The Irish land question Author:Charles Higgins Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. Alas, poor country! Almost afraid to know thyself. It cannot be called our mother, But our grave; When nothing, is once seen to smile... more »; Where sighs, and groans, and shrieks that rent the air; Where violent sorrow seems a modern ecstasy. Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 3. I find in all parts of Ireland where meetings have heen held on the Land Question, the speakers in general, but more particularly the chairmen, have counselled the people to use temperate language, and to do nothing that would break the statute laws, and in those eases where excesses have been committed, that conduct has met with the strongest condemnation from all parties, connected with the masses who are agitating on this question. I find the following speech, to be a fair specimen of the above-mentioned caution, given at one of the many meetings held on this question, in different parts of Ireland. At a great Land Meeting held at Clontuskert, on Tuesday, February 1st, 1881, the chairman, the Eev. J. Kirwan, C.A., spoke as follows:— "Before I commence to address you, I shall put to you one question, and I am sure, from the intelligence and enlightenment of the people of Clontuskert and the surrounding parishes, assembled here, that I shall receive a correct answer. Listen now—I ask are you for injustice or are you for justice and fair play? The answer was given without a single dissentient. Fair play." The reverend cliaiman continued : " Then that is an emphatic contradiction of the false and calumnious reports published in some of the English papers regarding you and me, and the Irish people. We are reported as seeking injustice, as advocating foul play: aye ; and they go so far as to charge us with abettingassasshmtion! We are here assembled, not to denounce, nor to attac...« less