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Show The Orange Society's Decadence. Ex-Attache in the Boston Transcript has a sketch of the Orange society which Eays, among other things: "In some respects the Orange society differs from other secret political societies socie-ties in Europe. For the Orangeman is a religious fanatic first and a politician afterward. Everything is subordinated by him to maintaining Protestant ascendancy as-cendancy and to prevent the spread of the power and influence of Roman Catholics, not only in Ireland, but also in all English-speaking countries. Even the loyalty of the Orangeman to the throne is conditional to its being occupied occu-pied by a Protestant, the affirmation which he solemnly makes on Joining his lodge binding him 'to support the laws and constitution of the kingdom, the succession to the throne of his majesty's ma-jesty's illustrious house being Protestant.' Protest-ant.' No person who has at any time been a Roman Catholic or married to one, is eligible for election to the Orange Or-ange society, and the organization, such as It Is, still opposes with all its might and power the appointment of Roman Catholics to any government office, judicial post or seat in parliament." parlia-ment." This broad-minded, tolerant and liberty-loving organization ' is the samo which on occasion, attempts to teach Americans how to run this country. Ex-Attache tells of the days when the society exercised a certain power in the political affairs of Great Britain. Comparing Com-paring Its condition then, with its present pres-ent decadent i, he says: "In those days the membership of the latter was estimated at over 500,000 and it had large means at its command" whereas now it is doubtful whether the roster contains one-tenth of that number num-ber of names, the majority of which are those of artisans and laborers There are at present but few men of social position, of wealth or ability in its ranks. The very classes that formerly for-merly constituted its principal element of strength, namely, the Protestant gentry and aristocracy of the Emerald Isle, and the old Tory nobility jn fV, I United. Kingdom, now regard it extremely vulgar and lurii(.rous ' dn I rnent, from which it behooves thr.n ,1 ; hold aloof, and save for the fai ,t Tha It stirs up some rioting once a ve'ar the anniversary of the Battle of , ' . Boyne, it haj dwindled into su.-h r ?nvn C.anCi aS a P!iti(-al ctor. either In England or in Ireland, that it is , .- f ficult to realize that during th tv'Z i three or four decades of the nin'.nJ.-K century it was repeatedly admitt-d the government of the dav in paw', : ment to be one of the most rC,' problems by which the crown was , i . fronted. |
