The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-31 00:00:00

The New Irish Association.

The aggregate meeting, convened by the Lord
Mayor of Dublin, " for the purpose of forming an
association for the following objects :-1. A reform
of the law of the landlord and tenant, securing to
the tenant fu'l compensation for valuable improve.
ments ; 2. The abolition of the Irish Church esta-
blishment ; 3. The perfect freedom of education in
all its branches," was held in the Round-room of
the Rotund° on Thursday. It was (says the Free-
man's Journal) a most important demonstration in
every respect, well calculated, from its numbers
and the rank and position of those who attended, to
exert a powerful and widespread influence, and
entitled to the utmost weight and consideration;
The requisition for the meeting, presented to the
Lord Mayor,was most numerously and influentially
signed. It included the signatures of 23 members of
the Catholic hierarchy, the names of several hun-
dreds of the other dignitaries, parish priests and
curates, members of Parliament, magistrates, landed
gentry, professional men, merchants, traders, mu-
nicipal representatives, &c. The meeting was called
for 12 o'clock, but long before that hour the Round-
room and the approaches to it were densely thronged.
The platform and the reserved seats and gallery were
crowded by Catholic prelates, clergy, and laymen,
representing every class and interest of the country.
Owing to certain inflammatory and lengthened ap-
peals and threats uttered, it was supposed that at-
tempts would be made to disturb or break up the
meeting, but the expectations of the evil disposed
were disappointed, as most efficient arrangements
had been made to prevent disorder and preserve the
peace. A large number of gentlemen, appointed to
act as stewards, were stationed in different parts of
the Rounderoom, some of the police force were also
distributed throughout it and outside the building,
and those precautions effectually frustrated any at-
tempt to create disorder--if any were intended.
Amongst those present wore—Archbishop Cullen,
Dublin—Archbishop Leahy,Cashel—Bishop Kilduff,
Ardagh—Bishop Gillooly, Elphin—Bishop Keane,
Cloyne—Coadjutor Bishop Nulty, Kilmore—Mr
Maguire, M.P.—Mr Edward J. Synan, J.P.—Mr
W. J. O'Neill I)auut, Alderman Plunkett, Mr H.
Devitt, barrister—Mr J. B. Dillon, barrister—
Major O'Reilly, M.P.—Mr R. J. Devitt, TX.—
Colonel French, J. W. Kavannah, Mr James,Nu-
gent, Mr Thomas Atkins, Mr O'Leary, barrister—
Mr Joseph Sweetman, T.C.—Mr Cornelius Reda
mond, Waterford Netes—Mr Michael I) wyer, Ca.
qlolic Telegraph—William Molony, Thurles—lgnae
tins J. Kennedy,P.L.G.—Michael Murphey, T.C.—
James Delany, P.L.G—Michael O'Brien, J. Begg,
James Farrell, P. J. Smyth, Irishman—Alderman
M'Cann, George Austin, P.L.G.—John Byrne,
P.L.G.—H. H. M‘Dermott, barrister—Philip Red-
mond, T.C.—Michael Cavacan,
On the motion of Mr JOHN FRANCIS MAGUIRE
M,P., Mayor of Cork, seconded by Mr EDWARD J
SYNAN, J.P., Ashbourne, Limerick, the chair was
taken by the Right Hon. the LORD MAYOR,
The LORD MAYOR, who on rising was received
with loud cheers, said he begged to thank them for
the honour they had done him in asking him to pre-
side at that great meeting. It was a singular
coincidence that the first public act he was called
upon to perform after his elec ion to the civic chair
was to preside at a public meeting held in that
room, convened for the purpose of sympathising
with the brave people of Poland in their heroic
struggles for faith and fatherland— (cheers)—and
he rejoiced that the last public act of his official
year identified him with a constitutional movement
in this country, having for its objcct the complete
emancipation of his creed and country from those
oppressive and offeneivo laws which still disgraced
the statute book,and weighed like a millstone round
the necks of the people. (Loud cheers.) That great
meeting was convened by him in compliance with
the most influential requisition that had ever been
presented to the chief magistrate of Dublin. It was
signed by nearly all the prelates, and by a large
number of the pastors of the church of the Irish
people—and it also contained a vast array of the
mayors, magistrates, and municipal representa-
tives from nearly all parts of the country, and
for a specific purpose. He asked what was the
rytulfi, purpoac for which they were nit summoned
to attend? It was to form an association, having
for its objects—first, a reform of the law of landlord
end tenant, securing to the tenant full compensation
for valuable improvements—(hear, hear) ; secondly,
the disendowment of the Irish Church Eetabl;elts
meat, bi which all religious deneminations shall be
placed on equal footing, at the same time protecting
the vested rights of individuals (hear,hear); thirdly,
perfect freedom of education, securing to the parent
entire control in the education of his child, and giv-
ing to the State the supervision of the public funds
for that purpose. (Cheers.) These were the subjects
which had engaged and still engages the attention of
the ablest statesmen, the greatest orators, and the
most accomplished writers in the three kingdoms.
They had been discussed, over and over again, in the
senate, on public platforms, and in the daily press
and periodicals of Great Britain and Ireland. He
appealed to them not to heed the counsels of those
who would seek to tut n them aside from the sure and
safe paths of constitutional agitation. He trusted that
goodwill and harmony would prevail at that meetinee_
and that they would prove themselves worthyota the
rights—political and religious—which they el
.aimed,
and to which they were entitled. (Cheers.'") Let them
enable him (the Lord Mayor) by ts'aeir• conduct there
that day to say of them that ',title:a he had been gra-
tified at being enabled to eay of t - lem during his entire
year of office, namely, that Da'
.blin stood preeminent
over every other capital in F serene for the good order,
forbearance, and immuni• hy from crime of its inhabi-
tants. (Hear.) He woe' .d again direct their attention
to the terms of the requisition, which set forth that
they came there
,or the purpose of forming an asso-
ciation to cc
.try out the objects already stated. While
it woul,'
he be his duty to keep them to that question,
to allow no departure from it by the introduction of
irrelevant topics, and to maintain, as far as lay in his
power, peace, order, and harmony at their meeting
that day, he impressed upon them that the present
movement was neither conceived nor intended to be
carried out in any way offensive to the feelings or
opinions of any class of our fellow-countrymen. He
learned that a placard had been extensively posted
throughout the city, and it had been copied into
almost all the newspapers of the city, and this
placard contained upon the face of it a fllgrant
falsehood respecting himself. (Hear, hear.) Surely
the cause which must resort to such barefaced lying
as that to which he referred must have very little
truth or justice to rely upon. (Cheers.) In that
placard it was stated that he ordered a black flag
to be hung out of the establishment of which he
was the head when her Majesty visited this country.
