THE MAN WHO TAUGHT ERIN TO FIND HERSELF THIRTY years after the death of Parm the Gaelic League had been in serial that followed "The Bal¬ than "Ourselves" or "Ourselves but a man has come into power in Irelai existence for some time, and A Life Sketch and of Alone," Analysis Arthur Griffith, Whose Fight lad of and which became deepened to "By Our Own Ef¬ in a state such as Parnell with gre the young men and women, History Ireland," "The fort" or "From Within." It was the enemies have its were for History of Tara" Grif¬ good luck might created. Th through inspiration, Irish Recognition Dates From the of Parnell of Irish nationalism who were to give Days fith's political idea was made man is Arthur Griffith. reaching to a new pride of name a wide publicity and to fill it with asso¬ manifest. to «? another This purported ciations sacred for Irish hordes of a proper, I think, to relate Griffith race, part of national By PADRiAC COLUM people.the TV.rnelh In the first pl*ce, he, with Eo consciousness. The Gaelic be a history of Hungary, with propagandists who arose to discredit the in¬ Portrait Williams the of the surrectionists of 1916 and who were bent taeNefli, the Speaker of Dail Eireann, is tl League meant a more widely by Roy merging kingdom with Austria, the assertion of upon fastening upon them the sinister design« man of the moment whose activities { spread, a more intellectual or¬ that be to with an unintelli¬ v,nly the nationalists under Kos- might supposed go back to the time of the lost leader ; the other ganization than Ii-eland had gible word."Sinn Fein," "Mafia," "Bolshe¬ Michael Collins, Eamon de Valera and Richai before. From its branches suth, the downfall of Hun¬ vist," they were all made to appear the same. Mulcahy, could only have been rolling the were growing associations gary under Russian and Aus¬ Sinn Fein originally stood for the restora¬ new trian arms and then its resur¬ tion of the constitution of 1783. But few Irish hoops upon the sidewalks when their parem with ideas.industrial as¬ either knew or cared about that consti¬ on the first ivy leaf in Parnell sociations, dramatic associa¬ rection under the guidance people pinned tution. Sinn Fein could not succeed in win¬ tions. A theater was of Franz Deak. Deak w>uld memory. being ning an election. Sinn Fein could not main¬ and under a not accept the union with Griffith was then in the fight for Parnel created, poetry tain an afternoon newspaper. Soon Dublin, new was Austria; he counselled passive the of came although he must have been only a very youn inspiration being city deadly epigram, to speak of written. The little resistance to the Austrian Sinn Fein as "Christian Science in politics." man at the time. I remember his telling n separatist claim and he forbade the The of the tactic.the restoration of how he and a few young men of the Nations organizations that were be¬ object to the constitution of 1783.was remote. But the to make a stroke that would hav hind "The United Irishman" Hungarian Deputies attend Club tried tactic itself.the individual and the local effort had been molded to a the Imperial Parliament in mean a rally for the Parnell cause. One of th great .was value. What Griffith extent Vienna. He showed the Hun¬ beyond actually Dublin seats happened to be held by a Pai by the Gaelic League. did was to restore to the Irish people their garians how to take advan¬ racial tactic.the tactic of nellite. Timothy Harrington. If that seat wer The organ for all these new Kteat aggressive of local defense. was himself the leader and the caus ideas and tage all their powers It this very tactic that had to Parncil activities was "The saved the Irish in the first Nor¬ the of the and how to take advantage, organization would gain prestige being capital' United Irishman." W. B. man assaults. It was too of Austria's difficulties this tactic that had pre¬ choice: the elections following would be ir Yeats. "A. E.," John served a vestige of Ireland the six Eglinton with and with Prussia. through fluenced by what Dublin had done. Griffit contributed to it. But the Italy generations in which the English waged every But the great thing that Deak kind of war. The tactic had after the went to Harrington with the proposal: Woul bulk of the writing was by lapsed done was to make Buda¬ break up of the Irish at the and let the chief go up in his place Arthur had military power he resign Griffith. He also helped end of the deadened seventeenth century. It he more of hi pest and not Vienna the capi¬ Harrington declined; thought to set up the paper on Tues¬ had not been used through the eighteenth nor tal of Hungary. Deak's re¬ scat than ho d-d of the cause. days. Griffith is a man with through three-quarters of the nineteenth cen¬ sistance to Austria's claim But it was to be used after Griffith had As far as I ever heard, this was Arthu a trade.he is a compositor. tury. made Hungary and made pos¬ made the people conscious of it, and its use Griffith's first intervention in politics. Bu As yet he had enunciated sible the arrangement that was was to confer upon the Irish people their old relation to Parnell is not merely historical no distinctive He his policy. gave ultimately arrived at between invincible morale. he is related by being, as I think, th powerful to the properly expression and her oppressor. But had it not been for Padraic Pearse, the personage that has emerged ii old his criti¬ Hungary one political separatist idea; the creation of two equal mystic who believed that one man by his death