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Show Dotes Trom Ireland jj (Correspondence Inrermountain Catholic.) 6 Dublin. March 10, 1900. ' The electors of South Mayo haye 1 proven their wisdom, patriotism and I consistency by electin.gr at the poll Mr John O'Donnell, whom they had se- le.cted m their popular assembly. This II result is not in any sense a rebuff to MJor McBride, who, being engaged f.Shting against Britain in South Afri- , t-a, was unconscious of the liberty . taken with his name in nominating ; hlTn- Every man who voted for O'Don nell sympathizes with the Boers, and respects McBride for his courageous support of that brave people. Landlords Land-lords and land grabbers, who saw in the candidature of McBride a chance of Ftraining the resources of the United "SVe2SUe and dlv,dinff the National JanKS have, no doubt, voted for him vlule detesting both him and the Boor It is not Major McBride but they who have been beaten by six to on. nd it is not even they who are m?t to blame for this wanton content, and who ;Juu m,Ri enubbM by the iv-Bui. iv-Bui. but more unnatural prnfine Jationalis a. fresh from the ehambe? of reconciliation in London, who, after the ciergy and peoplo of the constituency constitu-ency had freely 8eleeted their eandi-date, eandi-date, played the enetmy's frame by re- : vi ling that candidate and urging the S election of an opponent who was not I a Position to repudiate their action. -these, the real authors of the content are the men who have ben boa ten Bv scandalous devices they induced a few ' extren?e Nationalists who have no faith in constitutional action of anv sort to canvass the constituency in the sup-pored sup-pored interest of McB.-ide. But the .irewd people of South Mayo, seeing that the attack was not fo much upon O'lwmnell as uim their organization and the National cause through it, have elected as their Parliamentary representative a man viho has worked FUtxres.ally and suffered imprisonment for them and for that organization. Mr. O'Donnell is a Mayo peasant's son. and us such may not be o highly "cultivated" "culti-vated" as some suspected place-hunt- I ci's, but he is a young man of consid- i erable natural talent, stainless charac ter, indomitable courage, tireless energy en-ergy and sterling patriotism. The near future promises abundant opportunities opportuni-ties upon which a young man so equipped may render good service to I Ireland. ! The truce recently effort ed in Lnn- oon among the seeriens of our Na-f Na-f lionallst miinbrrs of Parliament, till I then wrangling without cause, led soma I to hope, and all ho:Kt men to wish, for 1 mutual courtesy and co-operation ! among them. Two of the sections, I am proud to say, are loyally observing the terms of their truce, and by that simple means earning; the gratitude of j " every true Nationalist. Perhaps the I ordinary members of the third section also at well disposed: but. God help ihem, they have an extraordinary leader.- and he controls certain newspapers, i and thene two forces have displayed, j . if possible, greater want of decency and I more virulent unscrupulousness since j the truce, to which they are parties, ! than ever before. While professing unity, amity, reconciliation and every ; virtue of Christianity and of patriot- Ism, and even assuming, with the tongue In the check, a special championship cham-pionship of thone virtues, they persist J in jaunty gibes and insinuations as foul j as thiy know them to be false against , ; the most spotless characters in Irish public life. They stir frantically, and I do thlr utmost to rekindle the dying j embers of faction, and to renew all the i fhame and impotence, sin and sorrow, ; which faction breeds. Fortunately for the honor and peace of the country, the leader in question will soon have neither nei-ther party nor section, but only a family circle, to lead, and the news-' news-' papers he inspires are so restricted in circulation and in influence that I Should not dem them worthy mentioning mention-ing in these notes were it not that gome bishops and priests take them for the purjK)se, as it now appears. of warning their flocks against them. Referring to , these newspapers. Cardinal Logue. in j his Lenten Pastoral, says: i . "It must alf be confessed that, in the management of some of our lead-i lead-i ing heme journals, there is room for much more care and prudence than ha latterly been displayed. It is mnch to be desired that the claims of charity end good feeling should receixe greater consideration than haf generally been bestowed on them. Important public interests may often justify ctrong writing, and, in rare cases, even the censure of individual", though, in most cases, the censure would have more telling effect were It directed to the principles rather than to the persona t But the persistent pursuit and merci- i less abuse of individuals, even when f there in no adequate public interest to justify it. is hardly in keeping with I the dignity of respectable journalism; it is certainly not in keeping with the f demands of charily. 