Glasgow Courier. — 1847-12-09 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

STATE OF IRELAND. Lord FARNHAM rose to put certain questions to the noble Marquis opposite (the Marquis of Lansdowne), of which he had given him notice, in reference to recent denunciatot y speeches which were said to have been delivered by Roman Catholic priests in Ireland, and which had a tendency to excite the people to the commission of crime, and were, in some instances, immediately followed by the perpetration of murder. In justification of the course which he was about to pursue in putting these questions, lie would take the liberty of mentioning certain facts, and stating the substance of certain speeches; and he thought that their Lordships would then concur with him in thinking that lie had made out a case entitling him to indulge the hope that he should receive a favourable answer from her Majesty's Government. In asking these questions, he must disclaim altogether being influenced by any unfriendly feeling towards the Goventment. He begged also to disclaim in the strongest manner any intention to make an attack on the body of the Roman Catholic priests of Ireland. He was well acquainted with many individuals among that body. and he knew no better or more honourable men than some of those whose names he could mention to their Lordships. (hear, hear.) With reference to the conduct of the Roman Catholic priests, he would begin by calling their Lordships' attention to a passage which he had as niuch pleasure in reading as their Lordships would, he was sure, have in hearing. It was an extract from an address delivered by Dr. Ryan, the Roman-Catholic Bishop of Limerick, from the altar of a chapel at Limerick. The passage lie would quote was as follows:—" If the people of this country had not fallen back to a state of wickedness and depravity, and forgotten, in their vices, their Christian obligations, how is it possible that, in a land like Ireland, blessed with fertility, glorious in the produce of nature, and ample in its natural resources, the poorer classes should be steeped in such wretchedness awl misery The land is in a state of wildness, while the occupiers and labourers indulge in wickedness and depravity." These were sentiments such as should come from the mouth oi a Catholic minister; and he had also the satisfaction of reminding their Lordships of the fact that within the last week, lie belies ed, that excellent mail Father Mathew addressed an assembly of peasantry, In Tivrerary, he thought, or at all events in a district where crime prevailed, and in the most forcible manner denounced murder, cautioned the people against designing persons. haying for their object to induce them to commit crime, tend warned them of the consequences of crime, which, if it did not overtake the perpetrators ia this world, were sure to do so in the next. (Hear, hear.) Their Lordships were probably aware of the great influence which the Roman Catholic priest possessed over the lower classes in Ireland. He was in most instances taken from among them; he resided among them, and in most eases, by the acts of kindness he performed toward them, and by his readiness to assist them, he was Justly entitled to their love, confidence, and esteem. There was another power, giving the Roman Catholic priest still greater authority, and that was the power with which the Church invested him. lie was invested with the poser of confession, of absolution, and of administering extreme unction. The lust speech he should have occasion to refer to was that of Archdeacon Laffan, delivered ut Cashel, on Sunday the 14th of Nov., at a time when the country was in a stste of alarm, and when every loyal person whether Protestant or Roman Catholic were equally exposed to murder. Looking, then, at the state of 'lreland—looking at the character of the people and the influence of the priesthood, he could not refrain from calling their attention to the language very recently held in the county of Tipperary by the Roman oefa at hmo lai .1.4,0rme hedsesiiinego reL Influeln'chee °wet:llV ehries ft te orwe-aelr kn rh; n ell words— " Ile looked around Idea, and he saw an assemblage of his brother