The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-16 00:00:00

IRELAND.

ARCHBISHOP MURRAY AND HIS CLERGY.
DUBLIN, JAN. 14.—The following " Address of the
undersigned clergy to his Grace the Most Rev. Dr.
Murray' appears in the Dublin Evening Post of this
afternoon. Following the publication of the receipt of
the Propaganda, this address will produce a considerable
sensation. It is signed by fifty-five clergymen of the
diocese of Dublin, and it remains open for further signa-
tures :
"My Lord' Archbishop, may it please your Grace,—We,
the undersigned clergy, officiating in the diocese of Dublin,
approach your Grace with feelings of profound veneration,
rejoicing that the appearance of your recent pastoral, ad-
dressed to us all, affords us the opportunity of thus publicly
and solemnly testifying the deep-felt sentiments of obedience,
veneration, and love which we have always borne, and now
more than ever bear, towards your Grace.
" You are, my Lord, under the vicar of Jesus Christ, the
pastor of us all. To you we have all, on the awful day of
our ordination, and kneeling before the altar of the living
God, promised onEDIENca and navartmrcz.' From the
obligations which we then contracted no power on earth but
that of the Sovereign Pontiff can exempt us; and, with the
assistance of Divine grace, no other power, nor any other
powers together, shall ever be able to diminish in the smallest
degree, much less to extinguish, the feelings of obedience
and reverence which, as well from inclination as from a sense
of duty, we entertain towards you—our beloved father, our
venerable bishop.

"A day of trouble has come upon us, and the spirit evil,
which is always lying in wait to destroy, has assaulted with
unwonted fury the Church of God which is in this diocese.
The most unfounded and horrifying calumnies have been cir-
culated among the people, as well against your Grace as
against some of your Grace's clergy. Attempts have been
made in many ways, both covertly and openly, to sow bitter
dissension among the faithful, and to alienate their affec-
tions and their confidence from their lawful pastors, from
the clergy who are appointed to instruct them, to feed them
with the blood of Christ, and to watch over them, as having
to render an account of their souls. Attemptshave been
made to overawe us into the adoption of particular opinions,
and a particular line of conduct—to overawe us by popular
clamour, and by a dread of encountering what, it is- well
understood, we would of all things, next after the violation
of our duty towards our bishop and the Church, be most
anxious to avoid—the indignation, the odium, the distrust of
our beloved people—of our people in whose hearts we have
hitherto lived, for whose salvation we have so often risked
our lives at the bed of pestilence, and for whom, whatever may
betide, we shall rejoice to risk our lives a thousand and a thou-
sand times again. What is particularly afflicting is, that the
faithful have allowed themselves to be thus led astray by
men, some of whom are not even in name members of the
Catholic Church. These things have not made us despond ;
for we know that such trials, and far more grievous trials,
have been the portion not only of particular churches, but
of the Universal Church from the beginning, and that her
triumph over them is among the strongest proofs that God
is her protector " all days, even to the consummation of the
world." But we have been oppressed with grief in witness-
ing the inroad of principles and feelings that are not of God,
nor according to God, among our beloved people, and the
alienation, however brief, between them and any of us. In
these our afflictions our eyes were turned longingly towards
your Grace. You are placed by God, through the appoint-
ment of the Holy See, to govern us who are of your flock, to
guide and teach us. You are our shepherd, whose voice we
are bound to hear— that is, to obey. In this day of trial,
when the authority of the good pastor is especially needed,
and his apostolical courage especially tested, we have watched
to hear your voice. We have heard it speaking to us calmly
and meekly, but distinctly and solemnly ; and your words
have filled our hearts with heavenly consolation, and joy ex-
ceedingly great.

" It is now more than half a century since your Grace's
career in the ministry began, and nearly forty years since
your elevation to the episcopacy. During that long, and,
from the circumstances of the times, most trying period, re-
ligion had flourished with increasing vigour and purity under
your councils and example. Churches worthy the majesty
of religion have been raised in all parts of the diocese. Con-
fraternities and approved practices of devotion have been
introduced and established. Institutions, like that of the
missionaries of St. Vincent or Paul, sources of salvation to
millions yet unborn, not only in this, but in every diocese of
the kingdom, have been formed and protected by your
Grace, in some instances not only unaided, but, es
many of us well know, against powerful and most dis-
heartening opposition, and even obloquy and slander.
Religious orders of men and women, which some whose
public lives prove that they care very little for religion,
now accuse yon.of betraying what you have always warmly
encouraged and promoted. To you we are indebted for the
establishment of the Sisters of Charity, the Sisters of Mercy,
and the Brothers of the Christian Schools among us. For
the illustrious order of the Jesuits you have always had the
highest esteem and tenderest regard. The more distin-
guished members of this and of other religions orders
_have,
it is well knoWn, in some instances, enjoyed more of your
Grace's confidence than members of your own clergy. Not
a single instance can be shown in which you have ever, by
word or act, exhibited the least opposition or discouragement,
directly or indirectly, to any of these orders. As to ourselves,
we are bound to attribute whatever claims we have upon a good
name, under God, to the model of priestly virtue which we
have always had before our eyes in the example of your
Grace, as well as to your salutary admonitions and regula-
tions. In former times, when attempts were really made for