The Irish standard., 1906-09-01

spirit of prophecy to foretell whatever
legislation may be passed in the pres
ent session of Parliament, the Nom
conformists will never get possession
of the Catholic schools of England.
l know that the Catholics will cling
to their Schools and if they be put
into the very serious difficulty of se-
lecting the alternative of either going
to poverty and misery and struggle, or
going on with all the means which
would enable them to keep their
schools tlourishing. l know that they
will stick to their schools, and keep
their children together, and that they
will not have their children placed un-
der either heretical or free thinking
teachers, no matter what the cost may
be to them. And hence, my dear
friends, think if this present Bill be-
comes law the struggle is only COM
nencing, and if 1 am not mistaken in
the grit, the determination and the
love of the Faith which exists
among our Catholic friends in Eng
land that fight will finally end in a
triumph for them. ! said a moment
ago, and l say it with pleasure and
with gratitude, of our Irish members,
who fought very hard though under
some measure of justice for their
Catholic brethren in England, many Of
whom are their own countrymen,
either by birth or decent say they
never can be sufficiently praised for
what they have done, and especially
the leading members among them. {.
Still, there is Il conviction in my
mind-and l gave expression to it be-
fore, l gave expression to it when it
was not too late if it had been attended
to-that the field for the fight was not
we'll selected; that the battle field Sc
lected necessarily entailed failure. The
fight should have been at the polls. by
the ballot box in England. think that
if the people had kept the interest of
their children more to the forefront,
and had refused to cast their votes for
these men that went prepared to rob
them of the dearest Inheritance they
have. to rob them of their faith and
the opportunity of instruction in their
faith, we would not have the state of
things that we have at present. 1t
may be, Of course, that the present
Ministry would have gone in with a
large majority, but they would have
got a fright from the proceedings.
They would have seen that if they
have a large majority it is depending
to a great extent on the votes Of Cath
olics, who could turn their majority
in the other direction If strong agi-
tation were got up against them.
There is an opportunity of fighting the
battle still, and hence If 1 we're asked
my opinion about by-clection in Eng
land at the present day. if the Cath
Olic constituents asked me how they
should vote l would say to them,
wherever you see the head of {: Rad
ical or Nonconformist hit it," And
l say that. not because l have any
sympathy with the Tories they are Il
terrible pack these same Tories-but
say 1t because know that whatever We
get we must fight for and we will new
er succeed in the fight If we tie our
selves to the tail Of any political party
in England. We must be independents;
We must go in for our own hand in
that conflict, and whether 1t be Whig
or Tory, or Conservative or Radical,
it is only those who give us justice
that we should vote for (applause). 1t
is pretty much the same with us herr
in Ireland. Whether we have Con-
power. it is much the same. We are
treated just as badly by one party as
the other. They come over here and
make all kinds of promises of reform
in Ireland. and they amuse us here with
these promises for q number Of years
until they get their turn out Of us.
and they go back. leaving US in worse
position than that in which they found
us. And 80 it Is with the present Gov
ernment. They came over with all pos
sible professions on their lips. but so
far as We can see from their actions
they are just as bad as the Tories are.
and therefore. l think we Irish Catho-
lies, and you. Catholics Of England,
should look. in the first place, to your
own interests In England with indif-
ference. They endcavor to make US,
poor Irish people, mere pawns in their
political game. and that is a thing we
must guard against. If they do any
good for the country here. all right,
we will help them; but if we find that
our position in the future is to be the
same as in the past-that is to say that
we are to be governed, not by the King.
Lords, and Commons of England even.
but that we are to be governed by u
small clique here in the North of Ire
land, the predominant body here-pre-
dominant not in numbers. but in in
.luence-if we continue to be governed
by them under Liberal Government
as well as Tory Government around
us, and to strike hard to the right and