active and enterprising of our people, have gone to America, which has
increased the ratio of those who are physically and intellectually
inferior. Then, again, it has become a matter of fashion to neglect the
soil. Our people prefer to live in the towns rather than on the farms.
The Irish are a social race, and, as has been demonstrated by the
emigrants to America, they prefer a crowded tenement house to plenty of
room on a farm."
"That the farms of the tenant purchasers have largely improved in all
parts of Ireland, as regards cultivation and general conditions, is
unquestionable," said Mr. Bailey. "The exceptions to this rule are so
few and of such a nature as to emphasize rather than detract from the
good effect of the land reforms, as shown by the general condition of
the farms we have been able to visit. In the great majority of cases we
found that the purchasers have devoted their energies and their savings
to the improvement of the land and of the buildings. In many districts,
especially those in the provinces of Leinster and Munster, the tenants
have hitherto been more anxious to increase the productive power of the
soil than to add to their comforts or the appearances of their homes, or
to make permanent improvements. But we found improvements in fencing,
draining, in the cleaning of fields, in the re-making of farm roads, and
in other respects, as well as by increasing the fertility of the soil by
manuring and top-dressing. We found also that the actual productiveness
of the land in many cases had been increased since its purchase, by
improved management.
"On some estates conditions have not improved, because of various
reasons. Some lazy people, unfortunately, have no desire to change. They
live a dull, commonplace life, without enterprise, energy, or ambition.
Some of them are affected by their environment, as in the case of small
farmers who are in the midst of a community of large cattle-growers.
Again, the cost of labor is so great that many cannot afford to hire
help to do what they cannot do themselves, and have postponed
improvements until a more favorable opportunity.
"However, that the dwellings, outhouses, stables, and barns of tenant
purchasers have materially improved throughout Ireland is certain. The
testimony on this point from every part of the four provinces is uniform
and conclusive. A considerable number of new buildings have been erected
either by home labor or capital already in hand, and many farmers are
taking advantage of the loans offered by the board of works. This is
particularly true in the counties of Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary,
Waterford, and Wexford. On some estates there is a great deal of rivalry
among the new purchasers as to which shall have the best showing in the
way of buildings. In other cases, I regret to say, the houses and barns
continue in a very neglected state.
"It is also gratifying to be able to say that in the large majority of
cases throughout Ireland the credit of the tenant purchasers has
improved very considerably since they bought their holdings. Such is the
universal testimony of local bank managers, shopkeepers, ministers of
religion, and other representative persons whom we have consulted. And
this improvement in credit is perhaps most marked in localities where
farmers were worse off in former times. The explanation is that the
farmers have now been started on new careers free from obligations, and
are able to devote all of their attention and energies to improving
their condition without being worried by financial and other troubles.
"The 'Gombeen man,' the money-lender, the Shylock, who has been the
curse of Ireland, has actually disappeared from many districts, and in
others he is rapidly losing his business. The men who have bought their
farms under the Wyndham Act do not ask for credit. They pay in cash very
generally, and wherever they do borrow, they are able to get better
terms, because they have something substantial behind them and are not
likely to be thrown out into the street at any time as formerly. Those
who are borrowing money now want it for improvements, and not to pay off
old mortgages or meet previous obligations.
"The first, and in many respects the most important, consequence of
owning farms is the contentment that it has given to the people. Their
minds are at ease. Their anxiety as to their future treatment from their
landlord or his agent has vanished, and the misfortunes which often
distressed them have disappeared. In their investigations the
commissioners and the inspectors employed by them have met very few
tenant purchasers who have any fault to find with the conditions under
which they are now living. We have met several men who had lost their
cattle by disease, and others whose crops had failed; but they seemed to
be cheerful, and were confident that with care and industry they would
soon be on their legs again.
"In the poorer districts on the west coast of Ireland little improvement
has been made, and little more can be expected for a generation; yet
there has been progress, and the Congested Districts Board is doing a
great deal by its liberal policy. The people are very poor, but they do
not complain of their poverty. They freely admit that their standard of
living has improved of recent years, and more especially since they
became owners. 'Purchase has brought peace,' said a parish priest.
