Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1869-08-24
DIsestablishment-S of the Ro.
man Catholic Bishop of 0fLfmerick.

The corporation OF Limerick waited
upon DR.. Butler, Roman Catholic Bishop,
on Sunday, August !, and presented him
with an address of congratulation upon
his return from London, and expressing
their grateful sense of the evidence which
the popular prelate gave before com
mittee of the House of Commons, in
vindication of the Catholic clergy and
aiiy from the unjust imputations sought
to be cast upon Them" They eulogize
the wisdom aud ability which he showed
in replying to "the fallacious arguments
and ingenious questions by which those
charges we're attempted to be sustained.
The Bishop, in reply, thanked them for
their generosity, and expressed his esti-
nation of such a tribute as an evidence
of enduring attachment between the
priests and people, He observed that,
obliged as the priests are by their posi-
tions and the position ofpublic affairs to
take a prominent part in the political
struggles ofth time, they inevitably come
into collision sometimes with members of
their own focks, every one Of whom they
sincerely love. An appearance of an.
tsgonism is thus exhibited, but there is
no real breach of concord; it is only q
note or two out of time. The great mass
of the people, he said, are ever true to the
priests, and the priests are true to them
thinking alike, feeling alike, acting
alike-bound together by the closest, the
most sacred, the most enduring ties.
Thus it had ever been, and the blessed
bond which bound their fathers and the
priests together still encircles them, and
still bore upon it in indellible characters
the glorious old motto, "Quis sepdra-
bit? Abiding to the great victory
which has signalized the session, he
spoke in the following concilisiory terms:
"MR MAYOR AND GENTLEMEN: That
battle which, side by side with your
clergy, you fought and won at the last
election, has, within the last few days,
been followed and crowned by the full and
final victory ofthe cause you then upheld;
under the auspices of the greatest states
men Of ancient or modern times, religious
equality is established and sectarisn as
cendsncy overthrowH forever in our
country. / rejoice with you that the
Catholic lsity of our country and our
city have borne so conspicuous and hon.
orable part in achieving this great
measure of justice. We must ell rejoice,
priests and people, at the triumph Of right
over wrong, of justice over injustice; bat
our triumph is unmixed with any unkind
or ungenerous feeling toward those who
have been vanquished in the fight They
are oar neighbors and our brethren, and
we would not unnecessarily wound their
feelings or hurt hair Of their heads. Our
Joy is not that they have lost, but our
selves have won; not that they have been
cast down from an unfair ascendeney, but
that we have been lifted up from under
their feet, and placed on level with them
before the face of the empire. Let MS
hope that the Catholic and Protestant
people Of this country, now that the wall
n separation which kept them asunder
for centuries is happily leveled forever,
will mite in honorable aud loving brother
hood. 10 work ont, hand in hand, the re-
geusration OF onr eoGnirE, Why should
We pot9 We are all the children of
Ireland, children OF the same mother,
eoually dear to us all Why shsuld We
not join hands 70 raise Der up and ncuFisb