SHAMROCK DAY. E NOUGH has not been said of the demonstration
of Saturday last, and especially of one side of it, the genuine friendliness which the English displayed towards everything Irish. This friendliness is constantly denied, especially by cultivated Irishmen, who fret under the cold hauteur which Englishmen display towards all peoples equally, but which Irishmen, even when not theipselves effusive, resent as specially directed against themselves. They are, in fact, an unprosperous division of the great English-speaking family, and apt to consider themselves treated as poor relations. They could hardly, however, have considered themselves so treated on St. Patrick's Day. Throughout the Empire, in Ottawa as in Calcutta, in Vancouver as in Melbourne, but especially in the capital — London, which is so vast that it can move only when its instincts are touched—there was a burst of glad recognition of the claim of Ireland to separate and peculiar honour. The national colour, the national emblem, the national flag of Ireland were visible everywhere, and were hailed everywhere with greetings of the kind which in this country are not made to order. It would have been so easy not to order shamrock by the hundred ton. That there is a distaste for the Irish character in this country we should be the last to deny, for the national characters are different, and the incurable defect of Englishmen is lack of sympathy for anything different, or even com- prehension of it ; but the distaste vanished for the time as if it had never existed. John felt as a brother, if not to Paddy, at least to Paddy's kinsman, Mulvaney. It is not true to say that the Queen did it all. Undoubtedly the Queen in her old age has an influence over the opinion as well as the conduct of her subjects which to those familiar with the history of her house seems little short of marvellous, but even her influence would not have produced such a result had there not been a national readiness to respond. The truth is the people, who, partly owing to the change introduced by deep-sea cables, have watched this war as they have never watched any war, were profoundly touched by the devotion and daring of the Irish regiments, reconsidered in a moment many pre- judices, and were delighted to be led by the Queen in expressing v'sibly their friendship for those whose conduct they so admired. They felt, as they themselves would have put it, " friendly " to all Irishmen for the sake of Irish soldiers, and rejoiced in the tact which enabled them, usually so inarticulate, to express their friendship in so unmistakable a way. The emotion may be evanescent, though men are slow to forget stories of derring-do, but that it flashed across the nation is proof sufficient that the dislike in which the Irish believe is but superficial, and might under favourable circumstances altogether disappear. It is a little difficult to love one's friends just after they have been saying they had rather be rid of you, but it is possible to appreciate their worth even then, and there is no foundation for liking better than full appreciation. That appreciation is just now so strong that it would of itself be fatal to Home-rule. It is the useless partner one lets go, not the partner whose aid in emergency is a rock of support.
Of English friendliness for Ireland as shown in the celebration of Shamrock Day we are certain, but it is more difficult to ascertain Irish feeling quite clearly. We detect a strong movement of surprise, and it is never easy to gauge feeling accurately until surprise has ceased. The Irish, we fear, and they were very excusable,-did not expect so full a. recognition of their separate claim to honour. They have always had an impression that when they did anything heroic the English said, " How well we beh‘ave," and when they did anything foolish, "How very Irish that is." They are perplexed, therefore, and half inclined to suspect a snare, which we can assure them it is quite beyond British wit to devise. Then in all nations we look to the popular leaders to express national feeling, and the popular leaders of the day in Ireland were chosen when feeling was bitter, they are bitter men, and they dread nothing more than a reconciliation, which might lead to their supersession. Few probably would declare with Mr. Dillon that the Irish and Scotch were sent to the front in South Africa in order to save English lives—a suggestion of more than Spanish malignity—but still there are irreconcilables who cannot bring themselves to approve even a cordial address to the Queen, though the fundamental tenet of their policy is that they are asking a separation of Parliaments, and not a severance of the two countries. These irreconcilables make themselves very audible in Town Councils and the like, and they have been so influential in the past that they have, we suspect, followers who by no means heartily agree with them. The irreconcilables may be few but prominent, as Mr. Redmond's gentlemanlike speech in Parliament, Mr. J. H. Parnell's friendly letter to the Daily Nation, the vote of the majority in the Dublin Council in favour of an address to the Queen, and the almost unanimous expression of pleasure from the Irish in the Colonies would seem to indicate. As the people have no means of expressing themselves clearly, it is hard for onlookers to decide for certain what they think ; but the weight of evidence is in favour of the view that most Celtic Irishmen are delighted with the valour of their countrymen without much reference to the occasion of its display, that they cordially approve its special recognition by the Queen and the .British people, but that they reserve their judgment as to the effect which British honour for Irish courage and devotion ought to have upon Irish politics. That means in prac- tice that they will pursue their old policy, but pursue it in a different temper. They will argue, in short, with the English, instead of cursing them. That is not a great advance, perhaps, towards reconciliation, but still it is some advance, more, perhaps, than it would be in some countries, because of the Irish character, with its in- stinctive craving for sympathy, and its peculiar pride. Irishmen when annoyed speak, especially on the plat- form and in print, with such violence and abandon that Englishmen, who associate dignity with calm, and are singularly indifferent to sympathy, often forget that they are dealing with one of the most sensitive of races, men who hunger for recognition as proof that they are comprehended and liked. The Irish have this recognition in all that has recently occurred in the fullest measure, and we are unable to believe that they are not gratified, or that they will refuse to conduct the secular controversy in a more temperate and reasonable spirit. The recognition of the national emblem, the Queen's visit, the creation of an Irish Guard, the cordial and special admiration expressed in England for Irish soldiers, —these things will not soothe away the desire for Home- rule, but they will soothe away the feeling that Home- rule would be delightful because it would be a defeat for the British. If that is true, that is much to have gained. Good comradeship is not love, but good comrades do not hate each other, and it is the possibility of their being good comrades who respect each other which was recog. nised certainly by the British, and we hope and believe by both sides, in the celebration of Shamrock Day. We can vouch for it that this was the feeling of Londoners, and it takes two to make a quarrel hot. It is unwise to attach too much importance to an episode in a war, lint still the episode has been a pleasant and a reassuring one.
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