains in Northern Asia, +of the Atlantic coast of North America, were not adequate to +meet the demands of such mighty operations. + +Suddenly, in the year 1846, a Swiss captain, transformed into a +California settler, while endeavoring to turn a water-fall in +his new home to some account, discovers gold-dust in the sand. +As if by magic, the coast of California, hitherto neglected, +difficult of access at the time, and consequently ignored by +mankind, notwithstanding its wealth in mineral and vegetable +productions, becomes at once the cynosure of all eyes, the hope +of all hearts, the most renowned of all countries. Thither they +flock in crowds prom all parts of Europe and America, and a +steady flow of seventy million dollars annually is secured as a +basis for the new designs of capitalists and merchants. + +Other gold-fields are soon discovered all along the American +coast, on the Pacific, from Lower California to Alaska, inviting +men to go thither and settle, just opposite to the Asiatic +Continent, separated from it only by the broad but easily- +navigated Pacific Ocean. + +Soon also, far away south in the antipodes, opposite to another +portion of Asia, rich gold-fields are opened up in the newly- +discovered Continent of Australia, attracting immigration toward +another spot, whence the Asiatic nations may also be reached +with greater facility and dispatch. + +Whoever believes that Providence has something to do with the +affairs of men; whoever is wise enough to see that this universe +is not the result of chance, and that its destinies are ruled by +a superior power, must admit that when events as unexpected as +they are unprepared by man come to pass--events which are so +connected together as to reveal the workings of a single mind +and a great object at once, foreshadowed if not positively +foretold, God is the designer, and a stronger hand is at work +than the combined power of men and devils could successfully +oppose. This is a truth which was not unknown to Homer, +centuries ago, when he described Jove holding our globe +suspended in space at the end of a chain, and defying all the +inferior gods to move the world in a direction contrary to that +given by his mighty arm. + +The image, striking and poetical as it is, for a Christian is +too material. We speak more correctly when we say that Mind -- +the Divine Mind--is the great invincible and invisible Force of +which all material forces are but the created agents, and by +which all inferior minds must stand or fall, conquer or fail. A +man must be blind with that incurable blindness--of will--who +cannot see it acting in and on the universe, and even +controlling the lower designs of puny intellects. The reverent +eye which sees the vastness of the plan, the multitude of its +agents, aiding and seconding it consciously and unconsciously, +recognizes it, and the supreme object of its workings, Love, +infinite Love. + +And we distinguish with grateful surprise all those +circumstances visibly appearing in the great fact which has just +been so imperfectly sketched, and which will come home to us +still more forcibly when the workings of its lesser details come +to be examined. Here, for instance, at the moment of writing +these lines (March, 1872) we learn from the morning newspapers +of the recent arrival of the Japanese embassy at San Francisco; +that its members had been dispatched to this country to study +European, or, as we call them, Japhetic institutions, for the +purpose of copying and adapting them to their own wants. The +embassy, detained at Salt Lake City by the snow-blockade on the +Pacific Railroad, refused to go back, temporarily, to California, +and made up their mind to wait in Utah, until it is possible +for them to proceed. + +Pacific Railroad, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Japanese +embassy, adoption of European manners by the Mikado and daimios-- +who can fail to gather from these words and details the +conception of means to an end, and that end the one we now begin +to study? + +The first circumstance coming under our review and indicative of +a loving design on the part of Providence, a circumstance not +marked sufficiently at the time, is the preservation by the +English themselves of the poor remnants of the Irish race, which +the first working of the plan had so frightfully decimated and +left in danger of being utterly wiped out. Had they disappeared, +would Japhetism have become a blessing to the Asiatic nations? +The Catholic, looking abroad and casting his mind's eye over the +vast European field, to all seeming so rich in every production, +yet in reality so sterile morally, peering with awe and horror +into the Japhetic caldron--for such it is--seething and bubbling +to the brim, full of the most deadly poisons and noxious +substances, ready at any moment to overflow in infected waves +and sweep over the unfortunate countries which look to it so +anxiously for blessings, a torrent of black destruction, +spreading around naught but desolation and barrenness--the +Catholic eye, seeing all this, can find but one answer to our +query. The Asiatic races cannot hope to be benefited by the +introduction of European manners among them, unless the same +great movement carries in its train the holy Catholic Church: +and as that introduction must be brought about by English- +speaking leaders, the only English-speaking Catholics of +numerical significance must be the instruments of the adorable +designs of Providence. + +That this assertion may not appear too sweeping, it is only +enough to instance the example of India, which England has held +long enough to convert, at least in part, had she so desired and +been moved by the Spirit of God, yet to-day India stands in a +worse relation toward Protestantism than when Protestantism in +the name of Christianity, but in the person of a British trader, +settled down in its midst. What good has Hindostan derived? + +But, at this very moment, the whole Irish race is at the mercy +of the English Government and people. Only let the same kind of +vessels continue to be dispatched filled with Irish emigrants, +and the whole race must disappear within a short period, or +become so reduced in numbers that its operations as a race, on a +large scale, will be unproductive of sufficient results. + +And it is well to mark that at the time of this outpouring of +the race, as long before, and almost constantly since, there +were Englishmen rejoicing at the glorious result which death by +plague and famine was about to produce. It were easy to quote +many a barbarous passage from the London Times, expressive of +the most satanic joy, not only at the departure of the Irish +from the "United Kingdom," but at the prospect of their ultimate, +or rather proximate disappearance out of the world altogether. + +Yet it was the same English Government and people which, feeling, +let us hope, some compassion at the sight of this new woe of +the "Niobe of nations," determined to try and save her children, +as, if they must cast them out, at least it should he alive and +full of health on a foreign shore. + +Laws, therefore, were passed, regulating the quantity and +quality of provisions, particularly of drinkable water, the +number of the crew and working-men, the ventilation of the +vessel, the number of passengers to be received, etc. + +Still, these first attempts at humanity seem to have been rather +faint-hearted, as the following passage from Mr. Maguire's +"Irish in America," showing how they were carried out, and how +inadequate was the remedy applied in 1848, will explain: + +"The ships, of which such glowing accounts were read on Sunday +by the Irish peasant near the chapel-gate, were but too often +old and unseaworthy, insufficient in accommodation, not having +even an adequate supply of water for a long voyage, and, to +render matters worse, they, as a rule, were shamefully +underhanded. True, the provisions and the crew must have passed +muster in Liverpool; . . . but there were tenders and lighters +to follow the vessel out to sea; and over the sides of that +vessel several of the mustered men would pass, and casks, and +boxes, and sacks would be expeditiously hoisted, to the +amazement of the simple people who looked on at the strange and +unaccountable operation. And, thus, the great ship, with its +living freight, would turn her prow toward the West, depending +on her male passengers, as on so many impressed seamen, to +handle her ropes or to work her pumps in case of accident. What +with bad or scanty provisions, scarcity of water, severe +hardship, and long confinement in a foul den, ship-fever reaped +yet a glorious harvest between-decks, as frequent splashes of +shot-weighted corpses into the deep but too terribly testified. +Whatever the cause, the deaths on board the British ships +enormously exceeded the mortality on the ships of any other +country. According to the records of the Commissioners of +Emigration for the State of New York, the quota of sick per +thousand stood thus in 1848 British vessels, 30; American, 9 3/5; +German, 8 3/5. It was yet no unusual occurrence for the survivor of +a family of ten or twelve to land alone, bewildered and broken- +hearted, on the wharf at New York; the rest, the family, parents, +and children, had been swallowed in the sea, their bodies +marking the course of the ship to the New World." + +It would seem, then, that those first English regulations, by +which British ships were to pass muster at Liverpool before +sailing, were not very efficient; the figures of mortality +quoted by Mr. Maguire are too eloquent; and it would be a +pleasure to us to be able to say with certainty that the more +stringent and better executed laws afterward enforced did not +proceed from the Commission of Emigration, which originated in +New York with some generous-hearted Irish-Americans. + +Our readers will have noticed that, even in 1848, with all the +apparent desire on the part of England to save the remnants of +the Irish nation, the mortality on board British ships was more +than three times that on board American vessels, and nearly four +times greater than that on board German ships. Why this +difference? And why should it be so enormous? + +It is possible that to the Legislature of New York State chiefly, +and soon after to the Congress of the United States at +Washington, which enacted stringent laws for the protection of +immigrants at sea, belong the chief honor of saving hundreds of +thousands of Irish lives, and that England, whether urged by the +effects of good example, or for very shame, soon followed in +their wake. + +But, whatever the cause may have been, it is a heart-felt +pleasure to record the fact that from 1849, when an act of +Parliament, entitled the "Passengers Act," imposed on ship- +owners and captains of vessels strict conditions for the welfare +of emigrants, government control on this subject became every +year more immediate and severe. + +Not only were the vessels, provisions, water, medicine chests, +etc., more carefully examined, but the passengers themselves +were compelled to undergo a careful inspection as to their +health and wardrobe. + +And, a thing which had never been done before, the space +allotted to each emigrant on deck and between-decks was +determined and subjected to serious control, so that no +overcrowding of passengers should take place. The penalties, +also, on delinquents became even severe; heavy fines were +imposed, and in some cases transportation to a penal settlement +was decreed against the more offensive outrages on humanity. + +If all abuses failed to be corrected by such laws, it is because +the most stringent enactments can, to a greater or less extent, +always be evaded by those desirous of evading them; but there is +every reason to believe that the legislators were honest in +their intent of remedying the glaring evils which previously +obtained, and, to a great extent, their efforts met with success, +as is evidenced by the fact that the mortality on board of +British vessels has shown yearly a remarkable diminution since +that time. According to the "Twenty-fourth General Report," the +mortality was: In 1854, 0.74 per cent., already a very +remarkable diminution on previous averages; in 1860, it was +reduced to 0.15 per cent. This was the percentage for vessels +going to North America only. + +The first operation of the missionary people was to plant the +living tree of Catholicism in the United States, and so +powerfully forward its growth, that other spiritual plants of a +noxious kind, and weeds that go by the name of creeds, should +gradually be choked up; finally, let us hope, to disappear. +While speaking on this subject, and laying before the reader the +necessary details, we desire not to be held forgetful of the +efforts made in a like direction by Catholic immigrants of other +nationalities. A word has already been said of the early +influence of the French in the North and of the Spaniards in the +South, in establishing the Church in North America. The German +children of the true Church, though at first not so conspicuous, +have for a long time taken, and are now particularly taking, an +active part in the dissemination of the faith, and there can be +no doubt that, with the daily increase of German immigration, +their large numbers must in course of time make a lasting +impression on the territory where they settle. But the French, +the Spaniards, and the Germans, must forget their language +before they become widely useful in the great work before them; +and thus the Irish form the only English-speaking people on whom +the brunt of the battle must fall. Moreover, we treat only of +the Irish race. + +The wonderful history of the spread of Catholicity in North +America by the Irish, in the northern part of the United States +particularly, would call for an array of details which it would +be impossible to furnish here in extenso. An imperfect sketch +must suffice. + +First comes the consideration that, when the wave of immigration +touched the continent, it might have been feared that, by its +absorption into a dry and parched soil, the aggregate loss would +have reduced to a mere nothing the ultimate gain. There were no +churches for the new worshippers, no priests to administer to +them the sacraments of Christ, no Catholic school-teachers to +train their children. That is to say, these means of +preservation and of propagation were so few and so far between, +that many of the newly-arrived immigrants were forced to +establish themselves in places where they could find none of +those, to them, priceless advantages. + +The spiritual dearth was not indeed so great as that previously +described. The zeal of bishops and priests, and teachers from +regular orders, had been so active in its labors, that, aided by +the liberty which the institutions of the country afforded, +results, astonishing indeed, had already rewarded their efforts. +But, after all, what were these compared with the demands so +suddenly laid upon them by such a rapid increase of numbers? It +might be said with truth of multitudes of immigrants, that the +position in which they then found themselves was very little +different from that of their predecessors at the beginning of +the century. + +As late as 1834, Archbishop Purcell, of Cincinnati, wrote: +"There are places in which there are Catholics of twenty years +of age, who have not yet had an opportunity of performing one +single public act of their religion. How many fall sick and die +without the sacraments! How many children are brought up in +ignorance and vice! How many persons marry out of the Church, +and thus weaken the bonds that held them to it!"-- (Annals of +the Propagation of Faith, Vol. viii.) + +To the same annals, three years later, Dr. England, of +Charleston, sent the long letter in which he detailed the +innumerable losses sustained by the Church in America in +consequence of the want of spiritual assistance. The letter was, +in fact, a cry of anguish wrung from him by the sight he +witnessed. + +Such was the universal feeling among those who could rightly +appreciate the fatal consequences of the rush of Catholics to +the New World without any provision prepared for their reception. +And yet all these laments and apprehensions preceded the vast +inpouring of immigrants subsequent to the year 1846. What must +have been the consequent losses then? Yet, looking now, in 1872, +at the present state of the Church in the Union, who can say +that this inpouring and rush, unprepared as the country was for +its reception, was not one of the greatest means devised by +Providence, not only for establishing the Catholic Church in +this country for all time, but likewise as a preparation for +further developments, not only on this continent, but on the +part of many a nation now sitting in "the shadow of death!" +Deplorable, indeed, were the losses, but permanent and wonderful +the gain. + +The first effect of the great calamity which occurred along the +St. Lawrence and its tributaries, in 1847, was to reduce the +immigration to Canada to insignificant numbers, and, +proportionately increase that to the United States in a +quadruple ratio. Massachusetts and Connecticut, in New England, +and the great States of New York and Pennsylvania, were now the +chief places of resort for the new-comers; and from New York, +principally, they began to pour, in a long, steady stream, away +by the Erie Canal, westward to the great lakes. + +All along these lines, congregations were, providentially, +already formed; and, in the passage of the stream, they were +immediately, as by magic, increased in some instances, to a +tenfold proportion. The labors of the clergy were +correspondingly multiplied, and efforts were immediately made to +obtain new recruits for its ranks. Then appeared a very strange +fact, which, at the time, was remarked upon by everybody, but +has never been satisfactorily explained. Wherever the number of +worshippers in a church induced the chief pastors to have +another constructed in the neighborhood, upon the completion of +the new edifice, the old one seemed to suffer no diminution in +attendance, and the congregation attending the new one gave no +evidence of having hitherto been uncared for. This very +remarkable fact was of such frequent occurrence that it could +not be a delusion, or an exceptional case having its origin in +some extraordinary cause; it was evidently a providential +dispensation, akin, in a spiritual sense, to the miraculous +multiplication of loaves, twice mentioned in the Gospel. + +There have certainly been numerous examples of this, in the city +of New York particularly, for more than twenty years; and +probably the same thing is occurring at the time of the present +writing. + +Then, another fact occurred, deplored by many, chiefly by Mr. +Maguire, in the interesting work already quoted from, yet, +evidently of a providential character also, and consequently +eminently fruitful, and, it may be said, adorable in its depth. +The Catholic immigrants, although in their own country +agriculturists for the most part, forgot the tilling of the soil +as soon as they reached their new home, and settled down in +great numbers in all the large cities, on the line they pursued +toward the West. Many special evils resulted from this, detailed +at length by those whose wonder it excited, and who strove, for +excellent motives, to thwart this providential movement. But the +immense good which immediately followed from it, and which, +within a short time, was to be greatly increased, was never +mentioned in reply to the reasons advanced by these well-meaning +complainants. The first result of it was the sudden and +necessary creation of many new episcopal sees in all large +cities, where churches were being rapidly built, or had already +been erected in astonishing numbers. + +Suppose the Catholics had, following the old bent, turned +themselves chiefly to the tillage of the soil, and buried +themselves away in scattered country villages and farms, how +long would the creation of those new sees have been delayed? Who +is ignorant of the effect of a new see on the propagation of +Catholicity? Cities which otherwise would have numbered among +their population only a few hundred Catholics, scarcely +sufficient for the filling of one small edifice, saw at once one- +third, one-half, or even the larger portion of their population +clamoring for a Catholic bishop, and all the institutions a +bishopric brings in its train. It is unnecessary to furnish +examples of this; they are around us. + +Yet one difficulty seems to cast some doubt on this view of the +subject, and strengthen the opposition of those who ardently +advocated the country as the true home for Irish Catholics; and, +as the point involves a universal interest, it is better to +discuss it at once in its chief bearings. + +At the time when those wonderful events were being enacted, any +one opening a copy of those general State Directories, with +which New England is particularly blessed, wherein not only the +great commercial and industrial enterprises of each State are +enrolled, but also correct lists of the educational +establishments and various churches of all cities, towns, and +villages, are given --a cursory glance, even, would show him the +striking fact that, as far as the great centres of population +were concerned, Catholic churches, educational establishments, +and primary schools were found in respectable numbers; but many +a page had to be turned when the reader came to places of lesser +importance, to rural populations chiefly, before he met with any +indication of the Catholic Church entering yet upon that large +country domain. This experience was encountered by the writer at +the time, and caused him a moment of doubt. + +But beyond the reflection that, in matters of this kind (of the +propagation of a doctrine or a creed), the first thing to be +looked to is the centre, and that this, once mastered, will in +course of time draw under its influence the outer circles; that +all things cannot be effected at once, and the best thing to be +done is to begin with the most important; that, moreover, those +statistics are often incorrect with respect to Catholic matters, +whether from malicious design, or inadvertence, or want of +knowledge, on subjects to which the compilers attached very +little importance, so that, if their statements be compared with +Catholic official intelligence with regard to the same places, +it will be found that many towns and villages which, according +to the State Directories would seem to have been altogether +forgotten by the Church, were actually in her possession, at +least by periodical or occasional visits; apart from all these +considerations, there is one more important remark to be made, +which includes in its bearing not only the present point of +consideration, but, it may be said, the whole life of the Church +from the beginning; so that it is really a law of her birth, +existence, and propagation. + +To illustrate our meaning, let us see how the Christian religion +first forced its way in heathen lands, throughout the whole +Roman Empire, whether in its Oriental division where Greek was +spoken, or among its Western, Latin-speaking populations. + +All the apostles fixed their sees in the largest or most +important cities of the ancient world; St. Peter, under the +special guidance of God, taking possession of the capital and +mistress of the whole. All the bishops ordained by the first +apostles did the same by their direction; and it is needless to +add that the like law has been followed down to our own times +whenever the Church has had to spread herself in a new country. + +In accordance with this plan, the cities of the Roman world were +the first to be evangelized, and their populations were +converted with greater or less difficulty, according to the +dispositions of the inhabitants, before almost an effort had +been made for the conversion of the rural populations, except as +they happened to come in the way of the "laborers in the +vineyard." Hence the result, so well known: heathenism remained +rooted in the country for a much longer time than in the cities, +so that the heathen were generally called pagans--pagani--as if +it were enough, when desiring to convey the intimation that a +man was a worshipper of idols, to designate him as a dweller in +the country. 1 (1 Another meaning is given to the word paganus +by some writers; but the old and common interpretation is the +surest, and is confirmed by the best authorities.) And if the +word "pagans" became synonymous with heathens in all European +countries, it is a proof that the fact underlying the name was +universal wherever Christianity spread. It is known, moreover, +that the dissemination of the Gospel in those rural districts +was a work of centuries, and that, for nearly a thousand years +after Christ, pagans were to be found in villages of countries +already Christian. + +The fundamental reason which governs and regulates these strange +facts is that already given, namely, that Christianity-- that is, +Catholicity--is a growth, and follows the laws of every thing +that grows. True, its first increase is from without, by the +conversion of infidels or erring men; but even in that first +stage of its existence, its growth is the faster where the +numbers are greater; hence its establishment invariably in large +cities. But when it has passed beyond this first stage, it +increases from within, like all growths, and the work is +accomplished by the increase of families agglomerated in the +same large towns. + +How true is it that the Church, once firmly planted in the midst +of one of those agglomerations of men called cities, is sure in +the end to invade the whole as "the yeast that leavens the whole! +"How easy is it to see that in the course of time those cities +of the Union, among which a large proportion of Catholics is +found, will belong almost exclusively to the true Church, if for +no other reason by the births in families, even supposing that +the flow of immigration should finally cease! If any one +entertains some doubt on this point, he has only to consult the +records containing the number of children baptized in her bosom, +and compare it with the corresponding number in families still +outside her. + +Hence the really astonishing fact, whose truth is recognized to- +day in all the Northern States along the Atlantic coast, that +suddenly almost in the cities of New England, for instance, +where the number of Catholics was simply insignificant, they +took an apparently unaccountable prominence, and in the course +of a few years, increasing steadily by birth as well as by +immigration, the fact became the most curious though evident of +the times, completely changing the moral and social aspect of +the country, and foretelling still greater changes to come. For, +in the face of this wonderful increase to the ranks of +Catholicity, appears another significant fact, but very +different as to direction and energy-- the gradual disappearance +of names once prominent in those parts, and the daily narrowing +area of Protestantism in the numerous sects of which it is +composed. + +At the same time a great danger was averted (or at least +wonderfully lessened and modified), from the whole country, by +the settlement of those immigrants in the large centres of +population. The manufacturing enterprises, which at that time +assumed such vast developments in North America, received among +their workers, men and women, a large proportion of Catholics, +and the fear of future political and social peril to the peace +and security of society at large could never, on this continent, +reach the extreme point witnessed in Europe to-day. The great +danger of the European future nestles principally in those vast +hives of industry with which that continent abounds. Our eyes +have witnessed, our ears have been affrighted at those +stupendous plans and projects in which, not only the great +questions of capital and labor are involved, but the whole +fabric of society is threatened with downfall. Religion, +government, property, the family, the state--all those great +principles and facts on which the security of mankind depends, +enter now into the programme of artisans and laborers enlisted +in gigantic and many-ramified secret societies, while the whole +world trembles at the awful aspect of this unwelcome phantom, +that no government, however powerful, can lay. + +Suppose that on this continent the numerous bands of workingmen, +so actively engaged everywhere in developing the resources of +the country, should aim at extending their solicitude beyond +their immediate and material welfare to the reformation and +reorganization of mankind on a new basis; and suppose that, with +this aim in view, they should combine with those of Europe, and +enter into an unholy compact with them, what hope or refuge +would remain in the whole world for harmony, peace, justice, and +happiness? And when the great upheaval, so generally expected in +Europe, and which sooner or later must take place, shall come to +pass, where could those men fly, who cannot but look upon those +satanic schemes with horror? Where on this earth would be found +a spot consecrated to the acknowledgment of the only social +principles which can secure the real good of mankind, by +rendering safe the stability of society? + +It is our firm belief that the vast number of true children of +the Church, occupied honestly and actively in the many factories +of the North, will, when the contest commences, even before it +commences, when the question of connecting the "unions" of this +country in a band of brotherhood with those of Europe shall be +gravely mooted, make their voices loudly and unmistakably heard +on the right side. + +Enough has now been said on the locality chosen by preference as +the dwelling- place of the Irish immigrants at the period under +consideration. Let us now see those armies of new-comers at work. +They have been called a missionary people; let us see how they +understand their "mission." + +In this new country every thing had to be done for the +establishment of religion, education, help for the poor, the +aged, the infirm, on a lasting and sufficiently broad basis. And, +strange to remark, it was found that the previous persecutions +they had undergone fitted them admirably for their work, not +only by giving them a strong faith, the true foundation of +Christian energy, but in a manner more curious, if not more +effective. It fitted them to give money freely and abundantly, +poor as they were! One may smile incredulously at the conceit; +but it has become a most powerful and incontestable fact. + +Suppose the Irish never to have been persecuted in their own +country: suppose that they had found there a benevolent +government to supply them with churches, schools, hospitals-- +homes for the poor--every thing that they, as Catholics, could +desire. Suppose them to have been in a similar position with the +Frenchmen, Spaniards, and Italians, of those days, how bitterly +would they have felt the inconvenience of building all these +things up for themselves in their new homes with the labor of +their own hands, by their own individual efforts, unaided by the +government! Their ardor would have been damped, their energy +cramped, their inclination to give would have fallen far below +the necessities of the time: for money was sorely needed--no +niggard offerings, but immense sums. + +But happily--happily in the result, not in the fact--not only +had the British Government never done any thing of the kind for +them in their old home; not only, on the contrary, had it been +particularly careful to rob them of all the buildings and +estates left by their ancestors for those great objects; but, +until very recently, the passing of the Emancipation Act of 1829, +it had studiously and most persistently hindered them from +doing voluntarily for themselves what it refused to do for them. +There were numerous penal statutes enacted, in the course of two +centuries, to prevent them from building churches, opening +schools, erecting asylums and hospitals of their own, nay, from +possessing consecrated graveyards for their dead. Thus did +fanatic hatred pursue them even to the grave, and, as far as it +could, beyond the gates of death. Every one had to surrender the +mortal remains of his relatives to the Protestant minister for +burial; as though what the government called its religion would +snatch from them whatever it could lay hands on--the body at +least since the soul had escaped and passed beyond its reach. + +But in their new country they found every thing altered. Not +only was prohibition of this kind utterly unknown, but there +existed there the greatest amount of liberty ever enjoyed by man +for acting in concert with a religious, educational, or +charitable object in view. No law devised by the old Greek +republics, by the Roman fisc, by modern European intermeddling +was ever attempted in the country which with justice boasted of +being the "asylum of the oppressed." Thus as the liberty so long +denied to the Irish was at last opened up, as no barrier existed +to cramp and confine the natural generosity of their hearts, no +sooner did they find that they might contribute as they chose to +those great and holy objects, than they rushed at the chances +offered them with what looked like recklessness. + +We hope that the reader may understand, from this, our meaning +in saying that persecution had admirably fitted them for the +mighty work that lay before them. It was the first time for +centuries that they were allowed to give for such sacred +purposes. + +Another thing which disposed than toward it was, the lingering +fondness for the old customs of clanship, still harbored in +their inmost soul, never entirely dead and ready to revive +whenever an opportunity presented itself. There can be no doubt +of this; the great adjuration of the clansman to his chieftain-- +"Spend me, but defend me"--tended wonderfully to consecrate in +their eyes the act of giving and giving constantly, as though +their purse could never be exhausted. The chieftain has been +replaced by the bishop, the priest, the educator; the nobility +has gone, but these have come; and unconsciously perhaps, but +none the less really, does this feeling lie at the bottom of +their hearts, which are ever ready to burst out with the old +expression, though in other form: "Spend me, eat me out, but +help my soul, and save my children." + +This feeling has always run in the blood of the race. St. Paul +long ago detected it in the Galatians, a branch of the Celtic +tribes, when he wrote to them: "You received me as an angel of +God, even as Christ Jesus. . . . I bear you witness that, if it +could be done, you would have plucked out your own eyes, and +given them to me."--Epistle to the Galatians, iv. 15. + +Few, perhaps, have reflected seriously on the large sums +required for the establishment of the Catholic Church in so vast +a country, with all her adjunct institutions; therefore the +stupendous result has scarcely struck those who have witnessed +and lived in the midst of it. The same is the case, though on a +much smaller scale, with respect to the money sent back to +Ireland by newly-arrived immigrants. People were aware that the +Irish, women as well as men, were in the habit of forwarding +drafts of one, two, or three pounds to their relatives and +friends, but in such small amounts that the whole could not +reach a very high figure. But when it came to be discovered that +many banking associations were drawing large dividends from the +operation, that new banks were continually being opened which +looked to the profit to be derived from such transmission as +their chief means of support, some curious people set to work +collecting information on the subject and instituting inquiries, +when it was found that the aggregate sum amounted to millions, +and would have become a serious item in the specie exports of +the country, if what was transmitted did not in the main come +back with those to whom it had been forwarded. + +So was it, but in much larger proportions with respect to the +amounts annually spent in the purchase of real estate, the +building of churches, schools, asylums, hospitals, for the +support of clergymen, school-teachers, clerks, officials, +servants, which were called for all at once, over the surface of +an extensive territory, for the service of hundreds of thousands +of Catholics arriving yearly with the intention of settling +permanently in the country. Could the full statistics be +furnished, they would excite the surprise of all; the few +details which we would be enabled to gather from directories, +newspapers, the reports of witnesses, and other sources, could +give but a faint idea of the whole, and are consequently better +omitted. + +One single observation will produce a more lasting impression on +the reader's mind than long statistics, and the enumeration of +buildings and other undertakings. It is a fact, without the +least tinge of exaggeration, that in the States of Pennsylvania, +New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Ohio, Indiana, +Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, and several other Western +States, nearly every clergyman, who had the care of a single +parish before 1840, if alive to-day, could show in his former +district from ten to twenty parishes, each with its own pastor +and church, now flourishing, and attached to each a much larger +number of useful educational and charitable establishments than +he could have boasted of in his original charge. Let one reflect +on this, and then imagine to himself the sums requisite to +purchase such an amount of real estate, for the erection of so +many edifices, and for placing on an efficient footing so many +different establishments. + +It is true that, to-day, a number of these institutions are +still in debt; but, if the list of what is actually paid for be +made out, and separated from what still remains indebted, the +result would stand as a most wonderful fact. + +The question will naturally present itself, "How was it possible +for newly- arrived immigrants, who often landed without a penny +in their pockets, to become all at once so easy in their +circumstances as to be enabled to contribute, so generously and +enormously, to so gigantic an enterprise?" The details in reply +to this might be given very simply and satisfactorily; but, as +it is a real work of God, who always acts simply and +satisfactorily, though in a manner worthy of the deepest +attention and gratitude, it is proper to examine the question in +all its bearings, and then even those who have seen, and can +account for it very easily, will wonder, admire, and thank, the +infinite Providence of God. + +First, it is certain that nowhere else in this world could it +have been accomplished at all; and nowhere else in this world +has any thing like it been accomplished in a like manner. This +may appear strange, but it is so; let us see. + +All know how, in infidel countries, every thing necessary for +the material help of Catholic missions must be supplied by the +missionaries themselves; that, in fact, they have not only their +own support to consider, but, often also, the feeding, clothing, +and education of the natives at their own expense. It is thus in +all the barbarous countries of Asia, Africa, and the new +continent and islands in the South Sea. It is thus in the old, +effete, but once civilized countries of Asia, such as Syria, +Hindostan, China, and others. In all those countries, money must +come from without, not only to begin, but to continue, the work +of evangelization, even when it has been going on for centuries. +Details on this subject are unnecessary, the truth of what has +just been said is so well known. + +In Christian countries, as in Europe, the various governments +have so far contributed to the aid of the mission of +Christianity, or have been gracious enough to allow such of the +wealthy classes as were willing to take this task off their +shoulders and set it up on their own, the lower classes being +scarcely able to help toward it. What the case will be when the +halcyon days come of the separation of Church and state, and the +latter succeeds in the object at which it seems so earnestly +striving now, of making the people godless like itself, when the +rich will no longer be willing to undertake this work, God only +knows. But in those countries, as is well known, the government, +formerly, and latterly up to quite recent times, or rich +families by large contributions laid down at once, have built +churches, founded universities, colleges, and schools, erected +hospitals and asylums; founded-- such was the expression--all +the religious, charitable, or literary institutions in existence. +The "people" have scarcely effected any thing in this direction, +for the very good reason that they were unable to do so. + +In the United States alone, and among Catholics alone, it is +"the people," the poor, who have taken and been able to take +this matter into their own hands. + +That they--the Irish particularly--have done this, redounds to +their honor, and it will receive its reward from God; nay, has +already in a great measure received it, by filling the land with +the temples of their faith, with schools where their children +are still taught to believe in God and grow up a moral race, and +with the various Catholic asylums and institutions established +for the glory of religion, or the comfort of those who are +comfortless. That they have been able to do this is owing to the +unique, exceptional, marvellous prosperity of the country which +offered them an asylum. And let us add with reverence that the +country owes this singular prosperity, which has been the source +of so many blessings, to the designs of a loving Providence, who +looks to the welfare of the whole of mankind, and has therefore +endowed this young and gigantic nation with the necessary +qualities of energy, activity, "go-aheaditiveness," as it is +called, added to the fixed principle that every individual +throughout these vast domains shall enjoy liberty, facility of +acquiring a competency, and the right to make what use of it he +pleases, as well as generosity enough to applaud the one who +devotes his surplus earnings to useful public undertakings. + +In no other country of the world has this been the case, and in +no other country is it the case at the present moment. And, as +the fact is mighty in its results, unprepared by man, unlooked +for a hundred years ago, requiring for its fulfilment a thousand +agencies far beyond the control of any man or inferior mind, +following the line of reasoning previously indicated, we ascribe, +are constrained to ascribe, it all to the great infinite Mind, +to God himself, and to him alone! + +And now we turn to the workings of the Irish, and to a +consideration of a few of the details. The first crying need was +churches and orphan asylums: churches for the all-important +worship of God; orphan asylums to receive the numbers of +children left homeless by the death of immigrants soon after +their arrival, and who were immediately snatched up by the +proselytizing sects. + +The style of architecture displayed in those first temples of +the great God was homely indeed and humble. Nevertheless, it +might favorably compare with similar buildings erected by +wealthy Protestant congregations. This fact alone is sufficient +to convict Protestantism of want of faith, namely, that its +adherents have never been struck by the thought that the majesty +of God, if really felt, calls for a profusion of gifts on the +part of those who have superabundant means. Not that man can by +his feeble exertions in that regard give adequate honor to the +divine Omnipotence, but that love and gratitude are naturally +profuse in their demonstrations, and whoever loves ardently is +ever ready to give all he has for the object of his love, even +to the sacrifice of himself. The reflection that God is too +great, and that it is useless, even presumptuous, to offer to +him what must seem so infinitely mean in the light of his +greatness, is but the flimsy pretext of an avaricious soul, and +can be nothing but a lie, even in the eyes of those who utter it. +From the beginning all truly religious nations have endeavored +to make their external worship correspond with their internal +feeling, and give expression, as far as man can do, to their +idea of the worth and majesty of God; and that thought is a true +measure of a religion; for, when the external is but a cold and +sordid worship, we may be sure that the internal corresponds; +and, when little or nothing is done in that way, it is clear +that the heart feels not, and the mind is empty of true +convictions and of faith. + +And what has been the invariable conduct of Protestant nations +in this regard? They became possessed of splendid churches built +by their Catholic ancestors, and, after stripping them of all +their beauty, they retained them as "preaching-halls" or +"meeting- houses." The number of those who remained attached to +a frigid and unattractive service gradually diminished; the +edifices were found to be too large, and in many instances what +had been the sanctuary, where art had exhausted itself in +embellishment, partitioned off from the rest of the church, was +kept for their dwindling congregations, while the vast aisles +and roomy naves went slowly to ruin, or became deserted +solitudes. As for the idea of building new religious edifices, +the old ones were already too numerous for them, or if, as was +not unfrequent, a new sect started into spasmodic life, and its +votaries found it necessary to open a new "place of worship," +the temple they erected to God generally took the form of a +hired hall. Let the floor be carpeted and the benches covered +with soft, slumber-inviting cushions, the room wear a general +air and aspect of comfort, the "acoustics" duly considered, so +that the voice of the preacher might reach to the door and half- +way to the galleries, and nothing more was required. The man who +asked for something more solemn, and answering better to the +cravings of a religious heart, would be laughed at as a +visionary, if his person did not distil, to the keen-scented +organs of these religious folk, a strong flavor of "popery " and +of "the man of sin." + +So that in the United States at the time spoken of, although the +number of churches was extraordinary, because of the number of +sects, they were mere shells of buildings, capable of +accommodating from three to eight hundred people (very few of +the latter capacity); and, although many of the members of the +congregations who built them were rich men, adding to their +wealth daily, one seldom encountered any of the structures, then +common, showing much more than four walls, enclosing four lines +of clumsy pews. + + +Consequently, the Catholic Church had no reason to blush by +comparison at the poverty of her children; nay, the extreme +simplicity of the edifices raised by them was in keeping with +every thing around, and what they did in the hurry of the moment, +with the scanty means at their disposal, at least might vie +with what wealthy Protestants had done deliberately with all the +leisure and wealth at their command. + +Already, even at that epoch, in the centre of Catholicity in +this country, the love of the true worshipper of God began to +display something of that feeling which is naturally alive in +the heart of the sincerely religious man; and the Cathedral of +Baltimore, long since left so far behind by other monuments of +true devotion, created throughout the country a genuine +excitement and admiration, when its doors were first opened for +the worship of God. It was clear, from the universal acclaim of +the people, non-Catholics included, that at least one class of +men in the country had a true idea of what was worthy of God in +his worship, and what was worthy of themselves in their worship +of him. + +But, though, with some rare exceptions, the architecture +displayed in those edifices constructed by the children of the +true Church was poor indeed, the number of those which were +commenced and so speedily completed and devoted to their holy +use was so extraordinary, that it is doubtful if the annals of +Catholicity have ever recorded the same thing occurring on the +same scale, in the same extent of country. If the ecclesiastical +history of the United States ever comes to be written, it is to +be hoped that, in the archives of the various episcopal sees, +authentic documents have been preserved, which may furnish +future writers with comprehensive statistics on the subject, +that the posterity of the noble-hearted men and women who +undertook and carried out, with such a wonderful success, so +arduous a task, may be stimulated to religious exertion of the +same kind by the memory of what their forefathers have +accomplished. The reflection already suggested by another idea +may serve here likewise, and be usefully repeated. If, in the +course of twenty-five years, over the surface of at least ten of +the largest Northern States, every clergyman who, at the +beginning of that period, officiated in a very small church, is, +to-day, supposing him living, gladdened by the sight of ten to +twenty collaborators, with a corresponding number of newly-built +churches, it is easy to judge of the vastness of the effort made +by the greatness of the undertaking and the unexampled success +with which God has been pleased to crown it. The other States of +the Union are omitted here, not because the Catholics residing +in them were then idle, but because, their growth being less +remarkable, the external result could not be so striking. +Nevertheless, the actual increase among them would compare +favorably with that of other growing Catholic countries. + +Could details, at this present time, only be gathered from all +the States, in the area referred to, the vast diffusion of +Catholicity by the influence of immigration would come home to +us with far greater force, as would the conception of the +corresponding work demanded of the immigrants for the creation +of all the objects of worship, charity, and education. Let the +reader look to what is related in the "Life of Bishop Loras," +who was at that time charged with the founding of religion in +Iowa and Minnesota. It will at the same time bring under our +notice the march of the Irish toward the West, after having seen +them solidly established in the Atlantic States. + +"He was consecrated at Mobile by Bishop Portier, assisted by +Bishop Blanc, of New Orleans, on December 10, 1837. His diocese +was a vast region unknown to him. The unfinished Church of St. +Raphael, at Dubuque, was the only Catholic church in the +Territory, and the Rev. Sam. Mazzuchelli, its pastor, was the +only Catholic priest. The Catholic population of Dubuque was +about three hundred. . . . But there must be, thought the new +bishop, some members of the flock in distant, isolated, and +unfrequented localities, who were in danger of wandering from +the faith; besides, the future waves of population would +certainly set in toward this fine expanse of meadow, prairie, +and forest. . . . With prudent foresight he purchased land . . +. . three acres at Dubuque; later, St. Joseph's Prairie, one mile +square, near the same city. . . . A valuable property was +acquired in Davenport, on the Mississippi, with the view of +applying the revenue from it to the support of the missions. + +"To his regret he saw large numbers of the European immigrants +tarrying in the Atlantic cities, where want, sickness, and crime, +beset their path, and he became deeply interested in giving to +this worth population the more healthful and vigorous direction +of the West. . . . Articles were prepared and published, setting +forth the attractions of the country. . . . An immense +correspondence, with persons in this country and in Europe, +resulted from the well-known interest Bishop Loras took in these +subjects. . . . He undertook the settlement of colonies. . . . +Germans in New Vienna, in 1846 . . . Irish on the Big-Maquokety. +. . . He organized them in congregations and commenced in person +the work of building for them churches. . . . establishing +schools and academies, laboring for the temporal and eternal +welfare of the people." + +Thus did the tide of Catholic population begin to flow into Iowa +and Minnesota, to be brought under the influence of the Church +as soon as it arrived. + +Meanwhile associations were being formed in the East, in New +York chiefly, for the purpose of inducing Irishmen to go west as +far as Illinois, and the Territories west of the Mississippi. +Several zealous clergymen placed themselves at the head of the +movement. Their main object was to rescue the Catholic +immigrants from the dangers surrounding them in large cities, +and to make farmers of them. We have seen why these plans, +though prompted by the best intentions, failed to succeed; their +immediate effect was to give a fresh impetus to the great +movement westward, and, by relieving the Atlantic coast of a +sudden excess of population, to extend the Church along the line +marked out by Providence toward the coast of the Pacific. + +At the same time, on the very shores of that vast ocean, +California was receiving directly from Europe large detachments +of the voluntary exiles who were then leaving Ireland in a +compact body in the full tide of the "Exodus." The Catholic +Church was thus early taking up a commanding position at the +extreme point whither the main "army" was tending, and soon to +arrive with the completion of the great Pacific Railroad. + +The following extract, taken from the "Life of Bishop Loras," +will be sufficient to give an idea of the rapid increase of the +Catholic population in the West, in consequence of the workings +of so many agencies employed by God's providence for his own +holy ends: + +"In 1855, the Catholic population of Iowa increased one hundred +and fifty per centum in a single year. It seems almost +incredible to relate, that the churches and stations, provided +for their accommodation, increased in the same time nearly one +hundred per centum. The Catholic population reported in 1855 was +twenty thousand, and the churches and stations fifty-two; the +Catholic population in 1856 was rated at forty-nine thousand, +and the churches and stations at ninety-seven. + +"Bishop Loras commenced his episcopate (in 1837) with one church, +one priest, and the only Catholic population reported, that of +Dubuque, was three hundred. In 1851, Minnesota was taken from +his diocese, yet in 1858, the year of his death, the diocese of +Dubuque alone possessed one hundred and seven priests, one +hundred and two churches and stations, and a Catholic population +of fifty-five thousand." + +There can be little doubt that, if similar statistics were drawn +up for all the Western States of the Union during a +corresponding period, they would give very similar results; and +it is only by reflecting and pondering over such astonishing +facts as these, that the mind can come to grasp the idea of the +magnitude of the work assigned by Providence to the Irish race. +This, we have no hesitation in saying, will form one of the most +remarkable features of the future ecclesiastical history of the +age, and will appear the more clearly when all the consequences +of this stupendous movement shall stand out fully developed, so +as to strike the eyes of all. + +It may be well to reflect a moment upon the activity displayed +by that zealous hive of busy immigrants, who, soon after landing, +when the thoughts of other men would have been exclusively and, +as men would think, naturally, occupied by the thousand +necessities arising from a new establishment on a foreign soil-- +while not neglecting those necessities--found time to enter +heart and soul into projects set on foot everywhere for buying +up landed property, making contracts with builders, supervising +the work already going on, attending above all to the collection +of money, forming lists of subscribers to that end, visiting +round about for the same purpose, and attending to the +fulfilment of promises sometimes made too hastily, or with too +sanguine an expectation of being able to accomplish what in the +future was never realized to the extent expected. + +But, much sooner than might have been hoped, the desire, so +congenial to the Catholic heart, of beholding more suitable +dwellings erected to the honor of God and to the reception of +his Divine presence, was fulfilled, or aroused, rather, in a +quarter least expected, and consequently more in accordance with +the (to man) mysterious ways of Providence. The sudden increase +of the Church in England, in consequence of remarkable +conversions and principally of the little-remarked flow of +emigrants thither from the sister isle, induced some pious and +wealthy English Catholics, now that they found themselves free +to follow their inclinations unmolested, to devote their means +to the construction of churches worthy of the name. The splendid +structures, now the lifeless monuments of the old faith, which +their fathers had raised, rested in the hands of the spoiler, +and they could not worship, save privately and inwardly, at the +shrine of Thomas of Canterbury, or before the tomb of Edward the +Confessor. Yet were their eyes ever afflicted with the presence +of those noble edifices, that resembled the solemn tombs of a +buried faith, yet still cast their lofty spires heavenward, +while the structure beneath them covered acres of ground with +the most profuse and elaborate architecture. They looked around +them for a builder, who might raise them such again. But there +was none to be found capable of conceiving, much less building +such vast fabrics as the old churches, which owed their +existence not to the ingenuity of a designer, but to the +inspired enthusiasm of a living faith. Nevertheless, a man, full +of energy and reverence and love for the beauty of the house of +God, came forward at the very moment he was wanted. Welby Pugin +soon became known to the world, and was still in the full vigor +of his enterprising life, when all over the American Continent +the immigrants were engaged in satisfying the first cravings of +their hearts, and covering the country with unpretending +edifices crowned, at least, by the symbol