The Sun.
London, England, 1825-02-23 00:00:00

FOR THE SUN.

BRITISH CATHOLICS.
Mu. EDITOR—A Meeting of the British Ca-
tholics in Dean-street, Soho, noticed in your most
useful Journal, on the 2,lst instant, induces me to
hope, that you will take further notice of this
Meeting, which has so much elated and inspired
the lower classes of that body, thousands of whom
are fed and supported by the Protestant heretics,
as we are called by them to this day. The
Chairman announced to the Meeting that the col-
lectors visited not only the houses of the poor,
but the house of Royalty itself for the servants
of the Duchess of KENT contributed ONE
POUND ! ! !---(L43Dd applause ! ! !)—This then we
presume, Mr. Editor, to be some Roman Catholic
servile, probably a French Cook, ready with his
carving knife to give them a lift in this country
when wanted in another way. The table orator
at this Meeting went on addressing the Gentle-
men, and telling them (mostly Knights of the
Hod and Shovel,)—the money collected was
for three purposes, first, to pay the expences of
petitioning for a redress of grievances ! secondly,
to pay men of merit for defending them against
the libels and calumnies of their enemies ! !
(Enemies in a Protestant Country, mark that) ;II
and thirdly, to enable the poor to get redress in
a Court of Law against the rich 1! !!--( Loud ap-
plause.)—(Here's pretty doctrine addressed to
the lower classes in the very heart of London),
in addition he went on to say we are all unani-
mous in seeking those rights for which our ances -
tors bled ! ! !—(Let it be remembered who made
the Protestants bleed in this Country ! ?)
and in co-operating with Ireland for the restora-
tion of our freedom ; " Erin go bragh"—(Ap-
plause)—To conclude, this worthy said, " your
contributions are perfectly legal ? No person
could hinder another putting his hand into his
breeches-pockets and taking his money out"--and,
he might have added, to enable you to gain the
ascendancy in the country, and then we'll shew
them what we can do! !
A PROTESTANT CORRESPONDENT,

FOR TILE SUN.

IRELAND.
Alit. EDITOR—WhiIe both in and out of Par

liament, public attention is attracted to the state
of Ireland, permit me, throngh the medium of
your paper, to divert that attention into a right
channel.
Each time that I visit Ireland, I feel more
and more convinced, that the Catholic question,
though the catchword of debate to both parties,
will little amend the existing state of things in
that country, whichever way the State Doctors
may determine it.
The bane is PovertN—reckless, hopeless, help-
less Poverty, in the labouring class—a population,
too near the verge of starvation, to be safe and
trustworthy, and therefore too unsafe for master-
manufacturers to be investing their capital, in
planting establishments among them ; the result
must consequently be, want of employment, and
frequently disorders, only to be restrained by
military force.
To remedy this, I say, Let the UNION be com-
plete, or not at all. Let the Labour of Ireland
be on a par with the Labour of England, or let
us return to the former system of restricting by
duties on corn and cattle exported, the price of
food from rising, and of compelling the Irish to
buy Irish manufactures, by a duty levied upon
English goods. Not that I recommend the latter,
but I contend that—
While the labour of England has seven or ten
million pound sterling raised annually by the Poor
Laws for its assistance, and the labour of Ireland
has nothing, England must attract the manufac-
turers of the United Kingdom —and Ireland,
must want employment, must be poor, and must
be unsafe.
• The Irish Labourer, without a watch to pawn,
a. good coat, bed or bedding, without furniture
in his miserable cabin, or anything to raise money
upon, encumbered with one or two decrepid old
relations, if accident, ill health, or stagnation in
trade, throw him out of employ, must starve, get
sick, and--(must I remind you of the late dis-
tresses in the North-west of Ireland,)—must die.
The English labourer has his decrepid relations
supported, has all these resources to look to, and-
should they, one by one, become exhausted,
comes upon the parish,—can.the manufactures of
the two kingdoms compete under such unequal
circumstances'
Food and agricultural produce in the two king-
doms, Theexce Irish g
freight and charges, kept
o
Landholder gets more than
an
gaalrir.s" h rental, without any poors-rates to pay
ti
out of it ;—and yet his tenants have looked to
England for that Charity, which in their extreme
need, the Institutions of their Country refuse
them.
Oatmeal and Potatoes, shelter, clean straw,
they are refused !
A forced Assessment for the poor, we must
come to at last. Scotland, in most of its densely
peopled districts is forced to adopt it, and Ireland
as part of the Union, must follow. How the rate
is to be raised, and how to be distributed, so that
three-fourths of the population do not becorrge
paupers, is a further view of the subject ; but
Irish absentees, should no longer draw thei‘un-
taxed revenues from a country, that English Cha-
rity is most distressingly
appealed to, to support,
that a standing army alone keeps submissive to
the Civil Power, and that possesses, without ex-
ception, the moil wretched population in Europe.
XX.