1 might even be X jus-.ined in going farther, and stating that it it-- a source of grave dlsedinca- tion and scandal. Purely such a course cannot be acceptable to the great body of readers. I rather think that, on opening their morning papers, they expect ex-pect smiething of more general interest in-terest and utility thin graphic ac-romriF ac-romriF of the shortcomings of this or that politician. There" is even a likelihood like-lihood that quiet people will fall back for their supply of news on papers with whose principles they have no sympathy, sym-pathy, rather than have their feelings daily harrowed by personal bickerings. t strikes me this state of things is . rpociaJly unfortunate at the present moment, when politicians are endeavoring endeav-oring to close up old wounds, to heal feuds which have wrought much mis-R mis-R chief to the country and to join in a fj united effort for the defense of her rights and the promotion of her inter- l CiH." , Dr. "Walsh, Archbishop of Dublin, pays: ' It is impossible to witness without "'. pain and humiliation the continued ! manifestations of open discord be- i tween public men of influence amongst 1 our ieople, exhibited in certain writ- i lrrgs in the public press of our city, with an utter disregard of the elemen- :' tary precepts of Christian charity." f I Owing to historical osus-es, Dublin ? lias never taken a leading part in na tional politics. One National movement ,; efter another has originated in the country; nd Dublin, instead of rous-i rous-i ty, organizing, and guiding the coun- S rry as its intelligence and manifold l facilities qualify it to do has waited to be itself roused and driven by the li roun-tr". There have been splendid in- dividual exceptions, but they only I prove the Tule as regards the whole ,? community. If the intellectual advan- f tares which a whole country contrib- i tucts to confer upon its metropolis im- Ti.ise unon that methopolis any recip- :J rocal obligation to the country, then I ij r do nvt hesitate to suy that the capital I of Ireland has never discharged its ob- ligation to the National cause. To lov- ers of fport and of things less worthy 1 itmay, perhaps, have done its duty; but 'i ' to lenere of their country, whether young or old. it has always been disap- 3 pointing. It neither supplies nor at-,( at-,( tempts to pupply the patriotic intellect 's tual ritirture which succepsive rising generation? require and have a right j to expect from it; nor h cf it furnish j them with ideate, inspiration or guid- 1 ance. As regards material support, the j . einews of war. when neeic l by the J man and the cause to whieh i! has bee n most ' effusively attached . n o most i deeply Tledged, Dublin h:is r.Wowcd it- e pelf to be surpassed in generosity by an obscure village. When funds are required re-quired for a patriotic purpose they have to be eought and obtained not from Dublin, where some of them must xiewfsorlly be spent, and which should on every ground sot an example in the matter, but from country villages and from Irish Nationalists in Belfast, London, Lon-don, and New York. Political and quasi-politk;al societies have originated in Dublin; but most of them died with- out extending beyond its walls, and all without bringing either credit or advantage ad-vantage to town or country. The advantage ad-vantage of being: the official capital of Ireland, and the consequential advantages ad-vantages of being the place physically easiest of access from all parts of the country and most convenient for business busi-ness and resMence, make Dublin, whether willing or not, the headquarters headquar-ters and center of action of everything National. It differs from all other places in that it may at any time, if it only will, take a foremost position in the National cause; and the country is always ready to accord it that position gladly and gratefully. A Dublin citizen who desires to enter public life can, caeteris paribus, do co with far more ease and far greater initial advantage than a man from any other part of Ireland. I rejoice to report that for once many Dublin citizens wm tired of playing an ignoble part and are die-posed die-posed to discharge their duty to the country without keeping it too long waiting. It is now frankly admitted by all that the species of political excitement ex-citement of which Dublin has been the focu these ten years has not been National Na-tional progress; that the only National organization now extant is the United Irish League; and that Dublin ought to make itself the heart and head of that organization. |