The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-21 00:00:00

NEW S P

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PER

rellitef
negative. Suppose it were announced to you th k4;t0:i5`11.4.1,0,„
branch of manufacture, a machine had been inia .
would reduce the cost price by 10 per cent,, :z h/4;;;
oppose the introduction of such an improvement . • C
.1%.1.
,
not. Bat it is precisely such a saving free trade, effectsmA. a si
celebrated writer on political economy, now ei easecr,
Bastiat, had enunciated this rule, which cannot 1 )b contested,
that when the produce is dear, labour is cheap , and when
the produce is cheap, labour is dear, and the par t attributed
to wages augments unceasingly. The reason is. that when
prices are low for goods, the quantity prockice i is so great
that where a middling workman was fo,-Ind pruviou&iy you
must place several able ones, and of cuuroe pay them more.
I have said enough to show that the treaty of commerce is
uieful in a popular and democratic point of vietr, and on
that ground I oppose the amendment.

ENGLISH CATHOLICISM.
Lord EDWARD HOWARD presided on Tuesday n ght over
a large social meeting of Roman Catholics, held in t hoTov:n
Hall, Birmingham. His lorthhip was supported by the.
Right Rev. Dr. Ullathorne, Roman Catholic iliahop of
Birmingham ; the Right Ea, Dr. Amherst, B Whop of
Northampton, and other leading Catholics of the fidtand
district. After some introductory /Titlarks, the Pt esidt_tt
went on to say—As we are here in the centre of one of the
largest Catholic districts in England, I wish to say a few

words to you—not, however, that I have any thing v, Iry

portant to say—about our potition as Catholics at fae pre-
sent time in the country. (hear, and applause.) I &are say
you, occupied as you are from morning till evening, do not
consider the struggles which Catholicity has before now had

in this district as in th.! rest of England. lam not going

to dwell upon them ; they are things which are gone by ;
but we ought n,,t entirely to forget, in the happier days in
which we live, the position in which men were in former-
times, especially when we remember that we are in the im-
mediate vicinity of where that excellent man. that model of
a bishop, Dr. Milner, lived—(applause)—that also you have
_ .

that excellent and old-established Catholic institwion, iho

college at Ascott--(applause)—from which so many well-
educated men and so many earnest and emargetio priests
have gone forth to minister to the wants of the Catholic
body. When I remember that excellent .school which is
now growing up at Egbastou, and wLen I remember also

that Mr. Pugin has done so much in Nailing-ham for
Catholic art with the help of the energy and talent which

he found here, and by which his ideas were carried out—
when I remember that the firm of Hardman, and others,

while second to none in charity, have been so prominent,

so earnest, and so able, that they have changed the system
of church building and church decoration—(applause)—l
cannot but call your attention to such striking facts. But
what is it we are now ? Whom have I the honour of seeing

before me? Here is the representation—and the very large

representation—of the very large Catholic body of this town..
Now I have the great pleasure of seeing before me as happy.
looking, as industrious-looking, as well-to-do-looking, a
number of persons as my eyes have ever seen. It looks as if
you were happy, as if you were well-contented, as if you
had not much to complain of in this town. Unfortunately,
even in these days, there prevails a good deal of feeling
against the Catholic religion. I am not going to dwell upon
it, and I only speak of it for the purpose of regretting it ;
_ .

but I believe that in the manufacturing towns, and in Bir-

mingham especially, the Catholics fiud more consideration
and more kindness from those of other religious than they

do in almost any other place. (Applause.) I think I have
read in our Catholic papers about the death of a venerated

. .
man who was in his lifetime a towneouneillor ofßirmingham,

and I think I have also read in the papers of some one's death
very recently who was a member of the corporation of Bir-

mingham. I believe that in no town are the Catholic clergy
so freely allowed access to the charitable institutions as in
Birmingham. (Applause.) If anything can commend itself
to the Catholic heart, that is the thing. You will observe
that it is not any preference, not any favour, that Catholics
want. When they ask for facilities in such matters it is
simply for the clergyman to administer to the dying or the
sick members of his flock that consolation which he alone
can administer in times of affliction and distress. (cheers.)
You have all these things here. It is true that the Catholic
body throughout the rest of England wish to see some other
things accomplished. Whether they will get them accom-
plished or not I don't know. There is a good deal of preju-
dice yet to be overcome. Persons imagine that we wish for
these facilities through other motives than those by which
we are really actuated ; but this I will ventur° to say—that
the more facility there is given the priest to enter the work-
house or the prison the greater facility will the constituted
authorities find in keeping peace and order among those
who are committed to their care. (Applause.) It is not the
first time that I have had to speak on these matters, and I
have invariably said, "You may depend upon it that the
more you allow the Catholic clergyman to be brought into
connection with the Catholic criminal or the Catholic pau-
per the more easy will it bo to reform the one and soothe
and comfort the other, and keep order among all." (Ap-
plause.) I trust that before long the small glimmering of
liberality which has been shown by some counties in respect
to the admission of Catholic priests into the prison for
the purpose of visiting the Catholic prisoners will be de-
veloped, and that the inja6tiee which Catholics now expe-
rience in that respect will be done away with. (Applause).
I shall not intrude upon your time by going into the pans
ticulars of this question, but there are one or two matters

connected with it which are not, but which ought to be,

generally known. Are you aware that if a Catholic crimi-
nal in the prismi, wishing to keep hi; religion, which
of course is the only means of reforming him, says he does
not wish to go to the prison chapel, he is, being in coria—

