The Press.
London, England, 1855-11-17 00:00:00

NOVEMBER 17, 1855•

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC MOVEMENT.
TO THE EDITOR OF " THE PRESS."
Sir,—You are right in calling attention to the
Roman Catholic movement in Ireland. It is a
movement which the Tory party should watch with
care. The political influence of the Irish Catholics
is not to be disregarded. It has been for some
years an important element of Whig power; indeed,
ever since Mr. O'Connell ruled the Irish hustings, it
has been turned exclusively in a direction the most
antagonistic to the Conservatives. Previous to the
agitation of that great Radical-Whig this was not
the case. The Roman Catholic tendency during the
Administration of Mr. Pitt and Lord Castlereagh
was decidedly Tory. The petitions in favour of the
Union and the debates in the Irish House of Com-
mons are conclusive evidence of this. The Union
was opposed by the Whig Protestants of the north,
or, as they styled themselves, the Orangemen. It
attracted at the same time the good will of the
Roman Catholics. "As the policy of the measure
developed itself," says the late Knight of Kerry in a
letter to Sir Robert Peel, "tbose opposite feelings
were more distinctly manifested. The compact and
energetic resistance was composed of the more
zealous Protestants of the north, a sturdy band of
old jobbers, and a remnant of the Whig Opposition.
Its supporters were all those whom the Government
could influence, and such independent persons as
duly estimated the enlightened policy of Mr. Pitt.
We were backed up by the very general popularity
of the measure amcng the gentry of both persuasions
and the Roman Catholic population of Munster and
Connaught." Those who recollect the rebellion
of '9B, and the attempts of Emmet and Wolfe Tone,
will remember that all the Roman Catholic gentry
were on the side of the Crown, and that the leaders
of the rebels were principally drawn from the Dis-
senters and the Low Church party. The subsequent
position of the Roman Catholics is easily explained.
They were led by Mr. O'Connell and the priests.
As to the latter, emancipation had given them politi •
cal power without giving them either the education
or the position of gentlemen. The respectable
Catholics could not be influenced by them, and re
tired from political scenes in which they could feel
no interest, but the mob was left completely under
their control. As to Mr. O'Connell, he was first
brought into notice and tolerated by the Whigs ; from
the Whigs his family and friends received many of
those arguments so powerful with Irish agitators,
and, according to the commonest principles of
gratitude, he was bound to support them. This he
did in a very effectual manner by telling the people
that there was no distinction between the English
*Nories and the Irish Orangemen. Although he
.eight as well have attempted to prove that there was
no difference between black and white, yet his
impudence and his ability were so great that in a
short time the absurd dogma was swallowed. The
effect of this on the political movements of the last
thirty years it is unnecessary to trace. As far as
Ireland is concerned it was most important and dis-
astrous; and any one acquainted with the history of
that country will see that it must of necessity have
been so. But now the Orange faction is broken up,
and another change of a critical nature has taken
place. Let us see what is the position of the Dish
Roman Catholic party at present. It appears to be
in a state of political repose. Of its leaders, some
have died off in the natural manner, some have com-
mitted political suicide, and some have retired to the
more congenial climate of the Know-Nothings. The
country is quiet and the people are happy. To what
is all this owing? To a great extent I believe to the
influence of two men, Dr. Cullen and Dr. Newman.
They are both Roman Catholics, and are, I am cer-
tain, sincerely attached to the religion they profess.
But they differ from the great mass of Irish priests
in three important points—they are gentlemen, men
of education, and men of ability. The result is that
they are neither anti-English nor democratical. One of
the most distinguished Roman Catholic and Conser-
vative writers on the Continent has suggested that
the best remedy for the evils of Ireland would be to
deprive the people of the franchise. Ido not know
whether the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin
has quite as bad an opinion of the Reform Bill, but
of this I feel very sure, that he is at heart a Conserva-
tive, and will be as ready to support the Tory party
as those sensible prelates of his church who had ne-
gotiations with Mr. Pitt sixty-four years ago. Not
only does he believe what Mr. Burke said, that the
clergyman who quits the altar for the political arena
is ignorant alike of the place be leaves and the place
he enters, but he also appears to believe that the
clergyman's ignorance of the political arena has led
him to choose the wrong side. As a matter of course,
Dr. Cullen's influence will be altogether passive. Ile
will not tell the tenants to vote for their landlords,
but he will take very good care that they are not
cursed from the altar for doing so. In a word, be
will extinguish what a friend of mine has appropri-
ately called the Pig's-head Party. This is a party
principally composed of those intelligent parish
priests who took upon a pig's head, a Jumble'. of