'People are more industrious, more temperate, more saving, and more
cheerful.' In many places which had formerly been troublesome, the
constabulary report that quietness and order and a supreme feeling of
contentment and satisfaction with present conditions prevailed. At
Fermanagh the parish priest said that the consumption of liquor had
fallen one-half since the farmers had purchased their own farms, and
that the money which had been spent for drink was now being saved for
improvements on the farms, and for better clothes, for implements, and
for other purposes, which show an increased pride in appearances and a
sense of responsibility.
"There is no question but that the standard of living in every respect
has been raised since the people of Ireland have been allowed to own the
farms they till," continued Mr. Bailey. "This appears in their personal
appearance as well as in the food provided for their tables. It is due
to the greater self-respect that has been inspired by a sense of
proprietorship. The most important and fundamental benefit that the
Irish people are enjoying from the ownership of their farms is the
elevation of their own opinion of themselves--the self-respect and
ambition that a proprietor always feels. They wear better clothes, they
take better care of their persons, and they require better food. On many
farms in the west of Ireland, where the people lived almost exclusively
on porridge and potatoes, they now use bread, eggs, American bacon, and
tea. American bacon is used in preference to Irish bacon because it
contains more fat and makes a better dish for a large family when boiled
with cabbage. The improvement in clothing occurs simultaneously with the
improvement in food and farming tools, and both follow immediately after
the title to the land is secured. People often explain that formerly
they 'had to scrape together every penny to pay the rent, but now we can
live decently.'
"But the sanitary arrangements throughout western Ireland still need a
great deal of attention. The manure heap is still in unpleasant
proximity to the dwelling place, and the practice of keeping cattle,
pigs, and chickens under the same roof and often in the same room with
the family has not disappeared as rapidly as one might hope. We
inspected a farm in Mayo where the family and the cow lived in the same
room, but it was kept remarkably clean and tidy. Every part of the
earthen floor outside the corner that was alloted to the cow was
carefully swept, and the 'dresser,' the chief article of furniture in an
Irish cabin, showed taste and neatness, and was well stocked with very
good china in which the owner seemed to take great pride. When we
remarked on the presence of the cow in the cabin he replied, 'Sure, I
could not leave the poor animal out in the cold.' The tenant purchaser
of a farm in Galway said she had to keep the cow in the house because
she could not afford to erect a barn, and if the animal died she would
be ruined. But the practice is being slowly abandoned, and since the
land act was enforced many people who formerly sheltered their cattle,
pigs, and poultry in the same dwelling-place as themselves in their long
and severe winters have been building separate houses for them. We were
told that this was the exception before purchase, and that it is now the
rule. The tendency is undeniably toward neatness, good repairs, and
sanitary improvements, and although it is slow it is certain.
"The scarcity of farm labor and the high rates of wages that are now
demanded are keeping back improvements that farmers cannot make without
assistance, but the people are beginning to realize the advantages of
co-operation, and are helping each other in such a way that it seldom
becomes necessary to call outside labor. A holding that can only be
worked by the aid of paid labor under present circumstances is not
profitable, and a large farm cannot be worked to an advantage unless
the owner has a son to assist him. Not only have the wages of farm labor
increased, but its efficiency has decreased. Hired workmen now insist
upon better food and better accommodations.
"There was undoubtedly ample room for improvement in the wages, the
food, and the treatment of farm laborers throughout Ireland. The
laborers cannot be blamed for demanding it; but a higher standard in
each of these respects meant an increase in the cost of cultivating the
soil and a decrease in the profits of the farmer. The labor situation is
due first to the emigration of the young men to America, and second to
the migration from the farms to the cities.
