Current Topics AT SOME AND ABROAD.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIV, Issue 45, 4 March 1887, Page 1

Current Topics AT SOME AND ABROAD.

Mb. Gladstone, who writes in the Nineteenth MR. GLADSTONE Century for January controverting some of the ON the opinions concerning the degeneracy of the period half-centubt. put forward by Lord Tennyson in his late poem, speaks, among the rest, of the harsh treatment given to Ireland in the years forerunning those he deals with, and alludes, in language even stronger than any before used by him, to the method by which the Union was brought about. Contrasting the first three decades of the century with those that have followed them, he writes thus : — " That period gave us military glory. It made noble and immortal additions to our literature. In fine art* though there had been a sunßet, the sun still illumined the sky. Bat the items of the account per contra are great indeed. One of the lightest among them is that it brought our industrial arts to the lowest point of degradation. Under the benign influence of Protection, there was a desert of universal ugliness. It also charged the inheritance of our countrymen with a public debt equal to more than a fourth — at one time nearly touching a third— of the aggregate value of all their private property. Would that this had been all ' It taxed the nation for the benefit of class. It ground down the people by the Corn Law, and debased them by the Poor Law. In Ireland Parliament refused through one generation of men to fulfil the promise of Boman Catholic Emancipation, without which promise not even the devilish enginery of the other means employed would have sufficed to bring about the legislative union between "the two countries. But in 1815 they legislated, with a cruel severity which the Irish Parliament might never have wished and could never have dared, against the occupiers — that is to say, against the people — of that ' sister island.' On this side the Channel, the Church was quietly buffered to remain a wilderness of rank abuse. But activity was shown enough and to spare, by the use of legislative and executive power, to curtail the traditional freedom of the people. The law had been made hateful to the nation, and both our institutions and our Empire had been brought to the brink of a precipice, when in 1830 the King dared not dine with the Lord Mayor, and the long winter nights were illuminated by the blaze of Swing fires in southern counties which have given in to Toryism under the beneficent influence of reformed government and legislation."

CRIMINAL IRELAND.

In speaking of the improved condition of things that has more or less prevailed in the years so heavily condemned by Lord Tennyson, Mr. Gladstone reserves judgment on changes now passing, as he says, in the world of thought and of inward conviction, while at the same time, he refrains, as incompetent, from dealing with literature, research, science, and morals. His review extends only to the 11 course and acts of public authority," and to the " movements of public opinion and the most palpable forms of voluntary action.'' But as resulting from these he is able to show a very much improved condition in many respects. With regard to crime, for example, he speaks as follows, and again we should acknowledge with gratitude the steadfastness of his truth to the cause of Ireland :—": — " In 1870, the United Kingdom, with a population of about 31,700,000, had about 13,000, or one in 1,760. In 1884, with a population of about 36,000,000, it had 14,000 criminals, or one in 2,500. And as there are some among us who conceive Ireland to be a sort of pandemonium, it may be well to mention (and I have the hope that Wales might, on the whole, show as clean a record) that with a population of, say 600,100,000, Ireland (in 1884) had 1,573 criminals, or less than one in 3,200."

MODIFIED COMFORT.

Mb. Gladstone, however, while he quotes figures to prove that where actual crime is concerned the condition of England has of late yearß improved, must not be understood as establishing it as a fact that the moral state of the country has taken a better tone. One of the remarks made by him, on the contrary, shows us plainly that, although he modestly declares himself incompetent to deal with the moral aspect of things, he is not insensible to the situation in which

the population finds itself, for, instead of contradicting one of the worst charges brought by Lord Tennyson against the moral condition of the miserable classes, he extends it also to that of the higher rank s of society. Bef erring to Lord Tennyson's line concerning " incest in the warrens of the poor," he writes as follows : "On the last mamed item, and the group of ideas therewith associated, scarcely suited for discussion here, I am not Bure that the warrens of the poor have more to fear from a rigid investigation that others and more spacious habitations." Again, almost all those circumstances of disgrace which the Pall MM Gazette, for instance, lat^y published are not included in the criminal returns, and yet tney show us a state of society with which criminality itself might not unfrequently be favourably compared. Among many other revelations of a wide" spread degradation that have recently been made, moreover, we have the testimony of an inquiring gentleman who undertook to examine into the nature of the low lodging houses of London and the people who frequented them. Hia experiences are revolting in the extreme, and make us acquainted with a numerous class of outcasts, who, entering regularly neither into the category of the criminal nor the pauper, are closely related to both, and who pass their lives in a state of obscenity and wretchedness hardly possible for those who have not witnessed it to realise. And the probabilities are that this class of unfortunates has grown immensely during late years and still continues to grow, for we know, on other reliable testimony, that of Dr. Jessopp for example, that the tendency of the education of the day is to make the labouring classes desert their homes in the country, and take to the towns in search of employment more suited to their new found ambition. The comfort, therefore, to be derived from figures that prove a diminution in crime is much modified, while on the other hand facts and figures combined place it beyond dispute that degradation and immorality still abound.

