Transcriber's Note:
The original book for this e-text is full of inconsistent hyphenation, punctuation and capitalization, which has been preserved. This e-text contains Irish dialect, with unusual spelling.
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.For a complete list, please see the end of this document.
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IRELAND AS IT IS
AND AS IT WOULD BE
UNDER HOME RULE.
SIXTY-TWO LETTERS
WRITTEN BY THE
SPECIAL COMMISSIONER
OF THE
BIRMINGHAM DAILY GAZETTE,
Between March and August, 1893.
With Map of Ireland showing the places visited.
BIRMINGHAM:
BIRMINGHAM DAILY GAZETTE COMPANY, LIMITED, HIGH STREET.
LONDON:
47, FLEET STREET, E.C.
PRINTED BY
THE BIRMINGHAM GAZETTE CO., LTD.,
52 AND 53, HIGH STREET,
BIRMINGHAM.
SPECIAL COMMISSIONER'S PREFACE.
Irish Loyalists will not soon forget the early part of 1893. Arrivingin Dublin in March, it at once became evident that the industrialcommunity regarded Home Rule, not with the academical indifferenceattributed to the bulk of the English electorate, but with absolutedismay; not as a possibility which might be pleasantly discussedbetween friends, but as a wholly unnecessary measure, darklyiniquitous, threatening the total destruction of all they held dear.English lukewarmness was hotly resented, but the certainty thatEngland must herself receive a dangerous if not a mortal wound, wasscant comfort to men who felt themselves on the eve of a hopelessstruggle for political, nay, even for material existence. This wasbefore the vast demonstrations of Belfast and Dublin, before thememorable function in the Albert Hall, London, before the hundreds ofspeakers sent forth by the Irish Unionist Alliance had visitedEngland, spreading the light of accurate knowledge, returning toIreland with tidings of comfort and joy. The change in public feelingwas instant and remarkable. Although from day to day the passage ofthe Bill through the Commons became more and more a certainty, theIrish Unionists completely discarded their fears, resuming theirnormal condition of trust and confidence. Mr. H.L. Barnardo, J.P., ofDublin, aptly expressed the universal feeling when he said:—
"We have been to England, and we know three things,—that the Bill[iv]will pass the Commons, that the Lords will throw it out, and that theEnglish people don't care if they do."
This accounted for the renewed serenity of the well-doing classes,whose air and attitude were those of men thankful for having narrowlyescaped a great danger. The rebound was easily observable in citieslike Dublin and Belfast, where also was abundantly evident the placid