year 1185 was translated with great solemnity to Downpatrick, attended
by the pope's legate, fifteen bishops, and a great number of clergy. Her
head was carried to the convent of Neustadt, Austria, and in 1587 was
removed to the Church of the Jesuits in Lisbon.
St. Columba, or St. Columbkill, died while kneeling before the altar of
his church on the Island of Iona, a little after midnight, Jan. 9, 597.
He was originally buried in his monastery, and his body was removed to
Downpatrick the same year as that of St. Bridget.
XIV
THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT
The Sinn Fein movement (pronounced "shinn fane") which promised so much
is not making great progress. Some of its principles are admirable, and
from a sentimental standpoint appeal to the patriotism of every
Irishman, but the management is in the hands of impractical amateurs who
have antagonized the Roman Catholic church, and that would be fatal to
any movement in Ireland or any other country where three-fourths of the
population profess that faith and the priesthood are as powerful as in
Ireland. Furthermore, the young men who are directing affairs have gone
into politics and have attempted to buck against the nationalist party,
which controls three-fourths of the Irish vote. For these reasons the
movement has suffered a setback, and it is doubtful whether it will ever
recover the impetus it acquired two or three years ago. If it had been
kept out of politics and out of religion like the Gaelic League, for
example, which is aiming at a portion of the same objects, it might have
done an immense amount of good. The leaders are earnest but
inexperienced; they are long on ideas but short on common sense, and
have more principles than votes, as has been illustrated at recent
elections in Ireland. The leaders of the national party, bearing the
scars of many political contests and familiar with all the tricks of
their trade, regard the Sinn Fein advocates as enthusiastic schoolboys
and play with them as a mastiff plays with a puppy.
The Sinn Feiners have formally demanded that the nationalist party shall
abandon its present policy and adopt their platform--a proposition which
its leaders consider very amusing, but when you can persuade them to
discuss it seriously they say that they have accomplished too much and
are too near the goal of home rule to abandon the present programme and
adopt one that is new and untried.
Sinn Fein means "for ourselves," and those two Celtic words describe the
policy and the purpose of the organization. It demands that Ireland
stand alone and work out her salvation by her own efforts, absolutely
boycotting the British government, which they declare is the only enemy
of Ireland and the cause of all the evils and the ills that afflict the
Irish people. It is an imitation of the policy adopted by Ferencz Deák
in the contest with Austria for Hungarian independence from 1849 to
1867. He organized a vast movement of passive resistance. Under his
leadership the Hungarians refused to pay taxes unless levied and
collected by their own officials; they refused to send Hungarian
representatives to the imperial parliament; they built up an educational
and administrative system of their own, and in less than twenty years
achieved practical independence for Hungary, the right to make their own
laws and administer their own government. The chief weapon was a
national boycott, and it was successful.
In 1903 a young newspaper man named Arthur Griffith conceived the idea
of applying the Hungarian policy to Ireland and boycotting the British
government. He wrote a good deal for the newspapers, went around the
island holding public meetings, organizing local societies, appealing to
the patriotic sentiments of the young men of the country, and started a
weekly newspaper as an organ of the cause. At first it was understood
that the Sinn Feiners would abstain from politics like the Gaelic
League, but the refusal of the politicians to join or assist them
provoked animosities, and in retaliation the Sinn Feiners nominated
candidates for several offices, who were in sympathy with them. This
developed a positive contest, the Sinn Fein movement was placed under
the ban by the Irish parliamentary leaders and soon became an
independent political party.
A similar collision occurred with the Roman Catholic church chiefly
because the ardent young leaders did not consult the priests and obtain
the indorsement of the hierarchy, which might have approved the
programme with some revision. The misunderstanding was allowed to grow
until now the Sinn Feiners are under the ban of the church as well as
that of the United Irish League and the parliamentary party, and the
opposition of those three powers cannot be overcome or even resisted.
Therefore the movement is doomed to failure. Nevertheless, the Sinn
Feiners have succeeded in electing several of their number to office on
their own platform. They now have twelve out of eighty members of the
Dublin common council and board of aldermen, and in other cities of
Ireland they have representatives in official positions. Not long ago
they nominated a candidate for the House of Commons in the North Leitrim
district, notwithstanding the fact that the first plank in their
programme demands the complete boycott of the British parliament. It was
an Irish bull and naturally excited much ridicule, but the Sinn Feiners
succeeded in polling 1,100 out of a total of 6,000 votes, which was a
great deal more than any one expected.
