" The father of
John Tyndall was an Orangeman and had in a glass case a bit of the flag
carried at the Battle of the Boyne.

It is believed, with reason, that the original flag had in it about ten
thousand square yards of material. Tyndale the Orangeman was of so
uncompromising a type that he occasionally arrested Catholics on general
principles, like the Irishman who beat the Jew under the mistaken idea
that he had something to do with crucifying "Our Savior." "But that was
two thousand years ago," protested the Jew. "Niver moind; I just heard
av it--take that and that!"

Zeal not wisely directed is a true Irish trait. It will not do to say
that the Irish have a monopoly on stupidity, yet there have been times
when I thought they nearly cornered the market. I once had charge of a
gang of green Irishmen at a lumber-camp.

I started a night-school for their benefit, as their schooling had
stopped at subtraction. One evening they got it into their heads that I
was an atheist. Things began to come my way. I concluded discretion was
the better part of valor, and so took to the woods, literally. They
followed me for a mile, and then gave up the chase. On the way home they
met a man who spoke ill of me, and they fell upon him and nearly pounded
his life out.

I never had to lick any of my gang: they looked after this themselves.
On pay-nights they all got drunk and fell upon each other--broken noses
and black eyes were quite popular. Father Driscoll used to come around
nearly every month and have them all sign the pledge.

That story about the Irishman who ate the rind of the watermelon "and
threw the inside away," is true. That is just what the Irish do. Very
often they are not able to distinguish good from bad, kindness from
wrong, love from hate. Ireland has all the freedom she can use or
deserves, just as we all have. What would Ireland do with freedom if she
had it? Hate for England keeps peace at home. Home rule would mean home
rough-house--and a most beautiful argument it would be, enforced with
shillalah logic. The spirit of Donnybrook Fair is there today as much as
ever, and wherever you see a head, hit it, would be home rule.
Donnybrook is a condition of mind.

If England really had a grudge against Ireland and wanted to get even,
she could not do better than to set her adrift.

But then the Irish impulsiveness sometimes leads to good, else how could
we account for such men as O'Connor, Parnell, John Tyndall