He felt humiliated at noticing so contemptible a
falsehood ; but he did so because some friends had
said to him that a lie, however flagrant, if permitted
to get into circulation, would not be overtaken by
him during the whole course of his life. (Hear,
hear.) He did not personally care what might be
invented about him. lie felt that during his term
of office he had faithfully•diseharged his duty. He
believed that in the civic chair he had held the
scales evenly. (Cheers.) He would be a slave, he
-would be a coward, he would be the veriest poltroon
if he did not respond to the great and influential
requisition that had been addressed to hire. (Cheers.)
On the motion of Major O'Reilly, M.P., seconded
by the Very Rev. Dean O'Connell, Messrs J. B.
Dillon and R. J. Devitt were appointed secretaries
to the meeting.
The Secretaries then read a number of letters.
amongst which was the following from Mr Bright,
M.P. :

Rochdale, Dec. 22.
My dear Lord Mayor,—l have to thank your committee
for then friendly invitation to you approaching
meeting,
although I shall not be able to avail myself of it. It is
difficult for me to leave home at this season, and I have
an engagement to be in Birmingham about the time when
your meeting is to be held. lam glad to see that en effart
is to bo made to force on some political advance in your
country. The objects you aim at are good, and I hope you
may succeed. On the question of landlord and tenant I
think you should go farther and seek to do more. What
you want in Ireland is to break down the laws of primo-
geniture and er.tail, so that in course of time, by a gradual
and just process,the Irish people may become the possessors
of the mil of Ireland. A legal security for tenants' improve-
ments will be of great value, but the true remedy for your
great grievance is to base the laws which affect the land
upon sound principles of political economy. With regard

to the State Church, that is an institution so evil and so
odious, under the circumstances of your country, that it
makes one almost hopeless of Irish freedom from it that
Irishmen have borne it so long. 'The whole Liberal party
in Great Britain will, doubtless, join with you in demand•
ing the removal of a wrong -which has no equal, in the
character of a national insult, in any other civilised and
Christian country in the world. If the popular party inlre-
land would adopt as its policy "Free Land" and " Free
Church," and would unite with the popular party in Enga
land and Scotland for the advance of Liberal measures, and
especially for the promotion of an honest amendment of the
representation, lam confident that great and beneficial
changes ought to be made within a few years. We have
on our side numbers and opinion, but we want a mom dis-
tinct policy and a better organisation; and these I hcpe, to
some extent, your meeting may supply.
I thank you for your very kind invitation to the Matta
sion-house, and am, my dear Lord Mayor—Yours, very
truly. JOHN BRIGHT,
The Right llon. the Lord Mayor of Dublin.
Archbishop CULLEN proposed the first resolution
as follows :—" That the entire ecclesiastical re.
venues of Ireland, amounting to upwards of
.f.:580,000 annually, are appropriated to the main.
tenance of a Church which (according to the latest
census) counts amongst its members only 691,872
persons—being less than one-seventh of the entire
population of the island. That this singular insti-
tution was originally established, and has been
always maintained, by force, in opposition to reason
and justice, and in defiance of the will of the great
majority of the Irish people. That we, therefore,
resent it is a badge of national servitude,
offensive and degrading alike to all Irish-
men, Protestant as well as Catholic." He said
—I do not hesitate to undertake the ad.
Toney of the measure referred to in the requisition
on which this meeting has been called, and to
declare my concurrence in them, desirous by doing
so to contribute, even in a small degree, to promote
religious freedom, the spread of knowledge, and
the welfare of society in our native land, a land of
which every true Irishman_ may justly be proud,
and to which he ought'to- be sincerely attached,
(Hear, hear,) You propose to protect the liberty
of religion by taking away the revenues of the Pro.
testant establishment, without at all interfering
with the religious principles of its adherents; to
encourage the growth of learning by putting on a
footing of equality all who engage in the career of
letters and science ; and to restore prosperity to
this country, by holding out inducements to the
people to invest their capital in useful and permas
nent improvements. It is barely necessary to an-
nounce such propositions in order to secure their
adoption ; they are evidently recommended by truth
and justice, as well as by the circumstances of our
country. They have no connection with party
politics—there is nothing personal in them. If
they be properly understood and explained, I do
not see how any man—it matters not what party
he belongs to—can refuse to accede to them,
and to aid in carrying them into operation,
(Hear, hear.) Can anything be more reasonable
than that we should ask for freedom and equality
of edudetion for the rising generations of this
coantry. It is in order that Ireland may be able to
resume her former mission among the nations of
the earth that I am anxious to assist in freeing
education from the trammels which prevented its
growth for the past ; were I not ready to take part
in so patriotic and religious a work I would be un-
worthy the name of a Christian bishop. (Applause.)
Benedict XIII. proclaims that ignorance is the ori-
gin of all evils. You will, however, allow me to say
that there is ene thing more detestable than igno•
ranee, and that one thing is, an infidel or unchris-
tian education, which prepares children for a
career of wickedness in this world, and blasts their
prospects in the world to come. (Hear, hear.)
When we raise our voices against bad systems of in-
struction we are charged with being hostile to en-
lightenment, and we are told that the Catholic Church
is the enemy of progress and knowledge, Vain
and foolish charges. Who dissipated the ignorance
in which the masses of the people were held in the
days of Paganism? (Hear, bear.) Who broke the
bonds of the slaves that at that time were more
numerous than freemen, and who .were left to pine
away in ignorance and vice ? Whc instituted schools
for the people in every Christian country, and esta-
blished so many colleges and seminaries in which
the torch of learning as pr .served after the down-
fall of the Roman empire ? From the Catholic
Church and its supreme hee,ds, the Roman Pontiffs,
and from the Carho!ic clergy, '''aidcd by the charity
of the laity, all these blessings !rave bccn derived.