Some time ago the national council of the party devised a scheme for
raising money to establish a daily newspaper. They printed and offered
for sale very pretty postage stamps and asked everybody to buy them and
place them on their letters in addition to the portrait of King Edward,
which is required by act of parliament. It was a fatal error, because it
was an absolute failure and disclosed the weakness of the movement and
the insincerity of its members. I am told that less than five per cent
of the stamps printed were ever disposed of.
Some of the propositions in the programme of the Sinn Fein party, as I
have already said, appeal very strongly to the patriotism of the Irish
people; others are so fantastic as to destroy confidence in the judgment
of its leaders. For example, they issued an urgent appeal to the
newspapers and to the public to use no paper or stationery except of
Irish manufacture, which might have been to the advantage of the country
if there were any paper mills in Ireland. Again, they advocate Irish
ownership of all public utilities. They want Irish capitalists to buy up
the stock of all the railways and street car lines and other public
enterprises and employ none but Irishmen in their administration, which
might be done if there were a good deal more capital in the country; but
as long as the Irish people are too poor to pay for the stock, it would
seem a little premature for them to undertake to carry out the Sinn Fein
recommendations.
The first plank in the programme of the Sinn Fein platform is a national
Irish legislature endowed with moral authority to enact laws and
recommend policies for the adoption of the Irish people. This
legislature is to be composed of the members of the county councils, the
poor-law boards and harbor boards of all Ireland, to sit twice a year in
Dublin, and to form a _de facto_ Irish parliament. Associated with and
sitting with this body would be the present Irish members of the House
of Commons and their successors representing the constituencies as at
present defined. Before taking this step, however, it is proposed that
the Irish members of the House of Commons should make a dramatic
demonstration in parliament, to emphasize the significance of their
retirement. They are to rise in their seats and formally decline any
longer to confer on the affairs of Ireland with foreigners in a foreign
city.
Among other functions of the proposed Irish legislature shall be the
assessment of a tax of one penny to the pound--that is, two cents for
every five dollars' worth of property--without regard to present
taxation, and thus acquire a fund "to serve and strengthen the country
in bringing about the triumph of the Sinn Fein policy." This fund would
be used in the payment of bounties to develop Irish industries, to
establish libraries of Irish literature and museums of arts and
antiquities; to establish gymnasiums for the physical training of the
young people and schools for their moral training and discipline and
instruction in Irish history.
The first laws to be passed by the legislature would exclude all goods
of English manufacture from Ireland, prohibit the use of foreign
articles by the government, forbid the appointment of any but natives of
Ireland to public positions, withhold support from newspapers which
publish emigration advertisements, require the study of the Celtic
language in all the schools for certain hours and prepare text-books so
that no other language would be necessary in instruction, raise the
standard of wages among workingmen, increase their proficiency by
technical instruction, develop the resources and industries of the
country, and extend the area of tilled soil and the planting of forests.
After having accomplished these objects the Irish legislature, according
to the programme of the Sinn Fein, should establish a national
university, open and free to the poor as well as the rich, with none but
Irish instructors and the Celtic language substituted for the English.
Next a union of manufacturers and farmers for co-operation, both
pledging themselves to use none but Irish goods and products so far as
possible. In cases where an Irish manufacturer cannot produce an article
as cheaply as it is produced in England or other countries he is to be
paid a bounty or protected by a tariff similar to that which has
advanced the prosperity of the mechanical industries of the United
States.
The next step is to establish an Irish mercantile marine similar to that
of Scotland and Norway. Ireland has no steamers; Scotland has many and,
according to the Sinn Feiners, there is no reason why there should not
be as large a fleet sailing from that country.
It is proposed to establish an independent consular service of Irishmen
in the principal capitals and commercial centers of the world where a
market may be found for Irish produce. These consuls are to act
independently of the regular representatives of Great Britain and devote
themselves entirely to Irish interests.
The proposed parliament shall take immediate steps to plant trees all
over the island, which, it is asserted, will result in raising the mean
temperature at least four degrees and thus render the soil doubly
fruitful. The tree planting is to be done under the direction of the
poor-law boards, which are to employ the inmates of the poor-houses so
far as their physical condition will permit, in planting, watering, and
looking after the young trees.
The parliament is to establish national courts of law entirely
independent of the present courts which are to be entirely boycotted by
the people. It is declared to be the duty of every Irishman to submit
all disputes to the arbitration of his neighbors who are to serve
without pay. The national courts are to be composed of the justices of
the peace already elected by the people, who shall sit outside the
regular legal hours and terms of court, so as to avoid complications.
A national stock exchange is to be established which shall deal only in
Irish securities, and a system of banks which shall limit their dealings
to natives of Ireland and encourage the transfer of the $250,000,000 of
Irish money alleged to be now deposited in the English banks and
invested in English securities, to Irish banks and Irish securities, and
to encourage its investments in active industries and public works, to
develop the resources of Ireland and to give employment to Irish labor.