Ireland since Parnell's time. cism of the Irish Parliamen¬ could defeat the forces of an empire; had it states through the Dual Mon¬ I do not mean by that that he is the greates tary party and of the British not been for James Connolly, who in union archy. with Padraic Pearse put the of or the most heroic man who has ap in Ireland workingmen »an government's policy "The Resurrection of Hun¬ Dublin behind the barricades, the tactic would* a I mean had unusual clearness and peared. By political personage gary," written with brillance not have been used with such power and uni¬ man who has had a real political idea. Par force. Whatever else Arthur versality. And had it not been for Michael and an epic sweep, showed a nell showed himself to be a political personag« Griffith may be, he is a great Collins and Richard Mulcahy, who kept an im¬ parallel for Ireland. But had in and for Eamon de when he gave a watchword to the semi-serf; political journalist. Since the provised army being, Ireland, like Hungary, a con¬ Valera, who so faithfully represented the re¬ were then the tenantry of Ireland: "Keei days of John Mitchell no who stitution to reclaim? Griffith public, Sinn Fein would not have brought Ar¬ on homesteads." He showec in Ireland had a firm grip your journalist declared that Ireland had. In thur Griffith to the signing of a treaty between a when In written with such an himself to be political personage iron pen. 1783 had the Ireland and England. Britisi England passed adopted the tactics of obstruction in the But I should like to dwell renunciation act, in which she I have spoken of Arthur Griffith the po¬ litical journalist and Arthur Griffith the re- House of Commons. And Griffith showed him¬ for a moment upon his humor had all claim to rule given up vealer of a political idea. But what of Arthur self to be a political personage when he gavt and ; sometimes he geniality Ireland through the West¬ Griffith the statesman? He will prove to be a of a that with Ireland the outline policy began wrote satirically and with de¬ minster Parliament. The gov¬ genuine statesman, I believe. He is still young individual assertion.Sinn Fein ("By Our Owr lightful humor. There was a ernment of Ireland by the as statesmen go.he is in his early fifties.he Effort" |. professor in Trinity College, Lords and Commons of is vigorous in his physique and he has enor¬ King, mous for work. He is In the fruitless time that followed the break¬ Professor who, as a power conciliatory, Atkinson, Ireland was declared by that of wide and of far views. He Griffith went to South to friendly, capable up of the Parnell force, counterblast Gaelic League instrument to be unquestioned has his blind spots, I think. I will speak of .Africa. He worked in the mining fields around propaganda, took it upon h in- and unquestionable. these, too. and he was one of the Out- self to declare was Johannesburg, that there England had abrogated that It is to be noted that when he wrote about who were for Paul Kruger and the larders nothing in Irish literature, treaty by the illegal act of Hungary he saw only the Magyar point of The South African War came on, and view. Boers. medieval or ancient, except union. And Ireland ac¬ He could not be got to admit that the to Ireland. Rumans and Slavs in had any Griffith returned what was silly and indecent. in that Hungary rights quiesced abrogation against that of the- The brutal at¬ Then, on the centenary of the insurrection "The Voyage of MacActin, Magyar;. by sending her representa¬ tempts at the Magyarization of Hungary did of a was founded to express Son of written in 1798, newspaper Chaos," tives to a parliament that had not leave him unsympathetic to the rulers of that stood the well the views of the dispersed groups known style of the its title through that act of the country. He is a protectionist; he is a be¬ for the separatist idea in Irish politics.the medieval Irish romance, union. Ireland should ask. liever in tariffs; there is nothing new in his. as is new in Professor Mac- middle-aged survivors of the Irish Republican appeared in "The United for there something not for Home Rule, but of the state. He is the Brotherhood and the young men and women Irishman," and filled that Neill's.conception the restoration of her consti¬ only Irish Nationalist I have ever met who has to tradition was coming with small section that the whom the Irish read tution. She could not make been able to speak with a certain enthusiasm Gaelic a new richness through the work of the separatist journal with great that demand in a Parliament of Oliver Cromwell. But, according to him, was the was the not the League. The newspaper weekly glee. "The Voyage of Mac¬ that claimed to have super¬ Oliver Cromwell typical Celt, Saxon whom Griffith sees as "United Irishman." It was first conducted by Actin" was written by Grif¬ seded the of Ire¬ Englishman government Nietzsche saw the Jews.a destined William fith under a people Arthur Griffith and his comrade, pseudonym. I land by the King, Lords and from all time for slavery. was the little cherished for a while a Rooney, the poet. So poor long Commons of Ireland. The A historical movement his Irishman" began alongside group that founded the "United communication from the "U. first thing she would have to office and he remained unaware of its vital that they could afford to pay only one editor, I." office. It was anent a do then was to withdraw her significance.that movement was the labor and William Rooney killed himself by the long-delayed