“All domestic differences shall be examined, and if possible decided within the College.... He who brings another into Court, without the consent of the Provost and the majority of the Senior Fellows, shall be expelled from the College.”
It is in every particular like the Motu proprio of which Mr. Campbell spoke, in a Catholic city and country, as “an arrogant and insolent decree” which “aims a deadly blow at the sanctity and security of property.” I do not believe that he was conscious of the offensiveness of his words. But such has been the fruit and habit of Protestant privilege in Ireland. Some, even men of position and education like Mr. Campbell, remain as if unconscious that the “old order changes.” They fail to fit themselves into the change which a century has made; and “If in the green wood they do these things, what shall be done in the dry?” Catholics, whilst they have their own thoughts about the constitutions and rules of other Religious Bodies than theirs, do not meddle with or question them. The Ne temere Decree and the Motu proprio are, as I have explained, for the discipline of us Catholics exclusively. We do not seek for them the approval of outsiders. But we cannot help thinking that the diatribes to which we have been subjected in connection with those two Pontifical Acts have been inspired rather by political and social jealousy than by a spirit of toleration or love of fair play. I hope that most non-Catholics who read what I have written will be disposed to agree with me.
(IV) Some Protestant Views.
(1) A Church Of Ireland View. By Canon Courtenay Moore, M.A.
It is under a deep sense of both privilege and responsibility that I contribute this article—of privilege because I feel very sensibly the honour done me in asking me to write it—and of responsibility because of the service it may or may not prove to be. A word about myself may be pardoned and may not be inappropriate.
I should know something about Ireland, as I was born in Ulster, in which province I lived for seventeen years, and naturally I then and there learned to know something of the manners and customs and feelings of Ulstermen. From Ulster I migrated to Leinster, where I spent eight years in the city of Dublin, six of these years in the University of Dublin, in which ancient seat of learning I was for four years a student in Arts, and for two in the Divinity School. On my ordination in 1865, I entered on clerical life in the Diocese of Cloyne, County of Cork; in which diocese I have remained ever since for the long period of close on forty-seven years. Therefore I say I ought to know something of Ireland and the Irish question; having been born in Ireland and having lived so long in it in three out of the four provinces. Moreover, I have been a regular student of Irish history, to some extent of the Irish [pg 450] language, and of Irish Archæology, and, as an Irish Antiquary, I have seen much of my native land in each and every Province. Strangers seem to think it very easy to make up their mind on the Irish question—you have only to take a return-ticket from Euston to Killarney, or from Paddington to Rosslare and the thing is done! I once heard His Grace Dr. Healy, the Archbishop of Tuam, tell a story about the way to acquire an English accent. He said that a certain Dublin Alderman, with a fine Dublin brogue, crossed from Kingstown to Holyhead; the passage was a rough one; there was much of “the wonderful up-and-down motion, that comes from the treacherous ocean.” So much indeed that the poor alderman lay sick in his berth in Holyhead harbour, and returned in the same boat without landing. But—“lo and behold you, sir,” as we say in Ireland—he came home with a fine English accent, which he never lost in later life! Well, some English visitors seem to have the same impression about the rapidity and facility with which they can make up the Irish question. “God help them” is all one can say. I am really not jesting or romancing at all! Within the present week an English literary lady called on me to interview me. Unfortunately I was out at the time, but she left a message to the effect that “she was going to write a book on Ireland,” and wished to talk to me about it! She had only been in the country a few days when she came to this conclusion! This reminds me of the story of a certain English nobleman who, when making the grand tour of Europe, found himself at Rome. He had an interview with the Pope of the period. He asked him could he see and know Rome in a few days time? The Pope replied: “You will imagine you know a good deal of it by that time.” “Well in a few weeks?” “You will then know less.” [pg 451] “In a few months?” “Still less.” “In a few years?” “Hardly anything at all.”
Well, is not this a parallel for the Irish question? It requires the study of a life-time almost to grapple with it at all—at least in any fairly satisfactory and complete form—in any really candid and impartial way. I may perhaps be permitted to say that another educational force in my own training on the subject has been, that I love intensely the country and the people. Froude opens his charming essay “A Fortnight in Kerry” thus:
“We have heard much of the wrongs of Ireland, the miseries of Ireland, the crimes of Ireland; every cloud has its sunny side; and, when all is said, Ireland is still the most beautiful island in the world, and the Irish themselves, though their temperament is ill-matched with ours, are still amongst the most interesting of peoples.”
This affectionate feeling should not be left out of consideration by outsiders who wish to understand the Irish Question. It has exercised an undying and indestructible influence upon the people of the country, and in certain respects a most beneficial influence. For example, many outsiders foolishly imagine that Irishmen are very volatile and variable; in some minor respects they may be, but in the main, no—it is absolutely otherwise. Can you find in the history of any other country greater fidelity to her own religious and political ideals than Ireland has shown over and over again—as we say “ever and always?”