(Rear, hear.) But, without leavftivi; the spot where
we are assembled, let us look roun4at what has been
done by the Catholic people and clergy of this city
and country. How many schools', and colleges, and
convents, and other places of ceu cation have been
erected by private exertions in the rnidst c" ietverty,
without any aid from government, and) VIA not a
great deal been done in the same wetly towards the
permanent erection and endawresent of a Catholic
university, which will yet take.. its place among the
great institutions of the cc nintry ? (Hear.) Un-
happily, we have had in Ire-land in past times many
enemies of educatiem, the men who seized on or
destroyed eeeese anis and colleges, who burned our
librariees and manuscripts, who hanged Catholic
sFl'.'s-oolmasters, and prohibited under the severest
penalties all Roman Catholic education—the men
who, from year to year, cried out for the suppres-
sion of Roman Catholic schools, and the enforcement
of penal laws against all Roman Catholic teaching,
in order to prop up the Protestant establishment;
these were the real enemies of knowledge. Yet it
was their practice, and it is the practice of many
of their descendants, to reproach the children of
St. Patrick with a hatred of knowledge, and Ireland
with ignorance and a want of schools. Alas ! this
country has had to suffer the greatest grievances in
regard to education, and it is now time to put things
on a proper footing. As we have said, all our schools
were swept away, and, in order to facilitate
the progagation of the doctrines of the establish-
ment, Roman Catholics were left without any
means of instruction, On the other hand, a great
university, endowed schools, royal schools, charter
schools, diocesan schools, parochial schools were
established for Protestants, and richly endowed
with confiscated or public property, but such instis
tutions were inaccessible to Roman Catholics, unless
they wish to renounce their faith or expose it to
imminent danger. Those schools still remain, and
afford to Protestants more opportunities than their
numbers require of obtaining a liberal education.
How have Catholics been treated by the public
authorities in regard to education, even since
liberality has become fashionable ? The only
attempt to place Catholics en a footing of equality
with others was in the establishment of the Na-
tional Board ; and we are frequently reminded of
the generosity displayed towards us on that occa.'
sion. But how were matters then managed?
Though all the educational wants of Protestants
were already too abundantly supplied ; yet, under
the pretence of meeting their requirements, it was
determined to establish the national schools on the
principle of mixed education, excluding from them
in the common hours of study all mention of doc-
trines that could be displeasing to any of the
religious denominations in Ireland. Of course,
Protestantism was to be taught at every hour in the
aboveementioned schools endowed for Protestants,
and the books and practices were to be Protestant.
But although in the vast majority of all the national
schools of Ireland the pupils are exclusively
Catholic, through a pretended fear of interfering
with the religious persuasions of Protestants, who
do not frequent these schools, no mention can be
made in them of the Catholic Church or of its
sublime doctrines and holy practices, or of the
deeds of our saints and pontiffs. Catholic children
in purely Catholic schools must pass the greater
part of the day without any act or word of religion,
less they should offend Protestants who are pre.
sent purely in imagination. No Roman Catholic
book can be used, and even the works of such men
as Bossuct, Masillon, Fenclon, the most eloquent
writers of modern times, arc excluded from the
schools, because they were Roman Catholics
and inculcated Roman Catholic doctrines.
Even the history of our Irish saints and
missionaries of the ancient Church of Ire■
land and its doctrines, and the sad narra-
tive of our sufferings and persecutions are com-
ignored. Let me now ask, whilst things are
pletely
thus managed, are our educational rights respected ?
Are we placed on a footing of equality with others ?

Certainly not. And would we not be worthy of
being branded as slaves were we to continue
silent while left in this state of degrading inferiority
in our native land ? (Hear.) It is my decided opinion
that we should not rest satisfied until we shall have
a Catholic university, with all the rights and privi•
leges conferred by the State on Protestant univer•
sities, and until all other schools frequented by
Roman Catholics shall be put on a proper footing.
(Hear, hear.) In regard to the national system, we
have a full right to Roman Catholic model and
training schools, to the appointment of Roman
Catholic inspectors, to the use of Roman Catholic
books and Roman Catholic practices, to the recog-
nition of the rights of bishops, who were set by
Christ to teach all nations, and to everything that
will render the education in the public schools safe
for Catholic children. As far as Government con.
trol is concerned, I think it ought to be limited to
the right of providing that the funds be properly
and carefully expended. The Government has no
right to interfere any further in educational matters,
nor is it useful that they should neglect the great
political affairs of the nation, and the discharge of
their other necessary duties i❑ attempting to
manage things not within their proper sphere. Let
me add that, whilst advocating theright of Catholic
education for a Catholic people. Ido not refuse the
same right to our Protestant fellow-citizens, but I
protest against any ascendancy on their part. Even
in England the Catholics enjoy the benefits of a
denominational system, and are able to sanctify
knowledge by the study and practice of religion in
their public schools. Why should the Catholics of
Ireland be debarred from the same advantages ?
Allow me now merely to glance at the land ques-
tion. It is an admitted fact that the country has
lost, within the last twenty years, nearly three
millions of its inhabitants. This falling off
of our population has not as yet ceased,
and thousands of the most valuable classes are
still leaving our shores. In an agricultural point of
view, the country is still in a most backward con-
dition ; the overflowing of our rivers, left without
levelling and embankments, destroys an immense
amount of property every year ; a great extent of
bogs and mountains remains unreclaimed ; the count.
try is generally not drained; even the land that is
under crops, as it is held by uncertain tenure, is so
badly cultivated in many places, that it makes only
a poor return to the farmer. Hence, in almost every
part of the country the tillers of the land are in
very low circumstances, and oftentimes in great
poverty. And what with high rent, no lease, and
low prices for all cereals, poverty is likely to in-
crease. (Hear, hear.) Trade is gone from almost
all the country towns, many of which are falling
into decay, or have already disappeared from the
surface of the country. The manufacture of cloth,
calico, iron, steel, and of nearly everything necessary
for domestic purposes, has almost been entirely
banished from among us. In consequence of this
state of things there is an enormous drain of money
from Ireland. To say nothing of the large sums
remitted as rent to the absentee landlords, this agri-
cultural country is obliged to expend an immense
amount in the purchase of Indian corn, wheat, and
flour for the support of the people, as well as for
cloth, calico, manufactured iron and steel, earthen-
ware, and everything that is used for domestic pur-
poses. When we consider the iniquitous confisca-
tions of past times, the refusal of leases to Catholics,
the prohibition of the education of Catholics—a pro-
hibition attributable to the Protestant establish..