contribution. A from Westminster. militancy initiated by James Larkin and or¬ deputies ganized by James Connolly. Arthur Griffith double task of earning a living in a railway pillar was falling under the ..she would lose no real was bitterly opposed to Larkin. In the days of for the "United blows of an "Now is the and he work that meant a the us^ the lo¬ office and working enormously enraged compositor. Library, produced that German, domination of central Europe pi er by doing this, and she could of the 1913 strike he was with the masters as the Irishman." stately column broke" was the legend that mass of reading, [n accordance with a sug¬ had its rise in a revolt from a Celtic hegemony. cal powers of the county councils Hun¬ rather than with the workers. By their lead¬ and she could After the death of William Rooney Arthur Griffith had inscribed under his pen and ink gestion that Thomas Davis had made, he ran The Celtic empire in Europe was for him an garians had done, adopt;the ers he will be regarded as a reactionary. They resistance. the gen¬ made office The the "l\ 1." "A Bailad of Ire¬ historical and for il tr policy of passive Finally will remember that the constitution of 1783 Griffith had sole charge of this eight-page drawing upon copy paper. through History reality, yers, the was to be eral council of the county councils that Arthur Griffith started out to regain was was about three of articles that he wrote outside of his editorials land." This was a compilation of verse thai Romans, he had never a work to say. weekly. The journal years good foi*med into a National Assembly, whose de- mocked at James in "Labor in of Irish from the were by Connolly age when the present writer began to make used to appear under odd names. One of these gave every episode history They for him "the Roman landsharks, crees would be morally binding upon the people Irish History." ran I." a youthful contributions to it. My acquaintance was "Cuguan." It had a kind of Gaelic look. beginning, He through the "U. the Roman company promoters." Fresh from of Ireland. in the the This recommended Conditions country, colleagues with Arthur Griffith with my first pub But it was really Kaffir, and it was a name "History î Tar;'." written by himself. This tarch, I spoke c ice i Griffith of Julius program, formally by whom he will work with, will probably modify began Griffith to a convention of the society that had been Griffith in South Africa; to lea than a history of Celtic ¡rehuid ar. "He was a mill naire," ¡aid political his too adherence to the idea of the state. lication. given Griffith; was back of him.the Cumann nan Gad- rigid it meant or and a of :!." Celts upon the Continent. bl millionaire." Whet! His ascendency will be helpful as regards the I met him first at some function that was "The Dove" "The Gentle One." history oming ipoke ¡1 .was one that in practice could arouse of is Irish and his Welsh of Caesar's or coming in of Ulster. Belfas will look upon an association that given him, I suppose, because of his quietness Griffith, because achievements of George Moore's whatever was creative in Irish life. held under the auspices of political as "a sane Irishman of the an once led v him safe and and his low voice. And his friends in Dublin ancestry, is ardent Celtophile. He the fa« t that these At first it was called "The Hungarian ' had for its president the wonderful Maude Policy." south. The danger will be that he may have called not nor but told me that if he had two lifetimes e would things were done, as Griffith used to on Then it was seen that the emphasis was laid Gonne. I was taken to meet Arthur Griffith; him, "Arthur," "Griffith," say, the workers against him; that he may make a a native effort and individual activity, and "Dan," and that name, I think, all of give one of them to '.he writing of history of an assured inco le ti \ iseou union with a and make division of he was standing at the door of the salon ; I saw gives a Gaelic watchword that had such province his the elts. '!' lurse, would go back to them. implications class. glasses; I likableness and humor. was in as a name for the friendly eyes behind magnifying He brought policy. At one would find him in the National the beginning of the iron Age. thought With the "Resurrection of the Sinn which no he is one who will stand well to »w a massive chin, and I got the impression night Hungary," Fein, originally meant more However, '.he forefront among the statesmen of °f a man square and solid. I saw him fre¬ and iurop'.1.square, solid, enlightened, persistent, quently at such politico-social functions, devoted to his country (the last time I saw afterward, with the founder of the Irish Thea- Arthur Griffith he had a rifle in his hands and *er, I used to go for tramps with him. he was going through military drill P He is a At that time the literary and political life Dublin man, loving his city as Pericles loved the of the Violet Crown. of °f Dublin was not differentiated. If one City Every yard Dublin he knows; I remember a memorable wanted to write or act or learn Irish one be¬ TO THE ARMY BACK with him when he took me AGAIN, SERGEANT day through the and met one's longed to a political group, old part of the town, and showed me the re¬ "Back to the army sergeant, for the army is not what it used the and colleagues at a celidh on a Saturday or Sun¬ again, Recruiting panhandler n'er-do-well. These latter then ensued a little incident which would prob¬ mains of the old wall and the where the Hack to the army