Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1880-02-05
Is Roman Catholicism or English
Professionalism the Cause of Ire
lands Miserjesp

The HERALD published last week q
lecture delivered by some Rev. Jos.
Cook, in which the following remarks
occurred:
"Roman Catholicism has operated
unfavorably on the development OF
the intelligence and enterprise OF the
population of Ireland.
Let the Irish population enamel.
pate themselves from the popular 10.
norance characteristic of exclusively
Romish countries"
Now, every scholar of history must
know that not the Catholic church
but English Protestants robbed the
Irish people of their lands and did
their best to degrade the Irish in
every possible manner. The senti.
ments of Protestant England in re
gard to Catholic Ireland were briefly
expressed by the following words
attributed to Queen Elizabeth "Tbe
more slaughter there is in Ireland.
the better 1t will be for my English
subjects; the more land they ,oill
get" The policy of England in re.
gard to Ireland, that Protestant Nero
Cromwell indicated with these few
words: "To Connaught-or He'll !"
that is, the Irish peonle could choose
between leaving the best and largest
portion of their native country to the
Protestant Engfsh-and emigrating
to the most northern corner of Ire.
land, or being butchered like cattle.
Since the Irish were not willing to
leave their natl, 9 countries, the Eng
lish not only killed Irishmen IN bat.
tie, but also massacred Irish children
and babes; for, remarked the chart.
table(D Englishmen, 'nits WILDE lice. ;
All the columns of the HERALD
could be filed over and over again,
if all the details were to be gwen.
how Protestant England, up to the
time of the Declare alton of the indie.
pendence of America, did her best
to make Ireland poor and degraded.
Let i. suffice for this time to mention
some of the barbarous laws enacted
and executed for generations by
Protestant England in Ireland.
ga Catholic schoolmaster, private
or public, or even usher to Protest.
ant,wa punished with imprisonment,
Punishment and finally as a felon. I"
What wonder then that a great mum.
Der Of the Catholic Irishmen grew
up ignorant, and many did not learn
to read or write !! Certainly not the
Catholic church is to be blamed for
that, but Protestant England, which
prosecuted Catholic teachers in Ire
land like criminals of the worst kind
The following barbarous laws will
give some idea how Protestant Eng.
land did her best to make the Cath.
olic Irish as poor as possible. "No
Catholic could purchase any manors.
nor even hold lease for more than
thirty.one years. Any Protestant,
if he suspected any one of holding
property in trust for a Catholic, or
of being concerned in sny sale, lease,
mortgage, or other contract for q
Catbolic-any Protestant, thus sus.
pecting, might file bill against the
suspected trustee and take the estate
or property from him. Any Protes-
tant, seeing Catholic tenant of a
farm, the produce of which farm ex
ceeded nhe amount of rent by more
than one-third, might dispossess she
Catholic and enter on his lease
in his stead. Any Protestant
seeing Catholic with q horse
worth more than five pounds, might
take the horse away from the Catho
lie upon rendering him FIVE pounds
Horses of Catholics might be seized
for the use of the militia; and, besides
this, Catholics were compelled to pay
double toward tie militia Propertyof a
Protestant, whose heirs at law were
Catholics, was TO 60 to the nearest
Protestant relation. just the same as il
the Catholic heirs were dead. If any
child Of a Catholic should became q
Protestant the parent was to be in
stantly summoned aud be made to
declare, upon oath, the full value OF
his or her property of all sorts, aad
then the Chsncery was TO make
such distribution OF the property as
II thought fit. If any one of the sons
of q Catholic father became
Protestant this son was to possess
all the father had and the father
could not sell, could not mortgage.
could not leave legacies GU: of his
estate, by whatever title he might
bold it, even though it might have
been the fruits of his own toll"
could quote good many more
such barbsrous laws which were en-.
acted by Protestant England in order
to MAKE Catholic Ireland poor and
degraded but think these will suf.
fee 10 show that it was not the Cath
Ole church which caused the mIser
les of Ireland. but English Protes.
tantism.
We who are living nova days,
Protestants or Catholics, certainly
cannot be responsible for the follies
or wrongs committed by our ances-
tors, who are dead long ago and