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

—I do not hesitate to undertake the ad.
vocacy 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 permae
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 sea how any man—it matters not what party
ho 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 education for the rising generations of this
country. 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 one thing more detestable than igno-
rance, 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, hear,) 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 ? Who instituted schools
for the people in every Christian country, and esta-
blished so many colleges and seminaries in which
the torch of learning as preserved after the down-
fall of the Roman empire ? From the Catholic
Church and its supreme heads, the Roman Pontiffs,
and from the Catholic clergy, aided by the charity
of the laity, all these blessings have been derived.
(Hear, hear.) But, without leaving the spot where
we are assembled, let Ms look round at 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 education have been
erected by private exertions in the midst of poverty,
without any aid from government ; and has not a
great deal been done in the same way towards the
permanent erection and endowment of a Catholic
university, which will yet take its place among the
great institutions of the country ? (Hear.) Un-
happily, we have had in Ireland in past times many
enemies of education, the men who seized on or
destroyed our schools and colleges, who burned our
libraries and manuscripts, who hanged Catholic
schoolmasters, 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;
those 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 insti.
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 on a footing of equality
with others was in the establishment of the Na-
tional Board; and we are frequently reminded of
the generosity displayed towr.rds us on that occae
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 ba 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 allthe 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 aro pre.
sent purely in imagination. No Roman Catholic
book can be used, and even the works of such men
as Bossuet, Masillon, Fenelon, the most eloquent
writers of modern times, are 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-
laud and its doctrines, and the sad' nem:
tive of our sufferings and persecutions are com-
pletely ignored. Let me now ask, whilst things are
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 in attempting to
manage things not within their proper sphere. Let
me add that, whilst advocating the right 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 mune
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 need for domestic puss
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,
ment—the suppression of Irish manufactures—for
they were suppressed by penal laws—we must
admit that present 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 afflicting: I
am confident that God will not 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' Protection Society ; at
least the stories and dialogues published by the
Irish People, the org in of the friends of violence,
seem to be borrowed from the tracts of that society,
or the columns of the Orange press. it is cur 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 proceeding 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 bold property in fee. If 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 owlr
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 IGNATIUS 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 manioc) 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 ono rule for
Ireland, 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 Dorby,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 wLich would be too monstrous to inflict upon
the Indian worshippers of Juggernaut P, nevertheless,quite
good enough for the Irish worshippers of Christ. (Loud
cheers.) England has committed many a black crime in
India, but there is one 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 rho has
reserved for Ireland. (Hear, hear.) But if England has
committed this injustice it is consolatory to know that
from Englishmen we aro 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