The morning times., 1896-11-23
IRELAND CRUELTY TREATED
Dr.. w. A. CrOffut and Others Ad-
dress Secular League.
Speakers Claim That England Has
Ever Been an Enemy to Inhabit-
ants of Emerald Isle.

At the Secular League yesterday DR. W.
A. Cruffut addressed u large audience III
Typographical Han on the persecution OF
centuries which ireland h2s suffered at
The hands OF England. His remarks i'm
piled that the outrages which England I.id
inflicted ON her sister island We're mainly
the result of religious hostility He said
in part:
Ireland is about onc-halr as large Ohio,
and the greater part of It's arabic soil $
snSularly fertile. especially as Ctntrastrd
with the cold and inhL spitahlc ranges Of
Wales and Scotland. ASS on as Protcstan-
ism assumed Il distinct ana rigid outline in
England under Henry VII, the wan against
Ireland was tegUn for the purpose of con.
verting or eXterminating its Catholic pco-
pie. His efforts Were followed with
atrocious diCtiyeness by Queen Eliza
beth, Charles l, Crom Wen and william II,
who, one after another, obtained laws and
Issued DEGREES OF cunfisca-on which robbed
the native owners of the whole of their
land and transferred IL to the lazy, vicious
and obsequious couriiers and favorites OF
the crown.
When William came 10 the throne in
1858 he found that the Catholic goose
had been pretty thoroughly plucked. The
irish people were prustratcd i'll abIect
poverty and misery. They Were virtually
serfS of the Protestant landlords. and
thousands of them Were tranSL ortcd and
sold as slaves into the Barbados and
Virginia, where their labor competed and
their tlood mingled with that OF the col
ored slaves.
The OILY way in which he could further
oppress Ireland was in more rigidly en-
forcing the Infamous and bloody penal
code, and this he proceeded TO DO.
These laws virtually made of every
Catholic an outlaw. If found outside the
province OF Connaught he was subject To
imprisonment; If he venturcd on the LEFT
bank of the shannon anybody meeting him
was authorized to shoot him at sight
1T was Il penal offense for u Cattolic
to open school. No Catholic could he a
lawyer or teacher or a civil officer OF
any kind. A reward Of $50 was offered
for the apprehension of any priest and
500 for the discovery of any bishop
No Catholic could he the guardian uI his
own child and could not hequeath prop
erty except TO Protestant. Under this
atrocious code all ambition was DESTROYED.
all hope was bghted and the people were
reduced 10 hcggary. Religion itself must
nave seemed To them u mockcry-
As If the cruelties thus inflicted upon
Ireland were not enough. the statesmen
OF England put in operation "a series of
measures deliberately intended and Gun
n!ngiy calculated to utterly destroy the
Few industries which the patience of the
people had kept alive. Under laws which
prohibited expectation, cotton and WOODEN
factories were reduced to ruin, linen fac.
tories were no longer profitable, and the
condition Of the poor peasantry was rem
dered more pitiabie still.
Four Thousand men own the whole of
Ireland, an average of more than 3 900
acres each. Thirty thousand own England,
but France has million proprietors
France has $4,000 farms under 500 acres
each; 500 900 under 60 acres each and
100000 under 6 acres each So in
Germany and Russia peasants havc become
land owners. England seems to lack sense
enough To deal, with the problem Of max
ing her peasants contented
Mr.. Chase Roys followed, showing how
Catholics have retaliated at various times
and places, and drew the inference that,
judged by their bloody fruits, both relg-
ions had but little to be proud Of.
Evangelist w. A. Cuddy was the next
speaker. He urged that the Christian re-
ligion be not judged by these pseudo Chris
tians, none Of whom folio Owed the example
and precept of Christ
DIR. Joseph Steiner declared the bloody
religious wars were but the logical result
of their belief in a bloody God.
The society elected the following Of
ficers for the ensuing year: Mr. Maurice
Pechin, president: d. Webster Groh. sec
retary; Miss May White, treasurer and
Prof. Hyland C. Kirk, Chase Roys. C. c.
Carter, Maurice Pcchin, DR.. W. A Crof-
fut, D. Webster Groh and Miss May White
members of the executive committee.
The league has engaged number of
prominent lecturers for the season. Mr..
George w. Foote, president of the English
National Secular Society, will speak next
Sunday.