FRENCH OPINION ON IRELAND.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIII, Issue 20, 11 September 1885, Page 21

FRENCH OPINION ON IRELAND.

(Correspondence of the Nation.') The patriotic Bishop of Meath, in his eloquent speech at Mullingpr, makes a gre.it mis'ake when he says : " Anyone who reads those foreign journals will s^e that they take all the knowledge and information on Iri>h affars directly and immediately from the prejudiced and slanderous columns of the London newspapers." As far as Frauce is concerned, I am happy to inform his lordship that buch is uo longer the case, as thf following facts will prove. Not only important volumes, such as " La (Jrise Irian iaise," by M. Herve, but daily articles in nearly all the leading Pans papers, are showiag the Irish question in its true light. la my last letter I gave an extract from an article in La Liberte that no English paper could have inspired or would approve of. To-day I give another from the Gil Bias of 4th June. The writer says : — " The entire world is now observing England. It would seem that for that country the era of responsibility is soon to be^in. It is interesting, therefore, to examine her portion relative to her old enemy — Ireland. Great concessions were spoken of, allusion was made to the probability of a settlement, and they went no far as to Bay that it should not be impossible for England to give Home Rule to Ireland, which she been claiming so long. This seems to us a little too sanguine. However, it is certain that un ler the influence of events an evolution may take place in the home policy of Great Britain. It would only bj a prudent measure, as will be seen. 'The laws of coercion will soon expire,' said to me a person whose position enables him to be well informed. 'All will depend on what Kngland will do, then. It is certain that if they are renewed troubles are sure to be the result. The British Government to-day must consent to come to terms with the Irisn. Parnell s action in Parliament is an important one, and the number of votes that he commands m the House of Commons will be nearly always sufficient to give the majority to the Cabinet or to the Opposition. It must not be forgotten ,that it was the Parnelliie vote that caused fca» fall of Gladstone, in voting against him on a question that scarcly interested them at all— the spirits question. Now the number of Irish in the House of Commons is 103, but they are not all Nationalists; of the latter there are about 60; but the number may mciease, for most of the members who, like O'Connor Power, failed in keeping their promises, are obliged to ask the British Government to give them another town to represent. ParoeH's policy may be ju-tly called nne politique a bascvle. He only aims at the interest of Ireland, and he is ready to biing to the Ministry — Whig, Tory, or Radical — which ever will be in favour of Ireland, the votes he disposes of, and will endanger whatever Cabinet is contrary to his policy.' It seemed to me useful to give this conversation, which, I repeat, I had with a person in a position to be well informed. " The conflict between the two enemies is not near coming to aa end unless England makes the necessary concessions, for it is positive that Ireland was never better armed against her rival." I give the article in full to show the eminent prelate that, as far as Paris is concerned, the Irish question is no longer judged from the articles in the British Press ; and I could fill the columns of the Nation with original articles in the same style as the one I give to-day. J. P, L.