The Sun.
London, England, 1834-11-04 00:00:00

word of truth in the whole extract. If, in one or two
instances, clergymen have fallen victims to the lawless
rage of an infuriated mob, it was not because they
were ministers of the Protestant religion, but because
they were oppre-sors of the poor, and the spoilers
of the orphan and the widow. They had no enemies
to fear in their ministerial capacity ; they only
were objects of ruthless revenge as partial Magistrates,
and cruel and oppressive tithe-hunters. And as to the
Protestant community, the worst evil they have suffered
from the Catholics is that of being placed on an equal
footing with them in the eye of the law. As to the
self-banishment of that respectable body, it is too
-rich in absurdity to notice it. We pass on to the

next charge :
." 8. Our Protestant schools dismissed because they read
the Bible, and others endowed in their placed on the express
condition that the Scriptures, the word of God, the hope and
solace of the poor, shall be excluded..-4 Hear, hear.)
This relates to Mr. STANLEY'S Bill for the educa-
tion of the poor of Ireland, without religious distinc-
tions. The dismissal of the Bible from the new schools
a downright palpable untruth. The Bible is read ;
but the A B C prodigies from Kildare-street, and the
lovely young enthusiasts who play the part of lady
patronesses, are not permitted to read lectures
to little boys and girls, about the shape of the
Pope's slipper, the heresies of St. Augustine, and
the folly of endeavouring to bathe a soul in a holy
water pot. There is to be no more bribing of little
boys and girls for attending places of worship repro-
bated by their parents ; but to all there is secured li-
berty of conscience in the just and equitable sense,
which only conveys a correct idea of that pure and
sanctified privilege. Had the Government no other
claim on the gratitude of the country than the passing
of the Irish Education Bill, that measure alone would
entitle them to the respect of every liberal man in the
United Kingdom. We now proceed to the last

