The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-02-22 00:00:00

THE PRIEST'S TALE

" He" (Mr. Mullen) " had seen a strong, healthy
man, a mechanic, who earned a respectable livelihood by
making shoes, perishing for lack of food. He and his
family were in great distress, so he went to his landlord,
and asked him for assistance, and the reply was, If you
give me up the house I will give you a pound.' The poor
man took the pound, to preserve his hfe for the time.
This incident reminded him of the sale of Esau's birth-
right for a mess of pottage. (Hear.) The unfortunate
man lay upon the road-side, with his wife and family.
He (Mr. Mullen) got some straw from a charitable
neighbour, and made a shed for him, where he and they
lay. They took fever. In number they were eight or
nine. They had no covering but a coverlet bought for
them by a clergyman, and he saw the wife, who was
pregnant at the time when she died of fever, cast upon
the road-side, and left there till her children removed the
corpse. Might God grant that he might never again
witness such a sight—a sight that scared away the pas-
sengers upon the road-side. That inhuman landlord sent
his bailiff, his fowler, or his gamekeeper, and the man
swore, by his Eternal God, if they did not leave the road-
side, he would shoot them. If they did not denounce
such conduct, they would be unworthy of the priesthood
and the sanctuary," &c.

This little anecdote was of course as good as a dose of
slugs, to be repeated as often as required, for poor Sir
John Nugent. The worthy knight, however, has smelt
powder, and did not care to retreat before such an adver-
sary. When he failed to obtain redress, first from Mr.
Mullen, and then from Dr. Cantwell, his bishop, Sir
John Nugent published the real version of this pathetic
anecdote. which, it would seem, runs thus :

THE KNIGHTS TALE

"A mechanic (if a poor cobbler can be called such)
came, from I know not where, to reside, without my
knowledge, consent, or wish, on my land, under one of
my tenants, to whom he paid for his dwelling £2 yearly.
This man went away of his own accord, although I assured
him I would not permit him to be disturbed. His house
was then pulled down. He did receive £1 from me ; that
is, he swindled me out Of it. Having deposited his family
on another estate, he deserted them there. After some
months he returned, and built a hut on the road-side,
close to his former dwelling. I did send my bailiff or
gamekeeper to him and to my tenant, to say that I could
not permit the hut to remain there ; but, being told that
the man had a fever, I gave orders that he should not be
disturbed, and sent the doctor to him. He remained
there until he recovered. His wife and two of his chil-
dren took the fever, and it pleased the Lord, but not me,
to take them away. This man abandoned again the rest
'of his helpless young children to their fate, and has not
been seen now for several months. His children have
been taken into the poorhouse, and a warrant was issued
for his apprehension.
Is it not a scandal that power of life and death, and
that death of the most terrible sort, should remain in such
hands ? For ourselves, we have little hesitation in ad-
mitting the truth of Sir John Nugent's story, and pro_
nouncing that of Mr. Mullen to be untrue. All who will
read the correspondence at length will come, we think,
to the same conclusion. If the spiritual superiors of the
series which runs—M`Hale,—Cantwell,—Mullen—want
to form a correct idea of an Irish priest's denunciation,
there is an example. The family of Major Mahon might
follow up the tale.