"The estates commission has received very little complaint of the
regulations which require the punctual payment of installments and
interest money to the government. Here and there a purchaser objects
because he has to sell cattle or make some other sacrifice at an
inconvenient time to raise the money, and asserts that under the
landlord system he would have been allowed time; but such instances are
extremely rare, and very few persons admitted that they prefer a private
individual to the government as a landlord. The purchasers of farms
almost unanimously agree that their annual installments due the
government are very considerably less than the rents they were paying,
and they now have to sell a much smaller portion of their produce than
formerly to meet the rent.
"It is right and proper that I should speak of the almost invariable
courtesy that has been shown to the commissioners and our inspectors
when we have visited the farmers," said Mr. Bailey in conclusion. "Very
rarely has any suspicion been exhibited, and the fullest information has
been given to us. This courtesy and good feeling was especially
manifested by the smaller and poorer farmers in the west and south of
Ireland. There was no spirit of cringing or cowardice. Both men and
women spoke with dignity and independence, and almost invariably
expressed themselves as gratified that a great department of the
government should wish to learn how they were getting along. They were
pleased that a government official should show sufficient interest in
their welfare to come and talk with them sympathetically. Many of them
inquired as to the workings of the new act in other parts of Ireland,
and asked advice on various small matters, which to them were of
importance."
VI
SACRED SPOTS IN DUBLIN
There are many imposing public monuments in Dublin, the most conspicuous
of which is a massive pillar, one hundred and thirty-four feet high,
erected in 1808 in honor of Lord Nelson, hero of the battle of
Trafalgar. In Phoenix Park another native of Dublin, equally famous as
a fighter, is honored by a stubby sort of square shaft after the pattern
of the Washington monument in Washington, and a little more than
one-third of the height. On the four sides of the pedestal the Duke of
Wellington's greatest victories are illustrated by battle scenes in
bronze panels. Near this monument is the magazine in which the British
soldiers keep their ammunition. It was the subject of Dean Swift's last
epigram:
"Behold! a proof of Irish sense;
Here Irish wit is seen.
When nothing's left that's worth defense,
We build a magazine."
There is a fine equestrian statue of Lord Gough in Phoenix Park, cast
from the cannon taken by his command, and a bronze phoenix erected by
Lord Chesterfield when he was lieutenant-governor.
Daniel O'Connell's great services to Ireland are commemorated by the
finest bridge over the Liffey River, and an imposing and elaborate
monument facing it upon the principal street of the town. It is a little
confusing because of the many figures that surround it. The statue of
O'Connell is twelve feet high, and is surrounded by fifty small statues,
all allegorical, the chief being that of "Erin" casting off her fetters
and pointing to the liberator as if to say, "He told me to do it."
Father Mathew is represented by a marble figure with a noble pose and
an unusually expressive face. It was made by a woman, a Miss Redmond.
There are also statues of Grattan, Curran, Edmund Burke, Thomas Moore,
Oliver Goldsmith, Sir Robert Stewart the musician, Smith O'Brien, Sir
John Grey, William of Orange, George I., George II., George III.; and
Queen Victoria sits in bronze upon a massive pedestal, surrounded by
famous figures representing the various colonies of the British Empire
upon which it has been frequently stated that the sun never sets. Of
modern men, Sir Benjamin Guinness, the brewer, his son, Lord Ardilaun,
and the late Archbishop Plunkett are honored, and some of the figures,
particularly the latter, are very good.
At the "top" of O'Connell Street, as they say here, corresponding to the
O'Connell monument, will soon stand a tall shaft surmounted by a statue
of the late Charles Stewart Parnell. The money was raised in America by
John E. Redmond and Daniel Tallon, recently Lord Mayor of Dublin, and
the monument was designed and the figure cast by the late Augustus Saint
Gaudens. It was his latest and one of his most effective works. It was
quite appropriate that Saint Gaudens, who was an Irish boy, should have
been commissioned for this statue, which many consider the most
beautiful of all the many monuments in Dublin.
