The million-peopled city
Garwood, John
1853
Their Disloyalty.
"The Irishman's nationality depends upon his faith. If he is a Protestant, he is in his heart a subject of | |
268 | THE IRISH OF LONDON. . If a Roman Catholic, he has another allegiance, and owns an authority paramount to hers. The following is a quotation I have met with from the ' Tablet,' the organ of the Jesuits, respecting the feeling of the Irish Roman Catholics in their own land: |
"' It is strange to witness this new phase of the yearning wherewith for so many generations has turned her heart to , as to a place from whence cometh help. We believe of course that the danger of invasion is very much overrated, but the eye of the peasant glistens when the name of Louis Napoleon is mentioned, and his heart bounds when he hears of the coming empire, which in his mind is the inheritor, not merely of great victories and great deeds, but of hopes that have been nursed in the sad and sickly heart of his fathers, and have been handed down to him as a stern accompaniment of the anguish which eats into his heart, while with thin and wasted lips he murmurs, 'How long, O Lord, how long ?' Yes, these hopes (how could it be otherwise under the established rule?) are nourished in , and the day when the Vicar of Christ- if this too, as it seems probable is to happen-shall place the Imperial Crown upon the brow of the third Napoleon, and give him the benediction of the Church, will bring joy and exultation and hope to the down-trodden peasant of this land.' | |
"The ' Tablet' writes of the Irish in . But it is equally true, though not equally known, of the Irish in London. The Roman Catholic masses in the heart of this metropolis are bound by no tie of affectionate loyalty to our Queen and country. England is to them but a foreign land. They look on the Emperor of the French as the Protector of Romanism, and it would not grieve them to see him triumph over a nation of heretics. Such is the state of feeling of Irish Roman Catholics in London. But on the other hand, | |
269 | no sooner does an Irishman become a Protestant, than he becomes also loyal to his Queen, and attached to his country. From that moment he looks on his own interest and that of this nation as one, and he counts himself as much con- cerned in the safety and honour of England, as if he were an Englishman. I simply state the fact. It is one which would be confirmed by every one who knows the heart of the Irish in London. They belong to us nationally or not, as they belong to us religiously or not. The neglect of all effort, for centuries past, to lead these degraded masses into the light and liberty of the , has resulted in leaving, in the very heart of London, a population, living in the midst of us, but estranged from our religion, our laws, our manners, and our Government."[1] |
That disloyalty of the Irish which gives them a sympathy with a French Emperor rather than an English Queen is further illustrated in the following most remarkable quotation from the "Fifth Letter to the People of ," by a popular Romish Priest, who has recently been preaching much in London, the :- | |
"'Depend upon it that England has sapped her own foundations; depend upon me that is not settled, and that Europe owes England a grudge, which never will or can be forgiven. Be convinced that, if originated 100 Exhibitions, and that the London corporation dined, and slept, and lived with the French functionaries every day and night for 7 years-be convinced that after all this display of artful civilities there is not one Frenchman or one Frenchwoman, or one French child, who would not dance with frantic joy at the glorious idea of having an opportunity before they die of burying their eager swords and plunging the crimsoned French steel into the inmost heart of every man bearing the hated name of Englishman. Therefore, | |
270 | keep up your courage, and wait your opportunity in a strictly legal attitude, and England will be very soon in your power." |
It is still mope remarkable and deplorable that similar language to this has been addressed to the Irish very generally by the priests throughout London during the past year, in the pulpits of Romish Chapels. More, in fact, is expected by the poor Irish in London in general from the French than from the English, and the sympathy of the nation is more decidedly with than with England. | |
Such facts illustrate the truth of the remark of the "Times" on ,--"We very much doubt whether in England, or indeed in any free Protestant country, a true Papist can be a good subject. But if all this had been avowed some years ago, the opportunities of Popery would never have been what they are." | |
Footnotes: [1] Garratt's "Irish in London," pp. 203-4. |