The Irish Race in the Past and the Present

aphet takes possession of the tents of Sem

onstrate the importance and reality of the su

and in its posterity to take possession of all the continents and islands of the globe, that the prophecy alluded to at the head o

istinctly. Yet he did not intend to say that it is only in our times that Europe has been placed by Providence at the head of human aff

Europe was given as a dwelling place, gradually crept more and more into prominence after

n. How, under a burning sun, men of those now-despised races could raise structures so mighty and so vast in number; how the ancestors of the now-wretched Copt, of the wandering Bedouin, of the effete Persian, of the dreamy Hindoo, could display such mental vigor and such physical endurance as the remains of their architectural skill and even of their literature plainly show, is a mystery which no one has hitherto attempted to solve. Nothing in modern Europe, where such activity now prevails, can compare with what the Eastern and Southern races accomplished thousands of years ago. Ethiopia, now buried in sand and in sleep, was, according to Heeren, the most reliable observ

y, while their descendants can scarcely erect huts for their habitation, which are buried under the sand at the first breath of the storm, is inexpl

for that high destiny was a rude and painful one, receiving as they did for their share of the globe its roughest portion: an uninterrupted forest covering all their domain from the central plateau which they had left to the shores of the northern and western ocean, their utmost limit. Many branches of that bold race-audax Japeti genus-fell into a state of barbarism, but a barbarism very different from that of the

passed through real barbarism, to rise again by their own efforts and occupy a prominent position on the sta

fall, it seems to be forever; and it looks at least problematical whether Western intercourse, and even the intermixture of Western blood, can reinvigorate the apathetic races

first in history? How and when did the Eastern r

Mediterranean Sea. But nothing can be proved with certainty in regard to their origin and manners, their rise and fall. In fact, European history begins with that of Greece;

races begin to fall into that profound slumber wherein they still lie buried, and which the brill

Patans, the Moguls, and the Sikhs. China also was to continue for a long time an immense and prosperous empire; but the existence of both these countries was concentrated in themselves, so that the rest of the world felt no result from th

tiers, of the sons of Japhet, led by the Macedonian hero. It now seems established that Sanscrit literat

t further improvements after their first discovery. It is not known when those great inventions first appeared among them. They had been in operation for ages before Marco Polo saw them in use, and scarcely understood them himsel

exact date is unknown; but every thing tends to prove that it took place long ages ago, and nothing is so well calculated to bring home to our minds t

d words to express their astonishment, intimately conversant as they are with the masterpieces of Greece and Rome and of the most polite Christian nations. They find in Sanscrit poems and religious books models of every description; but they chiefly find in them an abundance, a freshness, a mental energy, which fill them with wonder;

ridicule and unbelief. As soon as the Western mind mastered them of itself, they became straightway of immense importance, and gave rise, we may say, to all that we call modern civilization. But in the hands of the Chinese they remained useless and unproductive, as they are to this day, although they may now see what we have done with them. Their mind, therefore, once active enough to invent mighty instruments of material progress, long ago became perfectly incapable of improving on its own inv

e epoch when the race of Japhe

e she has never since lost; and there was a moment in history when it seemed likely that a nation

d the Roman sway affected very slightly the African and

ry had the happiness of being included between those limits belonged to "the city and the world" -urbi et orbi; beyond was Cimmerian darkness in the North, or burning deserts in the South. Mankind had no right to exist outside of her sway; and, if some roaming barbarians strayed over the inhospitable confines, they could not complain at having their existence swept off fr

iversal as well as to eternal dominion; but she deceived herself in both cases. Under her sway the races of Japhet were not

t race of the globe, and the Eastern nations, once so active and so powerful, were ov

us Roman general had only to appear on h

ns scattered along the Tigris; and, if, later on, the Parthian kings made a successful resistance against Rome, it was only owing to the a

e same family of Japhet. It was the Goths that ruined Palestine even in the time of St. Jerome. If side by side with Northern nations the Huns appeared, no one knows precisely whence they came. Atti

send a few of its tribes to touch their walls and cause them to crumble into dust. It is even remarkable that the armies of Mohammed and his successors, in the flush of their new fanaticism, did not dare for a long time to attack the race of Japhet settled on the Bosporus. From their native Arabia they easily overran Egypt and Northern Africa, Syria and Palestine, Mesopotamia and Persia. But Asia Minor and Thrace remained for centuries proof against their fury, and, whenever their fleets appeared in the Bosporus, they were easily de

a long struggle with Moslemism, was to give to the West a lasting preponderance which ancient Rome could not possess, and whose developments we see in our days. This new element was the Christian reli

en merely national, and therefore very limited in their effects upon mankind at large); which alone was destined to establish and maintain, through all ages, spite of innumerable obst

them all into one family. This Leader, our divine Lord, himself a Hebrew, chose twelve men of the same nation to be the founders of the great edifice. We know how, the divine plan was frustrated by the stubbornness of the Jews, who rejected the corner-stone of the building, to

