there deliberately
butchered in cold blood. How many perished it is impossible to say;
the number must have been at the least 400.

I would willingly pass over this dreadful episode. I have no more
desire to dwell on it than I have on Cromwell's conduct at Drogheda.
I regard it merely as one of those terrible incidents which alas have
taken place in almost every campaign. It was probably equalled in
character if not in magnitude by several outrages committed by the
other side; and certainly parallels could be found in the French
invasion of Algeria fifty years later and in many other wars of the
nineteenth century. When men have been fired with the diabolical
passions that war arouses, and have grown accustomed to the ghastly
sights on battlefields, they cease to be reasoning beings; they become
fiends. But unfortunately it is necessary to explain what really
occurred, as it is to Vinegar Hill and its terrible associations that
the Nationalists of to-day refer with triumph. Songs in praise of the
massacre are sung at Nationalist gatherings; and W. Redmond, speaking
at Enniscorthy (close to the scene of the massacre) on the 110th
anniversary of the outrages said: "The heroic action of the men who
fought and died around Vinegar Hill was the heritage of all Ireland.
Whatever measure of comparative freedom we now enjoy was entirely
attributable to the Insurrection of '98. It was the pikemen of '98 who
made the world and England understand that Irishmen knew how to fight
for their rights, and it is to the knowledge of that fact by England
that we may look for the real driving force of any effort we may make
for our liberty. The Irish people are in no position to resort to
arms, but the spirit is there, and by demonstrations like this we show
our rulers that it is essential for any real and lasting peace that
the aspirations of the patriots of '98 must be satisfied, and that a
full measure of National freedom must be granted to Ireland."

(It will be observed that in the opinion of this orator--a prominent
Nationalist Member of Parliament, who was selected to go round the
Colonies collecting money for the Home Rule cause--the possession of
an Independent Parliament, of everything in fact short of separation,
goes for nothing; it is only those who rebelled against that
Parliament who are to be regarded as models for modern Nationalists to
follow. It is interesting also to note the different views which have
been put forward