The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-01-11 00:00:00

THE " WREN OF THE CURRAGH."

There has been a great deal said, recently, in the
Pall Mall Gazette and The Times, on the subject of the
" Wren of the Curragh ;" noticing which, Mr.
Alexander Henderson, Presbyterian Chaplain to the
Forces, has sent the following letter for publication :

The painful interest, and, it may be said, the national im-
portance of the matters touched upon in the letters of Mr.
La Touche and of the author of the publication styled The
Wren of the Cu rragh, will perhaps justify your insertion of
this communication from one who resided nearly eight years
at the Curragh, and who personally and 'minutely inquired
Mtn the condition and habits of the degraded arni distressed
outcasts at the Curragh, and at New-bridge, not tar off it. the
seat of the large cavalry barracks. I went anxiously among
the unhappy victims of vice I examined their wretched
sleeping places, In the hollows of large furze bustles, or in dry
ditches, where there was shelter or concealment of bramble,
and, in some cases, in a kind of earthen cave formed by the
poor creatures in the sides vf dry hanks. One of the most
saddening cries I over heard was that of a newborn
infant in one of these haunts. I entered into conversation
with the women, advised and remonstrated with them,
gave to them religious and other useful papers, and often-
times actually sowed these silent messengers of good in the
thorns, that the wind might not sweep them away. Through
the generoas aid of an Englishman, a stranger to me. I had
It in ray power to relieve crying wants and so remove some
penitents to an asylum in Dublin, the public cannot fully
understand the actual state of these castaways for the pre-
sent without looking at it in the light of these facts :-1.
Winter is the time of their extreme physical misery. The
keen winds of the day, the freezing night chill, aid the ap-
proach to starvation sometimes are dreadful This is the
period for relentings. Ihe harsh frost which hardens the
ground subdues them. Humane Christian visitors will end
many of them ready for the covert of the workhouse or of other
asylums. 2. Spring and summer act upon them as on the birds.
Hard and hungry winter is forgotten, and there is a general
display of all articles of tawdry finery that can any way be
picked up. 3. A lance number of them have much kindness
lavished upon them by soldiers, who, poor fellows, from the
very nature of an army and the urgent neeessities of military
duty, debarred from the comfort of evenings at home,
with sisters and other female relatives and neighbours, are
entice I and ensnared by th.ae who use "fair speeches
and flatter with their tongues," to the ruin of thousands.
Now. Sir, the gigantic evil into be met from two ouarters—
one from within the military circle itself, and the other
from without. Whatever call be attempted and done to
elevate soldiers' minds and habits will tend to abate the evil.
on the one aide Government, by the military authorities,
has effected notch already, and will effect more. Look at the
wonderful improvement in the women it) the army through
Judicious and beneficial inea)ures on their behalf. Formerly
It was a sort of reproach to be called a soldier's wife: now
there is not in this country a more worthy and respectable
class of wives and mothers than is to be found in many
of Her alajesty's reginients. As to the way of dealing with
young men in their respective corps, let any of your readers
turn to the life of Dr. Macbeth, just leaned from the press by
Nisbet, and observes what a good, earnest surgeon can do to
repress youthful excesses in three committed to his pro-
fessional ,are. I have thought for a long time that hand
In hand with the anxious preliminary ,frill there should be
anxious authorized dealing with the young men, to fore-
warn, to counsel, to encourage them hnt this I only glance
at for the present From without the military circle the
Christian people of England can uni.e to act vigorou-li.
Ihe evil is tremendous—l trust not insurmountable. We
read of the question, "Who art thou, Ii great mountain ?"
By the appointed means even it must "become a plain." Let
Christian hearts in the towns and cities of England and In
its country homes remember that though they cannot per-
sonally co-operate in the removal of the awful moral plague
at Newbridge and the Curragh, they can act by and
through others. Moses pleaded his personal inability, but
it was said to him, "Is not Aaron thy brother? He will
be to thee Instead of a mouth." Such Christian gentlemen
as Mr. ./. La I ouche, Harristown, Nfewbrldge, and Major
Borrow., Newbridge' will be as a mouth for
philanthropists to plead with the wanderers, es a hand
stretched out in entreaty to them, and as feet for them to
go on errands of mercy to seek the lost, and it may be to
save them, by direeting them to the one sure refuge. There
Is a mission home at Nevvbridge, with its ever-open door of
hope.

