The Press.
London, England, 1857-11-28 00:00:00

THE PRESS, NOVEMBER 28, 1857.

with adopting towards liberty, and allowing it-
to be undermined for fear it should be over
thrown ?

DOCTOR CULLEN AND THE UNDER-
CURRENT FROM ROME.
THE information which we gave our readers,
three months since, about the new movement
in the Roman Catholic Church is now mani-
festly correct. Every incident that has since
occurred has testified to the fact that the
ecclesiastical rulers of the Church of Rome
are most anxious to intensify the politico-
religious feelings of the Roman Catholics in
Ireland, while at the same time the laity of
the same persuasion are decidedly averse to a
sectarian movement being commenced to
gratify Doctor CULLEN. It is an unpropitious
moment for Jesuitry to attempt exciting a
fanatical feeling in the Irish Roman Catholic
community. There are four Roman Catholic
Judges on the Bench ; two of the chief Judges
in Ireland are of the same persuasion ; the
Attorney-General and the Counsel to the
Castle (Mr. CORBALLIS), are also of the same
creed. Such facts are visible confutations of
the assertions idly put forward by Doctor
CULLEN to the effect that bigotry and illiberal
feelings are shown by the authorities to mem
hers of his Church.
Doctor CULLEN has now come forward with a
lengthy address of five columns on the subject
of what is termed Catholic grievances. Why
is the present time selected for ripping up
(alleged) injustice in the distribution of the
Crimean Fund? We will tell our readers the
" reason why." It is simply because the cry
now raised is only a pretext. Any other ground
might be taken just as well by Doctor CULLEN.
A movement must be got up somehow, in
order to mark the social distinction broadly
between Protestantism and Roman Catholics.
It is thought that the present would be a
good moment for a " cry," and hence Dr.
CULLEN comes forward. If his (alleged) facts
be true, it is really wonderful how long he
has been silent about them ; and it is rather
singular that the Roman Catholic laity in
Ireland, an extremely shrewd body, never
made any noise about the matter. This latter
fact is enough to show that the present de-
monstration derives its origin entirely from
Rome.

Doctor CULLEN'S attempt at an answer to
Lord ST. LEO NARDS' excellent letter of October
the sth is a decided failure. Five columns
are spent in reply to a third of a column.
Lord ST. LEosaans well asked in his letter—
"ls this a moment to add a drop to the cup
" of bitterness between the two Churches ?
" • . . . I cannot believe that any sub-
" scriber has considered whether his subscrip-
" tion would relieve a Protestant or a Roman
Catholic." But in order to exculpate him-
self from the charge of advancing loose accu-
sations, Doctor CULLEN assails Lord ST.
LEONARDS about the " Irish Church "! He
quotes a writer whom he does not mention by
name to prove that the Irish Church is the
worst of all possible institutions. The writer
from whom he quotes is Lord MACAULAY, but
that distinguished person may be quoted on
both sides. In his " History of England "
LOI d MACAULAY has branded the religion of
Doctor CULLEN'S Church as " a gorgeous and
" fascinating superstition," and he has also de-
nounced the Church of Rome "as labouring
" for the last three hundred years to stunt the
" progress of the human mind." Lord
MACAULAY has further stated in the most
emphatic terms, in the last volume of his His-
tory, that the policy which led to " Catholic
Emancipation" resulted in disappointment.
Doctor CULLEN certainly seems to be well suited
for controversy. If he has a right to cite