IRELANDD. PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE,"

Thames Advertiser, Volume XVII, Issue 6050, 14 April 1888, Page 2

IRELANDD. PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE,"

Last evening the Academy of Musio was crowded by a large audience to hear the lecture on "Ireland, Past, Present and Future," delivered by Mr Bernard Molloy, M.P., for King's County, Ireland. There were a great number of ladies present, and upon the platform were Colonel Eraser, Rev P. O'Rielly, and Mesßrs Chambers, Rielly, Foy, McAndrew, F. White, Joyce, Douglas, Steedmao, O'Sullivan, Hutchison, and McGregor. Mr McGowan having been voted to the chair, the speaker was intrnducedtoljis audience, and announced the subject of his lecture, which he felt sure would offend no one there that evening. The scope of the subject he had been asked ;to speak upon that evening was too large for one or even a number of meetings, and he would _ deal wjth it in a concise manner, and as it affects us in the present day.; The attention of the whole of tie civilised world is directed towards Ireland and lmh affairs in the British parliament, and he had wondered how it wan that so small a place could occupy so great a portion of the' attention ot the world. It was, perhaps, that;in every country were to be found Irishmen, who spread their views and act as missionaries in the cause. He briefly referred to the property of Ireland during the existence of her free parliament between 1783 and 1800, as compared with the periods before and since. How during those seven years her produoe was greater than ever it waß, ■ her peace and contentment greater, her population double, her goodwill towards England, Scotland, and Walos greater than it has ever boon uritil the last twel--o months. When Great Britain at tha period mt engaged in the Napoleonic wars, and cast down and > in danger, and bad to put forth her whole strength to guard her shores, the free parliament of Ireland contributed money to help England tu fight her battles and advooate her cause. (Applause.) He pointed with prido to the BUCCOSB of Irishmen in all parts of the world where allowed freedom and,tairpiay, He deplored the treachery of those «ho had sold their'free Parliament),; and 'attributing many of the evils tinder which Ireland at present suffers to that sad mistake prophesied with the return of Home Rule, not only renewed prosperity for Ireland, but a reign of peace and goodwill between all parts of the Empire. The speaker then detailed the efforts whioh the present band of Home Rulers in Parliament had put forth. The chief interest centered in recital of these facts,

