"PACATA HIBERNIA" AGAIN.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XI, Issue 25, 19 October 1883, Page 19

"PACATA HIBERNIA" AGAIN.

(The Nation, August 11.) TkE Guildhall banquet at which the Lord, Mayor o£'l^iricfoii psually entertains the Ministry of the day towards ''th.c clos^of toe' Parliamentary session came off this year "#i last Wedn^scUy.;, Several menders of the Cabinet, including Jhe' Premier, were' Resent'; ;and perhaps it id needless to say that tor. Gladstone made a sjJeectuxpi the occasion. With most of that utterance we have verj, little cpticem. &\ present. It was mainly an endeavour, tp shpW.that the' Government, though ,not actually 'very successful '.was^ riot, bo very un'socfcessfal aftei^ll. Perhaps noone^bnfc Mr. .Gls^tlsioqe nitQs?lf' T wouidbave had 'the: hardihood and the Belf.ap.pDbb|idqj£ J n§edfdl for" making a speech 6t sflch a character ; but even he could Jiardly^kav.e hidden fxomhiinßelf the very ' different position in Whsh'b.is^lfifsliy;stands to day, from that in which rVstyod on the43>tfi' dif CfcfoberY 18M,' when in th.at same Guildhall building ne theatrjpafty -annptlncedrto a tr«ll« dressed mob of yelling Englishmen _^he kwbiipplng. bf ' l^lx. Pa^nell by Mr. Forster. If he, were, not wholly insensible tit? 'the. contrast, so humiliating for him, which "we have iftdrca^edj he could hai£ly have concealed from himself the cause, ofit, and must' presumably have known that to his foul practiced against th.c t'berties' of" the Irish people it is mainly owing that his , Government. ha^lost ASoth 1 respect and . vitality, that it has been' oblige^ fo', put 'lip r "\Yith" immerDus defeats this session and last, and that \p -vfronMbe hutled.frp'm poorer, amid the execrations of at least the- Ijisn 3 p^oplfl/if~nte\B7ibjttl^tiave the temerity to appeal to the voters of the Tbree^iyogdoms: ; ., Notwithstanding, it was hi his references to IfeTknd at the Guildhall banquet that Mr. Gladstone warmest setf-cOng^attilatory, 'Comparing the Ireland of 10-day with' the Ireland .of twelve months ago, he sees a great and providential cba"ge^ 'The taw has resumed ite natural and proper authority, the regular .fulfilment of contract is restored, confidence has returned to some person' or persons unnamed, the dark dens of assassination have-been suppressed, and, in a word, peace and security are prevalent •' where disorder so widely prevailed ." Thus the Premier. For all which thanks are due tp. the. Almighty and Earl Spencer — thelatter, though, "in a-^ubordi Date and secondary sense," as Mr. Gladstone was good enough to remark. He contrasted the two periods sharply and laid on the colours as with, a paletteknife ; nevertheless his picture is neither notable for veriaimHitade npr staisfyingly complete. We might challenge his accuracy with. Regard to the want of confidence and the disorder which be^alleggs, prevailed widely in Ireland a jear ago ; and we might remark that, the subcommissioners created by ,himself are tearing up by the thousand the very "contracts "he had supplied horse and foot, buclssbot !and bayonets, to enforce. But evert if we were to admit the exact truth of all that the Premier did s\y concerning our country, we^houli and no difficulty in showing that what he left unsaid was more important. He forgot to ratnind Ma audience of the savage -Coercion Act, with its curfew clause, its blood-tax, police-tax, , and -other concomitants of barbarism. He was easeful not to drop so much as a hint to the effect that the Irish }aw-officers keep the preafc..mass of the qualified inhabitants out of tbe jury-box in certain, cases, and rely for convictions in sueli cades, on a few groups of specially selected individuals, numbering lt.es thaa five hundred in ftll, in Dublin, Cork, Belfast, and Sligro. Had these significant factaiseen recalled, and especially this last mentioned one, a curious commentary would have been supplied to the Prime Minister's statement that the law in Ireland had resumed its natural aud proper authority. Another strange commentary oa another of his boasts could have been furnished by apt reference to tbe informers who helped to. suppress dens of assassination, but whom the executive are afiaid to allow to remain in any ODe of the Three Kingdoms, more especially this one. Again, brief allusions to the army of occupation, t> tbe army of spies, to the armed constabulary, to tbe constables-in-aid, to the police-marines, to the horde of stipendiary magistrates, to the special stipendiary magistrates, ty the host of lawyers in the pay of the Executive and, in short, to the general expenses of government by coercion, might have been useful, but then they would have marred the effect of Mr. Gladstone's picture. These things are best left unsaid in public. If one must rule a people against its will, peculiar means have to be employed, about which it is unpleasant to spenk. The end justifies tbe means ; and though of course Ireland is quiet now only because she is tied and gagged and has Earl Spencer kneeling on he? breaßt, nevertheless sound the loud timbrel, twang the harp, and let the psaltery and the packbut be heard. Pacnta HiberniA t Bat stay. Has not all this been heard before 2 Have not our alien rulers for at least three hundred years been crying out that now at length Ireland is pacified ? Has there been a single Prime Minister since the Union who did not at some time make boasts respecting I Ireland similar to those of Mr. Gladstone on Wednesday at the I Guildhall? It is an old story, ever nncient and ever ne<v. The latest Premier or Chief Secretary finds it as fresh as Care*?' found it in his day. But there has been no pacification, ther,e ia none, and there never will be — As long as Erin bears tbe clink t Of base, ignoble chains — ' As long as one detested link Of foreign rule remains — As long as of our rightful debt One smallest fraction's due. For ja bet -of' half crown, a roan named Thomas Murphy attempted to swim acros9 the de'-r> hole in the River Kibble called the Stone Delph, at Preston, when th<* tid^ was nearly at full. He entered the water saying " Now lam actirg Captain Webb." When he had swam about eight yards he thiew up his hands and sank. His body ha*s been recovered.