AMERICAN PRIESTS TO IRELAND.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume VIII, Issue 415, 25 March 1881, Page 5

AMERICAN PRIESTS TO IRELAND.

At a meeting of the clergy of tlie Archdiocese of Boston, held on ] January 26th, at which his Grace. Arohbishop Williams presided, a committee was appointed to convey to the clergy and people of Ireland an expression of their brotherly love and sympathy, and an assurance of moral support an-i material assistance in their present movement for the redress of their grievances. In fulfillment of this intention, the committee send the following address : — To the Clergy and people of Ireland. — Many causes combine to make it becoming in us to address you words of fraternal sympathy at the present time. We behold you ardently engaged in the pursuit of a noble end, the attainment of which will release a whole people from a host of evite, and regard you, therefore, as eminently worthy of our warmest sympathy and most outspoken encouragement. That sympathy for suffering and indignation at injustice which are natural to the human heart, are in this case intensified by feelings that spring from community of race and nationality. You are our kindred in blood and for the most part of the same household of the faith, and thus natural affection and divine charity, as well as the claims of justice, engage us in your cause. Citizens as we are of a flourishing republic, living among a. selfgoverning people, and witnessing and enjoying the blessings of civil liberty and legislative independei cc we cannot withhold our enthusiastic approval of your well conceived ami well conducted ffioits to secure the same blessings for yourselves and future generations of Irishmen on their own soil. The truths of religion and the dictates of patriotism being in perfect accord, it is the office of the priest to bless the labours of the statesmen who seek to frame laws for the benefit of their country.

Ireland, after centuries of suffering from the effects of unjust • conquest, ruthless spoliation and an almost total alienation of tie poil and its consequent evil of an intruded and rapacious landlord class, is now making a supreme eff rt to rid herself of these crying evils, and we joyfully seize the occasion to tender to her our deep concern for her welfare, our best wishes for her success, and all the solace and belp in our power. Your efforts to eradicate from your native land the evil eff"cts of alien domination and usurpation of the soil, twin relics o F conquest and feudalism, deserve the full approval and hearty support of all friends of human happiness in every land. The worthiness of the end proposed, the practical and thorongh character of the- reform* demanded, and the wisdom of the methods adopted amply justify tbi* declaration. The gravity of the crisis throngh which Ireland is now passing, the magnitude of the interest involved, ana the probable results of this great social and political movement have arrested the attention of the civilized world and engaged the serious consideration of statesmen at home and abroad. Moreover, the system of land tenure which impoverishes Ireland affects us injuriously here in America, in as much as it creates an additional object of charity whose pressing claims ha.ye ofren to be met to the detriment of the poor at our own doors and xhe orphans of our diocese. We, therefore, feel it our duty to aid and encourage any movement that by legitimate means seeks to rescue Ii eland from the slongh of misery and enforced poverty in which she has so lone lain, and make her self-supporting, so that famine shall no more stalk over the land, nnr the tale of Ireland's woe continue to wiing our hearts with grief for our suffering brethren. While we applaud your efforts to shake off the evils that oppress yon, we admire your patience in tim^s of sore affliction,} our splendid constancy in the faith, your self-control in the presence of great provocation and your persistent pursuit of your rights in spite of unreasoning and brutal opposition, repeated failure, or only partial success. We are filled with wonder at the efficacy you have known how to infuse into an orderly, peaceful, and constitutional agitation for the revision of the iniquitous land laws imposed upon your country by an , alien legislature, and we hope and pray that no report to arbitrary rower or tbe substitution of ihe methods of tyrants for the peaceful process of civil law will be able to stifle your voice or paralyse your action. We are friendly to any movement that is founded on correct principles, tending to redress the grievances of the people of Ireland, and feeling in this crisis in the history of Land Law Reform that the P'inciples laid down in the platform of the Land 7,eagu*» Convention at Buffalo, N.Y., aTe ju«tifi< d by religion, and morality, we extend onr earnest and heartfelt sympathy and co-operation to all those who are labouring in such a just and righteous cause as long as they are guided by these principles. We solemnly declare that if the British Parliament is unwill ing or unable to apply an efficient remedy to " the cancer that is eating away the life of the uation," it is the duty of England to remit the cure of the evil to the people of Ireland themselves. Nor, on the other hand, do we hesitate to denounce as pernicious and infamous the conduct of certain supposed emissaries of secret societies who seek to infuse into this movement a spirit of injustice, and a disregard for the laws of moiality as expounded by the Catholic Church. Following in the footsteps of out Holy Father, Pope Leo XIIL, who has recently manifested his deep concern for the temporal as well as the eternal welfare of the faithful people of Ireland, by addressing them words of paternal sympathy and apostolic counsel, we declare that we are advocates of peace and civic order, and hold with Rt. Thomas and other Catholic doctors that tbe only laudable and stable order is that which is founded on justice to all men effective redress of wrong and an equitable adjustment of cuflictinsr interests. All civilised governments are more or less influenced by the public opinion of the world, and we will rejoice wiih you should this declaration of our? serve, even in the slightest degree, to give more force and efficacy to Ibe desire of the nations that the condition of Ireland should cease to be the reproach of modem salesmanship, a blot upon the Hvi isatinn of the age, and a (^eploiahle and needless exception to the general pro«perit\ of the people at F.urope. i Our confidence in ultimate success is much increased when we see the clerev and people of Ireland without regard to difference of creed or party affiliations tending to unite in the work of redivs-ing the •wrongs under which she has so long groaned, and we hope that the bonds of this growing union may be drawn clo-er day by day till the united voice of the children of Ireland, at home and abroad, demanding justice not alms, shall at length be beard and heeded. We piay tbe Giver of all good gifts that He may reward Ireland s centuries of suffering and fidelity to religion with the fullest civil liberty, peace, and prosperity, so that she may be once again the home of learning and science and a source of blessings to other nations. £< John J. Williams, Archbishop of Boston. William Byne, Y.G. W. A. Blenkinsop, Chairman, Pastor SS. Peter and Paul s Church, Boston. M. J. Flatley, Secretary, Pastor St. Joseph's. Wtkefield. Thomnß H. Shahan, Pastor, St. James Cbuwh, Boston. Thomas Magmnis. Pastor, St. Thomas Church, B.*>ton. A'lVhael J. Masterfon. Pnstor St. J< hn's < huxh. Peflbodv, Mass. 1 This addipps is to be followed immef'iati ] y by a contribution from the clergy to the funds of the Irihh Land League.