again"- to be in the old for short, shrift. place .Kipling. days, taking advantage get ably have been surprising to those who think was which the Normans day evening. of the limitation in size upon gate through entered A well built civilian enters the recently imposed A f( vv days ago, for exan four you the army merely a heartless, ma- At the celidh there was a great deal of TALL, unthinking the city. Under his fostering Duolin, that city it by Congress the recruiting representatives men appea ed at the offi One of th< m vas a '-, which moves forward almost automat- of general recruiting office of the United to set so beautifully between the hills and the verbal expression.conversation, recitation are scanning all who apply for admission fine, well set up who oked one ly. The two officers the one desirable States in Whitehall Street, young chap, got sea, will have a chance of becoming as clean he was Army the service with greater care than ever before. i ¡ a man. ¡nan alone and talked to Poetry, singing. Griffith, when present, tight him, urging him to ana as she somewhat at the The veteran who has been out of the serv¬ lovely Is -ociable and intellectually would be near a door; one never grinning sheepishly The oth< 1 nned, eva leave his associates and enter the service an^ standing ice for of time finds a brilliant. heard the sergeant who meets him at the door. any length greatly c yod youths whose was ap¬ make a man of himself. the sound of his voice.his voice, by army on his return. Things h a t- The He is a Dublin man, a urban "I want to re-up," says the arrival. changed parel '. y< uth. wavering, voiced his principles. completely *av. is a peculiarly low one. tled down to a well developed, carefully car he said. "I must man, and that makes him remarkable among The at silver button Lieutenant Colonel .Arthi r M. Whaley, who "They're my pais," stick «e has In all this time. He sergeant looks the out routine which offers to the enlisted man a h them." Irish workers and thinkers. Most Irishmen hardly changed which adorns the man's and as one examined the men physically, came into the " lapel grins maximum of comfort.. For example, prac¬ The two officers talked with the can think in terms of cattle, horses and low-sized and squarely built, fair of com¬ comrade to another. main office of the building and reported his applicant tically every soldier in the United States Army long and earnestly, giving him advice which grains. Not so Arthur Griffith. He is plexion and brown of hair, with a head that "What's the matter? Civil life don't appeal findings to Major William A. Jones, who is curiously to-day sleep« between sheets, eats from china- in the office under Colonel B. W. in young man's parents would have appreci¬ unfamiliar with the country people and with 18 a certain to you any more?" Atkinson, Powerful, but that has lightness ware and at mess tables in comfortable din¬ ated. the country outside the Pale. He went to the " answers the ''Got charge. «, too. His most remarkable features are "Nope!" applicant. along ing halls. Recreation is provided for him by "I know you're the man said to have a right," young west, County Mayo, to help his friend. all and made money, but don't un¬ are "We little puzz 'ore.'' said W 'yes and his chin.his chin is remarkably right they post recreational '.'enters in which pool finally. "But they're as bad off as I am and Major MacBride, of the Boer-Irish derstand What's the use of Colonel Whaley. "One of these four men is a Brigade, in things. talking tables, bowling alleys and libraries which they need jobs, too. But I'll tell you what I'll an election. That to °*d and set; his eyes are very kindly, very fine a .¦'; I .: visit the west was quite about soldiering and the things you've known would do credit to civilian communities. young chap, splendid do. do want to make a man of I not '. myself, but an event in his vacationless life. In his but kindliness and the a lot of other three are just bums. do r% policy ir'endly, when the to people who think that France is The recruiting office at 39 Whitehall Street .'. my buddies. When a I that this man is led they get as regards rural economy he will foster agri¬ ncndlines3 go out of them the man can seem pink because it's pink on the map? Then, is the daily scene of many interesting little suspect young being job I'll come back, but I've to stick astray by the others." got to my cultural co-operation and will take the advice, fa is a re_ too," he added sheepishly, "my girl sort of dramas of eal life. U] classes of men Come while they've broke." Tibly apart Qne can see that I think, of "A. E." and the co-operative ex¬ shook me and"- here.the veteran who is for the Major Jor.es frowned. H but he can rved and rather than a longing left, always come back and go perts. No man in Ireland has more waiting striking one reason or scene we informa¬ For another this little service again; the man who has leer, out of "Wender if cannot get him to stay and through into the -.".vice, for the an has a Ce- He a man. ¡y tion, no man in Ireland has greater is singularly rock-like with variations is in the re¬ work until he is to do which let the others and powers oi repeated daily willing anything go?" large valuable place for men "who stick work, no man in Ireland has II w*s in the time of office. will him with a of course, "Wei!, I'll «aid Colonel And to greater love toi great beginnings; cruiting provide living, and, try." Wnaley. their pals when they're broke." his country than has Arthur Griffith.