Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-12-01
MICHAEL DAVITT

Protestant quarter OF the city. There was
rioting last evening. Several persons were
injured.
MICHAEL DAYITT
On the Religious DimcuIty i'm Ireland
A Plain Statement.
That noble Irish patriot, Michael Davitt,
writes the New Orleans Times Democrat as
to religious prejudices in Ireland, that the
real sentiments of the Catholic hierarchy,
priests, and people of Ireland toward our
Protestant tfellowcountrymen in matters
political and social were admirably ex-
pressed by the Catholic Bishop of Liner
lex at the time when Mr.. Gladstone had
passed the Church of Ireland disestablish-
ment bill, in 1869. Said this good and pa
triotic prelate "Let us hope that the
Catholic and Protestant people of Ireland,
now that wall of separation which kept
them asunder for centuries is happily lev
eled forever, will unite in honorable and
loving brotherhood to work out, hand in
hand, the regeneration of our country.
Why should we not? We are all children
of Ireland, children of the same mother,
equally dear to us all. Why should we not
join hands to raise her up and nourish
her, and wipe away the stains of long
suffering from her face, and try to array
her again in that moral and natural beauty
that once was hers?"
This is, to-day, the spirit which ami
mates the 100000 OF Irish Catholic Ma
tionalsts toward the 100000 OF their fel-
low-countrymen of other religions, and
such would be the guiding principles that
would obtain in an Irish Parliament in all
legislation concerning the welfare of the
Irish people. There is no assurance of
this needed, even by the landlord party.
Their solicitude for the religious interests
of the minority is a sham. The Catholic
South and West have demonstrated in
hundred ways that mans religion shall
| not weigh in the selection of popular rep
resentatives. At the last general election
TIE PRIESTS OF MEATH
rejected a Catholic candidate for the con-
stiTuency in favor OF the Protestant, Mr.
| Metye, the present senior member for the
county Catholic Galway elected Protest
ant Mitchell Henry. Mayo kicked out
| Catholic George Brown and accepted the
Rev. Isaac Nelson, a Presbyterian minister
from Belfast, and this in a portion of Ire
land where over ninety per cent. of the
| people are staunch Catholics. Cork county
returned Mr. William Shaw, an eX-
Methodist minister, while Cork city sew
cred a long connection with Catholic
| Nicholas Daniel Murphy, liberal finan-
he belonged, and accepted instead the
Protestant Mr.. Parnell as one of its mem
bers. And to crown thissplendid proof of
the tolerant spirit animating not only
democratic Catholic Ireland, but manifest
ing itself in the public acts of its patriotic
priests and prelates, the member for Cork
is recognized as the leader of the Catholic
people of the country, as was his Prot
estant predecessorin that position, the late
Mr.. Isaac Bait. There is not, because
there cannot be, particle of real honest
apprehension among the Protestants of
| Ireland that their religion would he inter
fered with or their persons ignored if the
country were constitutionally ruled to-
morrow by the voice OF the majority of its
| people, and assertions to the contrary by
landlord alarmists and their hireling
scribes i'll the Tory press are but the dis
honest political subterfuges of beaten
party, vainly endeavoring to sustain the
principle OF ascendancy as well as mo-
nopoly of land.
What are the relative positions OF the
two religions toward the rule of Ireland
| and the administration of English law
therein, as evidenced by the faith OF our
public officials? The Lord Lieutenant is
a Protestant, so are the Chief Secretary,
Under Secretary, Attorney-General, Lord
Chancellor, Lord Chief Justice and four
out of every five judges; so, also, are the
heads of police, boards of works, poor
law administrators and national schools
also nine out of every ten lord lieutenants
and deputy heutenants of counties. The
magistrates (stipendiary) of Ireland are
almost exclusively recruited from the
anti-Irish or West-British section of the
people. There are
NOT HALF A DOZEN CATHOLICS
among the wole seventy-five. In addition
to this slight upon the religion OF the
country, these salaried officials of justice
are taken from the ranks of those classes
and from those callings in which they are
most likely to imbibe the strongest preju
dice against both the social feelings, re
ligious convictions and national aspira
tions OF the country. EX-land agents
promoted constabularv officers, retired
naval and military men, or legal depend
ents upon Dublin Castle, are the stamp o
men from whom the paid magistracy o
Ireland is selected by that policy which
has failed to win our people to respec
for the law, which is administered by thos,
who are most obnoxious to them.
The justices of the peace or honorar,
magistrates of Ireland number over 800
about ninety-eight per cent. being land
lords and land-agents. The religious popu
, lation of the country shows the Roman
Catholics to number about 1000, 600, whil'
all the other denominations combined
which class themselves as Protestant
amount but to 100000; yet the proper
ton of Catholic to Protestant justices o
the peace is rNne of the former to ever,
81, 900 and one the latter to every go o
their respective o-religionists. The faitl
which claims upward OF eighty per cent. o
the population as belonging to its Churcl
receives recognition, in the honorar.
magistracy from the government, to the ex
tent of about four per cent, while tina
, which can count but twenty per cent. o
, people as belonging to its fold has no les
than ninety-siX per cent. OF the country
rural and petty justices
1t will be seen from this brief analyst
] OF the religious persuasions of those VIII
have the reins of power in their hands, il
. . Ireland, that the cry of
CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY"
which is now being raised in behalf @
their class, has as much OF grievance +
rest upon as had that of the sacred right
of property" when Parliament stepped il
and declared that such "rights" should nc
a be tolerated, as they represented bot
; rack-rents and confscation. The landlor
party fears that equal religious recognitioi
in the rule of Ireland will be granted to
that is won blythe members of the POI
i ular faith, and that law would then ceas
: to subserve class purposes, as now, an
T mayhap become the impartial arbiter bt
n tween man and man irrespective OF ranl
religion or race. This is the dread C:
lamity which is in store for them. Know
ing Row deeply they have wronged OF
! people, they believe we would deal wit
!, them as they have dealt by us. The
q credit us with feelings as unjust {
E their own, and anticipate intolerance t,
n ward themselves such as they have eve
manifested in their government OF tn
country and administration of its laws. i
a word, conscience makes towards of I'll
guilty.