One of the principal planks in the Sinn Fein platform is to boycott the
British army and navy. It is asserted that Ireland supplies more
fighting men for the British empire than England; that 354 Irishmen out
of every 10,000 of its population are British soldiers, while only 276
out of every 10,000 in England go into the army. If the Irish would
refuse to enlist it would paralyze the military service of the empire,
and deal a serious blow to British prosperity by drawing a large number
of the employees of the shops and factories into the army and navy.
Another form of boycott recommended is for all Irishmen to refuse
appointments in the British civil service and the constabulary on the
theory that every Irishman who accepts employment from the British
government takes up arms against Ireland and becomes the active enemy of
his country, "being employed to keep a hostile country up, and to keep
his own country down."
A plank in the platform in which we are directly interested advocates an
invitation of the natives of Ireland in America to invest their money in
the development of Irish industries and resources. It says: "There are
in the United States to-day thirty Irishmen or men of Irish blood whose
names on a cheque would be good for £50,000,000. Few of these men take
any public part in affairs, but all of them profess in private a desire
to help Ireland. We invite them as men of business to undertake a work
which will be mutually profitable to themselves and to Ireland."
These propositions are embodied in a manifesto which has been printed
and widely circulated throughout Ireland to explain the purpose of the
Sinn Fein movement, and they have attracted a large number of active
adherents to the cause and many silent sympathizers. But, as you may
imagine, some of them do not appeal very strongly to practical men. If
the Sinn Feiners had undertaken to do less, had kept out of politics and
had avoided the enmity of the church they might have become a powerful
and useful agency in promoting Irish industries and stimulating Irish
patriotism, but the leaders have gone too far to retrace their steps.
They cannot retract the unkind words they have said about the Irish
parliamentary party or their bitter criticism of the interference of the
bishops and the priests. It would be fatal for them to amend their
programme by omitting the impractical portions. Hence it is not probable
that the movement will gain much strength in the future, and, indeed, it
is already on the decline.
XV
THE NORTH OF IRELAND
The traveler from the south or west enters a zone of prosperity when he
comes within forty miles of Belfast. The northern counties look like an
entirely different world. The beautiful rolling landscape, with an
occasional grove and flowering hedges, is similar to the rest of the
east coast of the island, but the farms are larger and more thoroughly
cultivated; very little of the land is given up to grazing, few cattle
are seen, but fields of grain, flax, potatoes, turnips, and other
vegetables take the place of pastures, and the large farmhouses are
surrounded by well-kept gardens and big barns. There are no more filthy
one-room cabins, with manure piles in front of the doors, and few signs
of poverty or neglect. The people live in two-story houses and sleep in
beds instead of on the mud floors; they have cook stoves and ranges
instead of boiling their food in pots over a peat fire out of doors.
There are no barefooted women; none with blankets over their heads.
Every one seems to be well dressed and to have a pride of appearance as
well as habits of neatness and bears evidences of comfortable
circumstances. Tall chimneys rise from the centers of the towns. We see
large factories in every village and square miles of linen cloth spread
out upon the turf to bleach.
The north of Ireland is as different from the rest of the country as New
England is from Alabama, and there is a corresponding difference in the
character of the people. They are not so genial and gentle and obliging
in the North; they are not so poetic, but are more practical, and they
are looking out for themselves. The manners of the people of Belfast
are said to be the worst in the world. They are often offensive in their
brusqueness and abruptness, and a stranger is sometimes repelled by
their gruff replies. The Belfasters make no pretensions to politeness,
and speak their minds with a plainness and directness that are sometimes
disagreeable. But they have a reputation for honesty, enterprise,
industry, and morality, which they consider virtues of greater
importance and of a higher value than the art of politeness.
There is a series of beautiful villages and towns along the coast south
of Belfast, and one of them is called Rosstrevor because a gentleman by
the name of Ross married an heiress by the name of Trevor, a younger
daughter of the Viscount of Dungan. It is situated upon a height, with a
background of wooded hills, plentifully sprinkled with villas. The
village shows evidence of the fostering care of its late owner, Sir
David Ross, and its present owner, Sir John Ross-of-Bladensburg, who is
commissioner of police for Ireland, and is a person of great importance
in his own estimation as well as that of others. He takes an active part
in political and ecclesiastical affairs and is always occupying a front
seat when anything is going on. He signs himself John Ross of
Bladensburg, because his grandfather, Major General Ross, commanded the
British troops at the battle of Bladensburg, and after one of the most
bloody and important conflicts in the history of human warfare he led
them triumphantly into the capital of the United States and destroyed
the palace of the President, the parliament house, and the navy yard!