THE LATE MB. /AMES MAQANDREW.

Otago has been in mourning daring the week for Mr. James Macandrew, one of ita earliest settlers and most tried and constant friends. Mr. Macandrew, who was returning home from Dunedin on Wednesday, the 23rd inst, met with a fatal accident through the bolting of the horse which he was driving, and the upset of his buggy, and after lingering for some time in much suffering breathed his last on Thursday afternoon, to the great and sincere regret of the community with whom he had been so long associated and who were his debtors for many invaluable services. The deceased gentleman arrived in Otago in the year 1851, and from the first proved himself one of the most useful settlers in the Colony, having a leading part in all that was undertaken for the pHblic good, and himself initiating many enterprises that were of general benefit, and some of which even included in their range the whole extent of Australasia. He wasa man of clear views,of firmness of purpose, and eminently practical, calculated by nature to form a thoroughly efficient pioneer in a new settlement,and to act as both guide and aid in laying the corner stone of the foundation on which a future nation should stand. The well-being of Otago, however, thel&nd, par exoellence,oi his adoption was that which he had first of all at heart, and throughout his long and honourable career he laboured for this end with a Bingleness of mind that must command the respect and admiration of all who witnessed it. He has left as his best monument many fine works well undertaken and as well completed, besides the record of others that it was his earnest desire to promote for the welfare and happiness of his fellow-colonists and their descendants, and in the history of New Zealand there is no name destined to take a higher place than his or to deserve a more respectful recognition.

As an instance of the degree of reliance to be false reports, placed on reportß of what the Pope has said or done, aB we receive them by cable, and as they are generally bruited abroad by non-Catholic or anti-Catholic agencies, we find a fiat contradiction of that some two months ago published to the effect that His Holiness had warned the Irish bishops to restrain their clergy from taking part in political affairs. The report was an exaggeration of a paragraph published by the Times saying that the Pope had conferred with Cardinal Simeoni with reference to the sending of such instructions to the bishops. Cardina Simeoni, however, denies that any such interview ever took place, or that he had any conversation with the Holy Father relating to

Ireland.— Another instance of misrepresentation occurred with respect to an allocution delivered by the Holy Father at Christmas, and in which he complained that, so far as the teaching office of the Church was concerned, the Pope would soon have no more freedom than had his predecessors when they hid from the tyranny of the heathen emperors in the Catacombs. The telegraphic agencies reported the Holy Father as complaining that the liberty of the Church had been reduced to that which prevailed in the early agesi and immediately an outcry was raised against the arrogance that claimed more than the Pontiffs had enjoyed in the times of a greater simplicity — that is, when the Roman Empire had become Christian. But from all this we see the necessity of accepting with caution intelligence regarding Catholic matters that reaches us from sources that are not Catholic. No reliance whatever can be placed upon it, and sometimes it is distorted for mischievous ends.

A STANDING CALUMNY.

Mb. Alfbed Webb (says the Dublin Freeman') ha contributed to the Irish Press Agency's series of phamplets an excellent brochwe upon " The alleged massacre of 1641." In no other country of the world, perhaps, would it be necessary to discuss the events of nearly two hundred and fifty yeara ago as bearing upon contemporary politics. But the opponents of the Irish cause, for want of better material, have had recourse to the monstrous fictions of Sir John Temple, and have argued that Home Eule would lead to the massacre of Irish Protestants, since in an armed insurrection against madden^ ing oppression, the Catholics of Ulster committed atrocities in the reign of Charles I. The story of the pretended massacre, resting upon the evidence of the Trinity College depositions, has been exposed by various writers as a tissue of absurdities, impossibilities, and transparent falsehoods. Edmund Burke was convinced of the fraudulent oharacter of these depositions, and John Mitchel in his trenchant reply to Froude, entitled " The Crusade of the Period," has torn the fabrication to pieces, and made clear the vile motives that prompted the inventors of the lies. But Mr. Webb, by giving the evidence of Protestant writers exclusively, many of whom were bitterly hostile to the Irish, has amassed a body of proofs and opinions that must carry conviction to the minds of the most prejudiced. That murders were committed by the insurgents is certain ; that massacres of the Catholics were perpetrated by the Protestant settlers and soldiery is not denied ; but it would be impossible to induce Englishmen of common intelligence to believe, if Ireland were not concerned, that the " rebels " put 300,000 Protestants to death in Ulster at a time when there were only 200,000 Protestants in all Ireland, and only 20,000 living outside tb c walled towns which never fell into the hands of the Irish. Yet this is the Loyal and Patriotic version of history.

