Imagens das páginas
PDF
ePub

80

WRITS UNSERVABLE.

in flight. In some instances the injured persons had sought redress in the superior courts, and obtained decrees, which either had not been executed, or, if executed, had been promptly followed by a forcible resumption of possession. There were fourteen such cases on my arrival, in which persons, by order of the Land League, were thus holding forcible possession of the lands of others. It had become almost an impossibility to serve a writ out of any of the superior courts, the decrees of which were equally in abeyance. If a bailiff or writ - server appeared in the country, it became alive with mobs and groups of men ready for the fray. In many instances in Ireland these officers had been murdered, burnt, stripped, flogged, or stoned. It was not possible with the means at hand to protect the lives of those in danger, or of the sheriff and other officers of the law. There were almost daily open-air meetings in one place or another, at which the most violent and treasonable language was used

66

PERFECT ANARCHY."

81

by both priests and other "leaders" of the people. The people were maddened by the speeches of these demagogues, who drew in vivid colours the most harrowing pictures of tyranny, cruelty, bloodthirstiness, and oppression on the part of the Government and landlords. The police were hooted and stoned when seen. The country, I repeat, was in a

state of perfect anarchy.

away,

In this district there had been no murders, for landlords and agents alike had been driven and even those loyally disposed among the people prudently bowed to the authority of the Land League in preference to being shot for opposing it. Is there any one who will believe that, with the country in this state, the authority of the Crown so completely displaced, and with that of the Land League so well established, it would have been possible under the ordinary law alone to have restored order and public security? I found myself face to face with a state of affairs recognised to be bordering upon civil war, and much

F

82

THE RULE OF THE LEAGUE.

more difficult to deal with. The Land League committee was able to rule by means not at the disposal of the Government. The reins of power were in its hands and not in ours. The ordinary law, I have always contended, was sufficiently strong, when properly applied by just and temperate men of resource and courage, to maintain order where it existed, but not under all circumstances to restore it. Within the first few days of my residence at Kilmallock, it became evident that matters had gone too far to permit of any hope of restoring quiet and orderly government under its provisions alone. Father Sheehy and his committee had usurped all power and authority, and his one object in the use of both seemed to be to drive the people to acts of anarchy and violence. It was only after deep consideration that I came to the conclusion that it was necessary, for the time, to remove the Land League committee, if order was to be restored. The arrest of a priest or minister of religion by the executive must be at all times

FATHER SHEEHY.

83

a proceeding of grave moment, and can only be supported on the ground of extreme political or administrative necessity. In Father Sheehy's case, had this course not been followed, the reverend gentleman's violent and rebellious nature, or, as his friends would no doubt urge, his patriotic feelings, would probably have supplied the match to kindle the flame of revolution in the south. Father Sheehy lived in the same house as Father Doynes, the parish priest; but the latter so strongly disapproved of his curate's general behaviour that, I believe, no intercourse took place between them further than what was a necessity in their mutual relations. That Father Sheehy was adored by the roughs there is no doubt, though the Roman Catholics of any position did not conceal the feelings of pain and disapproval with which they regarded his violent conduct. With the roughs at this time, however, rested the power. Father Sheehy was not an able man, working out with intelligence and dignity what he

84

FATHER SHEEHY.

thought to be the regeneration of the people. The noise and violence of his utterances brought him to the front in a small community, and the fact that, being a priest, he had gone great lengths with impunity, encouraged him in his boldness, and secured him the support of the party of treason and violence, then in the ascendant. About a month or so before I arrived at Kilmallock, there was a Land League meeting in the town, and Father Sheehy was addressing the people in the street. The police officer, Mr Fraser, and a military officer from a near detachment, were standing by, listening to his remarks. On Father Sheehy noticing their presence, he called the attention of the mob to them, using words to the effect of, "Don't nail their ears to the post." At once the mob set upon the two gentlemen, who were very roughly used, and only succeeded in saving themselves by taking refuge in the house of the petty sessions clerk, a police pensioner, who kept the doors closed behind them until assistance arrived.

« AnteriorContinuar »