meat—the suppression of Irish manufactures—for
they were suppressed by penal laws—we must
admit that precept evils are in a great part to
be traced back to past misrule, and to the mis-
deeds of bygone generations. (Hear.) However
that may be, our present state is most filicting: I
am confident that God will net abandon us. The
country was oftentimes in a worse state than at
present. It is meet that we should use all just and
constitutional means to obtain relief from the evils
that press on us. I say just, and legal, and consti-
tutional means; for it is foolish, it is wicked, to
speak of having recourse to violence and bloodshed,
or to expect any good from illegal combinations
and secret societies. Those who invoke the
aid of foreign armies : those who talk of civil war,
resistance to established authorities, and revolu-:
tionary movements, are the worst enemies of Ire-
land and its ancient faith—they seem to be mere
emissaries of the Priests' Protectio❑ Society ; at
least the stories and dialogues published by the
Irish. People, the org in of the friends of violence,
scorn to be borrowed from the tracts of that society,
or the columns of the Orange press. It is our duty
and interest to walk in the footsteps of the great
liberator, Daniel O'Connell. By peaceable means
and by force of reason, without violating any law,
he broke the chains which bound Ireland for so long
a period, and obtained Catholic emancipation. You,
my Lord Mayor, have determined to employ the
same agency, and I trust you will be equally suc-
cessful.. The new association, by preceeding with
firmness and courage, but always within the boun-
daries of the law—always respecting the dictates of
religion—may be the means of salvation to our
people. However, the material evils of the country
are too deeply rooted, and of too long a growth, to
be removed all at once ; it is only in the process of
time and gradually that a complete cure can be
effected., But it is necessary to call on the legisla-
ture to make a beginning, as our requisition requires.
Let us ask that tenants shall receive compensation
for all valuable improvements, Such a measure
would encourage industry and secure considerable
employment for the people. (Hear, hear.) Perhaps,
in accordance with Mr Bright's letter, something
more effectual may be done hereafter ; and free
trade, as it is established in regard to almost every
thing else, may be extended to land. It would cer-
tainly be a great blessing to encourage the number
of those who hold property in fee. It by free trade
in land such a result were obtained, the prosperity
and security of the country would be greatly pro-
moted. While awaiting that result, I would sug-
gest that the propriety of applying to the pro
tection of the tenants of Ireland the laws enacted
several times in England against those who
exterminated the people from the country
should be taken into consideration. (Hear, hear.)
It
.might be desirable also to examine whether
it would not be well to deprive all tenants at will,
or tenants without a proper lease, of the electoral
franchise, which to them is the occasion oftentimes
of loss or persecution, to deprive, at the same time,
the landlords of the power of distress in regard to
the same tenants, and to subject the landlord to
the payment of all taxes on farms let without leases.
(Hear,hear.) Such enactments would encourage the
owners of the fee to give a fair tenure to the occu-
piers of the land, and would, undoubtedly, tend to
improve the condition of the tiller of the soil. Dr
Cullen concluded by moving the resolution.
Mr loNarers KENNEDY seconded the resolution, which
was unanimously adopted.
Mr W. J. O'NEILL DAUNT said—l have a resolution to
submit to this meeting, affirmatory of the gross injustice
inflicted on Ireland by the alien Church establishment, and
of the necessity of getting rid of that injustice. I should
state that what we demand is that the ecclesiastical state
revenues of Ireland should be secularised and applied by the
state to the public purposes of general utility to the nation
—subject, of course, to the vested interests of all existing
holders of ecclesiastical benefices. 'Whether a man be a
Catholic, or Episcopalian Protestant, or Dissenter,he must,
if he be impartial and intelligent, admit that there is some-
thing which shocks his conscientious instincts in the mono-
poly of the whole Church property of a nation by the pastors
of a small minority of that nation. Ireland is the only
country in the world in which this gigantic wrong exists.
It is observable that in this respect there is one rule for
Irelaci, and another rule for all the other countries con-
nected with the British crown. In the course of a discus-
sion in the House of Lords, concerning the best mode of
propagating Christianity in India, the Earl of Derby,in the
strongest manner, deprecated the intervention of the state.
He said—" Any Government encouragement of missionary
labours in India would be a most certain impediment to the
advancement of Christianity in that empire." (Hear,hear.)
The injustice which would be too monstrous to inflict upon
the Indian worshippers of Jugzernaut , nevertheless,quite
good enough for the Irish worshippers of Christ. (Loud
cheers.) England has committed many a black crime in
India, but there is ono she has not committed there—she
has not seized the property of the Indians to support a re-
ligion in which they do not believe. That crime she has
reserved for Ireland. (clear, hear.) But if England has
committed this injustice it is consolatory to know that
from Englishmen we are encouraged to expect hearty
and active assistance in our efforts to obtain redress.
(Cheers.) There is a powerful and growing confedera-
tion in England of men who have formed themselves into
a society for the liberation of religion from state control and

state patronage. They stretch forth to us the right hand of
fellowship ; they feel acutely for our wrongs, and have fre-
quently expressed their astonishment et our inertness. Lord
Stanley says that the abolition of church rates in England
will give the members of the English Church the first trial,
the first practical experiment of the aril:ldpi° of voluntary-
ism. Irish Catholics have had more than 300 years' trial of
the principle of voluntaryism, and I proudly and gladly
proclaim that we are thoroughly satisfied with it. Catholi-
city has held her ground and enlarged her boundaries, sup-
ported solely by the voluntary offerings of her children.
