Conservative *
would you not consider them right and
you wrong ? " My answer was , "Most
emphatically No ! If I should accept
such a judgment I should be ignorautly
or subserviently accepting theirs and
not my own. The might of authority
would bo against mo , but the might of
my own intelligence is what I stand on.
Authority is of no value except where
one is more or loss ignorant in the prem
ises , " Ho who denies free speech in
others , or becomes indignant at con
trary opinions , has no confidence in
himself.
Now , those who favor the Boers do so
largely on the strength of feelings , not
intelligence. Many make a fetish of
republicanism and assert that our gov
ernment should express sympathy with
any so-called republic. In regard to the
Boer and South American republics ( ? )
they forget that a republic must be
democratic at the same time , a condi
tion that does not and has not existed
iu Boordom or South America. Before
an intelligent people should express
sympathy with so-called republican at
tempts on the part of another , that
other should or must demonstrate the
ability and will to establish a republic.
This the Boers have never done. They
have shown the wilfuluess of a child
determined to put its hand into a fire
and not the determination of an intelli
gent people. They are egotistical bigots
in politics as in religion.
Another class of Boer sympathizers
do so from anti-British traditionalism
because of the rev-
Anglicism vs. olution. For QUO ,
Britishism. _ , . , ,
I am bold to say
that it was a question of might between
our fathers and Britain. Tradition
ally the British government had as
much right to trj' to keep the fathers in
subjection and tax them , as the fathers
individually and collectively had the
right to secede and establish their own
government. It was all a question of
ability to do. The right to self-govern
ment had no existence de facto until
the fathers established it by their united
might. Their sous have forfeited their
right to the machine because of their
indifferent weakness. There is no rea
son why an American should be anti-
British or pro-Boer simply because of
the revolution. In relation to govern
ments , as between individuals , wo must
like that or those which conserve most
to our individual preservation. The
practical question , or rather the imme
diate question is , to which our corre
spondents so object , whether English or
Boer success is to contribute the most to
individual and collective prosperity of
this country ? It is no other.
Another class of objectors are the so-
called Irish-Americans. They should
, , . , , , - , , . be . called Irish-
The Irish Kickers.
un-Americans.
"tThese people do not care an iota what
*
' the .effects on this country might be if
they could only precipitate it into a war
with England. The same is true of
) hose idealistic sympathizers who should
3e termed ideal-lunatics. The Irish
sympathizers with Boers are like the
French sympathizers with our fathers
n the revolution. They seek revenge
only. If seeking for revenge is in the
spirit of liberty , then that goddess had
jest be dethroned from the minds of
intelligent men. Taking the Irish as
a whole , they are Romanists. Roman
ism and liberty are absolute incompata-
bles. Freedom in any form is unknown
to Rome. The liberty the Irish uphold ,
; ho freedom Rome supports is to be seen
in Now York , and boss-machine despot
ism in America.
In a recent contribution Mr. Bryan
was quoted as accusing the bankers of
being more in fa-
AiiKlIcIsm nml British- .
yr Qf Brjtftiu un.
Ism Not Identical. , , ,
der a Queen than
the Boer republic. This is simply a
demagogic appeal to the traditional
hatred against the English government.
That is not the point of view for an in
telligent people to consider. The"Brit-
ish government is one thing and the
English people , historically , quite an
other. Who of us , as a people , would
like to be judged by the character of
our government at many periods in our
existence ? What intelligent citizen of
New York , Chicago , or Boston would
care to be judged by the government of
those cities at present ? Institutions are
one thing , their practical execution may
be quite another. Speaking of the Irish ,
no nation , no people , is worthy of lib
erty or sympathy which has not shown
itself capable of appreciating and up
holding freedom. Has any Celtic nation
done this ? Look at Rome , France ,
Italy , Spain 1 Is it not a historical and
striking fact that only one people have
even approached this ability ? In it nol
a fact that that people is the Angle and
not the Saxon ? They may bo Ario-
Germauio , but they are not the Ger
mans or the Dutch. It is the Angle
that stands for liberty and freedom and
no other.
Now , look at home. There is not a
competent student of our institutional
development who
Antl-AiiRllolam Dundoog uot kno
trorous to Freedom. , , , . . . , .
that with the en
croaching anti-Anglican blood if the
term may be used in this country , thai
the bird of freedom has been mightily
well plucked. What has it done bul
tend to enslave us ? It has corrupted
our politics ; it has polluted our sooia
life with the saloon and with crime. It
has sought to encroach on our public
school system. Iu one word auti-Aug
licism is death to freedom. When die
Celtism favor freedom iu this country'
Was it in favor of abolition ? Is it h
favor of the Chinese ? Is it in favor of
anything but itself at any cost , oven to
self-destruction ? If there is a people
who are "in for all there is in it , " cor
rupt or not , it is the Celt. Are the
Italians a favorable adjunct to freedom
in America , the Poles , the Armenians
vnd all their cult ? If so , then ignorance
is for freedom and intelligence antagon
istic to it. Is there the freedom of peo-
ale or commerce in the German , French
or Dutch colonies there is in well estab
lished English colonies ? Is there the
freedom , political , commercial , intellect
ual , and social , in France or Germany
there is in England and her colonies ?
Is there in these free United States ?
The boss in politics , the theologian in
religion , are both antagonistic to free
dom. Wherever the Anglican influence
weakens or is being threatened by the ad
mixture of anti-Anglican pollution there
is freedom threatened. The dangers are
imminent in this country. Future hii-
tory will show this no incorrect reading
of the present. America is paying to
day , in the corruption of her politics , as
she will in political , social revolution ,
for the indiscriminate auti-Anglican im
migration she has permitted and encour
aged. The strength of England is
racial homogeneity. The same is true of
France and Germany. The weakness
of America is racial heterogeneity. Not
even today are we a homogenous people
ple , save perhaps in the face of a com
mon danger. The question of the fu
ture is to Americanize , which is but
another word for Anglicise , the people
of the United States. That does not
mean to Britishize. The Britons were
Celts. No Celtic nation has shown
itself fitted for freedom and self-govern
ment. Look at Franco. Look at the
bloody days of the Revolution and Com
mune. Look at New York city. Celt-
ism requires a boss and a despot. Look
at Romanism and the absolutism of the
church. Celtism has to bo controlled
with a club , it matters not whether it is
the club of corruption or of supertition.
Anglicism controls itself. Romanism
is of use to Anglicism only in so far as
it controls and prevents socialism with
the theological club. At present it is
only theological bulwarks against social
anarchy. In so far it favors and sup
ports freedom. Protestantism tends
to socialism and slavery. Anglicism
and not Britishism is the political bul
wark of intellectual , social and political
freedom the world over. Not the Saxon ,
but the Angle has been the Bayard of
freedom , "The knight without reproach
or fear. " If the Boer ever has will
some one kindly indicate it. Boerdom
is a theocracy of the most abjpct creedal
type. Was there ever a theocracy
which made a nest for Freedom to de
velop in ? Only in the combat and
struggle of the theocracies is there intel
lectual freedom , political and social
freedom , in America. Give but one of
them the chance and theocratic Robes-
piereism would show its dragon-head.
The columns of THE CONSERVATIVE are