of salvation. Among +them arrived pupils of Pugin, who speedily found Irish hearts to +respond to theirs, and Irish purses ready to carry their designs +into execution. + +There is no need of going into details. Puritan New England even +has seen its chief cities one by one adorned with true temples +of God, and its small towns embellished by stone edifices +devoted to Catholic worship, their form pleasing to the eye, and +their interior spacious enough, at least temporarily, for the +constantly-increasing congregations. But perhaps the most +remarkable result of all has been the sudden zeal which sprang +up among the sectarians themselves, who had hitherto expressed +such contempt for any thing of the kind, of outstripping the +Catholics in Christian architecture. They have even gone so far +as to discover that the cross, the emblem of man's salvation, is +not such a very inappropriate ornament, after all, to the summit +of a Christian temple, and that the statues of angels and of +saints are possessed of a certain beauty. So that what in their +eyes hitherto had borne the semblance of idolatry--such, +according to themselves, was their way of looking at it-- +suddenly became an aesthetic feeling, if not an act of true +devotion. + +And, singularly enough, it was just at the time when the +erection of so many episcopal sees necessitated the building of +cathedrals, that the thought, natural to the Catholic heart, of +making the house of God a place of beauty and magnificence, +could begin to be realized by the arrival of true artists and +the increasing wealth of the Catholic body. + +It is in the true Church only that the meaning of a cathedral +can be fully grasped. Those sects which acknowledge no bishops +and deride the title certainly can form no conception of it, and +even those who imagine that they have a bishop at their head, +have so little idea of what are true episcopal functions, of the +greatness of the position which a see occupies, of the +importance of the place where it is established, that in their +eyes the pretended dignitary can scarcely rank much higher, +either in position or degree, than a wealthy parish minister, +and the church wherein "his lordship" officiates is very much +the same as an ordinary parish church. If in England a show of +dignitaries is attached to each of those establishments, it is +merely a form well calculated to impress the solemn Anglo-Saxon +character; but even that very form would scarcely have existed +were it not one of those few semblances of the Catholic reality +which the wily founders of the Protestant religion found it +convenient to retain for the purpose hinted at. The Catholic +Church alone can understand what a cathedral ought to be. + +This is not the occasion to enter upon an explanation of all the +meanings and uses of a cathedral, least of all to penetrate the +sublime mystical significance embodied in its conception. Here +it is enough to insist upon the least important, yet most +sensible and more easily-recognized object of the building, +which is, not simply the seat of honor of the first pastor of +the diocese, who is a successor of the apostles, but likewise +the place of adoration and sacrifice common to all the faithful +of the diocese. Strictly speaking, no special congregation is +attached to it; but it is the spiritual home of all the faithful; +its doors are open to all the congregations of that part. There +the common father resides and officiates; there his voice is +generally to be heard; there he is to be found surrounded by all +those whose duty it is to assist him in his sublime functions. +When he appears in any parish church, the clergy of that special +temple are his only attendants, unless others flock thither to +do him honor. But the cathedral is his fixed seat and permanent +abode; there the appointed dignitaries of the diocese find their +allotted places, and there alone are his officers permanently +attached to him by their functions. + +Hence it is the cardinal church upon which the whole spiritual +edifice called the diocese is hinged. Therefore is it the +natural resort of the whole flock, as well as of the pastor +himself. This will explain the vastness of those edifices which +strike us with wonder in old established Catholic countries. In +accordance with their primitive intention and purpose, there +should be in them standing and kneeling room for all who have a +right to enter there; and it is purely on account of the +impossibility of exactly fulfilling this intent that the edifice +is allowed to be built smaller. We are thus enabled to +understand why the great temple which is the centre-spot of +Catholic worship can contain only fifty thousand worshippers at +a time, and why many other sacred edifices consecrated to +episcopal functions can find room for no more than twenty or +thirty thousand. + +But even those structures, which strike with wonder the puny +minds of this "advanced" age, have consumed centuries in their +construction, and the number and the faith of those who raised +them were, we may say, exceptional in the life of the Church. +There were no dissenters in those days; and, as all were +possessed of a firm faith, all labored with a common will and +contributed with a common pleasure to their construction. + +Times having changed for the worse, the same ardor and +generosity could not be looked for; but something at least was +required which should give some idea of the old, splendor and +vastness. So, throughout all the new dioceses projects were set +on foot for raising real cathedrals, which should quite +overshadow the buildings hitherto known by that name. + +Thus, a cathedral was promised to New York City, three hundred +and thirty feet in length, and one hundred and seventy-two in +breadth across the transept; while that of Philadelphia was soon +completed, and all might gaze on the massive and majestic +edifice, by the side of which every other public building in a +city containing eight hundred thousand souls appeared dwarfish +and unsubstantial. Boston was soon to behold within its walls a +Catholic cathedral, three hundred and sixty-four feet long, and +one hundred and forty broad in the transept, though the same +diocese was already filled with large stone churches, built +solely by the resources of the immigrants. + +The Archbishop of New York, when preaching the sermon at the +laying of the foundation-stone of this edifice in 1867, was able +to say in the presence of many who might have borne personal +testimony to the truth of his words: "There are those most +probably within the sound of my voice who can remember when +there was but one Catholic church in Boston, and when that +sufficed, or had to suffice, not alone for this city, but for +all New England; and how is it now? Churches and institutions +multiplied, and daily continuing to multiply on every side, in +this city, throughout this State, in all or nearly all the +cities and States of New England; so that at this day no portion +of our country is enriched with them in greater proportionate +number, none where they have grown up to a more flourishing +condition, none where finished with more artistic skill, or +presenting monuments of more architectural taste and beauty." + +Had any one predicted this to the good and gifted Bishop +Cheverus, when leaving America for France, he might perhaps have +not refused altogether to believe or hope for it, but he would +certainly have pronounced it a real and undoubted miracle of God, +to happen within a century. + +But the Archbishop of New York, in that same sermon, pointed out +the true cause, when he attributed it to "God's blessing," and +to "the never-ceasing tide of immigration that has been and +still continues to be setting toward the American shores." + +The history of the Church certainly contains many a page where +the traces of the finger of God are clearly marked; nay, we may +say that such traces are apparent throughout, as we know that +God alone could have originated, spread out, supported, +multiplied, and perpetuated the Church through all the centuries +of her existence; but it is doubtful if in all her annals a +single page shows where the action of Providence is more clearly +visible, as it was least expected, than in the few facts just +cursorily and briefly enumerated. + +Yet have we mentioned only a part of the work to which the poor +immigrants were called to contribute immediately after their +arrival, and at the vastness of which they never murmured nor +lost heart, as though a greater burden had been laid upon them +than human shoulders could endure. + +The worship of God and the care of souls were the first things +to be attended to, and, with these, other necessary objects were +not to be neglected. There was the care of the poor, whom the +Church of Christ was the first public body to think of relieving; +the tending of the sick in hospitals, where their own clergy +might not only have access, but where it should be made sure +that the management be one of true Christian charity and +tenderness; the orphan children, always so numerous under +circumstances like those of the present, were to be saved from +falling into the hands of sectarians, and being educated by them, +as were formerly the Catholic wards, in hatred of their own +faith, and of the customs, habits, and modes of thought of their +ancestors. This last great and incalculable source of loss to +the Church was to be put a stop to at once, if not completely-- +for that was then impossible--at least as perfectly as zeal, +generosity, and true love of souls, could effect. All these +works required money, an incalculable amount; as it was not in a +single city, not in a small particular State, but throughout the +whole Union, through as many cities as it contains, that the +undertaking was to be straightway set on foot and simultaneously +acted upon. + +Nor was the question one of the erection of buildings merely, +but also of the support of an immense number of inmates, and of +their constant support without a single day's intermission. Who +can calculate the sums required for such immediate and most +pressing needs? + +In a nation where Christianity has been long established, taxes +imposed upon all for the constructing, repairing, maintaining, +and carrying on so many and such large establishments are easily +collected. For all are bound by law to contribute to such +purposes, and the question generally reduces itself merely to a +continuance of the support of institutions long standing, and +which can be no longer in need of the large disbursements +necessary at the first period of their existence. But here it +was a question of providing, without any other law than that of +love, without the help of any other tax-gatherer than the +voluntary collector, for all those necessities at once, +including the vast outlays requisite for the first establishment +of those institutions, and imposing, by that very act, the +necessity and duty of supporting forever all the inmates +gathered together at the cost of so much care and expense, +within those walls consecrated to religion and charity. The +government had no share whatever in it; too happy were they at +the government interposing no obstacle to its carrying out! That +was all they asked for on its part--non-interference. + +On this subject, Mr. Maguire remarks justly, without, however, +bringing the matter of expenditure into sufficient prominence: + +"For the glorious Church of America many nations have done their +part. The sacred seed first planted by the hand of the +chivalrous Spaniard has been watered by the blood of the +generous Gaul; to the infant mission the Englishman brought his +steadfastness and resolution, the Scotchman, in the northeast, +his quiet firmness, . . . the Irishman his faith, the ardor of +his faith. And, as time rolled on, and wave after wave of +immigration brought with it more and more of the precious life- +blood of Europe, from no country was there a richer contribution +of piety and zeal, of devotion and self-sacrifice, than from +that advanced outpost of the Old World, whose western shores +first break the fury of the Atlantic; to whose people Providence +appears to have assigned a destiny grand and heroic--of carrying +the civilization of the Cross to remote lands and distant +nations. What Ireland has done for the American Church, every +bishop, every priest, can tell. Throughout the vast extent of +the Union there is scarcely a church, an academy, a hospital, or +a refuge, in which the piety, the learning, the zeal, the self- +sacrifice, of the Irish--of the priest or the professor, of the +Sisters of every order or denomination--are not to be traced; +there is scarcely an ecclesiastical seminary for English- +speaking students in which the great majority of those now +preparing for the service of the sanctuary do not belong, if not +by birth, at least by blood, to that historic land to which the +grateful Church of past ages accorded the proud title, Insula +Sanctorum." + +To this may be added the remark that it is still further beyond +doubt that all the establishments mentioned, almost without one +exception, owe their existence, at least partially, and very +often entirely, to the generous and never-failing contributions +of the Irish. + +The Rev. C. G. White, in his "Sketch of the Origin and Progress +of the Catholic Church in the United States of America," which +is appended to the translation of Darras's "History of the +Catholic Church," says still more positively: + +"In recording this consoling advancement of Catholicity +throughout the United States, especially in the North and West, +justice requires us to state that it is owing in a great measure +to the faith, zeal, and generosity of the Irish people who have +immigrated to these shores, and their descendants. We are far +from wishing to detract from the merit of other nationalities; +but the vast influence which the Irish population has exerted in +extending the domain of the Church is well deserving of notice, +because it conveys a very instructive lesson. The wonderful +history of the Irish nation has always forced upon us the +conviction that, like the chosen generation of Abraham (previous +to their rejection of the Messiah, of course), they were +destined, in the designs of Providence, to a special mission for +the preservation and propagation of the true faith. This faith, +so pure, so lovely, so generous, displays itself in every region +of the globe. To its vitality and energy must we attribute, to a +very great extent, the rapid increase in the number of churches +and other institutions which have sprung up and are still +springing up in the United States, and to the same source are +the clergy mainly indebted for their support in the exercise of +their pastoral ministry. It cannot be denied, and we bear a +cheerful testimony to the fact, that hundreds of clergymen, who +are laboring for the salvation of souls, would starve, and their +efforts for the cause of religion would be in vain, but for the +generous aid they receive from the children of Erin, who know, +for the most part, how to appreciate the benefits of religion, +and who therefore joyfully contribute of their worldly means to +purchase the spiritual blessings which the Church dispenses." + +To this we may add that what Mr. White so expressly states of +the generous support given by the Irish people to the clergy is +equally true when extended to the thousand inmates of orphan +asylums, reformatories, schools, convents, and of all the +charitable institutions generally which are specially fostered +by the Church for the common good of humanity. To quote only one +fact recorded in a note to Mr. Maguire's book, a Sister of Mercy +tells us what the Irish working-class has done for the order in +Cincinnati: "The convent, schools, and House of Mercy, in which +the good works of our Institute are progressing, were purchased +in 1861 at a considerable outlay. This, together with the +repairs, alterations, furnishing, etc., was defrayed by the +working-class of Irish people, who have been and are to us most +devoted, and by their generosity have enabled us up to the +present time to carry out successfully our works of mercy and +charity." + +It may be stated, without fear of contradiction, that the same +thing might be asserted by the superior of almost every Catholic +establishment in the country, were an opportunity afforded them +of coming forward in like manner. + +All this is well known to those who are in the least acquainted +with the history and workings of those institutions; but very +little noise is made about it, according to the rule of the +Gospel which recommends us to do good in such a manner that "the +left hand may not know what the right hand doeth." Nothing is +more Christian than such silent approval, and the eternal reward, +which must follow, is so overwhelmingly great that the applause +of the world may well be disregarded. But as constant good +offices are apt to beget indifference in those who benefit most +by them, there are not wanting some good people who seem to +labor under the impression that really the Irish deserve +scarcely any thanks; that every thing which they do comes so +naturally from them, it is only what one could expect as a +matter of course, and that, it being nothing more, after all, +than their simple duty, it becomes a very ordinary thing. + +It may be superfluous to say that if all this was expected from +them, and if it be, as it really is, after all only a very +ordinary thing on _their_ part, this fact is precisely what +makes them a most extraordinary people, as expectations of this +nature which may be most natural are of that peculiar kind of +"great expectations" magnificent in prospect, but very delusive +in fact; and certainly they would not be looked for as a matter +of course in any other nation. Let any one reflect on the few +details here furnished, let him add others from his own +information, and the whole thing will appear, as it truly is, +most wonderful, and only to be explained by the great and +merciful designs of God, as Dr. White has just indicated-- +designs intrusted on this occasion to faithful servants whose +generous hearts and pure souls opened up to the mission +intrusted to them, to its glorious fulfilment so far, and to a +greater unfolding still in time to come. + +In order to understand, as ought to be understood, more fully +the weight of the burden they so cheerfully undertook to bear, a +few reflections on the subject of religious and charitable +institutions will not be considered out of place. + +The Romans--those master-organizers, who reduced to a perfect +system every branch of government, legislation, war, and +religion--never abandoned, never intrusted to the initiative of +the people, the care of providing the means for any thing which +the state ought to supply. The public religious establishments +were all endowed, the colleges of the priests enjoyed large +revenues, and the expenses of worship were supplied from the +same source. To the fisc in general belonged the duty of +supporting the armories, the courts of law, and the large +establishments provided for the comfort and instruction of the +people, the baths, libraries, and regular amusements. The +private munificence of emperors, great patricians, and +conquerors, undertook to supply occasional shows of an +extraordinary character in the theatres, amphitheatre, and the +circus. + +There was no room left for charity in the whole plan. Indeed, +the meaning of that word was unknown to them; for it cannot be +properly applied to the regular distribution of money or cereals +to the plebs; as this was one of those generosities which are +necessary, and was only practised in order to keep the lower +orders of citizens in idle content and out of mischief, as you +would a wild animal which you dare not chain: you must feed +him. The really poor, the saves, the maimed, the helpless, were +left to their hard fate, they being apparently unworthy of pity +because they excited no fear. + +Yet the system was fruitful in its results. As soon as +Christianity was seated on the throne, nothing was easier than +to transfer the immense sums contributed by regular funds, or +which were the product of taxes, from one object to another; and +thus the Christian clergy and churches were supported as had +been the colleges and temples of the pagan priests, by the +revenues derived from large estates attached to the various +corporations. Thus did Constantine and his successors become the +munificent benefactors of the Church in Rome and through-out the +whole empire. + +Meanwhile, the 11 collections of money" among the faithful, +which were first organized, as we read in the epistles of the +apostles, and afterward systematized still better in Rome under +the first popes, soon grew into disuse, at least to the extent +to which they once prevailed; the new charitable institutions, +such as the care of the poor, of widows and orphans, being under- +taken by the Church at large, while the expenses of the whole +were defrayed by the revenues accruing from the donations of +princes, or the bequests of wealthy Christians. + +The consequence was that, throughout the whole Christian world, +all religious, literary, and charitable institutions enjoyed +large revenues, and there was no need of applying to the +generosity of the common people for contributions. + +After the successful invasion of the barbarians, the same system +held good; and history records how richly endowed were the +churches built, the monasteries founded, the universities and +colleges opened, by the once ferocious Franks, Germans, or +Northmen even, tamed and subdued by the precepts and practices +of Christianity. + +We know how the immense wealth, which had been devoted to such +holy purposes by the wise generosity of rulers or rich nobles, +became in course of time an eyesore and object of envy to the +worldly, and that the chief incentive to the `~ Reformers" for +doing their work of 11 reformation" thoroughly was the prospect +of the golden harvest to be reaped by the destruction of the +Catholic Church. + +But the very large amounts required to satisfy the aspirations +introduced into the heart of humanity, by the religion of Christ, +may give us an adequate idea of what Christian civilization +really costs. It is foolish to imagine a sane man really +believing that those generous founders of pious institutions, +who devote by gift or bequest, such large estates and revenues +to the various + + +*********** +This E-text is missing paper pages 457-472. +*********** + + +We cannot afford to transfer any more of his experiences among +the Irish. From all his accounts, they are the same in London as +everywhere else, most firmly attached to Catholicity, and, as a +general rule, most exemplary in the performance of their +religious obligations. + +It is fitting, however, to give the conclusion of a long +description of what he saw among them while visiting them in the +company of a clergyman: "The religious fervor of the people whom +I saw was intense. At one house that I entered, the woman set me +marvelling at the strength of her zeal, by showing me how she +continued to have in her sitting-room a sanctuary to pray every +night and morning, and even during the day when she felt weary +and lonesome." + +II. Passing from religion to morality, let us look at this +writer again: "Only one-tenth, at the outside, of the couples +living together and carrying on the costermongering trade (among +the English) are married. . . . Of the rights of legitimate or +illegitimate children, the English costermongers understand +nothing, and account it a mere waste of money to go through the +ceremony of wedlock, when a pair can live together, and be quite +as well regarded by their fellows without it. The married women +associate with the unmarried mothers of families without scruple. +There is no honor attached to the married state and no shame to +concubinage. + +"As regards the fidelity of these women, I was assured that in +any thing like good times they were rigidly faithful to their +paramours; but that, in the worst pinch of poverty, a departure +from this fidelity--if it provided a few meals or a fire--was +not considered at all heinous." + +Further details may be read in the book quoted from, which would +scarcely come well in these pages, though quite appropriate to +the most interesting work in which they appear. From the whole, +it is only too clear that the class of people referred to is +profoundly immoral and corrupt, their very poverty only +hindering them from indulging in an excess of libertinism. + +On the other hand, when Mr. Mayhew speaks of the street Irish in +London, he is most emphatic in his praise of the purity of the +women in particular, and the care of the parents in general to +preserve the virtue of their daughters, in the midst of the +frightful corruption ever under their eyes. The only remark he +passes of a disparaging character is the following: + +"I may here observe"--referring to the statement that Irish +parents will not expose their daughters to the risk of what they +consider corrupt influences--"that, when a young Irish woman +_does_ break through the pale of chastity, she often becomes, as +I was assured, one of the most violent and depraved of, perhaps, +the most depraved class." + +It is evident, from the mere form in which this phrase is put, +that such a thing is of very rare occurrence, and that the +violence and depravity spoken of offer all the stronger contrast +to the general purity of the whole class, and are merely the +result of the open and unreserved character of the race. + +But the whole world knows that chastity is the rule, and perhaps +the most special virtue of the Irish, a fact which their worst +enemies have been compelled to confess. In this same work of Mr. +Mayhew's a still more surprising fact than the last--for that is +acknowledged by all--is brought into astonishing prominence; a +fact opposed to the general opinion of their friends even, and +yet supported by incontrovertible evidence. It relates to +another contrast between the English and Irish costermongers on +the score of temperance. + +III. The result arrived at by his inquiries among liquor-dealers +in that part of London inhabited by about equal numbers of both +nationalities, Mr. Mayhew gives us as twenty to one in favor of +the Irish with respect to the consumption of liquor. In most +"independent," that is to say, "not impoverished" Irish families, +water is the only beverage at dinner, with punch afterward; and +estimating the number of teetotallers, among the English at +three hundred, there are six hundred among the Irish, who +constitute, it may be remembered, only one-third of the whole +costermonger class, and those Irish teetotallers, having taken +the pledge under the sanction of their priests, look upon it as +a religious observance and keep it rigidly. The number of Irish +teetotallers has been considerably increased since Mr. Mayhew +made his returns, in consequence of the energetic crusade +entered upon against drink by the zealous London clergy, under +the powerful lead of Archbishop Manning. + +It is true that an innkeeper told Mr. Mayhew that "he would +rather have twenty poor Englishmen drunk in his tap-room than a +couple of poor Irishmen, who will quarrel with anybody, and +sometimes clear the room." But this remark, if it shows any +thing, shows only how and why the Irish have obtained that +reputation of being a nation of drunkards, which is slanderous +and false. + +IV. Yet another, and perhaps as surprising a result as any, is +the contrast between both classes of people with respect to +economy and foresight: The English street-sellers are found +everywhere spending all their income in the satisfaction often +of brutish appetites; the Irish, on the contrary, save their +money, either for the purpose of transmitting it to their poor +relatives in Ireland, or bringing up their children properly, or- +-if they are young--to provide for their marriage-expenses and +home. Such cares as these never seem to afflict the English +costermonger. So strongly did Mr. Mayhew find these +characteristics marked among the Irish, that he is at times +inclined to accuse them of carrying them too far, even to the +display of a sordid and parsimonious spirit. According to him, +they apply to the various "unions," or to the parish, even when +they have money, or sometimes go with wretched food, dwelling, +or clothing, in order to have a small fund laid by, in case of +any emergency arising. + +But the general result of his observations is clear: that the +Irish are most provident and far-seeing; a surprising statement, +doubtless, to the generality of Mr. Mayhew's readers, but one +which, after all, only accords with the testimony of many +unexceptionable witnesses of their life in other countries. And, +if in England, in London especially, they at times appear sordid +in their economy, is not this the very natural result of the +misery they had previously endured in their own impoverished +land, and therefore a proof that, at least, they have profited +by the terrible ordeals through which they were compelled to +pass? + +We have spoken only of the Irish in London; the same facts are +most probably true of them in all the large cities of Great +Britain. Unfortunately, Mr. Mayhew's most interesting work has +found no imitators in other parts of the kingdom. F. Perraud's +remarks, however, in his "Ireland under English Rule," extend +almost over the whole country. + +After giving his own experience, and that of many others whom he +had consulted, or whose works he had read; after having set +forth the dangers which beset the Irish in that (to them) "most +foreign country"--England--and also the success which had +attended the labors of many proselytizing agents among them, and +even in some cases the progress of immorality in their midst +resulting from the innumerable seductions to which they were +exposed, a success and a progress which Mr. Mayhew's personal +observation would lead us to think the good father has +exaggerated, he concludes as follows: + +"We must not overlook the fact that the Irish emigration to +England and Scotland produces in many individual cases results +which cannot be too deeply deplored. + +"But there, also, as well as in America and Australia, through +the economy of an admirable providence, God makes use of those +Irish immigrants for the propagation and extension of the +Catholic faith in the midst of English and Scotch Protestantism. +What progress has not the Catholic religion made within the last +thirty years in England? And might not the Catholics say to +their separated brethren what Tertullian said to the Caesars of +the third century: 'Our religion is but of yesterday; and behold, +we fill your towns, your councils, your camps, your tribes, +your decuriae, the palace, the senate, the forum . . . . You +have persecuted us during centuries, and behold, we spring up +afresh from the blood of martyrs!' + +"At the beginning of the reign of George III., England and +Scotland scarcely contained sixty thousand Catholics who had +remained true to the faith of their fathers. Their number in +1821 was, according to the official census, five hundred +thousand. In 1842, they were estimated at from two million to +two million five hundred thousand. At present (1864) they number +nearly four million, and of this total amount the single city of +London figures for more than two hundred and fifty thousand." + +In a note he adds the following figures, furnished him by Dr. +Grant, the late Bishop of Southwark: + + Total No. of Catholics. No. of Irish. +Manchester . . . . . . . . . . . 