LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
THE CONVERSION OF IRISH FEELING.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—I have read Mr. Massey's letter in the Spectator of July 27th, and your comments upon it, and would ask, as an Irishman who has lived his whole life (now more than sixty- four years) in Ireland, to be allowed to say a word or two on the above subject. In the first place, I would like to know whom be (Mr. Massey) considers the representatives of "Irish feeling!' If he means the masses who are moved in whatever way the agitator drives them, then I can only say that what he considers a conversion is a mere change of front, by command of the Nationalist leaders, for the present political exigency, and has no solid foundation whatever. On Nationalist plat- forms there is much talk about English sympathy with Irish aspirations ; but we all know in Ireland how this is received and understood, and that the hostility to England is not one whit abated.
The chief danger in Home-rule arises from the fact that the Irish people are the most easily duped people on the face of the earth. I remember the time when one political imposture having been exposed, and the agitators proved to be mere self- seeking cheats, I, with many others, had hopes that our countrymen would have profited by the lesson, and turned a deaf ear to agitation for the future ; but no, the next impostor that posed as a patriot was listened to with just the same credulity, and the old game was played over again. Often has the painful, tantalising thought occurred to me, as it must have occurred to others whose lot is cast in Ireland, what a country it would have been if the energy and perseverance in political agitation, which has been the bane of our land, had been used by agitators, clerical and lay, in promoting loyalty, industry, and peace. But all hope in this direction having vanished, what we have now to do is to consider how order may be so preserved as to enable honest, loyal citizens to live a peaceable life in Ireland, as part of a great Empire, and what can be done to improve the condition of the country.
Do those holding Mr. Massey's views ever take one fact in the Irish Question into consideration,—namely, why it is that the great mass of those representing education and property in Ireland, whose lot it is to live there, particularly the pro- fessional and commercial classes, both Protestant and Catholic, whose livelihood depends upon the prosperity of the country, are such persistent opponents of Home-rule, and are panic- stricken at the thought of its becoming a fait accompli Let sober, thoughtful Englishmen try to square this fact with a belief in the beneficial effect of Home-rule, and I think they will find it much more difficult than any of the American puzzles which invite our ingenuity.—I am, Sir. &c., HiimuNicus.
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