A BTBIKING ADMISSION.

Our contemporary the Dunedin livening Star makes an admission in relation to the education of the period that, coming from a rabid secularist, is somewhat striking. Eef erring to Mr. Rolleston's speech at Temuka, our contemporary delivers himself as follows :—: — " It is not reasonable to suppose that education can change the moral nature of mankind. In a large degree, the propensity to crime is attributable to inborn vicious inclinations, which no education, secular or religious, can ever thoroughly eradicate v Want is also a frequent parent of crime. Of itself, want is at once a provocative and a temptation, and when engrafted on 'a naturally vicious disposition, it becomes terrible in its effects. But in these respects New Zealand compares favourably with other countries and colonies. On this head Mr. Eolleston quoted Sir Bobert Stout, who recently pointed out that there has been a steady decrease of juvenile crime since 1877. It would be pressing the argument too far to ascribe this result to educational influences ; for, as Mr. Eolleston remarks, the time that our educational system has been in operation is not sufficient to afford a fair test of its results in this direction. And after all, the chief responsibility for the conduct of our youths rests with their parents. Only judicious parental control and teaching, and, it may be added, example, can possibly direct the young into the right grooves of life. It is idle to charge the school with blame, for home influences are ever the strongest and most enduring, so that it may be said of a man that he is what nature and his parents have made him. That crime has of late years taken a new direction is an indisputable fact. Crimes of violence are more rare, and offences requiiing skill and a certain amount of education ■!!•■• more frequent. If the crimina records are examined it will be foun i that the number of offenders who can read and write is greatly on the increase. It could not be other, wise now that almost all read and write. But these things prove nothing as against education. They only show that the people of the present generation are less brutal and better educated than their predecessors, and so far education may be credited with the diminution of brutality." But at least, let us be thankful for small mercies. It is something after all that your criminal should know how to commit Ms crime genteelly, and like a gentleman.

A DIFFEBENOE OB 1 OPINION.

We' may, however, question this assertion that brutal crime becomes less as .education advances. At all events, a good deal depends on the meaning given to the epithet. Here, for example, is what experience, supported by official returns, tells us concerning the effect of education in' altering the nature of crime in France : — " Les crimes nes de la violence, . . . font place aux crimes honteux et bas. Chez nous, on remarque moms d'aesassinats et meurtres, moms de viols sur adultes, msis les infanticides et les viols sur les filles mineures, mais les avortements sont devenusextr&mement nombreux." (Itewie dv Monde CatlwU%ue, August, 1886.) It appears to us that the crimes here described as replacing the more violent kind are infinitely more brutal. But that, of course, is a matter of opinion.

PEOFEBSOE BBOWN PLATS TUB FOOL.