80,000 . . . . . . 60,000 +Liverpool . . . . . . . . . . 130,000 . . . . . . 85,000 +Birmingham . . . . . . . . . . . 30,000 . . . . . . 20,000 +Preston . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,000 . . . . . . 4,300 +Wigan . . . . . . . . . . . 18,000 . . . . . . 6,000 +Bolton . . . . . . . . . . . 12,000 . . . . . . 4,000 +St. Helen's (Lancashire) . . . . 10,000 . . . . . . 6,000 +Edinburgh . . . . . . . . . . . 50,000 . . . . . . 35,000 +Glasgow . . . . . . . . . . 127,000 . . . . . . 90,000 + +"Finally, we must not forget that about one-half the army and +navy is composed of Irish Catholics. + +"In 1792 England and Wales counted no more than thirty-five +chapels; in 1840 the number amounted to five hundred, among +which were vast and splendid churches, such as St. George's, +Southwark, and the Birmingham Cathedral. At present (1864) the +number is nearly one thousand. + +"In connection with the movement of individual conversions, +which yearly brings within our ranks from those of Protestantism +the most upright, the sincerest, the best-disposed souls, the +Irish immigration in England is then destined to play an +important part in the so desirable return of that great island +to the faith which she received in the sixth century from St. +Gregory the Great and St. Austin of Canterbury," and, let us add, +from Aidan and his Irish monks of Lindisfarne and Iona, as +Montalembert has shown. + +If we examine closely the figures just furnished by F. Perraud, +and consider that the number of Catholics in Great Britain was +only five hundred thousand in 1821, which, following his +calculation, mounted to four million in 1864, if we look closely +into the gradations of the increase marked in the various +censuses taken between those dates, we shall find that the Irish +immigration has indeed played a most important part in the +return of England toward Catholicity. We are surprised to find +that he seems to estimate the number of Irish in England at only +one million; there can be no doubt that they and their offspring +compose the majority of Catholics there, and that many of the +Englishmen who come back to the true faith are induced by their +example and influence, particularly among the lower orders, and +that the real work of the conversion of the English nation rests +in the hands of the Irish immigrants. Mr. Mayhew has informed us +of the disposition of the English costermongers on religious matters. + +We have now examined the three great waves which bore the Irish +to foreign countries; the lesser streamlets, which wandered away +into other English colonies, may be dismissed, as to trace and +follow up their course would involve more time and trouble than +they really call for. We now see the Irish race disseminated in +large groups over many and vast territories; and, although the +home population has been considerably diminished by that great +exodus, and is now reduced to about five millions, nevertheless, +to count them as they are dispersed throughout the world, their +number is far higher than it has ever been before; and we now +proceed to offer some considerations tending to show the effects +of that vast emigration on the resurrection of the race, and on +the future progress of the country from which the race comes. + +First, then, emigration has given Ireland and Irishmen an +importance in the eyes of the world which they and it would +never have acquired unless that emigration had taken place; so +that England, on whom in a great measure their future fate +depends, is now compelled to respect and render them justice; +and justice is all that is wanting to bring about their complete +resurrection. + +In order to form a true idea on this point, it is necessary to +consider them in their twofold aspect, as emigrants to the +United States, residing under and citizens of a government +distinct from that of England; and, secondly, in countries which +are under the control of Great Britain, one of these being +England itself. + +In the Union they become for the greater part citizens of the +country which they have made their home, and the first condition +necessary for the obtaining of this right of citizenship is the +renunciation of all allegiance to their former English rulers. +The readiness and joy even with which they perform this task +need no mention. But, as Christians, the new obligations under +which they bind themselves involve something more than the mere +oath of allegiance; the spirit no less than the letter of the +oath prescribes that they acknowledge no other country as theirs +than that which offered them a refuge, and consequently, by the +very fact of becoming American citizens, they cease to be +Irishmen. + +But their oath does not bind them to forget their former country, +as little as it forbids them to benefit it as far as lawfully +lies in their power. Far otherwise. Their new allegiance would +indeed be a poor thing if, in its very conception, it could only +bind hearts so cold as to renounce at once all affection for the +land of their birth, and banish in a day memories that the day +before were sacred. This is not required of them; and, were it, +they could never so understand their allegiance. They remain, +and justly, firmly attached to Ireland, and look anxiously for +any lawful occasion on which they may manifest their affection +by their acts. + +Meanwhile, in their new country, position, influence, wealth, +consideration, often fall to their lot; their numbers swell, and +they become an important factor in the republic. Something of +the power wielded by the great nation of which they are now +citizens attaches to them, and shows them to the astonished gaze +of England under a totally new and unexpected aspect. In war, +the effect is most telling, and, even so far back as 1812, the +part played by "saucy Jack" Barry, for instance, already gave +rise to very grave considerations and forebodings on the part of +British statesmen. But, even in time of peace, the high position +held by many Irishmen in the United States, and the aggregate +voice of a powerful party, where every tongue has a vote, cannot +fail to tell advantageously on questions referring to their +former country. + +Can it be imagined that this exercises no influence on the +treatment of Ireland by the ruling power? To afford a true +conception of the alteration brought about by Irish emigration, +suppose for an instant the ruling power using again its old +recklessness in abusing Ireland--not that we imagine the English +statesmen of to-day capable of such a thing and anxious to +restore what, happily, has passed away forever--but merely to +show the utter impossibility of such a contingency again arising, +suppose one of the old penal laws to be again enacted and +sanctioned by a British sovereign, what would the effect be on +the multitude of Irishmen now living in America? What, +independently of the Irish, would be the effect on all the +organs, worthy of the name, of public opinion in America? How +would the great majority of the members, not of Congress only, +but of the Legislature of each State, speak? Public opanion is +now the ruler of the world, and when public opinion declares +against a flagrant and crying injustice, its voice must be heard, +its mandate obeyed, and lawlessness cease. This extreme and, as +we believe, impossible example, is merely adduced as a proof of +the advantage which Ireland has reaped from the dispersion of +her scattered children--an advantage falling back on her own +head, in return, perhaps, for the mission they are working. + +But, over and above the supposition of such an extreme case, +there is surely a silent power in the mere standing of millions +of free men who would resent, as done to themselves, a +recurrence of an attack on their old country. And there are, +beyond question, three millions of former Irishmen, citizens to- +day of the United States, on whom the glance of many an English +statesman, with any just pretension to the name, must fall. +Therefore do we say that now England must respect Ireland. + +That respect is daily heightened by the greater comfort and +easier circumstances, though still far too wretched on the whole, +of the Irish at home, which have been mainly brought about by +the help received from their exiled countrymen. As was seen, the +old policy of their oppressors had for chief object the +pauperization of the country, and, as was also seen, that policy +was eminently successful. We know how deeply the effects of that +former policy are still felt, and how far from completion still +is justice in that regard; how they still complain, and with +only too much reason, of many laws which are as so many gyves +still binding them down in their old degradation; but, of this, +the following chapter will speak. + +Yet, it is undeniable that their situation is considerably +improved, and that the excessive sufferings which formerly +seemed their privilege, are scarcely possible in our days. This +change in their circumstances for the better may be ascribed to +a variety of causes, one of which, we acknowledge, has been the +repairing of many previous injustices. But we must acknowledge +also that the main lever in a nation's resurrection, once the +ground is cleared round about--her treasury--has, as far as +Ireland is concerned, been chiefly replenished from abroad. +Absentee landlords still drain the country; but the money which +has gone into it has been certainly owing greatly to the immense +sums transmitted yearly from America by the exiles, all of which +has certainly not returned to the place from which it went out. +It is impossible to estimate the amount which was kept in +Ireland and that which floated back, but the balance must be +considerably on the side of what remained, as the distress at +home was so great, and in millions of instances immediate relief +came from the distant friends who had acquired a competency in +their new country, and, knowing the dire distress of their +relatives at home, sent generally what they could spare, by the +speediest means at their command. + +There is no doubt that thousands of families have thus been +benefited by that first sad emigration of their friends, and +that the visible improvement in the condition of the Irish at +home is in a great measure due to it. We hear, moreover, that +the working of the new "Encumbered Estates Court " has already +placed in the hands of native Irishmen many parcels of the lands +of their fathers, and probably many of the ample estates +belonging to what was the Irish Church Establishment, which are +to be sold, will find their way back in the same manner. + +The Irish are thus being slowly reinstated in possession of +their own soil, and, that once accomplished, the respect of +England is secured--respectability in England being in its +essence equivalent to real estate. + +Thus is the uprising of the nation being gradually, silently, +but surely brought about by the emigration to the United States; +and this effect is considerably heightened when the emigration +to countries under English control is taken into consideration-- +Canada, Australia, England itself. + +In those places the same results followed which we have just +witnessed in the United States, but another and far greater +result remains for them. Not only did they slowly aid in +awakening the respect for their countrymen at home in the +English breast by their own rising importance and improved +condition, but in Canada and Australia they possess a privilege +which, in the British Isles, is theirs only in theory, but +abroad becomes a very powerful fact. + +Ever since the Union of 1800, the Irish are supposed to form a +part and parcel of the empire at home, and to have fair +representation of their native country in the members they +return to the Imperial Parliament. But it is well known that the +Irish influence in that Parliament is almost null, and that +their presence there frequently is productive of no other result +than to countenance laws injurious to their own country. Does, +can Ireland hope to derive any political or social benefit from +her representatives in London beyond whatever may accrue to her +from their vain remonstrances and ineffective speeches? But in +the colonial Parliaments the case is very different. + +It is not our desire to be understood as saying that Irishmen, +by meddling with politics, can effect a certain improvement in +their condition and that of their country, beyond giving tokens +of the life which is in them. We believe, on the contrary, that +too great an eagerness in such pursuits has injured them on many +occasions; and they ought to beware of flattering themselves +that they are rising because their votes are clamored for, and +they themselves exhorted to enter into the contest as fierce +partisans. This, too often, leads them into making themselves +the mere tools of shrewd men. + +But, in the colonies, they muster in considerable force, and, +with prudence and sagacity, may have their desires and measures +fairly considered and conceded; for, unfortunately, the style of +measures fair and favorable to them as Irishmen and Catholics, +is completely at variance with that of those opposed to them, +whom, go where they will, they encounter, and always in the same +form. In Ireland, they are at liberty, apparently, to do the +same by reason of their superiority in point of numbers; the +result of the late Galway elections proves what a farce is this +show of liberty, and even the members whom they would and do +sometimes elect possess a very feeble influence, or none, in +what is called the Imperial Parliament. But, in the colonies, if +they, as electors, outnumber their political opponents, they can +and must return the majority to the House of Representatives and +of officers to the various departments of the colonial +administration. Such is the law of election in really +representative governments which are truly free; the majority of +electors returns the majority to the government; and rightly so. +Of course, there is room here, particularly where the majority +happens to be Irish, for a vast quantity of frothy bluster about +drilled and intimidated voters, and all that sort of thing. With +that we have no concern at present, and merely remark en passant +that it is a pity a little more of it was not wasted on the +recent Galway elections, already alluded to, on both sides; and +for the rest, that the world has not yet been apprised of Irish +majorities in the Australian Parliament abusing their power by +either accidental or systematic misrule; and it may, therefore, +be safely conceded that, on the whole, the government has rested +in safe hands. However, what concerns us at present is the state +of Canada and Australia, where, among the highest public +dignitaries, are found men who are Irish, not simply by birth, +but in feeling and in truth. And the conclusion which we wish to +draw from that fact is, that Ireland is greatly benefited by the +high positions which her sons assume in those distant colonies; +and probably no one will be rash enough to deny or controvert in +any way this point. + +The truth is, that by emigration Ireland has suddenly expanded +into vast regions formerly ignorant of her name; regions which +swell the power and wealth of England, and which are destined to +play a very important part in her future history. In these +districts Irishmen have found a new country; something of the +ubiquity of the English belongs to them, and the influence, +power, and weight, thus thrown into their hands, need no further +comment. To show this in extenso would be only to travel over +ground already trodden in previous pages, enumerating the +various countries they have touched upon in their Exodus. Thus +have our seemingly long digressions had a very direct object in +view, and served powerfully to solve our original question. We +may now see that the resurrection of Ireland was intimately +involved in the emigration of her children; that much of what +has already taken place to aid in that resurrection may be +ascribed to this emigration, and that much brighter days are yet +in store for the nation, resulting mainly from this constant and +powerful cause. Let no one, then, lament the perseverance of +those hardy wanderers who, though their country has already been +depleted by millions, still leave her to the figure of seventy +thousand annually. It seems that in Ireland much surprise is +expressed at the movement never ceasing. Providence will end it +in its own good time; if God still allows it, it is surely for +the accomplishment of his own mighty and benevolent designs. + +To conclude, then, this long chapter, there is only one question +to be put, which demands a few words, but words, in our opinion +at least, of vast importance, and which we would give all that +is ours to give, to see promptly and energetically attended to: +Has Ireland profited by this so-often mentioned emigration to +the extent she should have profited? And what ought Irishmen to +do in order to increase the advantages derived from it? + +We must confess that, up to the present, the benefit is far from +what it ought to have been, and the cause of this lies in want +of organization and association. They have seemed to let God +work for them without any cooperation on their part; for God's, +as we saw, was the plan, and he forced them, as it were, to +carry out his design. They went at the work blindly, merely +following the impulse of circumstances, with no preparatory +organization, and less still of association. And even now, when +they are spread out over such vast territories in such mighty +multitudes, as yet they have given no sign of the least desire +of attempting even something like a combined effort to +accelerate the work of Providence. The only signs of life so far +given have been violent and spasmodic, directly opposed to the +genius of the race, which, as we have endeavored to prove, has +nothing revolutionary in its character, and is not given to dark +plots and godless conspiracies. + +Unfortunately, also, they do not seem naturally adapted to a +spirit of steady and long-continued or systematic association. +In this, chiefly, does their race differ from the Scandinavian +stock, which is grafted on system, combination, and steadiness, +in pursuit of the object in hand. + +But why not begin, at least, to make an effort in that +direction? The Latin races, in which runs so much Celtic blood, +are powerful to organize, as the Romans of old, and the French +and Spaniards of to-day, have so often proved. The Irish have +been infused with plenty of foreign blood, after their many +national catastrophes, although we believe that their primitive +characteristics have always overcome all foreign elements +introduced among them; and, what the race could scarcely attempt +ages ado, is possible now. Moreover, there is nothing in the +leanings of race which may not be overcome, and sure without any +radical change a nation can adapt itself to the necessities of +the time, and to altered circumstances. Let the Irish see what +they might effect toward the resurrection of their native +country, if they only seriously began at last to organize and +associate for that purpose. They would thus turn the immense +forces of their nation, now scattered over the world, to the +real advantage of their birthplace. In union is strength; but +union can only be promoted by association, particularly when the +elements to be united are so far apart. + +For such an object do we believe that God gave man in these late +days the destroyers of space--the steam-engine and the electric +telegraph. Those powerful agents of unification were unknown to +mankind until God decreed that his children dispersed through +the earth should be more compactly united. To the Catholic they +were given, in the first place, to serve God's first purpose by +making the Church firmer in her unity and more effective in the +propagation of truth; but, after all, the mission of the Irish +to-day is only a branch of the mission of the Church, and, if +only on that account, are the missionaries deserving of all +honor and respect. + +If in the designs of Providence the time has at last arrived for +the dwelling of the children of Japhet in the tents of Sem, and +for putting an end to the terrible evils dating from the +dispersion at Babel and the confusion of tongues, the object of +these great scientific discoveries is still more apparent. At +all events, organization and association are clearly needed for +the resurrection of Ireland, and the sooner a step is taken in +that direction the better. + +But, what association would we propose? What should be its +immediate and most practicable objects? These questions we do +not feel competent to answer. Let Irishmen be once convinced +that organization is the great lever to work for the raising up +of their down-trodden nation, and they will know best how to use +this powerful instrument. The leaders of the nation in that holy +enterprise should, in our own opinion, be its spiritual leaders. +They know their country, and they love it; they undoubtedly +possess the confidence of their countrymen: they, then, should +be the natural originators of those great schemes. And what +other leaders does Ireland possess, what body like them, +acceptable to the nation, and neither to be bought by money nor +office? + +This first remark naturally presupposes another: that the object +of those associations, being approved of by the religious guides +of the people, cannot be other than holy, and consequently +require no secrecy of any kind. They must be patent to the world, +as not being antagonistic to any established law or authority. +Every man desirous of becoming a member of the association +should know beforehand what is proposed to be done, and how far +his consent is to be given. + +One other important point strikes us: the centre of organization +should be in Ireland. Ireland is to be benefited by it, and +there the effort should naturally begin, where its results will +fall. As for the particular direction which those efforts should +take, the detail of the whole enterprise, the plan of the +campaign--all this lies beyond us, and a sketch of it would most +probably be a mere chimera. + +One concluding word may be said, however, on a subject which has +often been present to the writer's mind: The fearful oppression +of the nation began by robbing the people of their lands and +making them paupers: one of the first aims of association, then, +should evidently be the raising of the people up by the +restoration, in great part at least, of the soil to the native +race. + +It is not our purpose to propose a new confiscation now, by way +of remedying the old ones; but England has allowed them to buy +back the land of their fathers in the "Encumbered Estates Courts, +"and by the law recently passed which disestablished the Irish +Protestant Church? Is there no room for a plan whereby Irishmen, +who have grown rich in foreign countries, may become purchasers +of the land thus offered for sale? And, in reply to the natural +and powerful objection to such a plan on the score of distance +from their native land, and the natural repugnance to return and +live there, and break up new ties, which are now old, and have +made them what they are, could not the fathers spare one son at +least, whom they might devote to the noble purpose of becoming +Irish again, and settling on an Irish estate, and marrying +there? This would seem an easy and simple manner of recreating a +Catholic gentry in the island. + +This is merely a hint thrown out to exemplify what we mean by +associations for the purpose of raising Ireland up again; the +many possible objects of national organization will occur to any +mind giving a moment's reflection to it. This subject will +occupy our attention at greater length in the next chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +MORAL FORCE ALL-SUFFICIENT FOR THE RESURRECTION OF IRELAND + +This chapter will be devoted to the island itself. For many +centuries it was happy in its seclusion and separation from the +rest of Europe: in these days it necessarily forms a part of the +whole mass of Japhetic races; its isolation is no longer +possible; and, in the opinion of many, it is destined once again +to become a spot illustrious and happy. The consideration of how +that lustre and happiness are to come upon it is the only task +still left us. + +Whoever takes into consideration the advantages it already +enjoys, and compares its present situation with that of a +hundred years back, cannot fail to be struck with the remarkable +change for the better which has taken place between the two +periods. Ireland still suffers, and suffers sorely, and the +world still speaks with justice of her wrongs; but, in whatever +light they may appear to those who love their country, no one +can pretend that it still groans under the weight of tyranny +which has formed the burden of her history. And, while +acknowledging this beneficial change in her condition, they must +wonder at the same time how small was the share which the +natives themselves had in bringing it about, although their +activity never relaxed, and they had great and good men working +for their cause. What, in truth, did it? + +The first point which claims our attention is how effectually +the moral force of what is called liberal thought dealt a death- +blow to the penal laws half a century before any of them were +erased from the statute book. + +Liberal thought may be said to have originated in England, +whence it passed over to France, to be disseminated and take +root throughout Europe by means of the mighty influence then +exercised by the great nation. The chief object which animated +the minds of those who first labored for its admission into +modern European principles is not for us to consider here. There +is no doubt that this chief object was of a loosening and +deleterious nature: namely, to ruin Christian faith, to change +all the old social and political axioms held by Christendom, and +to create a new society imbued with what now goes by the name of +modern ideas. It is not necessary to point out the frightful +imprudence as well as criminality of many of those who were the +pioneers of the movement. We must only take the new principles +as a great fact, destined yet to effect a radical change in the +ideas of men of all races, a change already begun in Europe. + +Liberal thought, we say, originated in England; and it would be +easy to show that there it was the result partly of +Protestantism, partly of indifferentism, the ultimate +consequence of the great principle of private judgment. + +This became manifest in Great Britain, from the beginning of the +eighteenth century, and, as was previously shown, what