The Sun.
London, England, 1823-09-27 00:00:00

111 dil 'k'' O.P. - Bthl:f A'fi,

TO THE EDITOR:OF THE 'MALIN EVENMG HERALD.
. •
DEAR SlR—Having observed In your respectable paper 'of.
last Friday that 'some very Materiel dratunstancits 'the oc
currence which took placein K6in's Church4srd on l'uesday,
the 9th instant, have been ertemeously preseritedlo .the 'public; i
•
I bedleave to describe them as they were`; and, 'so far is I am
individually concerned, to state, briefly, the'reasons for my con-•
duct on •that' melancholy and ton miserable occasion.
Whoever is acquainted with our Irish customs, must have
noticed that it is not usual for the Catholic Clergy of this coun-
try to appear at the.public places of interment in any official.
costume, or to read there the service which ispreicribed in their.
ritual for such occasions. When invited to a,. funeral. by the
friends of the deceased, they attend like their other fellow-citi-
zens,. they are seen amongst the crowd ; they are not distin-
guished by any mark indicative of the Catholic priesthood, and
if requested to offer a prayer for the departed soul, they pro-
nounce, from memory, that which is in general use amongst
the laity, and which every. laYman may with propriety offer on
similar occasions. Such is, and has been, the practice of Ca-
thlic ClergYmen in Ireland since the enactment of the penal
code.

I now appeal to'all those, of every religion, who were present
in Sevin's Church-yard when the interdict from his Grace die
Protestant Archbishop of Dublin was communicated to me, and
I defy any one of them to assert that 1 departed, on that occa-
sion, from the cautious and uncilitiiisive practice Of my reverend
brethren. ._Somethingjndeed, like this seems to be insinuated
the article to which I haVe alludettabeve : the writer states,
in the first paragraph, that " the attending clergymen would.
not be suffered to read the office of the dead; and that the sex.
ton announced that in interrupting the solemnities, he was not
only fortified by the authority of the ei.devant excellentDean,'
but by the express provisions of an act ..of Parliament." But
Was there any thing.in my manner, or conduct, to warrant such
a statement? Did I attend in my official capacity? Did' I
appear with surplice, or .atole, or cassock, or any vesture or
badge of the clericaforder.? Did I open *hook No, Sir;
I did nothing of all this : 1 did nothing which Any layman
might not lawfully do; nothing which has not been donaby
Catholic clergymen, and Catholic laymen, under the adniini-
stration a the most bigoted prelates, and during the most per-
secuting periods of fbrmer times. Yielding to the particular
request of a very near and venerable relative of the deceased', I
took off my hat to assuage, by a short condoling player, the
Sorrows of the living—to implore perpetual rest and peace for
the departed soul; and at this moment, and without any other.
proVocatiop,"the btder of Dr. Magee was rung intily eats, that
I must not offer.any prayer over that grave."
Gracious Heavens ! Is there a Country in the universe so de-
graded as Ireland ? I cannot pour forth a prayer over the grave
of a brother, because Dr. Magee, the Protestant Archbishop of
Dublin, will not allow it ! I Is this Christianity ? Is this the
law of the land? Are The Catholics of Ireland obliged to sub-
mit to such behiuting, such demoralizing fanaticism ? Ido not
believe it, net. would I believe it, although Dr: Magee were
quoted a thousand times as authority.
However, there are moments when both feeling and convic-
tion mast remain inopiratiVe. 'T did not consider myself bound
by Dr. Magee's interdict but I owed it to the memory of an
ekcellent Christian. and invaluable citizen, not to suffer his
.grave to be made the arena for anti-religions•dlsputation—l
owed it to the 'respectable family of the deceased not to increase
the bitter affliction which, at that Moment, lay se heavy -upon
their hearts ; I tiwed it lb the '„countless multitude which
then filled the church--yard and the'avenues leading to it,, not
to excite a flame amongst them, which, in its progress, might
inVolve the sexton; the church, and 'the country in ruin ;
I owed it, finally, to the charity I should feel ler the Arch-
Bishop himself, not to notice on that .Ocrision -the outrage of
which 1 had 'reason to complain. For ifdisastrous consequences
had ensued from his inhibition, could he ever enjoy one mo-
ment of peaee ? I therefore bowed,fOr the instant, in his au-
thority; I extinguishaunder my feet the destructive flambeau
which he had • the cruelty or monstrous indivretion to fling
amongst us. I endeavOured to compose the feelings 'of those
who were near me, by keeping. them engaged in silent prayer;
1 prevented the distant crowd from noticing the unbecoming
terruption by managing the appearance about the grave as if
every thing went on in the usual Manner. In tlOing so, I May,
perhaps, have given occision to a sentiment of triumph Within
the breast of the Archbishop; but if he has net rather shed
tears for having issued his mischievous mandate, I pity him
from my heart. Such pal is not according to knowledge. I
am, dear Sir, your most Obedient servant,
MICHAEL BLAME.
Chapel House, Exchange-street, Sept. N.