Noble churches, convents, monasteries, schools, diocesan
colleges, are daily ceming into existence. The Catholic
hierarchy and priesthood have a decent and sufficient sup..
port—a support that suffices for men who know-that their
mission in this world is to minister to souls and not to amass
wealth. How is all this done ?—how are the majestic
buildings erected ?—how is the priesthood sustained ? By
the free, voluntary gifts of the Catholics of Ireland. When
I behold these results of the voluntary principle—when I
see the fresh, vigorous life of Catholicity developed by the
operation of that principle, I solemnly pray Heaven that
in no revolution of ages may the Irish Catholic Church be
cursed with state support, or otherwise sustained than by
the contributions of her faithful members, frankly, piously,
and generously given. (Cheering.) Sound policy requires
that we should not incur the suspicion of looking to any
share of the present ecclesiastical state revenues for the
Catholic Church. The anti-lrieh state Church quartered
on this country is a. robbery of the Catholics. It com-
menced its existence by robbing them. The Church property
of Ireland was founded by Catholics for Catholic purposes.
The diversion of that property from the Catholic to the
Protestant Church in the 16th century threw upon the
catholics the pecuniary burden of supporting out of their
own pockets the Catholic clergy, who had previously been
supported by the state. Hence it is clear, in the first place,
that the existing anti-Irish State Church is a pecuniary
burden on the Catholics to the full extent of the money
they pay to their own Church and their own clergy. Why
is an institution so essentially vicious, so productive of party
and sectarian hate, kept up in Ireland by England? Pre-
cisely because it is essentially vicious, and because it is pro-
ductive of party an d sectarian hate. These qualities consti-
tute its real value in the eyes of English Governments.
Without some such apple of discord—and it would be hard
to find a more effectual one—the various Irish parties would
amalgamate for national objects in a mode oeiteincompa-
tible with the Anglo-Irish statecraft of divide et impera.
(Cheers.) Mr Daunt then proceeded at much length to dis-
cuss the opinions of Mr W hiteside, Mr Napier, Sir Hugh
Cairns, and other gentlemen with reference to the Church
establishment. He was frequently interrupted by cries of
"Time, time!" When he was about to conclude a person
in the gallery rose, and in a loud voice claimed permission
to make a remark. Some confusion arose, and the individual
who had caused the interruption was induced to leavequietly.
Mr K. DIGBY seconded the resolution, which was unani-
mously adopted,
Dr LEAHY, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cashel, moved
the next resolution as follows :—" That as a general rule
all agricultural improvements in Ireland have been and are
effected by the occupiers of land ; and that the law, in deny-
ing the right to compensation for such improvements, pre-
vents the application of capital to the soil, and paralyses in-
dustry by taking away its motive and its reward." lie said
—" The laws touching the relations between landlord and
tenant in this country are in some respects opposed to jets.
tice. lam not here to advocate the cause of the bad tenant,
nor am I one of those extreme persons who hold that, gene-
rally speaking, landlords are oppressors and tenants perse-
cuted. There are good and bad upon both sides. There are
good landlords who feel that they have duties towards their
tenants as well as rights over them, and who discharge those
duties in such a manner as to win the approval of all good
men, and in some measure to redeem the errors of many of
their own class, On the other hand, there are bad tenants,
having their land for the value without paying the rent, be-
cause they want industry or consume their substance in
drink, and such tenants cannot justly complain if the land-
lord puts his legal rights in force against them. But that
an improving tenant should be turned out of his holding,
and that the landlord should appropriate to himself, or trans-
fer to another, improvements as well as land, without one
single farthing of compensation to that poor tenant whose
little capital with the sweat of his brow went into the land
to fertilize it, that is an outrage against humanity and
justice—that is, if anything is, the sin of oppression of the
poor. It may be said—perhaps it will—that in taking part
this movement in favour of the tenants, we catholic bishops,
who from our ofliee are ministers of peace, became ministers
of discord, turning landlord against tenant and tenant against
landlord. No such thing. If we aro ministers of peace, so
are we ministers of the God of Justice, and we but ask justice.
(Cries of " Bear, hear," and cheers.) We but ask what was
insisted upon the other day by a grave judge of the land,
than whom no person is better informed on the relations
between landlord and tenant in Ireland, Judge Longfield,
who, not casually, not by the way, not in the hurry of
the moment, but after deep study in his closet of the sub.
ject upon which he brought to bear all the acumen of his
high intellect, all the advantages of his mature experience,
came to the conclusion, and in the face of the empire pub-
lished it as his opinion, all the same as we contended for—
that a claim for compensation ought to be legally secured
to the tenant for valuable improvements in his land. We
but say what Judge Longfield has said. If we now enter
into the arena of politics, it is but to ask for justice for a
long-suffering peop'e. come forward resnectfully, but
finely, to call upon the feernment sad Legis:ature of the
country to amelierafe, as far as good government and leg's-
laden can arnelielfeee, the condition of a people whose wel-
fare h s been sadly neglected. Therefore are we here to-day.
And let no one say we have not a right to be here. We have
a perfect right. \Vo are bishop, but so are we Irishmen.
As subj3cts and citiznas of the realm, bearing our portion of
the public burdens, rendering to Cee far what belongs to
Csomr, we claim the full and free exercise of all the rights
and privileges pertaining to every description of persons in
the community, not excepting the very humblest. We
claim the right to speak and to act within the laws. We
claim that which is said to be the birthright of every sub-
ject of the realm—the right to meet and petition for the re-
dress of what we feel to be grievances. And if at other times
ii over,
b© silent,
at now,the present
weYVe Illfeieglhcta,llferom
ruwpohnatetvocrspneloatkivoeust,.e
lamentable condition of Ireland, In the middle of the
boasted nineteenth century, after more than 50 years of
union with rich England, Ireland, comparing country with
country, and people with people, is at present brought down
to the lowest place in the scale among the nations of Europe,
whereas, had it been a union of mutual advantage, she
ought to have made giant strides towards national pros-
perity. But it is very far from being so. Millions of acres,
upon which the millions of people now gone for ever could
have been advantageously located, aro now lying waste, im-
mense receptacles of water which add to the humidity of our
yof shipping. Our rivers,
climate. Our harbours, in which the navies of the world
might
which ride
mightin b e
ar awaysafety, are
on
their
e n p
bosom the products of this
country, and bring back in return rich cargoes of merchan-
dise from every part of the world, roll their waters idly to
the sea, some of them without so much as turning a singe
mill- wheel in their course. Then look at the condition of Ihe
people, Our great landed proprietors are absentees ; our
manufactures once of a time, indeed, did flourish, and it
is hoped may flourish again, but do not now ; our few re-
maining artisans are piningin the garrets of our lanes; our
people generally are the worst clothed, the worst housed,
the worst fed of any in Europe; our strong farmers are
many of them crippled, our small farmers brought down to
the condition of labourers, our labourers driven from the
fields into the workhouses, our field®, once alive with
people, now turned into desolate sheep-walks and bullock
pastures, echoing to the sounds of beasts instead of the chil-
dren's merry voices, and the ploughman's cheerful whistle.