charge :
"9. The clergy not only exposed to outrage their persons,
but their revenues forcibly withheld from them ; the deluded
people encouraged to resist to the last drop of their blood the
payment of their just and legal dues—tumultuous mobs raised
—tithe collectors openly murdered—the laws resisted—Ma-
gistrates assaulted and wounded—the police in large bodies
surrounded and butchered by an infuriated mob, and Govern-
ment, so far from exerting themselves to punish the authors of
these crimes, rewarding and honouring the avowed institator.
--(Hear, hear, and loud cheering.) These, my friends, are
some of the grievances of which, I think, we have to complain,
and I should hope that some advantage may arise from setting
them thus clearly and succinctly before the public."
Were the above statement quite correct, which we
know it is not, the clergy would have thank themselves
for it in the first place, and Lord LONDONDERRY
and his party in the. House of Lords, in the second.
But it is easy to exaggerate a grievance, and it is besides
easy to prove that passive resistance was not resorted
to by the Irish peasantry, till the Clergy had thought
proper to divest themselves of every claim to the affec-
tion of the people. We have not forgotten the com-
mencement of that memorable struggle ; nor the
fact that it was preceded by a crusade of the
Clergy against every measure proposed by the
Ministry for uprooting religious rancour in Ireland.
But even admitting the evil in its fullest extent, what
were the Ministers to do ? Sir ROBERT PEEL, in a
debate in the House of Commons on the first of
March, 1833, on this very subject said, " The
British Constitution knew nothing of the abomi-
nable doctrine of passive resistance ; it never took
a precaution against it, because it confided in
the equity and justice of Englishmen, and never
supposed that the doctrine of passive resistance
would be resorted to, by any man, as an authority
for the purpose of depriving others of their rights."
The evil was then without a remedy ; but great
as it was, we would prefer it to any other
kind of resistance that might be resorted to, and
we cannot say that it was unprovoked. We
will not ransack our file for instances of cle-
rical oppression. We take the following from the
Limerick Star now before us; we invite Lord LON-
DONDERRY and the people of England to read it
carefully, and having done so, we will leave them-
selves to form a judgment of the guilt of passively
opposing the claims of an alien priesthood
" The dreadful condition of the parish of St. Mary in this
city is already known to the public. Of this parish the
Very Rev. Dean Preston is the Protestant rector, and the
Rev. Mr. H. Gubbins acts in the capacity of his curate. The
collection of tithes is left in Mr. Gubbins's hands. A_poor
widow, named Eliza Mullins, now living at the head of New-
gate-lane, in the parish above-named, was on Friday last
lying on a sick-bed in her room, to which she had been on-
fined by ill-health for the last three months. This woman,
we understand, had once been in more comfortable circum-
stances, but subsequently became so much reduced in means,
that on the death of her mother, which took place about two
months since, she was unable to procure a coffin for her parent,
until a subscription was raised for the purpose by the Catholic
clergyman of the parish. On the morning before-mentioned
she was preparing to rise and sit a little while before her fire,
when a bailiff entered, and demanded 3s. as the amount of Mr.
Gubbins's poundage. The poor woman told him she bad
not the money ; that she had never paid more than 2s. pound-
age to Mr. Gubbins. The bailiff said is. was due since the
year previous, but this she declared she had already paid to a
former collector. However, on his persisting, she offered him
ls., which she said was all she" then had in the house, and pro-
mised to hive him the remainder on the following day. Her
entreaties, however, were without effect ; the man left her,
and in a short time returned with two other bailiffs in a state
of intoxication. In lieu of Mr. Gubbins's 35., they seized
one kettle, one washing-tub, one large tray, one umbrella,
two old quilts, one gown, one petticoat, and went their way.
She rose from her sick-bed, dressed herself in the few re-
maining garments which Mr. Gubbins's faithful emissaries had
left her, and proceeded to the Exchange. Here she deemed
herself fortunate in finding Mr. Gubbins himself; to him she
made the same representation and the same request as she bad
done already to his bailiff, and, we regret to add for his sake,
for hers, and for the sake of humanity, with the same success.
The poor woman then returned to her home, and spent the
whole of that night lying on the hearthstone, by the fireside,
for want of the necessary clothing on her bed. On the follow-
ing morning she sent for the Catholic clergyman to administer
the last rites of her religion. We have some satisfaction in
adding, that, by the charity of a few individuals who heard
of the eircumstane-. the poor woman's kettle, quilts, &c.,
were restored, and that Mr. Gubbins got his 35., besides ls.
costs. What effect the whole transaction may have upon the
mind and body of this infirm, unhappy creature, remains to
be seen. She lies at present, we understand, in a very
dangerous state. Upon this transaction we shall not at pre-
sent offer a single observation. The facts speak for them-
selves with a force which comment would only weaken ; and
if there be a reader who could remain indifferent to those, or
fail to draw his own conclusion from them, be possesses a mind
and a heart which cannot be reached by any remarks of ours.
The following letter was yesterday left at our office :
‘, TO THE EDITOR OF THE STAR AND EVENING POST.
" Sir,—Will you return thanks for me, if you please, to Thomas
Devitt, Esq., for the 1/. which he sent me to release my kettle,
and old tray, and parasol, and tub, and also my petticoat and two
old quilts, which were pounded in the cathedral, for minister's
money, due to Dean Preston and Rev. Mr. Gubbins? I also
thank Mr. Geary, who collected for me a few shillings, only for
which I would die of cold, having been obliged (after a sickness of
three months) on Friday night, when my bed-clothes and other
articles were taken by Hayes and the other two church bailiffs, to
lie all night on the hearth-stone, by the fire, to keep myself warm.
" ELIZA MULLINS, Widow,
" Oct. 26. of St, Mary's Parish, head of Newgate-lane."
This terminates our remarks on the Downshire
Orange meeting. Such exhibitions are more injurious
to the Conservative cause than to those they are in-
tended to injure.

Arrivals from Constantinople, of the date of the
7th of October, state that the SULTAN has given up
all idea of making war on Egypt. The incident that
led to this determination is too singular to be passed
over without notice. On the 4th, his Highness embarked
an board a steamer to visit his palace in the island
of Chalchy, with the intention of observing the condi-
tion of the fleet, which was then cruising in the sea of
Marmora. While in the act of getting on board, his
sword fell into the sea and was lost. The impression