Eighty coercion bills had been passed for Ireland between 1800 and 1880. i By coercion bills all civil rights are taken from the people, the Press cannot write, and public speakers are thrown into gaol. Colonists cannot understand it. The criminal law i'b strong enough for mj criminal in IrpJand, but these coercion laws have been passed to suppress political agitation, which is the of every ;citizen. In 1880, for the first time in Irish history, a body of mentiOjr) who could; not be bought or separated, and pledged to fight for the peace and prosperity of (Ireland to the.exclusion of every other question was formed. There were 46 out of ab,put I4P Irish members, known as. the |( , oldbrigarle,"andhehad the honour of ! being one of thetri, They were laughed at as a third party.' The Times newspaper scoffed at their foolishness. During: the first, month of the sepsion Parliament treated them with oontempt. On'one memorable occasion the brigade undeoeived them and showed that tliey had a distinct policy. They talked till B.3oam,and it was thought'there was something in the 40 little men. This was forgotten, but the next time they talked till 8.30 a.m,, J8.30 p m,, and then, though tired erjough, Ithey thought It being so late they might go oa the'whole night 'till the milk the next| morning, and on to lunch-time. Two days and two nights thus paseed_ and! then tbey earned the title of the third party. It was a hard fight, but the prize was great, They brought in a land bill. ,' The land question is at the root of the Irish question. Ireland has'no manufactures; ttje )and and nothing but the land is all: there is tfl lfve (ji). Under tbe then exist- ; tog systejn the'pegpje grqaned. Bents were rajsed eyery year-it yas like get ting ah extra squeeze of mercury out of amalgam. The, landlords had children and tbey ao4 trjejr famjlies had to, be supported out of the Jand, and the qtruggle between the landlord and tenant beoame so hard beoause they were both squeezing amalgam, The Land Bill was introduced to buy the land at fair prises as in continental Earope, and enable the tillers to own the land. For the first time in our history, not their own Land Bill but a Land Bill of the Government, a better Bill than theirs, passed, fflfjea followed another Coercion Bill. "Like cf}ifa>a, the f rjaj) seem never to be given jam without tb> hfldea now4er. Bj some strange fatality all these new ameliorating pills 1 seem aocqmpanied by coercion In 1882 the hopes of the people wko raised, and then coeroion followed. 1000 persons were put in gaol, Borne deserved to be as criminals, but .the majority were imprisoned for political purposes by order of the Government. The Government' would' say: Let John Smith be put in prison! For what cause ? Deoline to answer! T> lettre-de : cachet system.existed ?s' in' th.e last; century. This enraged'the and stopping freedom and power of expression drove peopje to join secret pooieties and crime, and h,e would d§fy anybody to stop secret societies with such a system |n pogue, They may be base and cowardly, but pannot be stopped, it t}jat period the jaddest story in the history of Ireland occurred. Lord Cavendish a man honest and beloved by all who knew him, filled with a desire to help Ireland, went over to that country to assume the office of Lord Lieutenant. He arrived then full of hope and promise and then, he blushed to continue, some vile and cowardly crew thatcatue not from the United States, but from gome hole and corner assasinated him and[ his secretary. Every true Irishman'abhorred the deed. He, the speaker though opposed to capital punisjiraent witnessed, the murderers hanged, t^ e . Gauß9 batik because people opposed to 'It found, it to their advantage to refer to this foul deed, and abuse everything Irish. Being opposed at this time to the liberal party, the brigade were anxious to put them out of office and see what political combination would do the most for Ireland. Th,e Tory party itched for office. Ry degrees oyerlurep were mde to the Torioa to join in a grand charge upon' the liberal ranks. Lord Randolph Churchill an active young man of wit and intßJleotjjaoted',as intermediary, and a treaty wbb made between them by which it was understood they were to obtain an Irish Parliament, bb the price of placing the Tories in office. The allies drove the Liberals from office, and the Tories a few days lator dissolved Parliament. Tho brigade assisted the Tones at the eleotions, and the Tories actually made

üße of the land league offices. They now forget it, but the league still hold the plaoards. In the new Parliament the Tories took their place on the Government benches, but they lifted their eyebrows when asked to redeem 'their pledges, We said all right, we will turn you out of offioe. Wo went to the Liberals and said we will join you. They said : The Empire first and selves afterwards. We returned to the Tories and said : You won't keep your promise ? They said : No. We replied : Then ont you go I and out they went. A fresh dissolution and return of the Liberal Government followed. Then Mr Gladstone, the nobleßt of British statesmen, and one whom from personal knowledge the speaker is privileged to honour, having thought out the question said what he considered the best and wisest policy for Great Britain and Ireland, and announced his intention to introduce a Bill of Home Rule for the internal government of Ireland. Then came a period of excitement. He had seen scenes of political, civil, and military excitement, but never in his long and .varied experience had he seen such excitement as on the first night of the introduction of that Bill by Mr Gladstone. For three and a half hours he unfolded his Bill, and the cheers from the Irish members which followed' his impassioned appeal for justice, will ring in his ears for ever. For the first time in history England had offered; her help ; to Ireland, and the grip then given, will never cease'. The friendship of the working men _of England and Ireland is increasing day by day, and although still fighting the question, there is already a union which never. existed before. That bill was thrown out, it' was accepted by all the Liberals except those who called, them, selves Unionists. Gladstonewas defeated, At the next election owing to the speeches cf the Unionists, a number of Liberals abstained from voting, and the Tories succeeded,to.power by a small majority of 8,500 votes. So small it showed that although 'the Irish had lost'lhe first battle they had gained the friendship of the people of England, Wales, and Scotland. There have been 15 or 16 bye elections since, and 5 out of every 6 have been Liberal victories, lhe speaker dwelt on the unfair tactics of the Torieß who resorted to blackening the character of the Irish members, notably in the anonymou* pamphlet entitled " Parnellisiu and Crime." It had, however, fallen flat'upon the people of England, and there is not a public meeting in England where an Irish legislator is not invited. Then therecame that fac simile forged letter purporting to be written by Mr Parnell, and giving countenance to the assassination of Lord Cavendish and Mr Burke, The speaker explained how it was issued by the Times, and doubled the circulation of that paper. In the House a newly created Tory baronet* moved a select committee to inquire into one of its charges. The Irish party jind Mr Parnell, almost on his death bed, welcomed an inquiry that would establish his innocence, but the Tories aneaked out of it with one excuse after another, their object being to hold the vague accusation for electioneering purposes. The Tories declared all Ireland wanted was firm government,' and imprisoned even:;the little boys who sold the papers at a penny a-piece. THE LAND LEAGUE!

