The Press. — 1855-11-17 (London, England)

NOVEMBER 17, 1855•  THE ROMAN CATHOLIC MOVEMENT. TO THE EDITOR OF " THE PRESS." Sir,—You are right in calling attention to the Roman Catholic movement in Ireland. It is a movement which the Tory party should watch with care. The political influence of the Irish Catholics is not to be disregarded. It has been for some years an important element of Whig power; indeed, ever since Mr. O'Connell ruled the Irish hustings, it has been turned exclusively in a direction the most antagonistic to the Conservatives. Previous to the agitation of that great Radical-Whig this was not the case. The Roman Catholic tendency during the Administration of Mr. Pitt and Lord Castlereagh was decidedly Tory. The petitions in favour of the Union and the debates in the Irish House of Commons are conclusive evidence of this. The Union was opposed by the Whig Protestants of the north, or, as they styled themselves, the Orangemen. It attracted at the same time the good will of the Roman Catholics. "As the policy of the measure developed itself," says the late Knight of Kerry in a letter to Sir Robert Peel, "tbose opposite feelings were more distinctly manifested. The compact and energetic resistance was composed of the more zealous Protestants of the north, a sturdy band of old jobbers, and a remnant of the Whig Opposition. Its supporters were all those whom the Government could influence, and such independent persons as duly estimated the enlightened policy of Mr. Pitt. We were backed up by the very general popularity of the measure amcng the gentry of both persuasions and the Roman Catholic population of Munster and Connaught." Those who recollect the rebellion of '9B, and the attempts of Emmet and Wolfe Tone, will remember that all the Roman Catholic gentry were on the side of the Crown, and that the leaders of the rebels were principally drawn from the Dissenters and the Low Church party. The subsequent position of the Roman Catholics is easily explained. They were led by Mr. O'Connell and the priests. As to the latter, emancipation had given them politi • cal power without giving them either the education or the position of gentlemen. The respectable Catholics could not be influenced by them, and re tired from political scenes in which they could feel no interest, but the mob was left completely under their control. As to Mr. O'Connell, he was first brought into notice and tolerated by the Whigs ; from the Whigs his family and friends received many of those arguments so powerful with Irish agitators, and, according to the commonest principles of gratitude, he was bound to support them. This he did in a very effectual manner by telling the people that there was no distinction between the English *Nories and the Irish Orangemen. Although he .eight as well have attempted to prove that there was no difference between black and white, yet his impudence and his ability were so great that in a short time the absurd dogma was swallowed. The effect of this on the political movements of the last thirty years it is unnecessary to trace. As far as Ireland is concerned it was most important and disastrous; and any one acquainted with the history of that country will see that it must of necessity have been so. But now the Orange faction is broken up, and another change of a critical nature has taken place. Let us see what is the position of the Dish Roman Catholic party at present. It appears to be in a state of political repose. Of its leaders, some have died off in the natural manner, some have committed political suicide, and some have retired to the more congenial climate of the Know-Nothings. The country is quiet and the people are happy. To what is all this owing? To a great extent I believe to the influence of two men, Dr. Cullen and Dr. Newman. They are both Roman Catholics, and are, I am certain, sincerely attached to the religion they profess. But they differ from the great mass of Irish priests in three important points—they are gentlemen, men of education, and men of ability. The result is that they are neither anti-English nor democratical. One of the most distinguished Roman Catholic and Conservative writers on the Continent has suggested that the best remedy for the evils of Ireland would be to deprive the people of the franchise. Ido not know whether the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin has quite as bad an opinion of the Reform Bill, but of this I feel very sure, that he is at heart a Conservative, and will be as ready to support the Tory party as those sensible prelates of his church who had negotiations with Mr. Pitt sixty-four years ago. Not only does he believe what Mr. Burke said, that the clergyman who quits the altar for the political arena is ignorant alike of the place be leaves and the place he enters, but he also appears to believe that the clergyman's ignorance of the political arena has led him to choose the wrong side. As a matter of course, Dr. Cullen's influence will be altogether passive. Ile will not tell the tenants to vote for their landlords, but he will take very good care that they are not cursed from the altar for doing so. In a word, be will extinguish what a friend of mine has appropriately called the Pig's-head Party. This is a party principally composed of those intelligent parish priests who took upon a pig's head, a Jumble'. of