ll farmers and peasants and whiskey-shop
keepers by means of funds very largely taken from the Protestant
Church of Ireland. They do not desire equality, they are resolved on
ascendency. We who live in Ireland know and feel the spirit of
intolerance which marks the Romanist body. It is proposed to make of
Ireland a sort of Papal state. We have the declarations of Cardinal
Logue, of Archbishop Walsh, of Archbishop Croke before us. We need to
know no more. The English people pay no attention to them, or have
forgotten them. We bear them in mind, and we shall act accordingly."
My friend's statements anent the raising of money by the Roman
Catholic clergy and the alleged poverty of Ireland reminded me that a
year ago at the opening of the Redemptorist Church of Dundalk the
collections of one day realised twelve hundred pounds, and that in the
same town a priest refused to baptise the child of a poor woman for
less than five shillings. She tendered four shillings and sixpence,
but the man of God sent her home for the odd sixpence. She then went
to the Protestant minister, who baptised the child for nothing. In
Warrenpoint the priest decided what subscriptions each and every
person should pay to the funds of the new Catholic Church, and in
Monaghan three well-to-do Papists had their cheques returned, as being
insufficient. The Romanist Cathedral of that poor little town is
currently reported to have cost half a million, but that it cost at
least a hundred thousand pounds, exclusive of the stone, which was
given by the Protestant landowner, Lord Rossmore, is admitted by the
most reliable authorities. The landlord agreed to give the stone on
condition that the quarry should be filled up and the land levelled as
it was found at first. Stone for the cathedral, a convent, and many
other buildings was taken, but the conditions were not fulfilled, and
a hole with forty feet of water was left, so that the field was
dangerous for cattle. The Catholic party refused to level, and a
lawsuit was the result. My Monaghan letter related the total exclusion
of Protestants, including Lord Rossmore's agent, from the Town
Council. So much for Papal tolerance and gratitude.
The English prejudice against Orangemen is ill-founded. Their
sheet-anchor is an open Bible, and their principles, as expressed by
their constitution, are such as ought to ensure the approval and
support of Englishmen. They read as follows:--"The institution is
composed of
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