Irish. The real question is, What do the Irish in Australia contribute spontaneously to Australian or Imperial objects? I was once struck by the remark of a shrewd Scotchman as we were gazing, with admiration, on St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Cathedral, Melbourne, Said he: "Many and many a Protestant pound has found its way into those solid walls; but do you think there is a single brick in any of our churches towards which they have given a shilling?"
It is exactly the same with regard to the charitable institutions; the Roman Catholics have always received large donations from the Protestants, but given little or nothing in return. Take the memorable instance of the £95,000 sent from Australia to relieve the last Irish famine. This sum, as Mr. Hogan says, was truly magnificent for a scattered population of only 4,000,000; but to adduce it as a proof of the munificence of Irish-Australian generosity, as he does, is sheer misrepresentation or gross stupidity. To my own knowledge, large amounts were contributed by English and Scotch colonists, and I very much doubt if the Irish contributions amounted to one-third of the whole. This is just an apt illustration of the