Parnell's grave in Prospect Cemetery is not neglected, although I have
seen it stated repeatedly that such was the case. It occupies the most
prominent place in the cemetery, on the western side of the memorial
chapel, on a spot corresponding with that occupied by the towering
monument of Daniel O'Connell on the eastern side. The grave is in the
center of a large circle, surrounded by an iron fence, shaded by
beautiful trees, and large foliage plants which were in full bloom. The
turf is well kept, and here and there are memorial wreaths preserved
under glass globes. In the center of the circle is a high mound,
protected by a hedge of arbor vitæ, and ornamented by several rose
bushes. The grave is in the center of the mound. At the head is an iron
cross six feet high, and at the foot the name "Parnell" is worked out in
large letters of box.
[Illustration: THE CUSTOMS HOUSE, DUBLIN]
One of the employees of the cemetery, who showed us around, said that it
was the intention of Parnell's friends to erect a monument to correspond
with that of Daniel O'Connell on the other side of the chapel, but after
a discussion of several years they had decided to place the memorial
downtown at the site I have already mentioned, where it would always be
before the eyes of the public. O'Connell's body is buried in a crypt
underneath the monument. His heart is in a casket in the chapel of the
Irish College at Rome.
Several other famous Irish patriots are buried in Prospect Cemetery, and
I asked the guide where the body of Robert Emmet was laid.
"That's a great sacret," he answered mysteriously, "an' I wouldn't tell
it to yer honor avin if I knew; with all respict to yer honor. It woul'
be the same as me life is worth. The soul of Robert Emmet has gone to
God. His bones is in the hands of the friends of Ireland, but will
remain in their prisint sacred hiding place until Ireland is free."
Michael Davitt is buried in the town of Straid, County Mayo, where he
was born and where his parents were evicted from their home during his
childhood. The grave is marked with an ordinary stone. There has been no
movement thus far for a monument in his honor. His widow lives at
Dalkey, the lovely suburb of Dublin by the sea, which I describe
elsewhere. She is in excellent circumstances financially, has a
comfortable home,--much more comfortable than any she had during her
husband's lifetime,--and is educating her four children, two boys and
two girls, at the best schools. The oldest son, now a young man of
twenty-two, is studying law, and promises to show much of the ability of
his father.
One bright day I made a pilgrimage to the birthplaces and homes of
famous Irishmen in Dublin. It is to be regretted that the people of that
city feel so little respect for the memory of their heroes as to permit
the scenes that were associated so closely with their careers to become
filthy whisky dives. Several of these sacred places are among the most
disreputable saloons in Dublin.
Henry Grattan was born in 1746 in a house on Fishamble Street, near the
old church where Handel first produced his famous oratorio "The
Messiah," and was baptized in the Church of St. John near by. He was
educated in Trinity College, Dublin, and the trustees of that
institution have erected a statue in his honor outside the old house of
parliament, now the Bank of Ireland, which was the scene of his most
eminent services. He is represented in the attitude of pleading with
uplifted hands for the liberty of Ireland. The figure is the
personification of eloquence.
Grattan spent his early life in Dublin, was admitted to the bar in 1773,
and entered parliament at the age of twenty-nine in 1775. He immediately
assumed the leadership of the opposition to the government, and it was
through his ability and able management that the king and the British
Parliament were compelled to give Ireland free trade and the
constitution in 1782. What was called "Grattan's parliament" lasted
nineteen years, and its activity was tremendous and comprehensive, and
the results may now be seen in every direction. It conferred innumerable
benefits upon the city of Dublin and upon the country at large. During
the nineteen years it was in session it made greater public improvement
than occurred in any single century before. It built the two greatest
edifices in Ireland,--the Four Courts and the customs house,--which are
beautiful examples of the classic school of architecture, and each cost
several millions of dollars. The Bank of Ireland was founded as the
financial agent of the government, but Grattan, when he moved its
establishment, little dreamed that it would store its gold and transact
its business in the very chamber where the act was passed. The Royal
Irish Academy was founded to promote "the study of science and polite
learning and antiquities." Three great hospitals were built; the College
of Physicians and Surgeons was incorporated and erected, a dignified and
stately building upon Stephen's Green. The commerce of the country was
developed and large warehouses and mercantile establishments were
erected to accommodate it. Many new manufactories were established.