hom they conquered, might become worthy of fulfilling the designs of Providence. All the barriers are overthrown that one institution, called Christendom, may take form and harmony. There are to be no more Romans, nor Gauls, nor Iberians, nor Germans, nor Scandinavians-only Christians. It is a renewed and reinvigorated race of Japhet, imbued with true doctrine, clothed with solid virtues

and deeper into apathy and corruption, while Europe is reserved for mighty purposes in centuries to come. A stream is gathering i

have followed the Christian light given from above, as a star, to guide the wonderful giant in his course. The chief among them were: of old, Augustine, the author of the "City of God;" Orosius, the first to condense the a

es. Moslemism has no other truth to support it than the assertion of God's unity; but, by waging war against the Trinity and, consequently, against the very foundation of Christian belief, it became, fo

enghis Khan and his successors were in n

Western Europe; the long heroism of the Spanish and Portuguese nations; the incessant attack and defence of the Templars and the Knights of Malta over the whole surface of the Mediterranean Sea, to secure the p

his the victory would have been secure forever, and the Catholic missions alone would have fulfilled the old prophecies and given to the sons

nce; the Caesarism of Germany and the Capetian kings; the heresies brought from the East by the Crusaders; the paganism and neo-Platonism of the revival of learning; above all, the fearful u

to all these aberrations, which has stood her ground firmly, and, we may now say, successfully. The r

dinavia and of England. But there is a time in the series of ages for the appearance of all those called by Providence to enact a part. What is a myriad of yea

ted by their oppressors to annihilate them, have only served to give them a larger field of operations and a much stronger force. It is not without purpose that God has spread them in such numbers over so many different islands and continents. It is theirs to give to the spread of Japhetism among the sons of Sem its right direction and res

sland which dots the sea on its western border, what an incalculable happiness it would have

rtilize it? Innumerable elements are floating in their midst

nating their influence and establishing their dominion; what the real, openly-avowed purposes of the leaders are in th

and he thanks God that his life shall not be prolonged to witness the

a matter of wonder what power it has obtained over the globe in its mastery, its control, its unificat

given her! The first circumnavigation of the globe under Magellan took place but yesterday, and to-day European ships cover the oceans and seas of the world, bearing in every sail the breath and the spirit of Japhetism. T

tablished in Africa and Spain by a race trying for the first time in the history of man to launch their ships on the ocean in order to trade with Northern tribes as far as Ireland and the Baltic, though never losing sight of the coast; the attempts of the Carthaginians to circumnavigate Africa; the three

ery point of the compass, so that the very boards at the entrances of offices, to be found ev

experiments by means of which they hope to replace the ocean by the atmosphere as a public highway for nations; and the currents of air rushing in every direction with the velocity of th

inment of merely worldly purposes-God, whose world this is, may look down on it from heaven as on the work of Titans preparing to attack his rights, and He will know how to turn all these mighty efforts of the sons of Japhet to

ily is allowed to go on in its wonderful und

obe, Providence has placed at the disposal of the prime movers in the ent

ant, and after a few years gold is found in abundance on both sides of a long range of the Rocky Mountains; again in the north, nearly as high up as the arctic circle. North America, in fact, is found to be a vast gold deposit. Australia soon follows, and that new continen

the European race is straightway provided with an enormous wealth commensurate with the immense comme

constructed; and modern engineering skill places on the bosom of the deep sea vessel

ion once procured, the great work clearly

, have few if any wants; and it is considered as part of the keen merchant's skill to fill the minds of these uncouth and unsophisticated barbarians with the desire of every possible luxury. Have we n

dominion, give to the Caucasian race such a superiority over the rest of mankind that the time seems to be fast approaching when th

uld be more erroneous. The Europeans are the real possessors, north and south; the Indians are permitted to exist on a few spots contracting year by year into narrower limits. The northern and larger half of the continent is chiefly the dwelling-place of the most active branch of the bold race of Japhet. The first of the iron lines which are to connect its Atlantic and Pacific coasts has recently been laid. Cities spring up all along its track: the h

nces which divide Western Europe from China and Japan. But within a short time numerous lines of steamships, starting from San Francisco, Portland

or Darien, or Tehuantepec, as has already been done with that of Suez; and soon ships starting from Western Europe will, with the aid of steam,

nd seem on the alert to conform to European manners. It is said that the nation is divided into two parties on that very question of

ya Mountains that the spread of the race will commence. Already the English and the Russians are concentrating their forces on the Upper Indus. The question merely is, Which nation will be the first to inoculate the dreamy

destined to be entirely European; the number of natives, already insignificant compared to that of the colonists, wil

europeanize it is at this moment in earnest action at its southernmost cape, all along its northern line skirting the Mediterranean, in Egypt chiefly, and also through the E

s as though all races of men, except the Caucasian, were

nly the phenomeno

ed and unable to hold together in the p

s to the natives a certain activity of

sappearance of the natives is still more striking

o hundred years ago; and when the Cru

merely the dress, houses, culinary regime, the popular customs of those numerous foreign tribes or nations which are undergoing such a wonderful change. This outward phenomenon supposes a substratum, an interio