(Hear, hear.) The people of Ireland are flying from their
native land in hundreds of thousands : what do I say ?—in
millions. Our young women, pure as the breezes which
fanned their native hills, they who should be the mothers
of a new generation in Ireland—and our young men, light
of limb and strong of hand, destined by nature and nature's
God to till the soil of their own teeming valleys, and to
cover our hill sides with the golden corn—and our old men
and old women, bendingunder the weight of 60 or 70 years,
with but one earthly hope left them, that their bones might
rest with the bones of the ten generations before them—all,
all, young and old, men and women, are flying from the
shores of Ireland as from a land stricken with plague, to
seek elsewhere the means of subsistence denied them in the
land of their birth. And what is the cause of this extra-
ordinary emigration ? Is it that the national resources of
Ireland are unequal to the support of the millions of people
she has heaved out of her prolific womb ? The soil of Ire-
land, if duly cultivated, would ;support not seven or eight,
but ten, twelve, fourteen millions of people. Or is it that the
Irish are an idle, half-foolish, half-romancing people, who
set their faces towards the west in the hope of finding some
garden of the Hesperides where they shall have nothing to
do but put up their hands and pluck the golden apples ?
No, the Irish are a shrewd and hard-working people, at
home and abroad amongst the most hard-working
people in the world. (Cheers.) Or is ,it, again, that the
Irish do not love their native land ? Perhaps no people
in the world, not even the Swiss, are more attached to their
native land. The exiles of Erin on the banks of the Hud-
son or the Ohio look back to that green island far away in
the ocean with much the sense longing of heart as the Is-
raelites by th 3 rivers of Babylon when they hung up their
harps on the willows, and wept as they remembered the
songs of Sion. (Applause.) But perhaps we may account
for the exodus by the famine consequent ou the potato
blight, and by subsequent bad seasons. Well, allowing to
these causes their full share in the thinning of our popula-
tion, they cannot by any means be set down as the sole or
principal cause of the dispersion of our people. Why, the
country had partially recovered from the effects of the famine,
and it was after this partial recovery that the great tide of
emigration began to flow westward. Then, as to bad seasons,
other countries as well as Irelands—vine-growing, corn-
growing countries, experience unpropitious seasons; but
where do we find any people but the Irish departing in mil-
lions because of such visitations of nature? And what
known government, with one single exception, but manages
somehow to bring its people safe through a season of dis-
tress ? Ab ! other agencies are to blame and other deficien-
cies besides those of nature, Moderate men, practical men,
men the most conversant with the condition of Ireland cast
a large share of the blame upon the landlords and the Go-

vernment of this country. They blame the landlords—not
all, but some, who not only turn out tenants without com-
pensation, but also carry on a wholesale extermination of the
people, it would appear, upon system. And they blame the
Government because it.does nothing, because it does worse
than nothing--because it persists and has persisted for years
in the determination not to charge the law, but to leave it
as it is, an instrument of injustice and extermination in the
hands of the landlords—because it omits to introduce any
large, comprehensive measures calculated to develop the
agricultural resources of Ireland, and otherwise to improve
the country, and so to keep the people at home. Without
charging all the blame on this or that particular govern-
ment—if governments past and preient had done their duty
towards the people of Ireland by getting passed, as they
might have done, a law assuring compensation to improv-
ing tenants, and other measures for promoting the inte-
rests of Ireland—if governments, past and present, had
but acted in this spirit, as wise as it would be paternal,
think you the extraordinary exodus of the Irish people
would have ever taken place. or, if it had, would it
ever have approached to anything like its actual gigantic
proportions ? No, never. But because the people
saw that the Government was not a fostering Govern-
ment, willing to do what a fostering Government
might, and could and would do to make the country pro-
ductive, and the industry of the people remunerative, there-
fore the people went in millions. And what was the atti-
tude of the Government all the while ? It stood looking on
with folded arms, all the same as if it was pleased to:see the
people going, and hoping to find in their exodus a solution
of the Irish difficulty, much as was said the other day in
very remarkable words, the following ;—" At home, in less
than 20 years, a reduced population and a less rate of in-
crease have made Ireland a manageable department instead
of a national difficulty." (Hear.) Ah I there it is. Now, this
lamentable exodus it is, as much as anything else,
that has brought us bishops to the determination not avy
longer to remain quiescent, believing as we do that if the
remnant of the people is to be saved, it is not by silent re-
serve on our parts, but by an outspoken declaration of our
sentiments, backed by such active measures as the laws and
constitution of the country justify us in adopting. (Hear,
hear.) We have to say this :—ln the name of our remain.
ing people, we call upon the Government to fulfil that first
and most sacred duty involved in the compact between all
governments and peoples; which is expressed in the well-
known maxim, &alum populi lex supremo—(loud applause)
.--and we proclaim in the face of the world that if the Go'.
vernment, intrusted with the destinies of the country, does
not take steps to keep the remnant of the Irish people in
their own land, then not only does it deserve to forfeit the
confidence of the nation, but it fails in the great end of all
government, the preservation and welfare of the people.
Mr J. F. MeotrestE, M.P., seconded the resolution. He
recommended that this movement should be followed up
by the people of Ireland and by their representatives in
Parliament. He was satisfied, who had himself maintained
the fight for twelve years in Parliament, that before two
years have passed they would find the Government, if not
yielding to the proposal male to them, coming forward and
proposing this measure of justice, which alone would satisfy
the people. He cordially agreed with those who had pre-
ceded him that the Established Church in a Roman Catholic
country is an anomaly—a blot upon their boasted civil and
religious freedom, and the cause of heart-burninge, strife,
and disunion. As to the education question, nothing could
be more disheartening or absurd than to see in the House
of Commons, session after session, as ho had seen for the
last 12 years, one Minister of the Crown proposing a vote
for a denominational system of education in England, and
another coming forward to propose a vote for a mixed system
in Ireland. Upon the education question the Government
was shaky, and all that was required was a strong pressure
of public opinion, in order to have justice done. But the
land question was one of life and death to the Irish people.
