Brighouse & Rastrick Gazette. — 1888-06-02 (Brighouse, West Yorkshire, England)

THE NATIONAL LEAGUE  AND THE POPE.  Mr. W. O'Brien, M.P., addressed an outdoor meeting, held at Limerick, on Sunday, to denounce the Papal Rescript. Ten thousand people attended, and the Mayor of Limerick presided. Mr. O'Brien, who was received with enthusiasm, said, in referring to Bishop O'Dwyer's letter, that in assembling there they were discharging a duty to their faith as wsll as to their land, and from that duty he would not be deterred by threats, no matter who those threats caine from. He lamented that these threats were the rashest, the most unjust, and the most disgraceful that ever Froceeded from the pen of an ecclesiastic in time of trouble and of deadly danger to the people. The quarrel was not of their own seeking; it had been forced upon them at a time when their coerced and impoverished people had foes enough to grapple with. The Bishop of Limerick dared to describe their action as an agitation against the Holy Father ;and to stigmatise them as opponents and persecutors of the Catholic Faith, That was a calumnious assertion; it was as false a slang se ever had been uttered by the lips of man. The Irish people would not brook this eternal meddling with their temporal affairs. They would not stand the appearance of negotiations with the persecutors and calumniators of the Irish people—this eternal whispering with the Duke of Norfolk. Mr. J. Dillon, M.P., spoke at another meeting, held at Kildare. He denied Dr. O'Dwyer's statement that Irish Catholics were bound to obey the Papa/ Rescript, and said he had in his possession letters from some of the most learned and revered of the Irish priesthood, from England and Scotland, and from abroad, approving of the policy of the Irish members. The Bishop of Limerick, he said, spoke for himself alone, and he challenged him to get his letter signed by the other Catholic bithops. They were called upon to decide whether this struggle was one of Irish liberty, or whether they were to take their politics from Rome—(cries of "Never ")—and by so doing place themselves in such a position that they could never twain vet their Pro- - teitarit fellow-countrTmen to give them a helping hand. They had invited them to join in the struggle for Irish liberty, and had told th,,in that Horne Rule did not mean Rome Rule but if they sera eninui. to take their politics from Rome,  and hand over the conduct of their affairs to snowier people, who, no matter how holy they were, were of another race, never lived in Ireland, and who spoke the Italian language, then he said they had no right to ask their Protestant countrymen to stand along with them in the demand for Home Rule. A number of letters of apology were received from Roman Catholio priests, and the following resolutions were adopted by the meeting: 1. That we condemn most emphatically the cowardly and murderous administration of the Coercion Act by the present Tory Government in a final effort to ~rush the spirit of the Irish people. 2. That, considering the present depression, the aggressive action of the landlords in this county is unwarrantable and deserving ef the condemnation of the advocates of justice. We pledge ourselves to support by every legitimate means those of our fellow-countrymen against whom the tyrannical provisions of unjust laws are directed. 3. That the people of Kildare, Wicklow, and King's and Queen's Counties, in public meeting assembled, cordially endorse and adopt in their integrity the resolutions of the Catholic members of Parliament with reference to the late circular of the Holy Office ef the Inquisition, and respectfully decline to recognise any right in the Holy See to interfere with the Irish people in the management of Irish political affairs.  Four other similar meetings were held on Sunday: one at Bray, addressed by Mr. M. Davitt ; another at Wexford, where Mr. J. Redmond, M.P., spoke; a third at clonrnel, where Mr. Mayne, M.P., and other Irish members were the speakers; and another at Waterford, where Mr. R. Power, Mr. Biggar, M.P., and Mr. T. M. Healy, M.P., spoke. No priests attended the meetings.