AN AUSTRALIAN OPINION ON IRELAND.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—We in Australia look with grave concern upon the present woeful state of Ireland, and would gladly see some solution of the difficulty; and so perhaps a word from an Australian of the second generation without one drop of the hated English blood in his veins may do a little to help. I have had con- siderable experience of people of Irish blood. I have worked for them and they have worked for me, and we have always hit it off very well; but my experience is that the average Irishman, though ready of retort and of a quick wit, is want- ing in that tolerant sense of humour which keeps one from taking oneself or one's grievances too seriously. A moderate endowment of this most excellent gift kept the troubled crown of two Kingdoms upon the head of " the wisest fool in Christendom "; the lack of it cost his son, King Charles I., both his crown and his head.
It was well illustrated in that pathetically humorous apology of King Charles II. for being " such an unconscionable time a' dying." While its deficiency in King .Tames IL—in so many respects a better man—largely brought about the Revolution. Saddened homes all over the world bear testimony to the want of this most vital characteristic in a once great nation and its ruler, and one is forced to the conclusion that no people can ever continue great without it. Our King has it in full measure, and during his Australian tour all of us were struck with the kindly humour which enabled the Prince of Wales to turn many a ticklish situation into a pleasant experience.
This gift would have enabled our Irish friends to see through that famous bull of Pope Adrian IV., when in 1155 he bestowed his " apostolic benediction " upon the project of King Henry II. for the conquest of Ireland—" To declare the truth of the- Christian faith to ignorant and barbarous nations," as His Holiness put it (not, however, forgetting his pension of one penny from each house). As Rome sold Ireland in the twelfth century, so she would have in 1914, and so she would still sell Ireland, or any other nation for that matter, to the first despot who makes it worth her while. This, as we Australians say, is "dinkum," but when will Ireland open her eyes and see? I pray she may, and that she may strive to forget the old grievances which the most honest nation on earth has tried so hard to atone for. God save Ireland from
Previous page