is called +the British Constitution was the result and outgrowth of deep +political thought matured in minds indifferent to religion, of +men who were as little _Protestants_ as any thing else. But they +were deeply possessed by a sense of conservatism and moderation +in the application of the most radical principles, which later +on the fiery Gallic mind carried to their final and most +disastrous consequences. + +But, in whatever garb it may have appeared, liberalism was +clearly the essence of the British Constitution, as established +after all the civil and dynastic wars of the sixteenth and +seventeenth centuries. The leaders of the English nation +happened at the time to be fully wedded to aristocratic ideas, +and accordingly they refused to recognize all the consequences +of their principles, and to see them carried out to the full. + +It was admitted that the king reigned, but did not govern; that +the nation governed by its representatives; that those +representatives were created by election; that a nation could +not be taxed without its free consent; that thought, religious +thought chiefly, was free; that toleration, therefore, could +admit of no exception in point of religious doctrine; and all +the other modern principles which have at length been admitted, +though not always observed, as governmental axioms by all +European nations. + +As long as those axioms were in the close keeping of English +patricians, some of their consequences were far from being fully +evolved; but certain Frenchmen, Voltaire among others, happening +to cross the Straits of Dover, returned with them, and, the +wretched government of Louis XV being not only too weak to +withstand, but even conniving at, the boldness of the new +philosophers, the French language, which was then spoken all +over Europe, carried with it from mouth to mouth the new and +fascinating doctrine of the emancipation of thought. + +None of those writers, indeed, undertook to plead the cause of +unfortunate Ireland. Voltaire threw the whole of France into +agitation, nay, all Europe, to the wilds of Russia, by taking up +the case of the Protestant Calas, who was condemned to death and +executed unjustly, as it seems, for the supposed murder of a son +who was inclined to embrace Catholicity; but never a word did he +speak of the suffering which at that time had settled down over +the whole Irish nation solely for the crime of its religious +convictions. + +Nevertheless, toleration became the catchword with all. It rang +out loudly from a thousand French pamphlets and ponderous tomes; +it was caught up and echoed back from England; it penetrated the +unkindly atmosphere of Russia even, and was silently pondered +over under the rule of an unbelieving despot. + +It was impossible for Ireland not to derive some benefit from +all this. It took a long time, indeed, for emancipation of +thought to cross that narrow channel which divided the "sister" +islands; for, at the precise period when the doctrine was loudest +in France, the most atrocious penal laws were being executed in +Ireland, and there seemed no hope for the suffering nation. + +But, toward the end of that eventful eighteenth century, the +breath of that magic word, toleration, at last was felt on the +shores of Erin. When it was in the mouths of all Europe, when +English clergymen had thoroughly imbibed the new doctrine, when +even Scotch ministers began to thaw under its genial influence, +and become "liberal theologians," how could an Irish magistrate +think of hanging a friar, or transporting a priest, or imposing +a heavy fine on a Catholic who committed the heinous offence of +hearing mass, or absenting himself from the services of the +Established Church? At last, the "Mass-rock" was no longer the +only spot whereon the divine victim of expiation could be +offered up; and it soon came to be known that, to by-lanes and +obscure houses in the cities numbers of persons flocked on +Sundays, presided over by their own Sogarth Aroon. On one +occasion, already noticed, the floor of a rickety house, where +they were worshipping, gave way, to the killing and maiming of +many; thenceforth, Catholics were allowed to assemble in public +to the knowledge of all, and, though "discoverers" were still +legally entitled to denounce and prosecute them, there was small +chance of a verdict against them. + +Thus was it owing to a great moral force--whether good or bad is +not the question now--that the penal laws first became obsolete; +and Irishmen had absolutely nothing whatever to do in the matter. +Not a single pamphlet, demanding toleration, and proclaiming +the rights of religious freedom, ever, to our knowledge, issued +from the Irish press at the time. No book, written by an Irish +author, advocating the same, was ever printed clandestinely, as +were so many French books, at first appearing in Holland, or +covertly in France, with a false title-page. + +When the Volunteer movement took place, toleration was in full +sway in Ireland. As was seen, the question debated in the +Dungannon Convention referred solely to the extension of the +elective franchise to Catholics; and, though this was unjustly +denied them by the majority of the Volunteers, under the +guidance of the leaders of the movement, there was no question +of any longer refusing to the native Irish Catholics the right +of practising their religion freely. This the moral sense of the +century had secured to them. + +The attainment of the political franchise was also the result of +purely moral force, though it required a much longer time in its +acquisition, as it was a question, not merely of a right +individual in its nature, as all natural religious rights are, +but one affecting external society, and productive of material +results of great import. + +In this the Irish were not merely passive; they launched +themselves heart and soul on the sea of political agitation. +From 1810 to 1829, the Catholic Association, which embraced men +of all classes of society, was incessant in its clamor for +emancipation. The chief object of this association being the +political franchise, it was felt by all that, sooner or later, +that privilege must be granted. Meanwhile, the secular enemies +of Ireland were not idle. Emancipation--that is the political +franchise-- they called a "Utopian dream," which they asserted +England could not grant. Was it not directly opposed to the +coronation-oath, nay, to the English Constitution? The king +himself was, and publicly declared himself to be, of this +opinion. According to your thorough-bred Englishman, the state +would rather spend its last shilling, and sacrifice its last man, +than suffer it. How many spoke thus, even up to the very day on +which Wellington, changing his mind perforce, at last proposed +the measure! + +All this opposition was perhaps only to be expected; but the +strange thing was that many excellent patriotic Irishmen, +Catholics, laymen as well as clerics and prelates, were opposed +to the agitation set on foot by O'Connell and his friends; they +also thought it a "Utopian dream," likely only to bring new +calamities upon their country. They seemed not to see that the +refusal of emancipation meant in fact the continuance of the +small Protestant minority as the ruling power--the state--in +Ireland, which, owing to moral force, was no longer so, save in +theory. In fact, already the majority, that is, almost the whole +of Ireland, was an immense power. Its members were at liberty to +combine openly, to show themselves, to speak, to write, to +agitate; they were, in a word, a people, and the Protestant +minority no longer really constituted the state. + +It is true that the majority of Irishmen had for centuries +continued to act unanimously in their resistance to oppression; +as was seen, they had been a people from the moment that the +English kings and Parliaments strove to coerce their religious +faith, and more particularly from the destruction of clanship. +They were truly a nation, though without a government of their +own, and for the greater part of the time bending under the most +intolerable tyranny. Religion had given them one thought and one +heart. And now that, owing to the mighty, the irresistible moral +force of liberalism, they could no longer be openly persecuted +for wishing to remain Catholics, the question arose: Were they +still to be absolutely nothing in the state? This was the real +demand of the Catholic Association, and every one ought to have +seen its importance and the certainty of success. + +Nevertheless, a great number of sincere Irishmen did not see the +question in this light, and were covertly or openly opposed to +the agitation. Ireland appeared to be divided just at a +momentous crisis. + +The leaders of the association were not themselves altogether +agreed as to the best mode of putting their question. Some were +for armed opposition, thinking they could beat England in the +open field. But the great originator and leader of the movement +sternly opposed so mad a proposition. He was for moral force, +seeing how clearly and irresistibly, even if unwittingly, it was +working for their cause. In spite of all adverse circumstances, +although the English party and the English nation stood up en +masse against him, although many Irishmen refused to join in the +agitation, while some of his best friends wished to risk all in +a desperate venture, he stood calm, firm, and so confident of +success, that he caused himself to be returned as member for the +County Clare to the English Parliament, before even emancipation +had given him the right of candidature. It was immediately after +this "unconstitutional" election that the boon of emancipation +was suddenly granted, contrary to all expectation and +probability, and O'Connell proudly took his seat among the +representatives of Ireland in the Imperial Parliament. + +If this measure was not carried by a purely moral force, it is +hard to see how that phrase can be applied to any thing in this +world. This is not the place to write a history of that +memorable struggle. It is still fresh in the memory of many +living men. We merely draw a conclusion from what has happened +in our own time, and one which may be said to be a clear +inference from the circumstances of the case, and to which no +one can offer any serious objection. This conclusion is, the +omnipotence of moral force in gaining for Ireland so much of +liberty, of political, and social privileges, as was finally +granted her. + +This victory won for the Irish Catholics the acknowledgment on +the part of England that they were a factor in the state. The +next question which naturally presented itself was, "What was to +be their exact position in the state?" + +There are many answers to this, even in modern ideas. In purely +democratic countries suffrage is universal, all have a political +vote, and the majority is supposed to rule. In countries where +the government is oligarchical or aristocratic, rank, wealth, +and position, are "privileged;" the great mass is deprived of a +vote. Yet, even in those countries, in accordance with the +modern idea, blood is not every thing; a certain number of +plebeians are admitted to a share in public affairs, and their +number is greater or smaller as the struggle, which is always +going on between the few and the many, wavers to this side or to +that. Thus, in the English Parliament there is often an +"electoral" or "reform" question discussed and agitated. But the +leaders of the Catholic Association boldly advocated a question +prior to those--what at the time was called the repeal of the +Union, and is now known as "home-rule." + +Must Ireland continue to be governed by laws enacted in England? +The number of her special representatives is comparatively so +small, her Catholic aspirations meet with such deaf ears in the +majority of the members, that, as long as Ireland is without her +own Parliament, she cannot be called a free country. + +Moreover, according to modern ideas, self-government seems to be +admitted as an axiom; all countries have a right to it, under +the limitation of constitutional enactments, either in +"confederacies" or in "imperial states." Why should Ireland +alone be deprived of such a boon? + +It is known how O'Connell suddenly grasped the question and +mastered it. His first repeal association was suppressed on the +instant by a proclamation of the Irish Secretary. O'Connell +bowed to the proclamation, and for the first organization +substituted another called "the Irish Volunteers for the Repeal +of the Union." This met with the same fate as the first. The +great agitator then took refuge in "repeal breakfasts," and +declared his intention, if the government "thought fit to +proclaim down breakfasts, to resort to a political lunch, and, +if political luncheon be equally dangerous to the peace of the +viceroy, he would have political dinners; if the dinners be +proclaimed, we must, said he, like certain sanctified dames, +resort to tea and tracts." + +The "breakfasts" were suppressed, and O'Connell was arrested. +The prosecution, however, was soon abandoned, and for the moment, +despairing of success in advocating repeal, he came down to the +"Reform party," from which he obtained at first some great +advantages for Ireland--the administration of Lord Mulgrave, the +best the island had known for centuries, and the appointment of +many Catholics to high offices in the state. + +It is not necessary to relate the circumstances which finally +drove O'Connell back upon his original plan, and the formation, +in April, 1840, of the "Loyal National Repeal Association." + +Within a short time three million associates were contributing +annually to the national fund, and a scene was witnessed which +the most devoted lover of Erin could never have anticipated. It +would be useless to search the annals of mankind for a more +startling exhibition of purely moral force. The causes of its +failure will appear causes altogether of a temporary and +unexpected character, when we come to examine them. + +But the stupendous spectacle itself was enough to impress the +beholder with the irresistible effect which it could not fail to +produce. A whole nation obedient to the voice of one man! --and +that a man who had never been invested with a state dignity, +proud only of having once represented a poor Irish county in the +English Parliament; who was eminently a man of the people, +identified in every way with the people, speaking a language +they could all understand, speaking to hundreds of thousands who +had come at his call to listen to him: at one time nearly a +million of them surrounded him on the hill of Tara. + +Had a demagogue stood in his place, how could he have resisted +the temptation of using such power to effect a thorough +revolution? O'Connell had only to utter the word, and those +immense masses of men would have swept the whole island as with +a besom of destruction. The impetuosity of the Irish character +when placed in such circumstances is well known, and O'Connell +knew it better than any man living at the time. He showed +himself truly heroic in the constant moderation of his words, +even in scenes the most exciting, when a look from him might +have lashed the nation into madness. + +To bring out more clearly the stamp and greatness of the man, +compare his conduct with that of the leaders in the great French +Revolution of 1793. Not one of them ever possessed a tithe, not +merely of the great Irishman's honesty of purpose, but even of +his real authority over the people; yet, what frightful convulsions +did they not bring upon the state in the days of their brief +popularity? Throughout the whole repeal movement, when millions +of people obeyed implicitly one leader, ready to do his will at +any moment, there was never a single breach of the peace, never +an attempt at outrage, never a threat of retaliation. + +The only difficulty is where to bestow the greater admiration, +on O'Connell or the people; for, if O'Connell towered almost +above humanity in his never-varying moderation, with such a +powerful engine in his hands, the people offered a spectacle +which would be looked for in vain elsewhere in the history of +man, that of a whole nation swayed by the most excited feelings, +one in thought, in aims, in the bitter memory of the past, +conscious of their irresistible power in the present, yet never +yielding to passion, but dispersing quietly after listening to +the impassioned harangues of their leader, to return to their +homes and resume their ordinary occupations. Any impartial man, +who has read history at all, must acknowledge that this +spectacle is unexampled, and in itself vindicates the Irish +character from the foolish aspersions so lavishly cast upon it, +and so thoughtlessly repeated still. + +One great fact was brought out by those demonstrations which +afterward appeared so barren of result, namely, the existence of +a nation full of life and energy, of a surprising vigor, and at +the same time governed by stern principles as well as swayed by +emotion. It would be idle to pretend that they were a non-entity, +save as forming a part of the British Empire, existing on +sufferance as it were, merely to add to the greatness and the +glory of the English nation. They possessed a life of their own. +That life had, as was seen, been instilled into them by their +religious convictions alone; it had lain dormant for more than a +century; and now it burst forth in the view of the world, to +proclaim that the Irish nation still existed. And this wonderful +resurrection was due to moral force alone. + +Though the Irish people then appeared so different from that +humbled, crushed mass of oppressed beings, who, a hundred years +before, lay so completely at the mercy of their masters, it was, +nevertheless, the same people, and the difference was purely one +of circumstances. Had they been allowed in the previous century +to manifest their feelings, as a happy change in the state of +affairs now permitted them, they would assuredly have acted in +exactly the same manner. And this reflection tends to confirm +the opinion, several times here expressed, that the Irish people +existed all along, and that the most adverse circumstances had +never succeeded in destroying it. + +Meanwhile, O'Connell was the sovereign of that nation, and one +whose power over his subjects was greater than that of any of +the kings or emperors who occupied the various thrones of Europe +at the time. Later events proved how precarious was the +authority of all those who appeared to hold the fate of millions +in their hands; the authority of O'Connell alone was deeply +rooted in the heart of his nation. From the humble position of a +Kerry lawyer, he had gradually risen to the proud preeminence +which he occupied in the eyes of Europe, and he owed it solely +to that moral force of which he was so sincere an advocate, and +which he knew so well how to wield. + +But how came all the high hopes then so ardently entertained by +the friends of Ireland to be so suddenly dashed to the ground, +and O'Connell to die of a broken heart? + +It seems, indeed, to be the opinion of Irishmen even, that +O'Connell's theory was faulty; that moral force alone could not +restore Ireland to her lawful position among nations; that, in +fact, he failed by his very moderation, and that the bitterness +which clouded his last days was the natural consequence of his +false and delusive expectations. Such seems now to be the almost +universal opinion. + +Yet, in all his wonderful career, only one fault can be brought +against him. Yielding, on one occasion, in 1843, to the exuberance +of his feelings, "he committed himself to a specific promise that +within six months repeal would be an accomplished fact." + +This promise, rashly given, and showing no result, is said to +have cooled down the enthusiasm of the people, who, from that +time, lost confidence in their leader; and to this alone is the +utter failure of the great agitation ascribed. + +But there is so little of real truth in this assertion that, +when, on his well-known imprisonment, after the law lords, in +the British House of Peers, declared that the conviction of +O'Connell and his colleagues was wrong, he was restored to +liberty, the writer just quoted confesses that "overwhelming +demonstrations of unchanged affection and personal attachment +poured in upon him from his countrymen. Their faith in his +devotion to Ireland was increased a hundred-fold." + +It is true that the same writer, Mr. A.M. O'Sullivan, adds that +"their faith in the efficiency of his policy, or the surety of +his promise, was gone;" but to reconcile this phrase with what +precedes it, it must not be taken absolutely. The want of faith +here spoken of was restricted to the members of a new party, +which had been organized chiefly during the imprisonment of the +great leader, the "Young Ireland party," the new advocates of +physical force against England, composed of the ardent and, most +surely, well-intentioned young men, who failed so egregiously a +few years later. + +This party was the chief cause of O'Connell's failure, coupled +with the awful famine which followed soon after, and left the +Irish small desire for political agitation with grim Death +staring them in the face, and the main question before them one +of avoiding starvation and utter ruin. + +Both causes, however, were purely of a temporary nature, and the +efficacy of moral force remained strong as ever, and, in fact, +the only thing possible. + +The Young Ireland party could not exist long, as its avowed +policy was so rash, so ill-founded, and poorly carried out, that +the mere breath of British power was enough to dissipate it +hopelessly in a moment. Moreover, it placed itself in open +antagonism to the mass of the Catholic clergy, and appeared to +have so ill studied the history of the country that its members +did not know the real power which religion exercised over their +countrymen. They could not but fail, and their futile attempt +only served to render worse the condition of the country they +were ready to die for. + +It would be enough to add here, of other subsequent attempts of +the same nature, that no real hope for the complete resurrection +of Ireland could be looked to from such abortive and stillborn +conspiracies; especially when the alliance entered into by some +of them with the revolutionary party of European socialists and +atheists is taken into account, men from whom nothing but disorder, +anarchy, and crime, can be expected. Thus, those who wish well to +the Irish cause have only moral force to fall back upon. + +It is needless to do more than mention the passing nature of the +frightful calamity of famine and consequent expatriation, which +have been sufficiently dwelt upon. The Irish race has passed +through ordeals more trying than either of these; it has +survived them, and increased in numbers after all previous +calamities, as it doubtless will after this last, when God +thinks proper to abate in the people the eagerness they still +feel for leaving their native country. + +All the progress made by Ireland, so far, is due, therefore, +solely to the kind action of Divine Providence, which is +generally called the "logic of events," aided by men endowed +with prudence and energy. It would be superfluous for our +purpose to detail at length several other progressive steps made +subsequently, which the mad attempt of the party of physical +force would have effectually prevented if open tyranny were as +easy a thing in these days as it once was. The establishment of +the "Encumbered Estates Courts," and the disestablishment of the +Irish Protestant Church, are the chief measures alluded to: the +first so fruitful of good to Ireland since its adoption, and the +second destined to be no less so. It is useless to remark that +physical force had nothing to do with their introduction, and +that the British statesmen who advocated and carried them +through were swayed only by that unseen power which is said by +Holy Scripture to "hold the heart of kings in its hands." Let the +Irish do their part, and Heaven will continue to smile on them. + +Since it is to this unseen power that all the improvement now +visible in the condition of the Irish nation is due, it is only +natural to expect from it every thing that is still wanting. For +we are far from thinking that nothing more is to be done, and +that all to be desired has been obtained. That the nation is +still dissatisfied, is plain enough; and it must be right in not +feeling contented with the various measures for its improvement +tendered it so far. The voice of its natural leaders--of the +prelates and clergy-proclaims that there are many things to +change, and many new measures to be introduced. + +The first and foremost of these is a thorough remedy for the +disgraceful state of pauperism to which the great majority of +the Irish nation is yet reduced. That pauperism was wilfully +established, and this national crime of England stands unatoned +for still. It would be unjust to say that the policy which +produced it is pursued to-day by the English Government; we +sincerely believe, on the contrary, that the state of things +which has existed for the last two centuries is seriously +deplored by many of those who, under God, hold in their keeping +the destiny of millions of men. But it is surprising that so +many projects, so many attempts at legislation, the writing of +so many wise books, discussions so many and so exhaustive of the +evil, should all result in leaving the evil almost as it stood. + +If we listen to those who know Ireland perfectly, who have +either spent their lives in the country, or traversed its +surface leisurely and intelligently, it would seem as though the +old descriptions of her in the time of her greatest misfortunes +would still be appropriate and true. + +"No devastated province of the Roman Empire," said Father +Lavelle, but yesterday, in his "Irish Landlord," "ever presented +half the wretchedness of Ireland. At this day, the mutilated +Fellah of Egypt, the savage Hottentot and New-Hollander, the +live chattel of Cuba, enjoy a paradise in comparison with the +Irish peasant, that is to say, with the bulk of the Irish nation." + +But, as this short passage deals only in generalities, and as +there may be some suspicion of the warm nature of the writer +having given a higher color to his words than was warranted by +the facts, let us listen to the less impassioned utterances of +travellers who have recently visited the island: let us see the +Irish at home in their towns and in the country. + +I. In towns and cities: The most Rev. Archbishop of Dublin, +writing in 1857 to Lord St. Leonards, on the state of his flock +in Dublin, says: "Were your lordship to visit some of the ruined +lanes and streets of Dublin, your heart would thrill with horror +at the picture of human woe which would present itself." + +And in a pastoral letter, November 27,1861, he spoke of "tens of +thousands of human beings, destitute of all the comforts of life, +who are to be met with at every step in all great towns and +cities. If you enter the wretched abodes where they live, you +will find that they have no fuel, that they are unprovided with +beds and other furniture, and that generally they have not a +single blanket to protect them from the cold." + +Abbe Perraud, after a thorough examination of the subject, wrote, +in 1864, in "Ireland under English Rule:" + +"The poor quarters of Cork, Limerick, and Drogheda, present the +same spectacle as Dublin, and justify the sad proverbial +celebrity of `Irish rags.' Dirt, negligence, and want of care, +doubtless, go a long way in giving to destitution in Ireland its +repulsive and hideous form; but who is unaware that continued +and hopeless destitution engenders, as of necessity, +listlessness and carelessness, and that, to enter into a +struggle with poverty, there must be at least some chance of +carrying off the victory?" + +A German Protestant, Dr. Julius Rodenberg, writing in 1861, +expressed his astonishment at the sight of Ireland's poverty, as +he saw it in the streets of Dublin, although he had doubtless +read a great deal about it previously. "You are in a country," +he says, "whence people emigrate by thousands, while fields, of +such an extent and power of production as would support them all, +lie fallow." + +And with respect to the progress already made, M. de Beaumont +had remarked many years before that in Ireland a certain +relative progress was quite compatible with the continued +existence of pauperism among the lower classes. "One single +cause," he remarks, "suffices to explain why the agricultural +population becomes poorer, while the prosperity of the rich is +on the increase: it is that all improvement in the land is +profitable solely to the proprietor, who exacts more rent from +the farmer in proportion as he works the land into a better state." + +Since M. de Beaumont wrote, the pauperism in the cities has +assumed a more wretched and repulsive form, in consequence of +the crowding there of poor peasants who had been evicted from +their small farms and fled to the nearest city or town with the +hope of finding there at least charity. + +"For the last