HORIZONTAL PILLARS, GIANT’S CAUSEWAY.
Science attempts to explain the Causeway by saying that, when the rock was in a fluid state, crystalization set in, and produced the phenomenon. It is claimed that the Palisades of the Hudson are a somewhat similar formation. On account of the fact that rocks do not naturally crystalize, however, the Causeway still remains the puzzle of the scientist.
The scenery along the coast near the Causeway is sublime, and there is a walk along the face of the cliff, which I found almost as dangerous as aeroplaning. I found Mr. O’Neill a charming companion, and I thoroughly enjoyed his society. After we had talked of the Causeway, our conversation drifted to the subject of Ireland’s history. Naturally, this was a subject dear to his heart. He gave me a brief epitome of Irish history which was new to me. Irish history begins with St. Patrick in the fifth century of our era. St. Patrick evangelized the Irish, and, as a result of his labors, Ireland was the land of saints and scholars during the period between the sixth and tenth centuries. The Danes, who settled around the coasts of Ireland, broke up this peaceful prosperity. Schools were demolished and the students scattered. Brian Boru brought back a brief period of glory to Irish history by uniting the Irish under his able sway. He defeated the Danes in a decisive battle at Clontarf, near Dublin, in 1014, but he lost his life at the close of that fatal day. Ireland was left rudderless again. The petty chiefs quarrelled amongst themselves, and in 1170 the English came over and claimed Ireland. The struggles of the Irish for political freedom have been pathetic. The native Irish were often treated as the Indians were by the white men in America, but with this vital exception. In America the Indian quietly died out, and gave not trouble. In Ireland, the Irish lived, multiplied, and filled Ireland with Irishmen. The real estate deals made in Irish land by several of England’s rulers left a bad taste in the mouths of the Irish. In 1641, taking advantage of England’s Civil War, the Irish rose against the English and Scotch colonists in Ireland with terrible fury. In 1649 Cromwell reduced Ireland again to English rule, treating the natives with savage ferocity. Another rebellion arose in 1689, when James II. was driven from the English throne by William III. James came to Ireland and the Irish rose in his favor. William III. again conquered the Irish. Thus the history has gone on. Laws of fearful severity were enacted, and the native Irish, for almost a century, were outcasts in the land of their forefathers.
Mr. O’Neill was a great admirer of Daniel O’Connell. He told me that a new era began for Ireland when Daniel O’Connell, with the assistance of English statesmen, took off some of Ireland’s heaviest burdens. “I believe,” said Mr. O’Neill, with great earnestness, “that since Gladstone’s time, England has been trying to do justice to Ireland.”
He assured me that the Irish had never acknowledged that England had conquered them. He told me about an English schoolboy who was asked to write an essay on the “Conquest of Ireland,” and he began: “The Conquest of Ireland began in 1170, and is still going on.”
I was much impressed with the way O’Neill recited to me the history of his country. Sometimes tears came into his eyes. He quoted, with much feeling, a few lines from an Irish poet:
“Of old the harp of Innisfail
Was turned to gladness,
But, Oh! how oft it’s told a tale