the headlong desire of an impossible or unholy happiness, the reckless sway of unbridled passions, which try to spread th

onites, no more submission to God in the mountains of Armenia, no more simplicity of faith among

and monstrosities will doubtless disappear, b

s Hindoo cast himself beneath the car of Juggernaut; many another such absurdity and crime will, let us hope, disappear forever. But with what benefit to mankind? After all, is not superstition even better for m

etch. If it really be the accomplishment of the great prophecy mentioned by us at the beginning of this chapter, it is a nob

of Japhet, was for fifteen hundred years overshadowed by the true temple of God, his glorious and infallible Church; it is because the education of Europeans is mainly due to the true messengers of God, the Popes and the bishops; it is because the mind of Europe was real

up in the centuries preceding us. In fact, the whole European movement has been thr

and that all have had the same Redeemer; that, consequently, all are brethren, and that there should be no place among them for castes and classes, as of superior and inferior

some harsh and opposing false assertions, truths which the Catholic Church alone tea

edged by the leaders in the movement. And who

s all the indomitable energy, all the systematic grasp of mind and sternness of purpose joined to the wise spirit of compromise and conservatism of the men of the far North; she, of all nations, has inher

France, the only modern rival of England as a naval power, having been compelled, owing to the revolutions of the last and the present centuries, to concentrate her whole strength on the Continent of Europe; the young giant of the West, America, being yet unable to grasp at once a vast continent and universal sway over the path

at Heligoland, Gibraltar,

t of Guinea, the islands of Mauritius, Rodrigo, Sechelles, Socotora

eylon, an empire of 150,000,000 of people in India, the islands of Si

nd other eastern provinces; the Lucayes, Bermudas, most

alia, Tasmania, Norfolk, Van Diemen's Land, New Z

rbary, and holds the gates of the Mediterranean. With Malta and Corfu she has a like advantage over the Levant. Socotora is for her the key of the Red Sea, whence she commands Eastern Africa and Abyssinia. Ormuz, Chesmi, and Buschir, give her the mastery over the Persian Gulf, and the large rivers which flow into it. Aden secures th

s, the Bramaputra, the Godavery, and other rivers of India; of the whole littoral between Cape Colony and China; En

ely an offshoot of the English stock, the blood of all other Japhetic races has given the latter country an

States, in the presence of all other maritime powers,

se her whenever she would follow in the wake of her progress, and either to allow paganism or Mohammedanism to continue in quiet possession wherever they exist, or to substitute for

e false wanderings of the European stream, had not insisted on following the English lord in his travels, dogging his steps everywhere, entering his ships welcome or unwelcome, rushing on shore with him w

all, the humble dwelling which he first raised to his God would disappear to make room for an edifice not altogether unworthy of divine majesty; at least, far above the pretentious structures of the oppressors of his religion. T

ir own. As their ancestors did in pagan times, they would use the vessels of nations born for t

als; for them the Barings and other wealthy capitalists had embraced the five continents and the isles of the ocean in their financial schemes; the Jews of England, Germany, and France, the Rothschilds and Mendelssohns, had accumulated large amounts of money to lend to ship-building compan

es. For several years one thousand Irish people sailed daily from the ports of Great Britain; and for a great number of years 200,000 at least did so every twelve months. When we come, to contrast the Irish at ho

ufficiently portentous in its consequences, to deserve a thorough

of the great Japhetic race in order to join in the general movement at the right time and in their ow

general idea; the few remarks with which we close the present may ten

Europe as a whole, in all its complexity of habits, manners, tendencies, and ways of life, we have a picture wholly distinct from that of the Irish

ssess the same primitive habits, simple thoughts, ardent impulsiveness, stubborn spirit, and buoyant disposition, in spite of ages of oppression. In the course of centuries they have not furnished a single man to t

in name, old in fact-rediscovered by modern students in the Kings_ of China, the Vedas of Hindostan, the Zends of Persia, or Eddas of the North; no ardent explorer of Nature, seeking in the bowels of the earth, or on the summits of mountains, or in the dept

d to inquire into them: with these thoughts and recollections in his mind, he may understand what we mean when we assert that the Irish have stubbornly refused to enter upon the European movement. Although, by the reception of Christianity, they were admitted into the European family, the Christianity which they received was so thoroughly imbibed and so completely carried out that any thing in the least opposed to it was sternly rejected by the whole nation. Hence they became a peopl

ed to her extremes, but what is in reality the eternal antagonism of truth and falsehood, of order and chaos. Twenty years back there was a unanimity among English writers to speak the language of moderation and good sense whenever a rash author of foreign nations hazarded some dangerous novelties; and in t

her leaders to ruin. Every one is astounded at the sudden and remarkable change. It is truly inexplicable, save by the fearful axiom, Quos Deus vult perdere, dementat. Hen

Europe, whither the tide of folly,

lone is t