ten years," wrote Abbe Perraud, in 1864, "there +has been taking place in the large cities an accumulation of +poor as fatal to their health as to their morality. They are +mostly country people whom eviction has driven from the country, +who have been unable to emigrate, and who were unwilling to shut +themselves up immediately in the workhouses. The resources they +procure for themselves, by doing odd work, are so completely +insufficient, that it is impossible to be surprised at their +destitution." + +Dr. Rodenberg, describing the state of the poor country people +crowded in the "Liberties of Dublin," says of the rooms in which +they live: "In those holes the most wretched and pitiable +laborers imaginable live; they often lie by hundreds together on +the bare ground." + +Such citations might be sadly multiplied, but those given are +sufficient as descriptive of the state of the poor Irish in the +cities. Let us now see how the peasants live in the country in +many parts of Ireland: + +II. "The destitution of the agricultural classes," writes Abbe +Perraud, from personal observation, "in order to be rightly +appreciated, must be seen in the boggy and mountainous regions +of Munster, of Connaught, and of the western portion of Ulster. + +"The ordinary dwelling of the small tenant, of the day-laborer, +in that part of Ireland, answers with the utmost precision the +description of it twenty years ago given by M. de Beaumont: 'Let +the reader picture to himself four walls of dried mud, which the +rain easily reduces to its primitive condition; a little thatch +or a few cuts of turf form the roof; a rude hole in the roof +forms the chimney, and more frequently there is no other issue +for the smoke than the door of the dwelling itself. One solitary +room holds father, mother, grandfather, and children. No +furniture is to be seen; a single litter, usually composed of +grass or straw, serves for the whole family. Five or six half- +naked children may be seen crouching over a poor fire. In the +midst of them lies a filthy pig, the only inhabitant at its ease, +because its element is filth itself.' + +"Into how many dwellings of this kind have we not ourselves +penetrated--especially in the counties of Kerry, Mayo, and +Donegal--more than once obliged to stoop down to the ground, in +order to penetrate into these cabins, the entrance to which is +so low that they look more like the burrows of beasts than +dwellings made for man! + +"Upon the road from Kilkenny to Grenaugh, in the vicinity of +those beautiful lakes, at the entrance of those parks, to which, +for extent and richness, neither England nor Scotland can +probably offer any thing equal, we have seen other dwellings. A +few branches of trees, interlaced and leaning upon the slope in +the road, a few cuts of turf, and a few stones picked up in the +fields, compose these wretched huts--less spacious, and perhaps +less substantial, than that of the American savage." + +At the time of Abbe Perraud's visit, a correspondent of the +Dublin Saunders News-Letters, who was commissioned to inquire +into the condition of the peasants, gave the following reply, +which, as the abbe justly remarks, is but the faithful echo of +all the descriptions made within the last half-century: + +"The inhabitants of Erris appear to be the most wretched of all +human beings. Their cabins, their patched and tattered clothes, +their broken-down gait--every thing bears witness to their +poverty. Their beds consist of a few bits of wood crossed one +upon the other, supported by two heaps of stones, and covered +with straw; their whole bedclothes a miserable, worn-out quilt, +without any blankets . . . . But there is nothing in Ireland +like the habitations which the people of the village of Fallmore +have made for themselves, who have been evicted by Mr. Palmer. +They are composed of masses of granite, picked up on the shore, +and roughly laid one by the other. These cabins are so low that +a man cannot stand upright in them; so narrow that they can +hardly hold three or four persons." + +After all, F. Lavelle was guilty of no exaggeration in stating +that the hut of the Hottentot was better than that of the Irish +peasant. But, in the district of Gweedore, northeast of County +Donegal, the state of the peasantry is more deplorably wretched +still than in any other part of Ireland. At the time of a +celebrated parliamentary inquiry in to the matter in 1858, a +Londonderry newspaper stated that "there are in Donegal about +four thousand adults, of both sexes, who are obliged to go +barefoot during the winter, in the ice and snow--pregnant women +and aged people in habitual danger of death from the cold . . . . +It is rare to find a man with a calico shirt; but the distress +of the women is still greater, if that be possible. There are +many hundreds of families in which five or six grown-up women +have among them no more than a single dress to go out in . . . . +There are about five hundred families who have but one bed each-- +in which father, mother, and children, without distinction of +age or sex, are crowded pell-mell together." + +If from the dwellings and clothing of the peasantry we pass to +their food, there is no need of adding any thing to what was +said on this point when describing the periodical famines. One +detail, however, not yet mentioned, deserves to be recorded: + +"In the district of Gweedore," says Abbe Perraud, "our eyes were +destined to witness the use of sea-weed. Stepping once into a +cabin, in which there was no one but a little girl charged with +the care of minding her younger brothers, and getting ready the +evening meal, we found upon the fire a pot full of doulamaun +ready cooked; we asked to taste it, and some was handed to us on +a little platter. + +"This weed, when well dressed, produces a kind of viscous juice; +it has a brackish taste, and savors strongly of salt water. We +were told in the country that the only use of it is to increase, +when mixed with potatoes, the mass of aliment given to the +stomach. The longer and more difficult the work of the stomach, +the less frequent are its calls. It is a kind of compromise with +hunger; the people are able neither to suppress it nor to satisfy +it; they endeavor to cheat it. We have also been assured that this +weed cannot be eaten alone; it must be mixed with vegetables, +since of itself it has no nutritive properties whatever." + +How long is such a state of things likely to continue? It has +already existed long enough to be a disgrace to the much-vaunted +benevolence of the nineteenth century. A sure and radical remedy +must be found for it; and, as it has been already so long +delayed, it should be found the more promptly. + +It seems that the tenure of land lies at the bottom of the +question, and that respect for what are called "established +rights" offers the main difficulty. Those rights, indeed, were +founded on the cruellest wrong and the most flagrant injustice; +but as possession is "nine points of the English law," and so +long a time has passed since the land changed hands, +prescription must be admitted and let them be called rights; nor +can any man in his senses ask for a violent subversion of +society for the sake of righting an old wrong. + +But it has ever been a maxim of jurisprudence that summum jus, +summa injuria; and this axiom finds its full explanation in the +present case, when it is considered that the jus is on the side +of a comparatively small number of men, for the most part +absentee landlords, while the injuria leans to the great mass of +the primitive owners of the soil. The time-honored policy of the +English Government, that all the open abuses of landlordism +should be watched over and protected with the most jealous care, +while, on the other hand, the wretched farmer and cottier is +supposed to have no rights to defend and guard, should be +abandoned at once and forever, with a firmness that can leave no +room for doubt or equivocation, if the restoration of confidence +on the part of the Irish is esteemed any thing worth. + +But, if for no other motive, at least for the sake of securing +peace and order in Ireland, a remedy must be found. There is no +reason why the Irish should longer remain a nation of paupers; +and, although some may still pretend that the fault and its +remedy lie with themselves, unprejudiced men will readily +acknowledge that the fault lay first, at least, at England's +door --a fact which the London Times has conceded often and +proclaimed loudly enough. + +Let British statesmen, then, devise proper means for such an end +without social commotion, with as little disturbance of private +rights as possible; for the object is an imperious necessity. It +seems that the latest law enacted with this view is not the +measure that was required; is totally inadequate in its +provisions, scope, and extent. In such a case it is always open +to legislators to introduce a new and more satisfactory measure; +and moral force will surely bring this about, provided it is +true to itself. We confess to having no scheme of our own to set +forth; but Irishmen are free, nay entitled, to speak, to write +on, and discuss the subject; and a serious, steady, but lawful +agitation of the question will surely find its true and final +solution. The last Galway election, notwithstanding the temporary +triumph of Judge Keogh, was a beginning in the right direction. + +There is no need here of revolution, of what the French call une +jaquerie, of arming the populace for the purpose of violently +ejecting the great land-owners. No Irishman has ever stood for +so calamitous a remedy. The aid of the Internationalists will +certainly never be called in by the true children of Erin for +any purpose whatever. It seems that the great and holy Pontiff, +Pius IX., made this remark to the Prince of Wales, at their last +interview at the Vatican, and, according to the report, the +prince fully admitted its truth as far, at least, as he, by any +outward sign, could show. + +The question is one of pure justice, to be settled within the +limits of order and law; and surely, when all admit that the +evil is so crying, that a remedy must be found, one will be +found, which, while it does no real injury to any person, will +bring comfort and relief to the most deserving and suffering +race of men--the Irish peasantry. We will soon see how. + +But the Irishman is not only physically destitute; he is also +destitute mentally; and, if the first case calls for a prompt +remedy, the second is no less urgent. Pauperism and ignorance +were the two terrible engines so long worked by England for the +degradation and final destruction of the Irish race. Our readers +have seen how persistently was education, of any kind, refused +to the natives. The Universities of Dublin and Drogheda in the +fourteenth century, the cathedral schools, founded by the Anglo- +Normans, in the same age, carefully excluded the Irish from +their benefits. And, when the Reformation set in, with its long +series of oppressions, no Catholic could share in the new +foundations of the Tudors and the Stuarts without first abjuring +his religion. Penal statute after penal statute made of all the +shifts, to which the Irish were driven in order to educate their +children, so many crimes, punishable by death or transportation. +That, under such a state of things, they could remain Catholics +without becoming idiots is one of the most remarkable instances +on record of buoyancy of spirit and soundness of mind on the +part of a whole nation. + +From the end of the last century the policy of England changed +completely in appearance. The foundation and endowment by the +state of the great college of Maynooth, destined for the education +of the Irish clergy, in 1795, was certainly a step on the right +road, and if only primary schools for the people had, at the same +time, been spread all over the island on the same principle of true +liberality, the old injustice on the matter of education would have +been atoned for and remedied, to a great extent. + +But the Kildare Peace Society and the Church Education Society, +founded in 1839, showed that the antagonism to the Catholic +Church in Ireland was far from being dead; nay, was as rife as +ever. + +Lord Stanley's National Education System, in 1831, at first +seemed of a character altogether above Protestant or infidel +proselytism. But, the composition of the various boards under +that system, and some of the measures adopted, gave evidence +clearly and soon enough that the education proposed for the +Irish was not in accordance with the true spirit of the nation, +so eminently Catholic and religious as it is. Hence, the total +failure--for such it is now admitted by all to have been--of +that system ought to have opened the eyes of all impartial +Englishmen to the necessity of starting from the principle that +Ireland is Catholic, and that the Irish are true children of the +Catholic Church. But this fact seems not yet recognized or +acknowledged by those who rule the nation, since, at this very +moment, a bill lies before Parliament against which all the +bishops of Ireland have united in raising their voice. The +queen's colleges all confess to be a wretched failure. + +The injustice of centuries, then, is not, even in these free +days, when there is such a talk about educating the masses, +repaired by the English Government; and this sad fact seems to +militate against the power of moral force. However, it is but +right to remember that only those establishments are here spoken +of which are supported by state aid, and that complete freedom +of education, independent of such assistance, does actually +exist in Ireland. Have not the bishops all necessary power to +open schools of their own? Have they not even founded a +university? Does the state dare to interfere in whatever +educational establishments they think proper to set on foot? +They are now, in that regard, as free as the Catholic bishops in +the United States; and if the degrees granted by the faculties +under their control have no value in the eyes of the state, they +can easily dispense with a concurrence, which is certainly +unjustly denied, but which, even if granted, would not, in the +eyes of the Church, increase in the slightest the real value of +the diplomas they themselves approve. They can afford to wait +for the time when complete justice will be done; meanwhile they +are freer than Catholic bishops at this moment are in all +Catholic countries of Europe; and the freedom they enjoy is +entirely owing to that moral force which, we allege, is +sufficient to insure, sooner or later, all the advantages that +can be desired. When the present situation of the native Irish, +from an educational point of view, is compared with the oppression +under which they lay a hundred years ago, one cannot but wonder +how so much has been obtained, and the hope, that every thing +still wanting is sure to come by the agency of the force that +has already won so much, cannot be deemed vain and illusory. + + +Let not, however, what is here said be construed as advising +Ireland to stand still while schemes of education, evidently +godless, are concocted, matured, and passed into laws for their +special benefit. On the contrary, they must not only continue +but increase their efforts to cry them down, till they compel a +blind and deaf government to open its eyes and ears to a +national want and a national voice. This is what is meant by the +use of moral force. + +But, can the complete remedy for pauperism and the solid +establishment and endowment of truly Catholic schools be +expected to come from any hands but those of an Irish +Legislature? Can they be hoped for as long as the destiny of +Ireland rests in the hands of an Imperial Parliament whose great +majority can have no real sympathy with the long-oppressed race? +In a word, is home-rule necessary to bring about those two great +measures, which seem absolutely indispensable for the complete +resurrection of the nation? + +Our readers already know that, in our opinion, an Irish +Parliament would not be a sure panacea for the evils of the +country, particularly those of pauperism and ignorance, even +though that Parliament sat in Dublin, and was composed of +Irishmen bred and born. The evils would not be struck out +promptly and utterly, although many great improvements would +immediately follow. + +Some of our reasons for being chary of confidence in the success +of home-rule have been already given. But we have also insisted +on the necessity of leaving the question open, and admitted that +Irishmen have a right to discuss it, and take whatever side they +may think proper, provided always they stand, as they are +standing, within the limits of law and order. + +Surely, the Irish have a right to be fairly represented; modern +doctrines, as far as they can go, consecrate that right; and, if +fair representation is an impossibility in the present state of +affairs in Ireland, that state should be so altered as that the +Irish nation might obtain all the advantages which a truly +representative government bestows. + +It is clear that the difficulty consists in the paramount +importance of the union--of the empire; and this is not the +place to discuss so large a question. It may be said, however, +that the union of the British Empire does not and cannot consist +in the absorption into one whole of the three integral parts +which compose it. England, Scotland, and Ireland, are still +three distinct national entities, each inhabited by a peculiar +race, and each race cannot, in such a political organization, be +in justice ignored, for a mere abstraction called the state. + +Certainly the question is a very complicated one; and to offer a +dogmatic solution of it would be pretentious. It is better to +leave it to a future which is not far distant. What may be +insisted on is, that moral force is strong enough to bring about +a satisfactory decision, and that to resort to revolution for +such a purpose would be as fatal as it is criminal. + +A right discussion of the question must make clear the fact that +Ireland is entitled to fair dealing as a component part of the +empire. Many other political organizations embraced within the +vast limits of the British power are allowed to discuss and +decide on questions peculiar to themselves, and which they are +at full liberty to pronounce upon for themselves by a wise +adjustment and concession on the part of the mother-country as +necessary to their well-being. Canada is almost entirely +independent; the Australian colonies have all their own +legislatures; it is the same more or less with all the distant +dependencies of England, yet there have been no complaints heard +so far of these late concessions threatening the union of the Empire. + +But the objection is urged: "If such a concession be made to +Ireland, where can you stop? The Scotch may ask the same, and +the Welsh; one has as much right to home-rule as the other; +where can you draw the line?" + +An easy answer to this is, that the Scotch have never asked for +home-rule, for the very good reason that they never had to +complain of unfair treatment at the hands of the English +Government; their special wants and desires having been always +duly considered from the moment of their union with England. But +the union of Ireland with England is not yet a century old, was +brought about perforce, and by chicanery and fraud, and from the +moment of its enactment to the present has been loudly protested +against by the Irish nation--the nation, that is, which we have +followed all through, joined in this instance by numbers of +their Protestant fellow-countrymen. A long list of pamphlets and +books might be drawn up, as showing the fact that multitudes of +Irish writers, not of a revolutionary but of a truly +conservative character, who cannot be accused of disloyalty to +England, have deplored, protested against, and clamored for the +repeal of, the Union of 1800. + +Such is not the case with Scotland. But suppose it were, and +proofs furnished showing that Scotland is not fairly represented +in a Parliament which meets at Westminster, then that country +would have just as much right to see itself fairly represented, +its special wants satisfied and met, as all the other branches +of the great British organization. + +Certain it is that the empire cannot be sound when an important, +a vital part of its political frame is incurably sore. Let that +sore be healed by justice, large, generous, and complete; let +Ireland be truly and really represented, in whatever manner her +representation may be carried out, and the sudden rise of the +little western isle in wealth, contentment, true prosperity, and +happiness, will redound to the general good of the whole. As it +now stands, its still miserable condition is as great and +constant a danger to Great Britain as it is a reproach and a +shame upon the maternal government which suffers the child, for +whose session it would stake its all, to continue in a state of +almost hopeless poverty, materially and intellectually, and to +struggle unaided in its efforts to rise. + +If home-rule be the measure which is to heal Ireland's wounds, +it must be granted, and the voice of reason and right must rise +above the stupid clamor which says that it cannot, must not, +shall not be granted! Such expressions were common in +inflammatory pamphlets which flooded the country on the eve of +Catholic Emancipation, in 1829; and possibly many were issued +even after the granting of this (from a certain English point of +view) suicidal act of justice to Catholics. + +But whatever may be the ultimate issue of the home-rule movement, +the question of education, which is so closely allied to, as to +seem dependent on it, is of such importance that it brooks no +delay. Ireland is, as it may be hoped it will ever continue, a +truly Catholic nation, and for such education must be special, +and cannot be left to the direction of a non-Catholic state, not +to use a worse expression. The result of the so-called national +system, as exhibited by the Queen's Colleges and the rest, ought +to be enough to open the eyes of real statesmen. But non- +Catholic legislators need a sense which they do not possess, to +appreciate the blunders they must fall into when proposing to +touch such delicate interests as spiritual things. Thirty years +ago, when those Queen's Colleges and schools were established in +Ireland, the Catholic hierarchy raised up their voice to warn +the British Government against so rash an attempt; for the very +few who appeared willing to give the system a trial had their +own doubts and forebodings. The warning, as usual, was not +heeded, and the consequence is, that the partisans of the system +now confess that their darling scheme has turned out a complete +failure. Yet, strange to say, they do not in the least seem to +have changed their ideas on the subject. On the contrary, they +wish to secularize education more completely than ever, and to +extend their project to the whole British Empire; though at this +moment the warning comes to them also from the Presbyterians of +Scotland, who refuse to submit to the scheme, universal in its +scope, of educating the young according to state notions and +worldly ideas. + +In this the British Government only follows the lead of all +European cabinets and legislatures; for this great iniquity is +not confined to the British Isles, but is attempted everywhere, +with the evident design of taking the government of souls out of +the hands to which Jesus Christ confided it--the Church. The +Sovereign Pontiff was compelled to protest, and, as is the +custom in these days, his protest fell unheeded. It remains to +be seen whether men, who call themselves Christians, will +consent to see their children educated by secular bodies, which +are not only void of all authority over the souls of men, but +imbued, as all know, with doctrines the most pernicious and +disorganizing. The just complaint made by the Irish hierarchy is +unfortunately not restricted to their own body; their complaint +is one with that of all the rulers of the Church throughout the +world. It seems to us that there is greater hope of establishing +a thorough Christian system of education in Ireland than in any +other country, because the Irish nation will always take a more +determined attitude, and gather in a more compact and united body +around her natural leaders, the bishops and priests of God, than +any other modern Catholic nation; and, in this age, where there +are unanimity and a fixed purpose among any body of men, they +cannot fail to result in a victory over all obstacles and opponents. + +Of one thing England may be sure, that the Irish bishops would +never submit to the project now on foot in England, as to do so +would be to fail in their most sacred duty; and the mass of the +Irish people is at their back. The Catholic hierarchy is always +ready to support the secular power so long as that power remains +within its province and does not step out of it to encroach on +their unquestionable domain; but, when duty calls on them to +resist, the experience of centuries is before the world, in +Ireland at least, to show how far they can carry their resistance. +In this they will stand united as one man, and it is vain for the +English Government to flatter itself that it will find tools among +them, should it foist on them the Birmingham scheme. + +But a more threatening fact still is the compact union of all +Irishmen in support of their bishops, against schemes which have +already excited such bitter opposition on their part, and on +which they have already pronounced and given their solemn +verdict in unmistakable tones. If in our days Irishmen have been +so eager to uphold many projects of a doubtful character, +because those projects were opposed to England; if they have +shown in the most emphatic manner that the memory of the past is +still fresh, and that they are not yet prepared to accept the +British Government as a friend; if they have seized every +occasion, the most trifling as well as the most important, to +show that the union with England was distasteful to them--what +will be their attitude when the question admits of no doubt, and +can give rise to no apprehension in a Christian conscience; when, +indeed, they know that they stand where their duty to God bids +them, urged at the same time by their natural feelings of +opposition to a power which they detest and to which they are +irreconcilable? We do not say that we altogether approve of +their dogged opposition to England; it is only alluded to as a +fact which it would be folly, in treating of questions between +England and Ireland, to shut one's eyes to or doubt. + +When such is the state of feeling, how can a scheme of godless +education hope to succeed, which, after all, requires the +consent of fathers and mothers of families? It is only natural +to suppose that the English Government, in the event of its +success, is scarcely prepared to employ such a numerous, +watchful, and determined police as shall march the children off +to school every lay by force--to schools which to them would be +prisons, presided over by jailers in the shape of instructors. +Nevertheless, the scheme now agitated by British statesmen must +culminate in some such measure, if they would have their schools +attended; and the inference is natural that education viewed +from such a stand-point becomes a design criminal and oppressive +in its nature, as well as a sheer impossibility in its carrying +out. Once again the whole British power would launch itself in +vain against the unyielding rock of as stubborn a will as ever +animated human beings, as durable and unshrinking almost as the +inner rock upon which it is built--Catholic faith. + +Much space has already been devoted to the consideration of what +are here considered as the two great measures necessary and +sufficient for the complete resurrection of the Irish race--the +lifting of the load of pauperism under which they have so long +labored, and the establishment among them of a sound and +thorough Christian education; and that those measures will +undoubtedly be carried without any attempt at social convulsions, +without any violation of law and order. But, as, unfortunately, +many side-issues have been raised in Ireland of very inferior +importance, but of a nature almost exclusively to engage the +attention of Irishmen, to the great detriment of real progress, +it may be well to dwell a little longer on the consequences +which must infallibly follow from a higher state of physical +comfort and mental culture among them: + +I. A higher state of physical comfort will naturally produce a +stronger attachment to their native soil and a corresponding +reluctance to leave it, as they now do by wholesale emigration. +The thought has been dwelt upon that emigration was a design of +Divine Providence, and even the first step in the resurrection +of the nation and in the establishment of its power within as +well as without. That the object of emigration is not yet fully +attained may be inferred from the fact that it still continues +on so large a scale; that it must ultimately dwindle to much +smaller proportions, if not