Highroads were built in every direction, coach lines were inaugurated
to accommodate travel, and sailing packets to carry passengers and mails
across the sea. The canal was built, one hundred miles long, to bring
freight to the city. Penny post was introduced. The Guinness brewery was
developed, with a great profit to the proprietors, and began to send to
England the beer it had been selling for local customers for half a
century.
[Illustration: THE BANK OF IRELAND, DUBLIN]
Grattan was the leader of all this prosperity, and introduced many and
advocated all of the laws to encourage it. As an acknowledgment of his
services, Parliament voted him a gift of $250,000, which enabled him to
settle down as a country gentleman at a seat called "Tinnehinch," near
the town of Enniskerry, a few miles south of Dublin, near the
watering-place called Bray. The British government offered him the
viceregal lodge, now occupied by the lord lieutenant, in Phoenix Park;
but Grattan declined it, for fear the gift might be misinterpreted.
This period of self-government, which might be called "the golden age"
of Ireland, lasted nineteen years, when "Grattan's parliament" fell, as
so many other good things have fallen, because it became "vain of its
own conceit." It is not expedient, it is not wholesome, for the same
party to remain in control of affairs too long. Its members become
corrupt, extravagant, selfish, intolerant, and indifferent to the public
welfare, and Grattan's parliament acquired all of these faults. The
great leader--and he was one of the ablest political leaders that ever
came upon the theater of public affairs--was unable to control his
followers. They became restless, they favored measures that he could not
approve, and advocated a radical policy toward the British government
that he opposed with all his energy and eloquence.
He was soon displaced from leadership by the extremists, who demanded
absolute separation from England and encouraged the revolutions of 1798
and 1803. These movements were undoubtedly encouraged by the example of
the French Revolution, when the hot heads came into control. Ireland
burst into rebellion, which was put down with the utmost severity, and
William Pitt, Prime Minister of Great Britain, introduced the act of
union which was adopted by the Irish house through bribery, bulldozing,
and other disreputable measures.
Grattan was very ill, but, leaning on the shoulders of two friends, and
dressed in his old volunteer uniform, he entered the Irish house of
parliament, now the cash-room of the Bank of Ireland, and made the
greatest speech of his life. But he failed to change the destiny of his
country. He did not change a vote, and the bond which now binds Ireland
to Great Britain, and which the Irish people have been trying to
dissolve ever since, was passed against his vehement protests. If his
advice had been followed by the Irish parliament, if its members had
listened to his pleadings, the disturbances, the distress, the bloodshed
of a century would have been spared. William Pitt bought a majority of
the votes and paid for them with pensions, official positions, titles of
nobility, and other forms of reward.
The debate provoked a duel between Grattan and Correy, chancellor of the
exchequer. Shots were exchanged and Correy was wounded in the hand.
Grattan pronounced the funeral oration of the Irish parliament in the
words that are immortal:
"I do not give up my country," he said. "I see her in a swoon, but she
is not dead. Though in her tomb she lies helpless and motionless there
is upon her lips a spirit of life, and on her cheek a glow of beauty--
"'Thou art not conquered; beauty's ensign yet
Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks,
And death's pale flag is not advanced there.'"
It is true, as the man of the cemetery told us, that the burial place of
Robert Emmet is unknown. Many people believe that his body was given to
the surgeons of Trinity College after his execution, because if it had
been given to his friends they would have erected a monument to mark his
grave. No one of all the many people who admired and loved him has ever
been able to obtain a clew to its disappearance. It is a popular
belief, which the leaders of patriotic movements encourage, that the
burial place is known and will be disclosed, as the man at the cemetery
said, when the flag of freedom floats over "The Ould Sod," but there is
no good reason for such a romantic hope. Several of those who would be
informed if there were any foundation for such an expectation have told
me that it is all romance; that Emmet's grave has never been discovered
and probably never will be, because it doesn't exist.