The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1870-11-13
Protest Of the Irish Hierarchy Against the occu-
patton Of Rome.

The following letter of the Archbishops
and Bishops of Ireland to their focks was
issued Oh the 2lst ult.
The words we address to you to- day, be-
loved brethren, come from hearts filled
with sorrow aud Indignation. And how
can it be otherwise, since we have to an
pouuce to you that our Holy Father, Plus
TX, is prisoner in the hands of his enc
mics. He has been robbed even of that
personal liberty, which, as a sovereign, he
had made secure for the very lowest of his
subjects; he has been torn by brute force
from his children, whose voices cannot
reach. his ear, and whom his words of guild
ance can no longer direct. And why has
all this occurred What excuse can be
put forward by the men who have thus as
Plus TX. committed, whether as King or as
Pontiff, that this outrage should be in
fiicted upon hint For nearly fve-and-
twenty years he has filed throne, Inherit
ed by him in virtue of title most ancient,
the most legitimate, the most sacred; and
during that long period his rule has been
distinguished for all the qualities that con-
secrate supreme power, and render it, as
God intended it should be, source of
blessings to the people. What prince is
there, whose sovereign rights have been
more clearly defined or better guaranteed
by the faith of treaties, and by the sane
ton of International law Who has ever
used power more gently who more wisely
than he Under his benign sway, his cap
ital was the home of genius, the shrine of
the arts, the seat of learning, the centre of
true Christian civilization. He Judged the
poor in judgment, and his people in ms
tice, ever seeking to tighten their burthen
and to promote their prosperity. He gave
them peace when all around them was con-
VII faa1 nd rNtnn to-
assed with want; kand on the eve of the
usurpation, his subjects employed the very
latest hour of liberty they were permitted
to enjoy, before being crushed by foreign
force, in acclaiming him as the best of SOW
ereigns, who should rule forever in their
hearts. What pretext did such q ruler
give for invasion What was there in such
a monarch that he should be driven bv
strangers from his thyone7 But great as
nave been the glories of his reign, they
pale before the sacred splerdors of his
marvellous Pontifcate. The annals of the
church hold up for our admiration very
many among the Roman Pontiffs whose
names shall live for ever in history, en- ac-
count OF the striking and noble qualities
that distinguished them even among the
greatest on earth. A far-seeng wisdom,
which enabled them in troubled times to
understand where lay the true interests of
the church and of society; surprising
ability in choosing and directing the
measures to promote those interests; and a
iottiness of personal character which made
their exertions successful, while it com.
manded the respect even of their enemies;
these are the gifts that seem hereditary i'm
the great line of Popes, who have filed the
Apostolic See. But it may beVanestioped
it ON that long and brilliant roll of Pontiffs
there be found even one to surpass Plus,
TX, either in the fullness with which these
nnSSpSSaf in In.
benefits conferred on the church by the
exercise of them. How often has it been
our pleasing duty to describe to YOU the
great things he has accomplished for the
church, and which mark with increasing
glory each succeeding year of his Pontifi-
cate. he has extended the tabernacle of
the church by erecting SO many new epis-
copal sees in the remOtest regions: he has
restored to churches wasted by heresy the
freshness and vigor of second youth: he
mas preserved the young from the ravages
OF lntidelity by condemning evil systems
OF education; he has preached to an ace
that worshlps only brute force, in season
ana out OF season, the eternal principles of
truth and Justice; he has protected society
against the license that saps morality. and
the false philosophy which would pervert
the rights of reason, and thereby degrade
man from his high dignity as an Intelligent
being: Never can Catholic hearts forget
how, by defining the doctrine of the Imma-
culate Conception, Plus TX gave ioy to
the whole world, and new glory to the
Mother OF God; how, by canonizin6 so
many saints, he multiplies for us inteTces-
sors In heaven, and models of holy living
on earth; how, by celebrating the centenary
t,,S %. peter ana Panl, he taught the world
tnaS persecution does not end if the
triumph of the church. And have not onr.
selves lately seen him, in the full majesty
Of his sacerdotal holiness and power. pre-
siding over the General Council of the Va
tlcan, which he convoked that the voice of