man's religion a
mile off, so to speak. Only let me see him at work in a field. His
religion comes out in his action. A Papist never works hard. He seems
to be always doing as little as ever he can. Then he's very much
surprised to find himself so poor, when the hard-working Protestant is
getting on. Presently the Black-mouth gets a farm, while the other
remains a labourer. Then the agitator comes round and says, 'Look how
heretic England favours Protestants. _You_ are the children of the
soil, but who has the farms?' 'Begorra,' says Michael, 'an' that's
thrue, bedad it is now,' and thenceforward he cherishes a secret
animosity against the successful man, instead of blaming his own want
of industry. That's human nature. So he votes for Home Rule, for
anything that promises the land to himself, as the son of the soil. He
looks on the other man as an interloper, and his priest encourages
that view. That is their feeling, as they themselves express it every
day, and are we to believe against the evidence of our senses that
when they have the power to injure us, to drive us out of the country,
by making it too hot to hold us--are we to believe that they will not
exert their power, but on the contrary, will treat us considerably
better than before? That is what English Home Rulers ask us to
believe. That is what Irish Nationalist speakers say in England: they
would be laughed at here. Do not trust these men. They are what the
Scripture calls 'movers of sedition'--and nothing better."

After some search I found a fine young Parnellite, who roundly
denounced the clergy of his own faith as enemies of their country. He
said:--"I _was_ a Home Ruler, but although I hold the same opinion in
theory, I would not at this juncture put it into practice. I am
convinced that it would be bad for us. We are not ripe for
self-government. We want years of training before we could govern
ourselves with advantage. The South Meath election petition finally
convinced me. When I saw how ignorance was used by the clergy for the
furtherance of their own ends, I decided that we were not yet
sufficiently educated to be entrusted with power; and if Home Rule
were now offered to us, and the Home Rule that we ourselves have
advocated, I for one would dread to accept it. We must serve an
apprenticeship to the art of self-government. We must have a Local
Government Bill, and see how we get on. Then it can from time to time
be made larger and more liberal