BAYONNE, SEPT. ls.--The reason of the suit.
den -a:Tani:ire of the troops from Madrid, which we mentioned'
before, is now said to be, that the troops of the Faith in Fstre
madura had met with a repulse in an action with Lopez Deno,:
• The gartles-de-corps, it is said, will immediately march for
Port St. Mary's. Santana, we find, has capitulated condition''
ally ;. that is, the b'rea'ch troops . are to be received into it on
the 27th, if it does not previously receive a supply of provisions
add ammunition. The malsitly at Passage is said to be very
serious. The day before yesterday several persona died, who
were in erfect health the day before. Several soldiers of the
fi
19th re ment, which forms the first cordon. have fallen sick
wain these few days ; happily the second cordon, firmed by
the 52d, will hinder any communication bet Ween those troops
and the rest of the army. It is reported that the commander of
the 52d is ill, but it is supposed to be from over-exertion.--
Some inhabitants of Santander have sent petitions to the Re-
gancy and to the Duke d'Angotileme, stating, that they had
been violently deprived of national property, ormerly belong.
, ing to the monastery of •Monte Corban, which they had pur-
chased at public auction under the sanction of the Constitu-
tional Government. The Governorhas re-instated the Prelate
in the possession of, the estates, without any notice to the peti-
tioners, or due intimation of the Orders which he said he had
received from the Regency.
With respect to Rtenn, he was, by the latest i
authentic accounts, within a short distance of
the army of B4U.LASTEItOS, and the probability
is, that he has effected a junction with them ; an
I event front which great results may be expected ; •
for the rumours of hii defeat and capture, so
'vaguelyatated by the French bulletins, are not.
worthy of the smallest 'credit. What has be-
come of the two thousand five 'hundred men '
with whom he left Malaga ? Are they swal-,
lowed up by an earthquake, or annihilated by
a Hohenlohe miracl ?If they had fallen in battle,
'should we not have heard of the details ? Or
had Riego chosen a set Of men who would
have dispersed, without it battle, and left him
to be made prisoner by,two or three 'peasants ?
But we shall suppose it to prove true that he has
been defeated and taken, it must be a miserable '
cause indeed which can depend upon the fate of
one man, 'however eminent. The French would
find, that the contest in Spain was not to be de-
cided by the•fall Of . !tier,' or even of Cadiz,
were these events to happen, any more than
it has been decided by the defection of Abis.
bali Illorilta,- and the weakness, if ' not the
• treachery, of Ballasteros. The eagerness with
which the French bulletins utter palpable false-
hoods, nay sometimes even absolute.impossibilities
is one sign, amongst many others, both of the
turpitude of their cause, and of its approaching
failure. 'lt would be curious if we should find
Riego present at the great assault- of Cadiz,
which is so frequently 'threatened, if it should
ever take place. They must have heard, in that
city, of the victories of their countrymen in Cant-
I.
lonia. And is it at such a period that the inha-
bitants of the capital of Andalusia would think
of a shameful surrender ? Impossible !--(Morn
ii g Chronicle.)
Lord BERESFORD arrived at the New London
Inn, Exeter,. on' Wednesday 'afternoon, and,
horses, proceeded for Falmouth,
afteron his
c way
g ton Lisboa.
Admiral Sir ISAAC COFFIN., whq is stated to
i
be a • native of America, has • lately sent over to
the.Massachusett's Society for promoting Agri-
culture, an English . Bull of the' purest breed ;•
and the Secretary of.that Soicety has returned
his warmest thanks, in the name of the Society,
re.r so distinguished a ?resent,