cease utterly, is pretty certain. +This is our wish and hope: for the home population of the island +must be large enough to invest it with deserved importance in +the eyes of foreigners. Our title-page sets forth the words of +Dr. Newman, expressive of the firm belief that the time will +come when the Catholic population of Erin will be as thick and +prosperous as that of Belgium? Why should it not be so? Pauperism +alone prevents it. Let their existence be one of comfort--mere +comfort, not luxury--and there is no limit to the increase of +their numbers. In such an event Protestantism would contract into +such narrow limits that in Ireland it would become a thing unknown; +the few sectarians still abiding there would themselvesshare in +the general prosperity, and would possibly of their own accord +return to the bosom of the common mother of Christians. + +The question, then, of increase of physical comfort for Irishmen +is one of the utmost importance, and, as the tenure of land is +so closely connected with it, not to this question is the term +side-issue applied. The land-question should be thoroughly +exhausted until the true solution, the real measure, which has +not yet appeared, may be brought to the surface and carried out +to the full. The land-question in all its bearings lies beyond +our competence; not so, certain reasons for believing that the +possession of land is necessary for the complete restoration of +the nation. Manufactures and commercial pursuits are of +secondary importance in a country like Ireland, which is +eminently agricultural. This should not be taken to mean that +such matters are to be neglected, and the Irish to be +discouraged in engaging in them, particularly in their home +manufactures; nor in calling for better laws to help them, at +least for fair dealing as far as legislation goes. But supposing +them completely independent and masters of themselves; supposing +not only the repeal of the Union, but even the separation from +the British organization effected, how could they hope to +compete in manufacturing skill, and science, with the inventive +genius of the American, the systematic comprehensiveness of the +Englishman, or the artistic taste of the French? Goods are +manufactured for the markets of the world, and the Irish are not +yet prepared for such extensive enterprises; and, taking the +characteristics of the race into consideration, it is doubtful +whether they will ever be successful in such ventures. + +The same may be said of commerce. When are they likely to have a +navy of their own? They are still Celts, and would it be well +for them to cease to be Celts? The oceans of the globe are +covered with ships bearing the flags of many nations. Suppose +them to unfurl a national flag to the breeze, which is saluted, +wherever met, by the crafts of other civilized nations, when +would it become perceptible among the crowded fleets which +already hold possession of the seas? The broad thoroughfares of +the ocean know two or three national colors; all the others are +so seldom seen, that their presence or absence is alike +unnoticed by the world at large. Among these would the Irish be +numbered, if they engaged in commerce on their own account, and +sailed no longer under British colors. + +It is for them, then, to turn their attention to the land, which +is their chief source of wealth. Let them buy it up, or gain it +by long leases, inch by inch and acre by acre, until not only +the bleak bogs and wild mountains of Connaught are again their +own, but the rich meadow-lands and smiling wheat-fields of +Munster and Leinster. Let their brethren in America and +Australia associate with them in this, and thus will they build +up again a true Irish yeomanry and nobility--for nobility has a +new meaning to-day--more glorious, perhaps, than the old one. +Poverty and rags will give place to prosperity and comfort, even +in the lowliest cottages, and mirth and glee will be heard again +in the country from which they have so long been banished. + +Is such a picture a dream, and its realization an impossibility? +It is our belief that, to make it a reality, only requires +steadiness of purpose, perseverance, energy, and association. +Fifty years ago it would certainly have seemed a dream; but +matters have advanced within the last half-century, and every +thing is now prepared for such a hoped-for consummation. + +II. Together with physical comfort, the culture produced by a +sound and thorough education is the second thing absolutely +necessary for the resurrection of the nation. Education has, at +all times, been of the utmost importance; in our age it is more +so than ever. It may be said that, in the opinion of mankind, it +tends more and more to replace blood. The privileges that once +belonged to rank and birth are now everywhere freely accorded to +a truly-educated man. And here, wealth, which is almost +worshipped by many, cannot altogether take the place of +education. Consequently, a great effort should be made in +Ireland to raise the standard of the intellectual scale of +society. Owing to former tyranny and oppression, the rising must +begin at the lowest grade. But the first impulse has already +been given by the Church of God, and that impulse must continue +and increase with a constantly-accelerated force. + +Unfortunately, a false direction has been given it by the state. +The means which will surely defeat this action of the state have +been seen. Nevertheless, it works mischievously for the general +result; and the money paid by the nation has been and still is +squandered for a most unholy purpose, when, if properly applied, +it would be so fruitful of good. + +Should the government persevere in its project, one course only +lies open before all true Irishmen; and that is, to ignore the +action of the government, and follow a plan of their own. They +have only to do what the Catholics in France would most +willingly do if the state allowed them; what Catholics in the +United States have been doing for some time, and will have to do +for some time longer--not murmur too loudly at the taxes paid by +them for educational purposes and used so lavishly by the state +without any profit to them; but with steady purpose raise funds +which the state cannot touch, devoted to an object with which +the state cannot interfere, namely, the solid Christian +education of their children under the eyes and chief control of +the Church, with competent and truly religious masters. + +Let them reflect that until recently education in Christian +countries was always imparted by the Church of Christ, and that +its secularization is but a work of yesterday; that the effect +of that secularization is manifest enough in the mental anarchy +which grows more prevalent in Europe every day; that the nation +which comes back to the old system, and places again the care of +youth in the hands of religious teachers, is sure to obtain a +far sounder and more effective education than those who take for +teachers of their children men void of faith and remarkable only +for a false and superficial polish, which sooner or later will +be reckoned by all at its true value, and meet only with well- +merited neglect and contempt. + +No one will deny that moral training, the first and most +important part of education, is far surer and safer in the care +of religious teachers than in that of mere laymen, whose +morality is often doubtful, and whose reputation is not of the +best. With regard to scientific teaching, the mind of the +religious is not, to say the least, lowered by the holy +obligations which he has contracted: and it is an awkward fact +for those who in a breath uphold secular education and abuse the +religious, that in former ages the men who excelled in arts and +sciences, the geniuses whose works will live as long as the +earth, were either themselves monks or the pupils of monks. A +list of them would fill many pages, and their names are not +unknown to the world. + +For the mass of the people, the common level of primary +education with which so many are now satisfied may at least be +as satisfactory in its results when imparted by religious, male +and female, as when under the direction of young men and women +who have received every possible diploma which is at the +disposal of school commissioners or boards of gentlemen invested +with an office, worthy of the gravest attention, but to which +they can devote but very little time. + +But the subject may be said to have passed beyond discussion. +The true and authorized leaders of the Irish in such matters, +the Catholic bishops, have already taken the matter into their +own hands; and in a very short time have covered the island with +their schools, with every prospect of a university. It rests +with the government to give or refuse its aid in imparting a +true national education to a nation which is Catholic; but, with +or without this aid, the Irish will have the means of educating +their children rightly; and the culture they receive will +favorably compare with that imparted by rival establishments +fostered by the state, whose pupils will not know a word even of +their own national history, since, in the authorized books, +Ireland has no existence other than that of an unworthy subject +of the great British Empire. + +It was necessary to give prominence to what is here considered +as the most effective means of bringing about the great result +which engages our attention in this chapter. There are secondary +objects which might be treated, but which, in the final working +of the divine will, may be insignificant. For, to repeat what +has been said before, the restoration of the nation which is now +progressing so steadily almost unaided by any action of man, +however much he may indulge in agitation, is the work of God, +and before long will so manifest itself to all. Meanwhile it is +enough to assert in general terms that Ireland is entitled to +all those things which render a people happy and contented. That +wished-for state is not far off; let them continue to be active +in its pursuit. A previous chapter has already touched upon the +great means to be employed in bringing this about: _association_, +whose centre should be Ireland, and whose branches should +spread wherever Irishmen have established themselves; whose +guides should be the clergy, but its chief workers, intelligent +and energetic laymen. On this point it is desirable particularly +to be rightly understood; it is not our purpose to say that in +such a work laymen ought not to cooperate, or even to lead; with +the memory of O'Connell before us, such a thing would be +impossible; on the contrary, the external working of the whole +scheme should be placed in the hands of good, active, and +intelligent laymen. They are the proper instruments for carrying +on such a work actively and efficaciously; they form, at least +numerically, the principal part of the moral power of the nation, +and that power should be developed on a larger scale than it +has ever yet been. But the first impulse should be given by the +moral leaders, rulers of the Church. Let the nation work under +the guidance, the leadership of the men who alone stood by them +when all else had been lost, who, in fact, by preserving their +religion, preserved to them their nationality; let them work +under their eyes and with their sanction, and assuredly their +labor will not be labor in vain. + +What will the final result be of such a cooperation of workers? +The formation or rather consolidation of a truly Christian and +Catholic people; a most remarkable phenomenon in this wonderful +nineteenth century! It would seem that they have thus far been +deprived of a government of their own only to win a government +at last which shall be, what is so sadly wanted in these days, +Christian and Catholic. Modern governments have broken loose +from Christianity; they have declared themselves independent of +all moral restraint; they have pronounced themselves supreme, +each in its own way; and, to be consistent, they have become +godless. Donoso Cortes has shown this admirably in his work on +"Catholicism, Liberalism, and Socialism." The sad spectacle +which in our age meets the eye of the Christian, is universal; +there is no longer a Catholic nation; Christendom has ceased to +exist. This is held by the statesmen of to-day to be a vast +improvement on the old social system. Medieval barbarism, as +they term it, has, according to them, met with just condemnation; +and to return to it now, would be to drag an advanced age +centuries backward, a horror which no sane man could contemplate. + +Undoubtedly there were many abuses under the old regime, which +the most sincere Christian regrets, and could not wish to see +restored, or again attempted. But, its great feature, the inner +link which bound the system together, its unity under the +guidance of the universal Church, was the only safeguard for the +general happiness of mankind. This admirable unity has been +broken into fragments; each part does for itself, and thus the +world lies at the mercy of Might, and each nation goes about +like "a strong man armed, keeping his house." + +Even Heeren, a writer who is strongly Protestant and liberal, is +driven to confess in his "History of the Political System of +Europe," that the reign of Frederick the Great, in Prussia, was +"immediately followed by those great convulsions in states, +which gave the ensuing period a character so different from the +former. The contemporary world, which lived in it, calls it the +revolutionary; but it is yet too early to decide by what name it +will be denoted by posterity, after the lapse of a century." + +After a brief review of the various states as they existed +toward the middle of the last century, he adds: "The efforts of +the rulers to obtain unlimited power had overthrown the old +national freedom in all the states of the Continent; the +assemblies of the states had disappeared, or were reduced to +mere forms; nowhere had they been modelled into a true national +representation." + +He does not see that, in order to obtain that "unlimited power," +the rulers had thrown off the yoke of Church authority +everywhere, and that Christendom disappeared with the "old +national freedom" as soon as the key-stone of the edifice, the +papacy, was ejected from its place. + +Nevertheless, he was keen enough to perceive it necessary to +call in armed force to uphold that usurped power of rulers: + +"For the strength of the states no other criterion was known +than standing armies. And, in reality, there was scarcely any +other. By the perfection which they had attained, and which kept +pace almost with the growing power of the princes, the line of +partition was gradually drawn between them and the nations; +_they_ only were armed; the _nations_ were defenceless." + +This great German historian carries his views further still, and +confesses that, "if the political supports were in a tottering +condition, the moral were no less shattered. The corner-stone of +every political system, the sanctity of legitimate possession, +without which there would be only one war of all against all, +was gone; politicians had already thrown off the mask in Poland; +the lust of aggrandizement had prevailed . . . . The +indissoluble bond connecting morals and politics being broken, +the result was to make egotism the prevailing principle of +public as well as private life." + +Admirable reflections, doubtless, but incomplete; the +Protestantism of the writer not allowing him to perceive that, +the only sure defender of morality having been discarded, +egotism could not but prevail. Therefore does he complain, being +blind to the true cause of the disorder, that "democratic ideas, +transported from America to Europe, were spread and cherished in +the midst of the monarchical system--ready materials for a +conflagration far more formidable than their authors had +anticipated, should a burning spark unhappily light upon them. +Others had already taken care to profane the religion of the +people; and what remains sacred to the people when religion and +constitution are profaned?" + +This last observation, thrown in at the end of some very sound +considerations, would have made them far more striking, had it +appeared at their head as the great source of all the +catastrophes which ensued. But it requires a Catholic eye to +take in the whole truth, and a Catholic tongue to give the right +explanation of history, as of all things else. + +Many reflections similar to those above quoted have been made by +non-Catholic writers, and the defenders of the Church have +spoken with clearness and energy throughout. Nevertheless, the +evil has continued to grow more universal and more alarming, +until, to-day, no principle on which the social fabric can +securely stand is acknowledged by those who rule the exterior +world. And of what Heeren calls the violation of "the sanctity +of legitimate possession," let Poland and many other states +speak, nay, those of the Father of the faithful himself, to +whose warning voice rulers have now so long persistently turned +a deaf ear. Where are now even the fragments of that "corner- +stone" of the old "political system?" + +Such is the state of affairs, not only in Europe, but generally +throughout the world, so that the Catholic Church has at length +entered fully upon that stage of her existence when she possesses +_individual_ subjects full of tender affection and devotedness, +whose number, thank God! increases every day, but not a single +_State_ which acknowledges her as its director and teacher. + +Ireland may be destined to become the first one which shall +acknowledge her, and set an example to the rest. If ever she +enjoys self-government, she will surely do so, for Catholic she +is to the core, and Catholic she cannot but remain. + +When it was said that home-rule would not serve as a sure +panacea for all her evils, it will be understood as applying to +the actual moment and nothing else. That it would not be a good +thing for her ever to enjoy real self-government was never in +our mind. Moral force is bringing this nearer to her; and step +by step she is learning how to walk without support. Already, +she possesses something of political franchise, and enjoys +municipal government more truly than Frenchmen do after all +their social convulsions. + +There are men, Irishmen even, who pretend that she would subside +into anarchy if her destiny were confided to her own care. They +point to the constant wranglings which have been her bane for +centuries, and the "prophet" who wrote the "Battle of Dorking" +represents her, as soon as the humiliation of England left her +free, struggling painfully in the throes of anarchy. That this +general opinion of men with regard to Ireland is but too true, +was conceded in another place, yet only so far as concerned +interests which were trifling, or, at best, of no high character; +that when the object at stake is one of great importance, there +was more steadiness, unanimity, energy, and true heroism in the +Irish people, than in any other known to history in modern times. +And this reflection is certainly borne out by the issues of all +the secular struggles of the Irish with Scandinavianism, +feudalism, and Protestantism. + +Surely is there in them the right material for a nation; and, +when the day comes for the country to take in hand, under +Providence, her own destiny and work it out, the "prophet" will +find himself sadly mistaken when, freed forever from the +degradation of pauperism, she is at liberty to raise her +thoughts above food and raiment; when her children, lifted by a +solid Christian education to the high level of intellectual +foresight, shall be able to discuss the great objects of their +national interests, with no question of clan and clan; then +wrangling will cease, as far as public questions are concerned, +and be merely left to matters of minor importance, or private +affairs, as with all other nations. But that concentrated energy +which has marked the race throughout that long fight of +centuries against such overwhelming odds, will still continue as +their distinguishing characteristic, but turned now to the +question of their own national welfare, and no longer to the +aversion of doom. + +Then will Europe see what a truly Christian people is, for then +there will be no other left; and the superiority of principles, +of strength of mind, energy of character, naturally fostered by +deep religious convictions, will afford another proof of +Montesquieu's reflection, that "the Christian faith, which seems +to have for its object only the future life, is likewise the +best calculated to make people happy and prosperous during this." + +If ever men are brought to acknowledge the fatal error they made +in rejecting the sacred safeguard which Christ left them in his +Church, it will be by looking on the example of a nation +actually existing, governed by the great principles which alone +can insure the happiness of the individual and the prosperity of +the whole people. + +In all the foregoing considerations Ireland has been looked upon +as a nation full of vigor and energy; but, as this vital point +is denied by some, who bear the reputation of thoughtful writers, +it is well to establish it clearly before our minds. + +Is Ireland a nation? Some say, No; others, among them Mr. Froude, +say she is divided into two nations. + +The first of these assertions, that she is not a nation, is in +appearance so self-evident and true that it seems folly to deny +it. She has no government of her own; her destinies seem to be +altogether in the hands of a hostile race, which rules her by a +Parliament, where her voice is scarcely heard. She has no army +nor navy, no commerce, no treasury, not the lowest prerogative +of sovereignty. There is a green flag still somewhere with a +harp on it and a crown above the harp, reserved for state +occasions, and unfurled now and again, when a show of loyalty +and a little enthusiasm is called for; but that flag never waves +the Irish to battle, not even when fighting for England. There +is no Irish standard-bearer for it, as there was under the +Tudors, when the flag of Ulster was seen amid the armies of +Elizabeth. The name of Ireland is never mentioned in any treaty +with foreign powers; and, when the sovereign of England, +Scotland, and Ireland, signs a treaty, a convention, nay, a poor +protocol, with any foreign state, the name of Ireland is not to +be seen on the parchment, save at its head, among the titles of +the monarch. There is no Irish seal even to affix to the +document: the country is a national non-entity. + +But other men, and wise men too, discover a strange anomaly in +this curious country. They hold that it is composed of two +distinct nations, and furnish excellent reasons in support of +their theory. + +They talk in this fashion: "Look at the people; travel the +country north and south, and converse with them as you go. What +do you find? Unity of feeling, aims, agreement of opinion on all +possible subjects? Just the opposite! You find Jacob and Esau on +every side struggling in the womb of their mother. The quarrel +between Sassenach and Gael still goes on. What two figures can +be found more antagonistic than the Orangeman of Ulster and the +Milesian of Connaught? Yet they are both children of the same +country." + +And so deep-grained is the difference between them that, +although they have lived side by side for centuries, they are +still as hostile to each other as when they first met in battle +array. The Danes, after a struggle of a little more than two +centuries, gave up the contest and became Celts. Strongbow's +Normans soon adopted the manners of the old inhabitants, +intermarried with them, and, after a lapse of four centuries, +though quarrels often broke out between the one and the other, +they were to all intents and purposes Celts, the old race, as it +were, absorbing the Norman blood, and always showing itself in +the children. + +But, when will the children of James's Scotchmen or Cromwell's +Covenanters coalesce with the descendants of the Milesians? The +longer they dwell together, the farther they seem apart, the +more they seem to hate each other; and every 12th of July, 5th +of November, 17th of March, or even 15th of August, brings +danger of bloodshed and strife to every city, hamlet, and town. +Surely, this fact speaks of two nations in the country. + +The question here presented is indeed a complicated one, +requiring solid distinctions in order to elucidate it; and, +strange to say, this last difficulty of the presence of two +nations in Ireland offers greater obstacles to the firm +establishment of our opinion than the first assertion, so clear +and undeniable in appearance, that there is no Irish nation! + +If true nationality existed only in the externals of government, +in an army, navy, commerce, a public seal and flag, and +recognition by foreign powers, further discussion would clearly +be useless, and the subject might as well at once be dropped. + +But the true idea of a nation embraces much more than this; +there is such a thing as a national soul, and all the array of +accidents alluded to above constitute only the body, or, more +truly, the surroundings. As a writer in the North American +Review (vol. cxv., p. 379) has well expressed it, a nation is "a +race of men, small or great, whom community of traditions and +feeling binds together into a firm, indestructible unity, and +whose love of the same past directs their hopes and fears to the +same future." + + +In this sense nationality assuredly belongs to Ireland. More, +perhaps, than among any other people on earth, is there for the +great bulk of them "community of traditions and feeling," +binding them together into "a firm and indestructible unity;" +and who shall say that they feel no love for their past, because +that past has been clouded with sorrow? Nay, this fact makes the +past dearer, and tends all the more to direct their hopes and +fears to the same future; a future, indeed, still dim and +uncertain, and not to be named with perfect certainty, but +wrapped in mists like the morning; yet the faint flush of the +dawn is already there that shall pale and die away when the full +orb of the sun appears. + +The reader may remember what was said of the unanimity so +striking in all Irishmen, wherever they may be found; that, +though private disputes may be taken up among them with such +ardor that their quarrels have become proverbial, when the +question refers to their country or their God, in a moment they +are united, suddenly transformed into steady friends, ready to +shed their blood side by side for the great objects which +entirely absorb their natures. + +This feeling it is which forms the soul of a nation. Wherever +this is to be found, there is an indestructible nationality; +wherever it is absent, there is only a dead body, however strong +may seem its government, however vast its armies, however high +its so-called culture and refinement. + +These reflections being kept in view, judicious men will agree +that, among Europeans at least, there is scarcely any other +nationality so strong and vigorous as the Irish. Their +traditional feeling keeps their past ever present to their eyes; +their ardent nature hopes ever against hope; misfortunes which +would utterly break down and dishearten any other people, leave +them still full of bright anticipations, and, as they seem to +weep over the cold body of a dear mother--Erin, their country-- +they think only of her resurrection. + +But are there not two nations among them--two nations radically +opposed to each other and incapable of coalescing? Supposing a +resurrection of the people, which of the two is to prevail--the +numerical majority, or the so far influential minority? In +either event, it is fair to suppose a new state of helotism for +the one party or the other. Is this the spectacle which the +regenerated nation is likely to present? + +In speaking of the resurrection of Ireland, the old, massive, +compact body of the people, the venerable race, Celtic in its +aspirations and tendencies, if not altogether in its origin, has +always been kept in view; and that anomalous, foreign +excrescence which has so steadily refused to assimilate with the +mass, and has until our days remained "encamped" in Ireland, as +the Turks are justly said to have remained "encamped" in Europe, +has never entered into our reckoning. + +The true Irishman has ever been catholic--the word is used in +its grammatical and not in its religious sense--in fellowship. +The race, as now constituted, is assuredly of mixed origin, and +large drafts of foreign population have been added from time to +time to the primitive stock, which has always been kind to admit, +absorb, and make them finally Celtic. Strongbow's Normans were +not the last who submitted to that process; as was seen, many +Cromwellians became the fathers, or grandfathers at least, of as +sturdy an Irish branch as ever flourished in the strong air of +the country. + +But a comparatively small body of men has doggedly refused to +submit to this process, and continued to this day an English or +Lowland Scotch colony on the Irish soil. The future of Ireland +does not take them in, for the very simple reason that they are +not of her, they do not belong to her, they are as much +foreigners to-day as they ever were. Therefore do we admit the +existence of two nations, if people are pleased to call them so, +in Ireland, but of one nation only have we written. The only +question in regard to this second "nation" is: What will become +of them in the future? Are they, in their turn, to become helots, +after having vainly striven so long to make helots of the +others? God forbid! No true Irishman nourishes in his soul such +feelings of retaliation or revenge. + +Assuredly, they will be prevented from disturbing any longer the +public order, and forced at length to respect the majority, or +rather, the mass of their countrymen. No one can object to +having such a necessary measure imposed upon them. In the many +civil discords which, for more than a century and a half, have +disgraced the north of Ireland, they have almost invariably been +the aggressors. The government openly taking their part for a +long time, they had the whole field to themselves, and what use +they made of their privilege, and how they improved their +opportunity, is known to all. When, at last, the public +authorities could no longer pretend to ignore their hateful +spirit, and began to show some signs of protecting the hitherto +much-abused majority, by forbidding those odious processions to +which the others always attached such importance, they gave +themselves the airs of a persecuted body of men, and pretended +that henceforth their lives, and those of their wives and +children, were no longer safe. + +The province of Ulster being closed to them as a field of +operations, they transferred to Upper Canada the exhibition of +their blood-thirsty hatred, and on several occasions the +Catholic population of the country had to protect their churches, +musket in hand. Even in the United States they have rendered +themselves odious to the people by foisting their spirit of +strife on a land where they cannot but be strangers, and by +staining some of the streets of New York with blood, in order to +gratify their senseless animosity. + +It is surely time that an end be put to such absurd and +dangerous antics, not abroad only, but at home. In the new order +of things now dawning upon Ireland, there can no longer be room +for them; and the very name of Orangeman must disappear forever +from the vocabulary of the new nation, to the joy of all +peaceful and law-abiding citizens. + +That is all the persecution they need expect. Not only will +there be room for them still in the country of their birth, but +of course they will have their due share in all the privileges +of citizenship. Political distinctions between themselves and +the old race will be unknown; social distinctions will be a +question for themselves to settle. Should they show the +slightest desire of combining with the majority of their +countrymen, these latter will be generous enough to forget the +past, and perhaps the others may imitate their predecessors, the +Danes, the Normans, and even some of their Cromwellian kin, and +become, at last, Hibernis hiberniores. + +What is said of political and social distinctions will hold good +also for religious tenets. Let them, if they choose, continue to +stand by their Presbyterian dogmas, provided they do not quarrel +with the majority for professing what they love to believe; but +that belief must come to an external and public profession. They +will often hear the bells of Catholic churches; as they pass +outside, if they do not enter, the strains of the glorious music +and noble anthems, resounding within, will fall on their ears; +they will see the statue of the Blessed Virgin borne through the +streets on the 15th of August, amid showers of snowy blossoms, +falling from the innocent hands of children; all this they must +endure, if it be so hard to endure it; but this is not +persecution. Even to their eyes, if their heart be not frozen by +a cold belief, the sight will bear some attractions. And if they +come to think, that what is oldest in Christianity is the best, +and that, after all, Catholicity has something in it which makes +life sweet and pleasant, it can scarcely be held a crime in the +universal Church to open her arms and receive back to her bosom +those wandering and so long obstinate children. + +When will all this come to pass? Who can tell? But stranger +things than these have already taken place in Ireland, and we +are confident that future historians of the race will have to +record greater wonders still, and facts more stubborn and +difficult of explanation. + +At all events, should the inflexible Puritanism of the Scotch +colony stand proof against the allurements of a motherly and +tender-hearted Church, they must at least become subject to the +iron laws of population and absorption. When the public statutes +are no longer drawn up for their special benefit, when no new +swarms of brethren come to swell their ranks, when they are +abandoned to the merciless laws of loss and gain in numbers, +then will people soon see on which side is true morality, and by +which the ordinances of God are really respected; then will many +vapid accusations against the holy Catholic Church of themselves +disappear, and the eyes of men will open to the great fact that +Ireland must be and remain one in race, feeling, and, above all, +in religion. The foreign element will have dwindled to +insignificance, if it shall not have utterly disappeared. Indeed, +it may be safely predicted that the day will arrive when the +announcement of the natural demise of the last Puritan in +Ireland will appear in the daily newspapers as a curious piece +of intelligence, not devoid of a certain interest. + +Though moral force, as the agent of the regeneration of Ireland, +has been our theme all through, we would not have our readers +infer that Irishmen should adopt the do-nothing policy, and +leave to God alone the work of raising them up. The moral force +spoken of is that of human beings endowed with activity and +determination; steady and persevering in the pursuit of well- +organized plans of their own conception. + +Let Irishmen lift up their eyes and behold what they might do, +did they only appreciate their strength and husband it. Dire +calamities, which God designed from the first to convert into +blessings, have scattered them over the world, and brought out +that power of expansion which was always in their nature, but +lay dormant and cramped under the pressure of terrible +circumstances. They again show themselves as that old race which +three thousand years ago spread itself all over Europe and Asia. +They now bear in their hands an emblem which they had not then-- +the cross of Christ! And the cross is the sign of universality +in time and space. To that sign, since the triumph of the +Saviour on the day of his resurrection, is given the rule of the +world till the end of time. Now that our globe is known at last, +the cross must be planted all over its surface, and in this +great work the Irish race is clearly destined to bear a +conspicuous part. + +In the fulfilment of that divine vocation they are dispersed, +and whatever is dispersed is deprived of a great part of its +strength. How can the disjecta membra, scattered far and wide by +Typhon, become again Osiris? Under the guidance of God, by that +great instrument of modern times, the power of association and +organization, aided by a steady, energetic will. + +Ezekiel has admirably described the process in his thirty- +seventh chapter. The Lord must first speak: "Ye dry bones, hear +the word of the Lord. . . . Behold, I will send spirit into you, +and ye shall live; and I will lay sinews on you, and will cause +flesh to grow over you, and will cover you with skin; and I will +give you spirit, and ye shall live." + +All this seems to be the work of God alone, yet, in the very +words of the prophet, the dry bones have their part to perform: + +"As I prophesied, there was a noise, a commotion, and the bones +came together, each one to his joint." + +There is the whole process; it supposes a noise, a commotion, a +rising, an assembling together, and a fitting each one into his +own joint. They possess an activity of their own, which they +must use. And the phenomenon is to take place in the midst of "a +vast plain "--two great continents--over the surface of which +the "bones" are found on every side, appearing "exceeding dry." + +With what a power will that army be invested when it rises up +and stands upon its feet! We may form some faint idea of it, +when in our large cities any thing occurs to excite the interest +and warm up the feeling of that apparently inert Celtic mass. +The largest halls constructed cannot contain the multitudes who +have only read the announcement of a meeting, a lecture, or a +charitable undertaking. Such scenes are witnessed every day +along the banks of the St. Lawrence, the Hudson, and the +Delaware Rivers; by the shores of Chesapeake Bay; in all the +great centres of population dotting the Atlantic coast; in the +heart of the continent along the winding course of the +Mississippi and Missouri; and already, even in the far West, on +the spreading shores of the Pacific Ocean. The same is occurring +all over the inhabited portion of Australia and the adjacent +islands. What power, then, would be theirs did those "bones" +know how to come together each in his own joint! + +How is it that we hear of no concerted action among them for +their country's sake? Is each man so busy, and lost in his own +little sphere of interest and speculation, that he cannot spare +a moment's thought for the claims of his native country? Who can +say this? Moreover, the best means of promoting their own +private interests would be to raise before the eyes of all the +status of the country with which they are naturally identified. +The truth is, each one waits for another to set the example, the +mass being ever ready to follow a lead and show its good-will. +Association is needed. + +When they turn their eyes to the incessant struggle going on in +the mother-country, when they read in their own newspapers the +discussions of the Irish press, of the questions debated on the +soil most dear to them, and the agitation of the momentous +interests pending and awaiting a final decision among their +former countrymen, no doubt their feelings are strongly moved; +the hopes and fears of their youth, before they left their +native shores, are revived with renewed force, and their love +for their green island is as ardent as ever. + +But is this all? Is it enough that the heart of each one is +stirred within him? Is it not for them to see that the influence +of their new name, new position, and bettered circumstances, be +brought to bear, however far away they may be, upon the great +home questions of land-tenure, education, the elective franchise, +a native Parliament, commerce, manufactures, and all matters +touching on the general welfare of Ireland? If, having become +adopted citizens of a new country, they can no longer act as +citizens of Erin, they may and ought at least to interest them +selves in these matters as far as true loyalty to their adopted +country may allow them; and this they can best do by association. + +The bonds of a wise organization would give firmness and +compactness to the whole moral force of the dispersed +nationality. By association, the scattered "dry bones" would be +speedily changed into a solid array of living warriors standing +upon their feet, and the startling spectacle would astonish the +whole world, and win for the race the involuntary respect of all +who should witness or hear of it. Nothing would be easier than +to set such a thing on foot, for, although so far apart in +appearance, the ma- jority of Irish families, from the very fact +of emigration, have half of their members at home and half +abroad, joined together by an active correspondence and a +constant transmission of funds. The managers of the movement +would only have to organize for a general object, what already +is organized in fact, and direct to the common good what is now +done privately. + +A word has already been said on the possible management of such an +organization: that the movement should begin at home, in the island; +that its supervision should be left to the true leaders of the +nation; and that all the workings, details, and executive part, +may be safely intrusted to the active members of the association. + +The class here designated as leaders of the nation is already +known to the reader. The old nobility having been destroyed, +there is no other body which truly represent the Irish people to-day +save the clergy. This is, no doubt, a misfortune, but none the +less a fact. It offers the anomaly of clergymen meddling to a +certain extent in politics; but, in Ireland, this is unavoidable. + +How does the whole body of the European Catholic clergy +understand its position in all those Catholic congresses and +unions, which are now, thank God! starting up in all Christian +countries? How do the laymen, on their side, appreciate the +share they have to take in those various movements? How do they +act under the lead of their spiritual advisers? Are any odious +distinctions ever known in those associations? Can any +misunderstanding arise among men animated with a true love for +religion? And why should not the same be true of Ireland, among +a people so full of love for country? This is what is meant when +the terms leaders and followers, clergy and laity, are here used. + +Another consideration will show still more forcibly the +importance of the great measure here proposed. One circumstance +must have struck those who read the detailed reports of the +Catholic congresses mentioned above--the sudden appearance of a +large array of laymen, illustrious by their birth, wealth, +political power, or literary attainments; but, for the most part, +not so well known for their deep attachment to the cause of the +Church. A new channel of activity was suddenly opened up to them; +they threw themselves into it, and became the bold champions of +a cause to which, undoubtedly, they had been individually +attached, but of which they now became the public men. And there +is little doubt that many young men, lukewarm before, and +perhaps with nothing more than the remembrance of the Christian +education they had once received, suddenly revived in spirit and +made a solemn profession of a cause which, perhaps, they would +not have had the courage openly to advocate, did not the number +and names of the first originators of the movement encourage +them to join in it heart and soul. + +Now, it is said, perhaps too truly, that the warm religious +feeling which has been all along claimed as the most striking +characteristic of the Irish race, is no longer shared alike by +all classes of Irish Catholics; that, too often, when +individuals among them rise in the social scale, and reach a +step in the social ladder from which they imagine that they can +look down upon the despised mass below, they no longer feel that +deep reverence for their religion which had characterized their +youth, and, after all, are not very different from the mass of +non-Catholics among whom they prefer to move. This class of men +has been well described by Moore in his own person, in various +passages of his "Irish Gentleman in search of a Religion." + +The fact is, indeed, too true; but what is the chief cause of +it? One of the most active means of bringing about such a result +we take to be the complete isolation in which young men of the +class referred to find themselves in their own sphere of life. +There is, in fact, no motive for displaying their attachment to +their religion, and no respectable means of doing so. They do +not feel their souls moved by sufficient proselytic ardor to +induce them, of their own accord, to originate any thing of that +kind, and the generality of them have, probably, not received +from Nature the talents requisite to make them leaders in any +cause whatever. No one around them moves in that direction; +hence their apathy and consequent lukewarmness in the practice +and outward profession of their faith. + +But change all the surroundings; present them an influential +body to which it is an honor to belong--a body marching openly +under the banner of the true Church of Christ and of their +country, bound together as of old--and then will it be seen +whether or not they indeed are the degenerate sons of martyred +ancestors they now appear to be. + +It is indeed very remarkable that, of all countries, Ireland +seems to make the least show in those Catholic unions and +congresses now so widely spread throughout Europe. The reason +for this, perhaps, is, that there seemed less cause for their +existence in Ireland than elsewhere. But, as, in Ireland, their +object would not only embrace the interests of religion, but +likewise those of the country itself, it seems natural to think +that there they are particularly wanted. + +Let the leaders of the nation, then, bestir themselves. Long +ages of oppression unfortunately have rendered them somewhat +timid and seemingly afraid of jeopardizing the important +interests confided to their care. Let them lift up their eyes +and see that the time for timidity has passed away: the enemy is +reckless and open in his attacks; their resistance must be +equally undisguised and fearless. The people themselves +understand this and occasionally display a boldness which shows +that the old heroism still lives in them; but they want leaders, +and, if the right ones are not fast to take hold of them, they +may fall into the hands of wrong-headed guides. Let the true +guides look out and see how broad are the lines which divide the +good from the evil, and that victory is sure to the stout of +heart, when backed by the serried masses of a united people. + +The principle of association and the machinery of organization +must be applied to all subjects connected with the resurrection +of the country. What has been done so effectually for the cause +of temperance must be done likewise for education, for the +purchase or tenure of land, for the development of agriculture, +manufactures, and commerce, for the true representation of the +nation, for free municipal government, for the securing of a +truly Irish yeomanry and gentry, for a thousand objects on which +the future welfare of the nation depends. All classes of society, +persons of every age and of either sex, yes, women and children, +ought to be induced to take an interest in what concerns all +alike. Every possible occasion should be taken advantage of to +insure the attainment of the ultimate object. When such a work +is really entered upon in earnest, the results will be +astonishing. + +This is the complete development of moral force, and, until all +these means have had fair trial, no one can say that moral force +has been fully tried and has failed. + +Such a system would, we firmly believe, result in the ultimate +restoration of Ireland's rights and would surely culminate in +her final resurrection at no distant date. That the Irish would +enter with spirit into those various associations has been +sufficiently demonstrated by previous examples, particularly +under O'Connell; and it is impossible to see how surer, greater, +and speedier results could be obtained by any amount of physical +force of which Ireland is capable. What array of physical force +can the Irish muster to compete at all with their powerful +rivals, situated as they are with the chains of centuries still +binding them down, for, though the shackles may be actually +removed, their effect is still there. The very statement of the +terms, Ireland versus England, is enough to show the +hopelessness of such a combat. It is a very easy thing to +magnify the old heroism of the Irish, and cast opprobrium on the +present bearers of the name, as did several newspaper writers +recently, for not displaying the "pluck" of their ancestors who +fought against Elizabeth, Cromwell, and William of Orange. It is +forgotten that circumstances have altered considerably since +those days when the Irish possessed a regular army led by +experienced generals: restore those circumstances, and the Irish +of to-day might outdo their ancestors; at all events, there is +no reason for supposing that they would be inferior. However, +there is such a thing as impossibility, and any attempt of such +a nature, with such surroundings, must be deemed by all sensible +men not merely rashness, but folly. + +In concluding these pages, the author begs to be allowed a word +as to their general character, in reply to a dogmatic and +comprehensive criticism which it is easy to foresee will be +passed on them. It will undoubtedly be asserted that an undue +prominence has been given to the religious side of the Irish +question, while its many political aspects have been left in the +background. This charge will be laid at the door of the clerical +and religious character of the writer, and may give rise to the +notion that the view here taken of the subject is not the right +one, but a radical failure. + +The answer to this objection is, in brief, that no one can treat +seriously and properly of the Irish race without taking a +religious view of it. Whoever adopts a different method of +treating the matter would, in our opinion, go completely astray; +would take in only a few side-views; would, in fact, pretend to +have made a serious study of it, which he offered to the public +as such, while ignoring the chief and almost only feature. + +The Irish is a religious race, and nothing else. It seems that +such was its character thousands of years ago, even when pagan. +At the time when Hanno was sent by the Carthaginian senate +beyond the Pillars of Hercules to explore the western coast of +Africa, toward the south--of which voyage the short narrative is +still left us--Himilco, brother to Hanno, was similarly +commissioned to form settlements on the European coast, toward +the north. The account of this latter expedition, which was +extant in the time of Pliny the Elder, is unfortunately lost; +but, in the poem of R. Festus Avienus, entitled "Ora Maritima," +there are copious extracts from it, in which, at least, the +sense of the original is preserved. Avienus, after speaking of +the "Insulae OEstrimnides," which Heeren thinks must be the +Scilly Islands, goes on to say: + + "Ast hinc duobus in Sacram (sic insulam + Dixere prisci) solibus cursus rati est. + Haec inter undas multam caespitem jacet, + Eamque late gens Hibernorum colit." + +The passage runs almost into literal English as follows: + + "Thence in two days, a good ship in sailing + Reaches the Holy Isle(1)--so was she called of old-- + That in the sea nestles, whose turf exuberant + The race of Hibernians tills." + +(1 Dr. Lingard, evidently perplexed by this expression, asks +himself, "What might its origin have been?" and suggests that +the name of Ierne--the same as Erin--having been given to +Ireland by the ancients, and the Greek iepa--holy-- bearing a +great resemblance to it, Avienus might have thus fallen into a +very natural mistake of confounding the one with the other. But, +in the first place, Himilco's report was certainly not written +in Greek, but in Phoenician, and Avienus seems merely to have +translated that report. Moreover, the word iepa begins with a +very strong aspirate, equivalent to a consonant, while there are +few vowels softer in any language than the first in Erin or +Ierne. Heeren does not attempt such an explanation, but concedes +that the Carthaginians, as well as the Phoenicians before them, +called Ireland the Holy Isle.) + +In the time of Himilco, therefore, five hundred years before +Christ, Ireland was called the Holy Isle, a title she had +received long before: Sic insulam discere prisci. In what that +holiness may have consisted precisely, it is impossible now to +say; all we know is, that foreign navigators, who were +acquainted with the world as far as it was then known, whose +ships had visited the harbors of all nations, could find no more +apt expression to describe the island than to say that, morally, +it was "a holy spot," and physically "a fair green meadow," or, +as her children to this day call her, "the green gem of the sea." + +But we have better means of judging in what the holiness of the +people consisted after the establishment of Christianity in +their midst; and the description of it given in the fourth +chapter of this book, taken from the most trustworthy documents, +shows how well deserved was the title the island bore. + +From that day forth the religious type was clearly impressed on +the nation, and has ever remained deeply engraven in its +character. The race was never distinguished for its fondness for +trade, for its manufactures, for depth of policy, for worldly +enlightenment; its annals speak of no lust of conquest among its +people; the brilliant achievements of foreign invasion, the high +political and social aspirations which generally give lustre to +the national life of many a people, belong not to them. But +religious feeling, firm adherence to faith, invincible +attachment to the form of Christianity they had received from St. +Patrick, formed at all times their striking characteristics. + +From the day when their faith was first attacked by the Tudors +did it chiefly blaze forth into a special splendor, which these +pages have striven faintly to represent. Before taking up the +pen to write, after the serious study of documents, only one +great feature struck us--that of a deep religious conviction; +and, after having seen what some writers have had to say +recently, the same feature strikes us still. We will not deny +that this fact moved us to write, and the task was the more +grateful, probably, because of our own personal religious +character; but we are confident that any layman, whatever might +be his talent and disposition for describing worldly scenes, who +took up Irish history, could find nothing else in it of real +importance to render the annals of the race attractive to the +common run of readers. + +And is not religion more capable of giving a people true +greatness and real heroism than any worldly excellence? Men of +sound judgment will always find at least as much interest +attached to the history of the first Maccabees as to that of +Epaminondas; and the self-sacrifice of the Vendean Cathelineau, +with his "beads" and his "sacred heart," will always appear to +an impartial judge of human character more truly admirable than +that of any general or marshal of the first Napoleon. Religious +heroism, having for object something far above even the purest +patriotic fervor, can inspire deeds more truly worthy of human +admiration than this, the highest natural feeling of the human +heart; and, for a Christian, the most inspiring pages of history +are those which tell of the superhuman exertions of devoted +knights to wrest the sepulchre of our Lord from the polluted +hands of the Moslem. + +But religion did not confine her influence over Irishmen to the +bravery which she breathed into them on the battle-field. +Religion truly constituted their inner life in all the +vicissitudes of their national existence; it was the only +support left them in the darkest period of their annals, during +the whole of the last century; and, when the dawn came at last +with the flush of hope, religion was the only halo which +surrounded them. Their emigration even, their exodus chiefly, +was in fact the sublime outpouring of a crucified nation, +carrying the cross as their last religious emblem, and planting +it in the wilds of far-distant continents as their only +escutcheon, and the sure sign which should apprise travellers of +the existence of Irishmen in the deserts of North America and +Australia. + +Truly, those men are very ignorant of the Irish character who +would abstract the religious feature from it, and paint the +nation as they would any other European people, whose great aim +in these modern days seems to be to forget the first fervor of +their Christian origin. With the Irish this cannot be. The vivid +warmth of their cradle has not yet cooled down; and, if it would +be indeed ridiculous to represent the English of the nineteenth +century as the pious subjects of Alfred or Edward, it would be +equally foolish to depict the Irish of to-day as the worldlings +and godless of France, Italy, or Spain. The Irish patriot could +not be like them, without deserting his standard and the colors +for which his race has fought. The nation to which he has the +honor of belonging is still Christian to the core; and, if some +few have really repudiated the love of the religion they took in +at their mother's knee, the only means left them of remaining +Irishmen, at least in appearance, is not to parade their total +lack of this, the chief characteristic of their race. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Irish Race in the Past and the Present + diff --git a/3141.zip b/3141.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8dd14ab --- /dev/null +++ b/3141.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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