(pence of that locked up in his cell, subjected to a month's

imprisonment more in the year then Li. Protestant
prisoner who attends morning and evening prr:.-er ae,l g( ..5
to the chapel on Sundays? Again, it is said that the C.l-
- prisoners do not wish to see their priests ; they do not
ask for them. Well, the reason of that we have over end
over again repeated, and I shall confine myself here simply
to saying that of course a poor man of that kind who goes
to prison would be the last to like to see the priest at first ;
he would be most ashamed; but if there is one man on the
face of the earth able to reformhim it is his priest. (Applause.)
We all know that if we have respect for a man and have in-
jured either him or what he holds to be good and holy, that
is the last person we wish at a certain time to be brought
into contact with. The Protestant chaplain is obliged to sae
all the Protestant prisoners. The Catholic chaplain ought to
have the same facilities, and that shamefacedness of the Ca-
tholic prisoner, which is to the man's honour, ought not to,
be turned against him, nor the only chance of reform taken
away from him by the assertion that he Is giving up his re-
ligion when we all know it is not so. I hope sincerely that
persons will be brought to a better consideration of the
question. I have, perhaps, gone into this matter too !orig.
I shall only once more advert to your local affairs. You are
met here to-night in the most laudable manner to encourage
the schools of this district. (Hear.) What a blessing it is to
see so much enthusiasm about your schools ? All your
schools are, I understand, managed by one committee, and
this no doubt is the cause of unity of feeling among you, and
makes you all feel an enthusiasm about your schools which
may not be felt in other places where each school is con-
fined to a small sphere, and there is nothii)g to connect with
any but one small neighbourhood. There seems to be a
general feeling of pride among you about your schools, and.
an eagerness to support them, and this it is to a great ex-
tent that has brought you here to-night. You all of you
know, and I am not going to enlarge upon the importance
of education. You know it is education which must give
the young a chance of growing up to be good and orful
members of society, and which must assist them to conti.'aue
so, and to keep them out of the prison and the workhouse,.
and thus prevent all these obstacles which wee w hucate ave
to contend with. While everybody else is being d,
Catholics must not hang back. We must endeavour to hold
our own. I want no more than that; but I want to see the
Catholic body not inferior to other bodies of men. (Cheers.)
I want to see them have their proper place in society. I
want to see them—not by gambling or speculation or any.
thing of that sort—get their own place in society, and then,
if they do that, they will not only have the means of sup-
porting themselves and their families in honour and credit,
but will be able to support their churches and chapels, their-
schools, and the poorer members of their society. This is
what we all of us ought to have at heart. It is good for
each of us to wish for the time, and to endeavour to bring
it about, when none of the poor Catholics of Eneland' of
whom there are so many, should be without their chapel
and their school. (Applause.) I wish you to remember this
—that as Catholics, whether as the large body you form in
this large town or as individuals, the eyes of many are upon
you, and that you should always behave yourself with a
view to do honour to the religion in which you have been
nurtured. If you do that you will do much to dispel pre-
judice ; but am sure you must all of you feel that if Catho-
lics are seen to appear much at the police offices, if they are
brought up as drunk and disorderly, if they are seen to be
spendthrifts, dishonour is thrown upon the whole body, and
people on the lookout to abuse us say that those who belong
to the Catholic religion are always in broils and troubles.
Let us feel that as we walk along the streets we walk along
as belonging to the Catholic religion, and let us feel that
when we are respected members of society the Catholic)
religion is then respected through us. (Applause.) I
need only further remark that, while we as Catholics are
proud. of our religion, and do all we can to advance it
among the members of our own flock, we ought always to
behave with the most perfect friendship and kindness to
those who do not agree with us. (Hear, hear.) While wo
avoid their errors and do not agree with them in religious
matters, there will be often many other matters in which we
may agree with them, and in which we may always be
friends, and thus contribute to the great Christian benefit
of a well-organised community. (Applarve.) As we rosrct
our own feelings, let us always respect the feelings of others.
That is likely to conciliate and obtain for us those yet
drc-
mining fhings which the Catholic body so very much L -
sire to obtain.
After a few further observations the noble lord resumed
his seat, and was heartily applauded.

THE GREAT EASTERN.—Another suit in the
Court of Admiralty has been commenced egainst
the Great Eastern. Captain Paton, the commander, has
caused the vessel to be arrested for the tutu of £2,000,
There are now two arrests in ereat force o,:.;ainst the ship,
one at the suit of the owncrs of the late, ship Jane ter 46,000
and the other by Captain l'atou r,OO