July 22, Mr, Harold Begbie has been alling attention, in a London magazine, to the new spirit of tolerance in politics. This is evidenced by the slightness of the stir which such a revolutionary change as the coming into office of the Labour party has made in the ordered life of the nation, Time was when an election was something in the nature of a bear fight, Dickens has pictured it for us in the Eatonswill contest which, though a caricature, was near enough to truth to point its moral, our own day the Homeric contests of Gladstone and Disraeli were a outrance and, on occa sion, their followers' only just did not come to blows, At the first meeting of the new par Hament, when Mr. Baldwin dnd Mr. MacDonald changed sides, they exchanged a friendly nod; and when Black Rod summoned the Commons to the House of Lords to hear the King's speech Mr. MacDonald cast an inviting look to his distinguished Ponent who immediately res-Donded. They shook hands with great cordiality and walked together, at the head of the procession, through the corridor to the upper House.
As it is with the leader so it is with the nation. Even dye the-wool Conservatives acppt the new order with equanimity if not with enthusiasm, The truth is the things the tion wants are quite independent of parties. First of all it wants Peace, Not only peace in the sense that we shall not be tawn into another European struggle, but the cessation of anxiety regarding international complications that might, possibly, have a disturbing effect om our national life, Next, it wants the unemployment bogey laid for gocd and all. Mr. Mac-Donald is pledged to use his best endeavours to accomplish these aims and the country be-Hieves that he will sincerely strive to redeem his election promises in these respects. This belief is shared by other na. tions, not least by America, and 80 everyone ts content to await with patience the outcome of his activities. The country, too, fg. tired of cynicism. The army that came back from the front Was not only disillusioned; was sceptical of the promises of Politicians and had no heart for altruistic enthusiasms. The fi talistic motto of the trenches "Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die" was carried over into civilian life and, for a time, we had the spectacle of those fortunate enough to spending recklessly and those who had none accepting their fate with the hopeless resignation of the doomed gladiator. But the miasmic atmosphere of the war years is passing and the new generation faces the future with a more hopeful as well as a more serious outlook.
A most cheering sign of the passing of bitterness comes from the once distressful country of Ireland. The Presbyterian Church of ireland held its. General Assembly in the city of Dublin in the first weeks of me, Tt was twenty-five years @iee the Assembly had" last seed the Bayne and, in the. interim, religious differences had been so intensified that Ireland had split into two armed nations. Many of the ministers went to that Assembly with a foreboding of what might happen to a Protestant body in a city where 93 per cent. of the population is Catholic. To their Surprise they received ever; where a hearty welcome and. it was evident that their presence was heartily appreciated. The Dail gave them a genial and spontaneous reception and the Assembly, before it dissolved, Passed, unanimously, a resolution of thanks to the Speaker, the officials and the members of the Irish parliament for the kindness and courtesy with which they had been treated. When the Ulster lion lies down, with the Connaught lamb then, indeed, a new and better era opens for the Irish nation, Some: days after the Assembly had dissolved, Dublin celebrated thi centenary of Catholic Emane! pation. The arrangements were on the most elaborate scale, High Mass was celebrated in Phoenix Park and the procession that preceded the ceremony num-dered nearly 200,000 persons. There was abounding enthusiasm. but no bittern:
The penal laws which" were put in force against Catholics from the days of Charles LI until 1829 were certainly a di grace to any nation. it is true they pressed hardly on Presbyterious and Quakers as well as on those of the Catholic faith. True, too, that those laws were largely modelled on the decrees issued by Louis XIV in France against the Hugenots. But the sting of the enactment lay in this, that it was imposed by Protestant Britain upon Catholic Ireland. Daniel O'Connell, more than any other man, was instrumental in gaining the repeal of the obnoxious laws, He won the fight, too, without shedding a drop of blood, which proves him to have been as wise as he was patriotic, justly won the title of "Liberator" and his statue faces O'Connell Bridge which spans the Liffey and unites the northern and southern halves of the city. These things have taken place in Ireland. Ireland of Sinn Fein and of the Black and Tans. It surely betokens the dawn of a better day and may even fore sha: dow a United Ireland; more religious, perhaps, but certainly less sectarian than the Ireland we have known in the past.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.