All this and more appears in the much published biographies of the Ross
family, and because of the glory thus acquired they added the word
"Bladensburg" to their name when they were elevated to a baronetcy.
[Illustration: ROSSTREVOR HOUSE, NEAR BELFAST, THE RESIDENCE OF SIR JOHN
ROSS OF BLADENSBURG]
The Ross family have erected an obelisk to the memory of their famous
ancestor upon a promontory above the sea at Rosstrevor, and have
inscribed upon it the following epitaph:
The Officers of a Grateful Army,
Which, Under the Command of the Lamented
MAJOR GENERAL ROBERT ROSS,
Attacked and Defeated the American Forces
at Bladensburg on the 24th of August, 1814,
And on the Same Day
Victoriously Entered Washington,
The Capital of the United States,
Inscribe Upon This Tablet
Their Admiration of His Professional Skill
And Their Esteem for His Amiable
Private Character.
There are three other inscriptions of similar purport, one on each face
of the pedestal. General Ross, it appears, is buried in Halifax.
Belfast is the center of a great manufacturing district. Each factory is
surrounded by groups of neat two-story brick cottages, with gardens,
churches, schoolhouses, and shops, which are very different from the
rest of Ireland, and are similar to those in the suburbs of
Philadelphia. Belfast ranks high among the manufacturing cities of the
world. It is proud of the title of "The Chicago of Ireland." The people
are as boastful of their progress, their wealth, and their prosperity as
those of its namesake. But for the strong Scotch accent one might
imagine himself in Kansas City, Seattle, or Los Angeles because of their
civic pride. Every man you meet tells you that a hundred years ago
Belfast had only fifteen thousand population, while to-day it has nearly
four hundred thousand; that its wealth has doubled six times in the last
twenty-five years; that it has the largest shipyards, the largest
tobacco factory, the largest spinning mills, and the largest rope walk
in the world. When they take you up on the side of a high mountain and
show you a view of the city spread out on both sides of the River Lagan,
they defy you to count the chimneys and the church spires, which are as
numerous as the domes of Moscow. Belfast is the most prosperous place
in Ireland and an example of matchless concentration of power, industry,
and ability.
The people have good ground for their vanity, and while their claims are
somewhat exaggerated, few cities have so much to boast of. One of the
shipyards has produced more than four hundred ocean steamers, another
built the first turbine that ever floated on the ocean, and together
they employ fifteen thousand hands. The machine shops of Belfast are
also famous. They provide spinning and weaving machines for all the
linen mills in the world, and ship them even to the United States. The
engines, boilers, and other machinery that is turned out from the shops
of Belfast are shipped to every corner of the world, and the product of
the linen factories' trade now amounts to more than sixty million
dollars a year. The largest mill covers five acres, with 60,000
spindles, 1,000 looms, and more than 4,000 hands. A single tobacco firm
pays $4,000,000 in taxes every year and a distillery has an annual
output of $7,500,000.
Belfast has sixteen factories for the production of ginger ale,
lemonade, soda, and other aërated waters, which are famous the world
over. It manufactures agricultural implements and machinery for every
kind of industry, and much of the machinery is the invention of its own
citizens.
Belfast is no relation to the rest of Ireland. It is a Scottish town,
and most of the people are of Scotch ancestry--all except the lowest
class of labor, which has drifted in from the neighboring counties. The
city lies at the head of a bay, or lough, as they call it there, nine
miles long. The headlands at the mouth of the bay are only eighteen
miles from the shores of Scotland, which may be seen very plainly on a
clear morning.
The shortest distance between Ireland and Scotland is only twelve and
three-quarter miles--between Torrhead and the Mull of Kintyre. The
shortest practicable crossing, between Larne, a few miles north of
Belfast, and Stranraer, Scotland, is thirty-nine miles, and is made in
two hours by steamer. The crossing from Belfast is sixty-four miles, and
it is five hours to Glasgow. There are steamers several times a day--in
the morning, afternoon, and at night--and the largest part of the
business as well as the sympathies of the people are with the Scots.
Since the tunnel under the Hudson River has been completed between New
York and Hoboken, the plan for an "under sea railway" between Larne and
Port Patrick has been revived. The engineers have reported that they can
make a tunnel from Ireland to Scotland, less than forty-five miles, one
hundred and fifty feet below the sea level, at a cost of $60,000,000,
and some day, perhaps, it will be possible to cross by train under the
Irish Channel, rather than by boat over it.