AN ADDRESS BY A ROMAN
CATHOLIC BISHOP.
IS A COTTAGE LOAF FANCY BREAD? The public will learn with great satisfaction, that
a Circular, addressed by Dr. Moriarty, the Roman
At the Surrey Sessions, the cause of "Wood (appellant; r.. Catholic Biala, of Kerry, to the cli 4.iy of his diocese
Cook (respondent " has been heard, and was an appeal
agaiikt a conviction of William Wood, of Ewell, surrey, a has been published in which Dr. Moriarty expresses
baker, for selling on the 28th of August a loaf of bread an unequivocal condemnation of the solemn masses
otherwise than by weight, not being bread usually sold under and requiems which have recently been celebrated for
the denomination of French or fancy bread, or rolls, con- the souls of the three men lately executed at Man-
teary to the 6th and 7th of William IV., cap 37, see. 4. cheater; and justifies his condemnation by the plainest
In support of the conviction the inspectors of weights and soundest reasons; and coneboles by exhorting his
and measures for the distridt and adjoining one were flock to a course of conduct which is at once dictated
called, and also their assistants. It was proved that by morality, and is the only course by which the
on tie day in question, a witness went into the difficulties if the Irish can possibly be carried to a
nppellant's shop and asked merely for a quarter!' loaf, happy solution.
and a cottage loaf was sold to him at the current price Dr. Moriarty denounces as "a calumny" the re-
of a quarters]. loaf. This loaf, it was admitted by the port that any public mass or requiem for the souls of
aphelLined counsel, did not weigh 41b. It was also the men execut“l had been performed at Killarney,
proved that about sixty or seventy loaves were pur- and declares that, had the report been true, the fact
chased in a similar way at different shops in the would have been "a scandal to the diocese." This is
Noise locality about the same period, anti that of those to cast a strong reflection upon those who have per-
ouly ten were of the ordinary houseliehl shape, formed or permitted such services elsewhere (remarks
Ott the part of the respondent it was contended that Tht Times, fnan whom we are quoting) but it will be
the case was clearly within the Act and the loaf ought owned, after perusing the Bishop's argument, that it
to hate been sold by weight, and that the bread was is amazing any members of his church should have
not fancy bread within the meaning of the exception. laid themselves open to such a rebuke. He commences
On the part of the appellant a number of bakers by some expressions of compassion for the criminals, in
(town and country) were called to prove that cottage which we heartily join. Notwithstanding the mix-
bread, although made from the saute batch of dough; representation of the Irish Press, there never were
and in fact, all bread not of the household shape was men executed towards whom Englishmen were more
called and sushi by the trade as fancy bread, exempt from feelings of vindictiveness or ani-
It appeared that the practice of making cottage , mosity. We pitied the delusion by which they
bread originated in 1819 or 1820, after the puling of. were led to in doom, and we felt that they

were free from the ordinary murderous passions of
personal hatred, of malicious revenge, or of covetous-
ness. They suffered in obedience to the inevitable
claims of justice and of order ; but, whether in life or
in death, they were certainly fit objects for the last
offices ot religion, if, then, by asking the prayers of
the church nothing more than this humane object had
! been contemplated, there could have been no objection
Ito the request upon the ground of morality. But Dr.
I Moriarty admits that what was asked for was "nit
sympathy or compassion, but honour ;" audit would,
he says, "be false to assert and childish to believe '
that the request was made for these harmless reasons.
He classed together the funeral processions and the
funeral services, and he declares that those who
planned them "must have believed that the conduct
of the executed was praiseworthy, and that they
sacrifice their lives in a just and holy came." That,
indeed, is the plain issue, and we rejoice to see it so
plainly put by a person whose words must carry weight
with Irishmen. Was the conduct of Allen, Gould,
and Larkin, in shooting the policeman Brett praise-
worthy? And is the rescue of a prisoner, at the cost
of innocent lives, " a just and holy cause?" Certain
Irish writers and speakers have answered theme
questions in the affirmative, and a certain number of
Irishmen, misled, as we believe, by misrepresentation
of facts, have appeared to approve such an answer.
They are now invited to reconsider the question by a
Bishop of their own Church, and it is an Irish Bishop,
not an Englishman, who gives the reply. .
After the recent language of the Irish Fenian news-
papers, Dr. Moriarty may well say that "if those
who seek to redress the wrongs of our country would
abstain from acts or deeds of violence, there is no fear,
in this age, that any amount of written or spoken dis-
affection will be visited with the last penalties of the
law." That the Irish know they possess this
freedom is proved by the extent to which they abuse
it. They may agitate for anything so long as their
agitation is peaceful; but a violent appeal to arms
must be repelled by every means in our power. " The
struggle for justice and reform can be carried to a
favourable issue," concludes Dr. Moriarty, by the
seine peaceful means as were recommended by
O'Connell. Undoubtedly it may, if the struggle be
one for justice. and the reform be real. We ask the
priests to twist Us in impressing thew truths upon
their issople, and we believe, moreover, that this assist-
ance will be given. There have, undoubtedly, been
some culpable exceptions, but until we see strong
reason to the contrary, we shall look for the true
spirit of the Roman Catholic clergy in Dr. Moriarty
rather than in Father Lavelle.