The Land League has for its object (1) the settlement of the land question; i{2.) the return of Ireland's Parliament. The proceedings qt,the League are public,iand all its resolutions are published _ every week. The speaker belonged to it,;and felt proud of his membership. Sinoi BalfourV isuppression of the league, its members had more than doubled. iThe League is trying to stop the eviction of the people, and supplies \ the evicted Jwith food and rough huts until they ; can emigfdte'.'"' Some of those present knew not what la really meant by ~:■':4» JBIBH EVICTION. The following is a description of what happened in his own county, and is on the records of the Government, li was winter time in his own King's County. on the mountain Bide. A woman lived on a small holding of a few acres where she and her husband, just dead, and her children had managed to subsist. She, had just been delivered of a child when a party came down to .evict her ,by order of the sheriff, acting on be> half of the landlord, to whom she bwed rent. The people gathered round and said'surely humanity will stay your hand 6 a few days, have some pity. There was no pity, and the law had to he put into, effect. They carried out the woman on hermattrass, and plaeed her on the snow upon the roadside, and then they entered 'and extinguished the tire. The people erected a shelter of the rafters. The new born babe died, and the next day a second child died also,

ANOTHER EVICTION, A few montliß ago an old bedridden woman 90 years of age, and at death's door was turned out upon the roadside. So Wm ghfi %}' ft? ppgs| administered' the iaaf rifes of the chi]rpl} to her on the roadway, and the yery'poljce madeapoljectipV for her, and camo back and gave alms' to the poor woman the law had com» palled them to turn out. OAN T PAY BEST, The agricultural depression is so great that the Irish in many instances cannot pay their rents. In England tenants are throwing up their farms, In Ireland matters are worse. In England the landlords live on the land, and knowing the circumstances have reduced rents. In Ireland many of' the landlords wont, but squeeze out all they can"get. The Land League endeavours to stop this. It is not the, English people, but a, party who are against us, and the next general election wjll gjve victory tp Homp ffaje.

THE REppY. Jreland. ill th,e past with her free %Ha meat was prosperous, and he had shown by facts the misery and unhappiness of today. The population has dwindled and common rights are denied .her citizens He instanced tho case of Canada before and after the grunting of Home Rule. Great opposition was a,t tt}e time shown to the measure, and now that colony is point-., ed out as the must loyal of British possessions. But Ireland, "|t was said, would be different. He ridiculed the idea of the small band of Irishmen fighting the British Empire, or eyen deßirjn? separa tion. Irelijnd produces JS2Q,OOO,QOO worth of produce and her only market is England, to which she exports "£19,000,000. Thuß separation from England would meap taking nineteen shillings out of every pound jn an Irjs]}man'E pocket, Hpme rule iijoans in, a lesser degree for Ireland tho homo rule enjoyed by the colonies, and the islands of jersey, Guernsey and Man. It means applying a policy which has succeeded everywhere to Ireland, where no policy has yet succeeded. Home Rule would grant to Ireland the internal management of her own affairs, Its greatest enemy is prejudice, and flomo Rule that has the majority of England, and the wjiole of Ireland in its favor, will l ultimately win, and when the flag of Ire-

land waves over the Irish Psrliaraent in Dublin, amidst cheers of Scotland, England, and Wales as predicted by Mr Gladstone, there will be a real and lasting union between two countries now separated by prejudice alone, A vote of thanks was acoorded br acclamation to the speaker for his very interesting lecture.