It was a question of salvation or of ruin, They wanted a
law that would prevent any hindrance being offered to the
agricultural or manufacturing interests of the people. This
country is dependent for support upon the products of the
land. If agriculture prospers, the people prosper; if it is
depressed, the people are depressed ; and if it fail, they
perish. Ireland is not one half cultivated; he might go
further and say it is not one quarter cultivated. It was said
that the cause was want of capital by the farmers. He ven-
tured to complain that it was not want of capital, but want
of security. They wanted leases, but hew were they to get
them ? He did not believe the Government would compel
landlords to give leases, but they could manage it by taking
away the power of distress from landlords who would not
give 30 years' leases to the tenants. But that was not all.
They wanted compensation to stimulate the industrious
tenant. (Applause.)
Dr KEANE, Roman Catholic Bishop of Cloyne, proposed
the next resolution--" That the enactment of a law securing
compensation to improving tenants would promote more
amicable relations between landlord and tenant, and would
lead the latter to respect the law which he now (with too
much reason) regards as partial and oppressive. That no
class would derive more advantage from such an enactment
than the proprietors of the soil, who, more than all others,
are interested in social stability and order, in the improve-
ment of agriculture, and in the growth of national wealth
and prosperity." He said—All writers admit that the soil
of Ireland is richer than that of several countries, whose
inhabitants are,,however, better fed, better housed, and
better clothed than the Irish. For this strange anomaly
there must be a cause. The area of Ireland is set down at
twenty million acres in round numbers, of which, making
allowance for water, towns, and cities, about four million
acres are waste, and about fourteen million acres are under
cultivation. Of the wastes there are extensive districts,
which, though now producing only coarse mountain grass
and wild heather, may be easily reclaimed -and of the cul-
tivated land there are few acres on which the annual value
of the crops may not be raised. Suppose the annual value
of the crops raised in Ireland, exclusive of live stock, to be
any figure you please, from 40 millions to 80 millions ster-
ling. Now, no one in the slightest way acquainted with the
agriculture of tho country will refuse to admit that, com-
pared with other countries, it is in a very imperfect state.
and that were the productiveness of the soil to be raised to
its highest attainable development, the annual value of the
crops may be doubled, according to some; or according to
others, increased by a third, a fourth, or at least a fifth,
Here is at once, on the lowest calculation, at a loss to the
country of eight millions a year. (Hear.) It has been truly
said that protection will convert the rock into a garden, and
that without protection the garden will become a waste.
Now, if the improving tenant be encouraged to attack the
wastes under the full conviction that he is to reap the fruits
of his own industry, skill, and capital, what may be the
additional value that may bo raised from districts at pre-
sent comparatively barren ? Would it not be rather over
than under £1 an acre? (Hear, hear,) Behold, then, a
second class of four millions a year, making with the eight
already mentioned a total of twelve millions, of which the
country is annually deprived. And it should be remem-
bered that this large sum is not like so much gold taken
out of an Australian or Californian mine. which when once
emptied cannot be replenished, but is the reward of patient
industry and judicious skill, which in increasing propor-
tions annually reproduces itself. (Hear, hear.) Hcro is
the question of questions, the great vital question on which,
in whatever way the insult of a Protestant establishment
may affect the honour, or mixed education endanger the
faith of the Irish people, their temporal welfare is truly
said to depend. Why not, then, open the rich mine of
wealth so near the surface ? (Cheers.) Why not unlock
a treasure so accessible ? Why is not the golden stream
allowed to spread its waters throughout the country, and
scatter the abundance of its riches among the remotest
homesteads P (Loud cheers.) Hence I say to thd landlord§
of Ireland, " Commence without delay—reclaim the wastes
—increase the productiveness of the badly cultivated dis-
tricts—secure the nation an addition. of twelve , millions to
its yearly income, and the people will bless your efforts and
admire your success." (Loud cheers.) But the landlords
cannot do it. Neither will their insufficient numbers nor
their social position fit them for so arduous a task. It is in
the tenants, who, found everywhere and inured to labour,
are prepared with willing minds and strong arms, to come
mence immediately, if only a fair share of the fruits of
their labour bo guaranteed to them. (Cheers.) In want of
security is to be found the secret of the tenant's unwilling-
ness to improve, and of the imperfect cultivation and con-
sequent impoverishment of the eountier. Let compensation
be once secured for improvements which add to the letting
value of the land, and which, without the tenant's labour,
would not exists and in an incredibly short time the work
of national regeneration will begin to be felt. Whatever
engineering skill may be required for the flat districts of
the broad Shannon and its tributaries, it is certain that the
bountiful hand of the Creator has already placed within reach
of the tenantry easy means of execution in the undulating
surface of the soil. From the mountains of Antrim to the
cliffs of Donegal, through the beautiful glens of Connemara,
Clare, Kerry, Cork, and Waterford, till you come by the
classic vales of Wicklow to the gates of Dublin, everywhere
hill, slope, valley, mountain, stream, and widening river,
offer to all drainage waters an easy discharge and outflow to
the ocean. There is not a county, nor a barony, nor a parish,
nor a ploughland, in which remunerative employment may
not be found in abundance for the thousand of young men
and young women who, as fine specimens of the human
race as ever stepped on board an emigrant vessel, full of life,
of strength, and of health, of strong faith, and of spotless
virtue, are obliged, at the risk of everything they ho'd dear
in this world and in the next, to seek for work and for a
home among strangers. (Hear, hoar) Better would it be
f r the country and for the government to make them use-
ful, happy, and cont nted on the lend of their birth than to
see them departing, their hearts overflowing with burning
indignation, the'r minds full of bitter enmity, their lilts
uttering deli' nt words of future vengeance against the
people who, having *nvaded, conquered and oppressed, still
continue to misgovern and to neglect their beloved Ireland.