When a learned and wise professor dons the cap and bells, and takes up hjs place among the wearers of the motley, the occasion is a festive one indeed. " Quips and cranks, and wanton wiles" become invested with an authority that advances them to a most exalted position, and broad jokes may claim a consideration that under less favourable circumstances would be accorded to keen and refined wit alone. A very broad joke was that in which Professor M. J. Brown, under the auspices of certain Caledonian friends, and no doubt inspired by the spirit of their particular folly, classed the Irish settlers in America with the Chinese, the Negroes, and the Mormons and attributed to their presence an imminent danger to the Republic. For, said our festive Professor, in substance, the Irish are» a "Theocracy," and as such form a standing menace to popular institu. tions. But are not your professors and learned men privileged in their eflorts to prove themselves original ? Have we not before us, for example, the case of that man of science in Pickwick, who, taking Mr. Samuel Weller's lantern for a celestial phenomenon, and receiving in return for his erudite curiosity a light blow from Mr. Samuel Weller's fist, retired to his apartment rejoicing in the conviction that he had made a most important discovery in electricity ? Professor Brown has evidently also been poking his nose into quarters where his frame of mind did not qualify him to pry, and returns fully equipped to minister to the bigotry and prejudice of his Caledonian friends, by the nonsense of his conclusions. The word " Theocracy " is undoubtedly a fine word, and most worthy to be pronounced even by any eminent professor, but it might, perhaps, add to any professor's reputation to use words when, at, least, he is addressing ordinary people, in their plain sense, and not to seek for admiration by an attempt to mystify his audience. Professor Brown, if he known any. thing at all, and verily his qualifications and vast funds of erudition, like those of Oliver Goldsmith's venerable pundit, are a marvel to simple men, knows that the influence of the Catholic Church over her dutiful children is not at all that of a theocracy properly so-called, and that she makes no pretensions to wield such an influence. But perhaps the Professor, in addressing Caledonians, thought he could the more readily catch their sympathies by making use of a word that Bhould naturally be held in horror among themselves. For when the Kirk assumed somewhat of the nature of a theocracy, we know what was the condition of ScoLland. How enlightenment and learning bid fair to perish there, and oppression a nd fierce persecution were the order of the day. The fact is, moreover, that instead of any danger's accruing to the Republic of the United States from the existence there of a large Irish population in faithful communion with the See of Rome, or as a " Theocracy " if the authority of Professor Brown makes the word more desirable for use, the very life of the Republic depends upon their presence and the fidelity observed by them towards their religion. This is manifest, for example, by the fact that out of eleven thousand births which, in a recent yearbook place in the city of Boston, seven thousand were those of the children of the Catholic inhabitants. Into the considerations connected with this matter, nevertheless, it is not advisable that we should enter very closely. It is sufficient that we should suggest them to the initiated and those who can prudently reflect upon them. But surely the first of all popular institutions is the population itself, and if that cannot be maintained without the aid of a " Theocracy," then let the " Theocracy "be duly honoured. The truth is, however, that when a learned Professor borrows the motley aud the cap and bells, and so fits himself to delight an audience delighting in broad jokes, he seems aho under the necessity of borrowing the jokes in question. That old, Btale, accusation of the menace against popular institutions formed by the Irish settlers in the United States iB so utterly threadbare by this time that it 6hould shame any man with a second idea in his head to repeat it, and it has not now and never had the shadow of a practical proof on which to rest. Irish Catholics took part, in a large degree, in obtaining the independence of the United States ; they have bad a full share in building up all the popular institutions of the Republic, and their aid in sustaining those institutions is in nothing less steadfast or less valuable than that of their fellow-citizens. Our learned Professor's broad joke, after all is a piece of vulgar claptrap, suited only to a vulgar and bigoted audience. But no doubt he understood those with whom he had to deal.

WHOSE FAULT IS ITf

But did Professor Brown understand more than the requirements of his Caledonian audience when he found it advisable to insult, and so far as \ncould to injure, the Irish Catholics of the United States, and with them Irish Catholics everywhere, by the unsavoury comparisons he made. We shall not allude particularly to the rashness shown by members of the upper ten thousand in making unsavoury comparisons just at present when the aristocratic circles of which they boast themselves to be hangers-on are under Bomewhat of a cloud, and give forth a most indifferent odour to the world a large. It would not be difficult, however , in the light of recent revela tions to draw telling comparisons between that higher world of which, v a matter of necessity, any one who, like Professor Brown, shines in the genteel society of Christchurch, must appear more or less a member, and the Chinese, Mormons, and Negroes, at their very worst.. But let that pass. Did Professor Brown understand that so meanly* is the Irish element estimated in the City of the Plains, and so fully accepted is the Anglo- Saxon ascendancy, it would be pronounced an inßolent undertaking even to attempt to defend the Catholic Church from any charge brought against her, if only it were associated with the Irish name ? So eminent a man as Professor Brown, speaking under the o^is of the Anglo-Saxon character, must needß have the sympathy of all his fellow-countrymen, their abettors and sycophants even although they themselves were members of the " Theocracy '• accused. We find, indeed, an answer to the Professor's calumnies published in one of the Christchurch weeklies, and we willingly reproduce it in our columns. But it represents one indignant voice alone raised against an injurious and wicked statement affecting the character of a whole people and their religion, and, however able it may be, it carries with it but the authority of an individual. The calumniator and slanderer has it all his own way when the anti-Irish element is abroad throughout the Catholic body, and holds them in check and domination. But, perhaps, Professor Brown was altogether obliviou ß of the presence in Christchurch of an Irish Catholic body of inhabit" ants. In every British settlement Irish Catholics find themselves a a disadvantage, and are obliged to struggle against great odds. Leaders' who, while they are in sympathy with them, are capable of adopting an independent standing, and enforcing for themselves and those whom they represent, the respect of the community generally, are necessary to them, and where no such leaders exist, the presence of the body in question may well be ignored, or insulted with impunity whenever the occasion offers. Professor Brown, therefore, may probably be held excusable as reviewing merely the position of a race to which he was hostile at a distance, and having no intention of bringing under contempt a body within reach of him and his hearers but of whose presence he was unaware. Let us give the learned and jocular Professor the benefit of the doubt, and let us also give it to all others whom it may concern. Many persons who adopt the antiIrish policy occupy a very doubtful position, as some day or other they may discover to their cost.