Lyra Frivola Part 7

HONESTY REWARDED (1892).

I have always regarded with wonder and awe The conception of Justice embodied in Law: For it dealt in a highly remarkable way With Cornelius Molloy and with Peter O'Shea.

Now, Peter O'Shea was by nature a serf, And he paid (when he could) for his land and his turf: But Cornelius, his friend, was a broth of a boy-- The Sa.s.senach's scourge was Cornelius Molloy.

Cornelius adopted the Plan of Campaign, And he tried to tempt Peter, but tempted in vain.

"'Twas the masther, not thim, I conthracted to pay: 'Tis a quare kind of business," said Peter O'Shea.

But the Plan of Campaign, as its authors confess, Was not, on the whole, a decided success: And the blackguardly minion whom tyrants employ Evicted at last great Cornelius Molloy.

The Saxon oppressor, still potent for harm, Gave Peter a lease of Cornelius' farm: Which Peter accepted with virtuous joy-- For he lived quite adjacent to Mr Molloy.

Cornelius was angry (and faith he'd a right), So he came with a party to Peter's by night, And they shot through the door, with intention to slay That traitor and land-grabber, Peter O'Shea.

Poor Peter was pained, but he scorned to show fear: "Sure the law will protect me so long as I'm here: 'Tis an iligant holding and little to pay; Och! 'twas only wid shnipe-shot!" said Pether O'Shea.

But the Liberal Party observed with dismay The outrageous proceedings of Peter O'Shea; And Mr O'Kelly, our pride and our joy, Made a law for restoring Cornelius Molloy.

Cornelius came back to his former abode, And Peter was houseless, and starved on the road: For Justice, whose methods O'Kelly can tell, Gave Cornelius _his_ holding and Peter's as well.

It is this which inspires us with feelings of awe For the standards of Justice embodied in Law: And tenants, the law when inclined to obey, Will be cheered by the instance of Peter O'Shea.

THE END OF IT

Must we then cease to exist as a party, Sink to the items that once we have been, All for the scruples of Justin M'Carthy, All for Committee-Room No. 15?

This is the end of a decade of labour, Blood that we might have--conceivably--shed, Daily incitements to boycott your neighbour, Daily allusions to ounces of lead!

Is it for this that the champion whose speeches Fear not to mention the year '98 Sleeps on a plank and is robbed of his breeches, Loses some pounds of his natural weight?

These, it would seem, are that patriot's wages-- Only to hear that the battle is o'er, Only to blot from our history's pages Memories of Mitchelstown, tales of Gweedore!

All the great days of the row and the ruction, Days on the hillside and nights in the House, When by persistent and careful obstruction Saxons were kept from their yachts and their grouse:

All was a dream unsubstantial and airy-- Tenants are cravens, and landlords are paid: Lone and deserted is New Tipperary, Lodgings to let in O'Brien Arcade!

Some are for Redmond and some for M'Carthy, All are the items that once they have been: This is the end of the National Party, All for Committee-Room No. 15.

A NEW DEPARTURE

SHOULD IRELAND SEND HER M.P.S TO WASHINGTON?

Oh, the Irish M.P.s they are bound for the seas, to the country of Cleveland and Blaine, And I hear for a fact, their portmanteaus are packed and we never shall see them again, And Hibernia thrills through her valleys and hills with a pa.s.sionate cry of farewell, While the manager weeps as they're paying their bills, in the "Westminster Palace hotel!

Though he lived all the while in the highest of style and was fed at his country's expense, Yet he felt (did the Celt) that in Meshech he dwelt, and resided in Kedar its tents, And he yearned in his heart to be playing a part in a higher and holier sphere-- For his soul was alight with a zeal for the Right that we cannot appreciate here.

Oh, the story is long of the villainous wrong he endured from the Sa.s.senach reign, How he languished for weeks, minus freedom (and breeks), for supporting the Plan of Campaign; How, when statesmen arose, to diminish his woes, and the tide of oppression to stem, We ejected the friends who promoted his ends, and refused to be guided by them.