(" Hoar," and cheers) Clear and unanswerable as is the
case, it has its difficulties. The first difficulty comes from
England, the seconi from the landlords, and the third from
yourselves. You are told by England to make your land
contracts between owners and tenants as she does herself.
Now, between the two countries there are enormous dif-
ferences, which, on a practical question of this nature, can-
not be lest sight of. England has trade, while in Ireland
the land question is one of life and death. In England the
landlord builds the dwelling-houses and offices. and
hands over the farm in ready working order, whereas in
Ireland the tenant gets only the raw material, In England

there is identity of raoe and religion, begetting kind and
friendly sympathieF, whereas in Ireland the relations be-
Wean both classeS are embarrassed by a legacy of political

and r( ligious differences, for which neither can be made
responsible till they adopt them as iheir own ; and in Eng-
land, as you may see reported in the newspapers, local

usages in some places give a legal claim to fair compensa-
tion for improvemeats made by the tenant, and adding to
the letting value of the land, whereas in Ireland no such
claim is admitted. The Irish people have been often told
to rely oa themselves. Well, a tenant, full of energy and
enterprise, and taste, does rely on himself, and having an
improvable farm, throws himself into the work of increas-
ing its value, and when the laborious task is accomplished
he finds that his self-reliance has worked his self-destruc•

tion. The landlord, as a member of society, will share in
the increasing prosperity of the nation, and, from the very
nature of things, leases will expire, tenants will scatter,
and, sooner or later, the reversion, partial, or entire, of the
valuable improvement will fall to the owner in fee. Not
satisfied with these advantages, the landlords claim the
property not yet made, the property which the tenants are
to create, the property of which the creation is prevented
by an anticipative claim put forward beforehand. Thus the
tenant is discouraged, the land is unimproved, the im-
poverishment of the country is perpetuated, and when any
unexpected visitation comes, ruin, crushing ruin, becomes
the lot of all. (Hear, hear.) The last difficulty is the
greatest of all. When called together to discuss subjects of
national importance, Irishmen can feel deeply, speak elo-
quently, and readily adopt strong resolutions. But they
fail in tilat firm, manly, stern, and uncompromisng earnest-
ness of purpose, without which, in all difficult enterprises,
success can neither be merited nor achieved. Do 3ou be-
lieve that, to bo prosperous, the country wants the millions
of additional value that may be raised from the soil ? Do
you believe that the tenant farmers, who, as a class, can do
the work, will undertake the labour and the toil which are
necessary for its completion without the prospective reward
of fair oornpensation ? Do you believe that in the present
state of political parties in England, Irish constituencies
and Irish members can press with irresistible power the
settlement of this great question ? (Hear, hear.) If you
do, then be in earnest. Oppose all who oppose you ; sup-
port all who support you. Send to Parliament oven twenty
members who, without menaces or declamation, will, by
their silent looks and determined countenancer, make the
Minister of the day feel that they are iir,rnest. Do this,
and success will bo as certain as it will b deserved. (lieu,
and continued applause.)
Mr. E. SYNAN seconded the resolution.

Dr. GILOOLEY proposed the next resolution :—" That the
interference of the State in public education should be con-
fined to rendering impartial aid towards the establishment
and ma ntenance of schools, and insuring their efficiency by
a well-regulated inspection ; and that where the Govern-
ment is unfriendly to the religion and nationality of the
people, the assumption of the right of the parent to deter-

mine the education of his child is especially noxious, as
tending to poison the fountains of knowledge, and to make
of education a temptation and a snare." The State, he said,
had undertaken the duties of schoolmaster only is countries
where there is no freedom. In England, which derives its
free and noble constitution from Catholic times, the parent
and the pastor of religion are perfectly free in this matter
of education ; but it is the very reverse in Ireland. Here
the State, whilst pretending only to give assistance in the
education of youth, has, in point of fact, undertaken the"
office of educator. The English Government writes books
and trains the teachers for the schools, and forces them upon
the children. Why is it that this system was carried out ?
There is in Ireland a spirit which the Government wishes
to crush—a patriotism and a love of faith—(hear, hear)—
and it had introduced ib own books into the schools and
colleges for the same reasons as influenced the continental
despots in doing so. It was to extinguish freedom of con-
science, and rule over the hearts of the people as well as over
their persons. They were to determine whether they were
content to exist with this system, which is the poison of
morality, and which has been the ruin of civil and religious
freedom wherever it has prevailed. It was not for a secta-
rian motive, bat from a love of freedom, that they wished
to see Ireland remain a pure religious country. The State
has certain duties to discharge in the education of children.
It is bound to protect the right of the parent, to give every
assistance to the parent, to provide the means of education
—and has it done so? No, it has seized that right, against
repeated protestations. (Hear, hear.) Besides the tyranny
of the Government there is the tyranny of individuals—of
landlords and agents, who coerce the tenantry, under the
penalty of eviction, to send their children to these schools.
(Hear, hear.) Ho condemned this state of things, and hoped
c he Irish people would never cease protesting until a remedy
wore provided. (Applause.)
Major MILES O'REILLY, M.P., seconded the resolution.
He would be ready to speak at more length on its behalf
and urge its adoption in another place. (Rear.)
Professor Su LLIVAN moved :—" That the gratitude of the
Irish people is due and is hereby tendered to those members
of Parliament and public writers in England.who are endea-
vouring to diffuse amongst the people of that country more
just and accurate views respecting our grievances, and espe-
cially in relation to the church establishment; that we urge
them to persevere, pledging ourselves to afford them an
energetic support, and so to silence tho taunt that theti.ara
battling for a people who regard their labours with apathy
and indifference."
, Mr LALOII (Mayor of Waterford) seconded the resolution,
which was adopted.
Mr DEVITT, T. C. (who with Mr J. B. Dillon acted as
secretary to the meeting), proposed the appointment of an
association for the purposes indicated in the following reso-
, lotions, and read the roles by which it should be guided.
It is to be called " The National Association of Ireland."
The rules were adopted.
A vote of thanks to the Lord Mayor brought the proceed-
, ings, which lasted nearly six hours, to a close.