We fear there can be little doubt that the Roman
Church in Ireland, having quarrelled with Mr. Larkin, were anxious to see him punished and put out of the way. Again, the
Nationalist Party, partly because it always yields, and must yield, to the influence of the Roman Church, and partly because of the influence of the Dublin capitalists, some of whom are Nationalists, were also anxious to see Mr. Larkin sent to gaol—and to gaol he went. Perhaps it will be said that this was merely a coincidence, and that the real reason why the Government prosecuted was because they sincerely believed that law and order could not be maintained while Mr. Larkin was inciting to breaches of the peace. If that was so, why was he let out? The truth, we fear, is that he was prosecuted under Roman Catholic and Nationalist pressure, and let out because the Government found, to their surprise, that the pressure was stronger in the direction of letting him out than of keeping him in, and that they must obey their Pickwickian rule of always shouting with the biggest crowd. The whole incident is profoundly humiliating. Because a right thing was tardily done for wrong reasons, we are not going to rise up and call the Government blessed. At the same time, we are far from making a hero of Mr. Larkin. We hold him to be a dangerous demagogue, but that is no reason why he should be imprisoned on a trumped-up charge of lese-tnajeste.
Previous page