For the Tories have won, and the party is gone that he ruled with his counsel and swayed, And there's no one cares _that_ for the suffrage of Pat or will stoop to solicit his aid: So the sons of the Gael have determined to sail for the regions serene of the West, Where a Balfour's police from their bludgeoning cease, and the Patriot weary may rest!

'Tis in Congress he'll find the intelligent mind which is able to probe to the roots The malignant intrigue that endangers the League, and M'Carthy's and Dillon's disputes,-- Which is sure to postpone all affairs of its own and to list to Tim Healy intent When he takes up the tale of Compulsory Sale, or complete abolition of rent.

There'll be wigs on the green (as in No. 15) and the usual trailing of coats, For I happen to know Mr Redmond will go, --by a separate service of boats:-- And O'Brien will show, while he jumps on his foe and his blood fratricidally sheds, That the Union of Hearts of necessity starts from a general breaking of heads.

The Hibernian M.P.s are afloat on the seas, the debates of the West to control, And the thought of their scheme's a magnificent dream which may calm our disconsolate soul: For if ever the Yanks should return them with thanks and consider their presence a bore, We have plenty of cranks in the Radical ranks, and can always supply them with more!

MULLIGAN ON THE AUSTRIAN PARLIAMENT

It was a gallant Irishman, and thus I heard him sing-- "To legislate at Westminster's a dull decorous thing: But O in merry Austria's deliberative hall, Bedad, the fun and divilment is simply _kolossal_!

"No base procedure rules restrain those wild untutored Czechs, They have no vile formalities the patriot's soul to vex: While we must catch the Speaker's eye before a word is said, In free and happy Austria they blacken it instead.

"Cold water oft on me to throw is Mr Gully's whim, But Dr Abrahamovitch has buckets thrown on him: Quite pleasant and familiar are their dealings with the Chair-- We 'pull' sometimes the Speaker's 'leg'--they always pull his hair!

"When, for my own metropolis, I quit this formal scene, And Ireland's native Parliament shall sit in College-green, To keep the fun alive and fresh we'll bring a Czech or two (The Czechs but not the Balances that Mr Gladstone knew):

"We'll have no dictatorial rule--no Peels or Gullys there-- But Dr Abrahamovitch shall fill the Speaker's chair: 'Tis he shall guide by gentle arts our legislative aims, While Mr Dillon tweaks his nose and Healy calls him names."

It was an Irish patriot, and thus I heard him say-- "O set me in Vienna's walls, beneath the Kaiser's sway!

For since Home Rule I cannot get, 'tis there that I would be, A-chivying the President, an Austrian M.P.!"

BROKEN VOWS

O party, pledged in years agone to change our sad condition, How have you left your task undone and quite resigned your Mission!

How changed the time since tongue and pen our feuds combined to smother, And Harcourt walked with Healy then as brother walks with brother!

We from Coercion's darkest gloom saw Erin's star re-risen, You hob-and-n.o.bbed with patriots, whom yourselves had sent to prison: It was our schemes of mutual good such close allies that made us: You spoke as we decreed you should, we voted as you bade us:

'Twas we, when fain you were to fare on Office' loaves and fishes, 'Twas we alone who put you there despite your country's wishes: While you, when some our acts would blame, proved nought could be absurder Than rent to call a legal claim, or landlord-shooting murder.

Yet why recount our ancient loves which now you turn your backs on?

The maxim old it only proves--you ne'er should trust a Saxon: Deceitful still, his promised plan he docks, interprets, hedges, And when he thinks he safely can, he turns and breaks his pledges!

True Celts despise the paltry baits wherewith you try to feed 'em: What! offer your diminished rates to men who pine for Freedom!

On County Councils ne'er can thrive a People's aspirations, No local Government can give a place among the Nations!