Year: 1878


: Reverend and Dear Sir.-We regret the
we had not the pleasure of your compaD
. to dinner ut Dungarvan, but hope to
more fortunate upon another occasion.
think I ought to tell you that my visi


to Ireland was in no sense political one


have some property in Kerry to whic


1 bad to give attention, and also had t.


see my friend The O'Donoghue.


am sorry to see that Dnngarvan exhi


bits, amongst some of its people, poverty


/ am opposed to indiscriminate almegiving


but if you will dispense the enclosed


amongst .hem, as quasi -almoner, in sucl


manner as you deem best, you will confe


a favor on your very faithful servant,


GEORGE DILLON WEBB


The Very Rev. DR. cleary. v. G., P. P:


DUNGARvAN, 1st May, 1873


To George Dillon Webb,


Dear Sir.-I beg to ackn wledge the re-
ceipt of your kind letter of the Goth ult.,
enclosing Q cheQue for El0 to be distribu-
ted by me among the poor of my parish &C
cording TO my discretion.


l accept unreservedly your assurance
that your recent "visit to Ireland was in no
sense political one" Nevertheless, the
ill assorted company in which you travell
ed from Waterford city around to this
borough on your way to Kerry; the fasci-
mating announcement made by your edito-
rial ciceroue that you are ga gentleman


y
sudden activity of the agents of Toryism
around the corners of our streets /; the con-
vulsive movements of the lower stratum
of this constituency, whose existence is
maintained from election to election by the
expectation of a Pariame men tary contest and
down-pour of gold the incredibly alb
surd rumors forthwith circulated about my
dissertation from Mr.. O'Donnell and my
adhesion to you all these circumstances,
taken in connection with your interesting
address issued to the electors os this
borough last summer, and your promise,
now renewed, of visiting US on future oc-
casion, tend somehow to suggest political
Significance in your gift, and may lead the
minds of persons, otherwise fair aud
honest, to suspect that possibly your char
ity may be bribe in disguise.


Meditating seriously, as is my duty, upon
mission among the people of DoDgarvan,
am impressed with the conviction that one
of the principle ends of my sacred ministry
in this parish is to purge out the grave
iniquity and foul dishonor of the venality
with which the name of this borongh has
been identified in the public mind. The
measure of the guilt of corrupt traffic in
the financial and other more valuable pub
lie interests entrusted to the occupants of
the Parliamentary booth, the Grand Jury
room, the Poor Law Guardians Board, or |
any board whatever charged with the we'll !
being of the social body, end the proper |
of the public purse, by the !
imposition of the burden of taxation ac
coEding to dstributive justice, and the |
outlay of the revenue ia accordance with t
the laws sf honesty, does not consist pre- |
cisely in the amount of money received for |
the vote, whether it be GI0, or Gl00 or
fI 000-which handsome sum was pock- |
eted by one man in this borough in return |
for his vote and influence at a late election.
The enormity of the crime consists chiefly |
IN the fatal Influence this practice exercises
upon society, poisoning the arterial cur
rents of life, fostering mutual distrust be.
tween mau and man, class aud class, and
palliating the minor ipjustices of ordinary
dealing by comparison with
the immeasurable frauds practised upon
the community by the corrupt sale OF the
public trust for gold. Bribery, once es-
sablished among a people, and tolerated
Dr. tenderly treated by the guardians of
cannot long be confined to any
single department of public conduct it
will, by parity of argument and the law of
natural diffusion, traverse the whole course
Of social life and kill the spirit by which
alone the vital organs every where subsist.
w therefore, have l denounced this terrible
social crime, "in season and out of season."
from altar and pulpit and platform, and
'my tongue shall cleave to the roof of my
mouth" before cease to lift up my voice
of warning against it, 80 long as a single
individual in my parish shall profess to
despise the heavy responsibility which
bribery will entail upon him at the bar of
Divine Justice. In view of this apprecia-
tion of my sacred Office, and, by conse.
quence, my inevitable collision with the
selfish instincts of people (happily very
few in number) whom it may be my duty
to correct, you will, 1 trust, perceive how
ill it would become me to allow my hands
to touch your gold, even for the purpose
of supplying relief to the Door.


Our poor, though numerous, shall not
be neglected. Such of them as cannot le.
Ultimately obtain relief under the poor
law shall have the tender care of our good
Sisters of Mercy and the charitable gen
tlemen who compose our conference of the
Society of st. Vincent de Paul. Much AZ
love the poor of my parish-and l love
them as dearly as my own life-I would
prefer to see them die of destitution in the
streets than accept your money for them
in the circumstances of the present hour.


Your kindness encourages me, in con-
ClusiOD. to DrOffer Won word of advice.