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—. I THE TOMAHAWK. A SATURDAY JOURNAL OF...
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No. 118.] LONDON, AUGUST 71869. [Price T...
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THE IRISH VAMPIRE.
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It is with unfeigned sorrow that we feel...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
—. I The Tomahawk. A Saturday Journal Of...
— . I THE TOMAHAWK . A SATURDAY JOURNAL OF SATIRE . Cfcitefc bp Qxttfux a'JSecfcett * " INVITAT CULPAM QUI PECCATUM PRETERIT . "
No. 118.] London, August 71869. [Price T...
No . 118 . ] LONDON , AUGUST 71869 . [ Price Twopence . ,
The Irish Vampire.
THE IRISH VAMPIRE .
It Is With Unfeigned Sorrow That We Feel...
It is with unfeigned sorrow that we feel compelled to draw attention once more to the fearful prevalence of assassination in Ireland , and to the almost complete impunity with which the assassins are able to carry on their infamous trade . It is very wearying to be obliged to repeat the same stereotyped expressions on this subject ; but the fact of there being little left to say but a repetition of what has been said so often before , and with no result , makes it more imperative on us to take heart once again , and try if the voice of humanity , of reason , of religion , cannot penetrate to the hearts of some of those , at least , who cherish these cowardly crimes by their indifference , their apathy , if not by their corrupted sympathy . Much is often said as to the small number of crimes committed in Ireland as compared with England , allowing for the difference in the number of the population . We willingly grant that murders instigated by lust and avarice are very rare in Ireland . But we maintain that crimes of violence , assaults , outrages , and assassinations from revengeful motives , or in obedience to some secret society of bloodthirsty , cowardly scoundrels , who are living in constant friendly intercourse with , if not their in humble victim depen simpl dence y because on , the he man has whom done they his have duty marked instead of sacrificing his employer to their greedy selfish idleness , —crimes such as these , we maintain , are not only peculiar to Ireland , not
only frequent m Ireland , but are rendered , by the constant impunity that attends them , the crimes not of individuals , but of the whole people . A murder in Ireland is not as in Englandthe work of some one wretch , driven mad by drink , or passion , tion or furious , approved jealousy by ; but undreds an act men of deliberate womenand , cowardl children y assassina whom - , , , , no sense of right or wrong , no horror of bloodshed , no feeling of sympathy for the wife and children of the man suddenly cut down in the prime of life , without warning , without a chance of defending himself—whom , in short , no tender feeling such as the very brute beasts possess , can ever induce to declare themselves on the side of humanity and justice , to aid in bringing the assasthe sin to stain punishment of the shedding , to do what of inn little ocent lies blood in their from power those to near remove and dear to them . Some men may call this noble fidelity , we call it brutal cruelty and degraded ferocity . We must go to the jungles of India before we can find any parallel to the treachery , ferocity the moral , and greed nts of blood Ireland , for . It blood is with ' s sake those , which who distinguishes aid and abet these crimes peasa , with those who shelter , encourage , nay , even laud
punishment the assassin , which that we we have can enforce to contend on these . Until parasites we can of hit murderers on some , we shall never do anything towards putting down assassination in Ireland . Affectionate mothers , chaste wives , pure-hearted guards who maidens has , merel been gloat y battere over because the d to the bleeding pieces hideous by bod five crime y of or was some six committed cowardl wretched y bl in ack the - name of tenant-right . Well may the Government wish to provide lunatic asylums for Ireland , since four out of every five morall Irishmen y corrupted and Irishwomen that one , shrinks if not from mad the on contemp this subject lation , of are such soloathsome It is a melan brutality chol . fact that the Irishas a nationcannot be roused to a sense of y the pollution which , attaches to their , national character on account of the impunity which attends these crimes . To say that the Government is timid , vacillating , incapable , is to say no more than that it is an English Government of an alien land . To rule by tyranny and injustice , to insult and oppress her tributaries , is England ' s first idea of government ; to this succeeds a dull confused sense of shame , and a drowsy , half-awake , half-asleep , state of conscience which if not true or strong enough to incite the Imperial power to repair past wrongs , and is so feeble and undecided as to fetter the executive power of the law . Between condemning harshly , and pardoning foolishly , the Government of Ireland seems to know no mean ; it has not the grace to conciliate nor the courage to j 01 its 1
subdue its enemies ; it is so oppressed with a sense past sins that it is incapable of any definite plan for the future . It ( pounces on harebrained enthusiasts , half crazy youths , who talk about liberty , and wear green sashes , and sing songs , which they suppose to be revolutionary because they cannot understand them ; meantime it palters with assassins , and makes heroes of the strong and brutal by making martyrs of the weak and timid . It seems to us that no serious attempt has ever been made to rouse the feelings of the Irish peasantry , as a whole , against these dastardly assassins . If in every district declarations were issued to be signed by the peasantry , in which they bound themselves by a solemn oath never to aid or abet any assassination , never to shelter , conceal , or associate with any known assassin , and at the same time might record their perfect loyalty , and their desire to maintain order if the co-operation of the priests were invited also in such a movement , we cannot but believe that it would make the detection of crime much easier in Ireland . But this is a gradual remedy ; what we want now is an instant —» - '¦ - ¦ ¦ ' ¦ ¦ n 11 1 ' I' 11 ¦ ¦¦¦ ' '' " ' ¦¦ ' " * " ~
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Citation
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Tomahawk (1867-1870), Aug. 7, 1869, page unpag, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/t/issues/ttw_07081869/page/3/
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