REFLECTIONS.
He who reads English literature is, though per¬
haps, insensibly, cultivating English sentiment.
This is a fact, be the reader a Frenchman, a Ger¬
man, a Russain, or an Irishman. How, then is it
to be expected that those Irishmen who read no
other but English can be imbued with really na¬
tional sentiments ? They are not, and fools only
that would expect it. They may have the desire
[and we freely admit that a large number of Irish¬
men have to promote Iris national sentiment,
but how are they working to that end? Going
down Atlantic Av. the other day and when passing
Mr. Richardson's stables, we saw, as we thought,
a horse in the act of walking up stairs. Having ne¬
ver seen a horse walk up stairs before, we were
curious enough to come to a halt to see how it
succeeded. But, to our surprise, we saw, though
the horse's feet continued to make what we consi¬
dered an ascending motion, that his body made no
upward progress. On a closer inspection, howev¬
er, we saw that what we took for stairs was but the
wheel of a machine for grinding corn and cutting
hay, — the wheel being sheeted on either sides with
boards in the form of bannisters, and having steps
exactly like and in the form of stairs, led us into
our error. Now, this simple, and we presume or¬
dinary, incident generated in us a train of serious
thought and in that train of thought we could
not help comparing and drawing a parallel bet-
ween the horse's actions on this treadmill and that
of Irishmen in regard to their plodding mo-
tion towards national autonomy. Like the horse,
which turned the wheel towards him with every
ascending step, and therefore, prevented his up¬
ward progress, the Irishman is retarded in his
treading toward the goal of national autonomy by
his English education. It is as impossible for a
man who is constantly sipping intoxicating liquor
from becoming drunk as it is for a man who is
constantly imbibing the literature of any country
from cultivating the sentiments of that country,
and of entertainig a kindly regard for it. Hence
the reason that the Irish make no really aggress¬
ive or combined movement towards their freedom.
In war, he would be a foolish, nay, an incompe
dent, general who would adopt the tactics sugges¬
ted to him by the enemy: yet, this is the very
thing the Irish generals are doing! The English
did all in their power to kill the language and our
"Irish generals" raise not an arm or a voice in its
defense! If Ireland is not freed until it is com
passed by "generals" who are too lazy to adopt
tactics repugnant to the enemy because it is attend
ed with some mental labor, or too stupid to utilize
them, it will never be freed!
Since closing our 'Sentiments" Mr. Feeney of
Nev. has sent for P. C. O'Brien, Thos. O'Brien. D
O'Leary, D. J. Mahoney and P. Conway. Also,
J. J. Lyons, Pa. for A. McAndrew Mr. J.J. O
Brien, Boston, and Mr. Murphy, Derry, Ireland
and Wm. A. Flynn, N. Y. have communicated.
At a Confirmation in Donegal last month, Sev¬
en Hundred and fifty out of the Eight Hundred
children who presented themselves answered the
catechism questions in the Irish Language! Yet
some people tell us that the language is dead —
yes, to those. —a —hem !
The English Hussars buried 60 of
their comrades where the square was
broken at the battle of Abu Klea, how
many others fell? and how many of
the unfortunate creatures, who are
fighting for their very existence in
their own homes, fell by the dynamite
bullets of this marauding British ex¬
pedition ? Perhaps Rossa is getting
too much credit for the London explo¬
sions. Might not these explosions be¬
the work of some humane European or
Asiatic enthusiasts desirous of putting
an end to this British plunder and
wholesale murder!
KNOW DO YOU
THAT
LORILLARD'S CLIMAX
Plug Tobacco
with Red Tin Tag, Rose Leaf Fine Cut Chewing,
Navy Clippings, and Black, Brown and Yellow
SNUFFS are the best and cheapest, quality con¬
sidered?
IRISH BOOKS &
We have made arrangements to supply the fol¬
lowing publications in and concerning the Irish
language, at the prices named, post paid on
receipt of price. —
Reilly's Irish-English Dictionary, ....... $5.00
Bourke's Easy Lessons in Irish ....... 1.00
" College Irish Grammar ....... 1.00
... THE BULL "INEFFABILIS" in
four Languages, Latin, Irish, &c ....... $1.00
... GALLAGHER'S SERMONS ....... 2.50
Bourke's Life of McHale ....... 1.00
Molloy's Irish Grammar ....... 1.50
Foras Feasa air Eirinn; Dr. Keating's His-
tory of Ireland in the original Irish, with
New Translations, Notes, and Vocabulary,
for the use of schools, Book I. Part I ..... .60
Joyce's School Irish Grammar ....... .50
Dr. McHale's Irish Catechism ....... .25
First Irish Book 12. Second. 18. Third .25
Irish Head-line Copy Book ....... .15
Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne, Part I. .45
Father Nolan's Irish Prayer Book ....... 1.00
Life Dean Swift by T. Clark Luby ....... .50
Vale of Avoca Songster ....... .25
Also, any other books desired by subscribers if to
be had in New York or Dublin,
