AN ORANGE MANIFESTO.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XI, Issue 34, 21 December 1883, Page 25

AN ORANGE MANIFESTO.

The following letter has been addressed by Lord Rossmore to the. English people. It has found insertion in almost every English newspaper :—: — Sir,— As Grand Master of the Orangemen of the county Monaghan, I consider it is my duty to call the attention of the people of England to the very serious state of affairs which at present prevails in the province of Ulster. I have the very best opportunity of knowing that the good temper and remarkable self-restaint which the Orange body have up to this exhibited cannot be reckoned upon in the future. It has net been without some impatience that they have submitted to the control of their leaders for so far ; and at the Kosslea meeting on Tuesday last the throwing of a few stones at the rear of our procession made it most difficult for myself and others who were with me to prevent the storming of the hill on which the Parnellite meeting was being held. But for strenuous efforts it would have been carried at a run in spite of the presence of the military and the police, and the consequences would have been simply frightful. As the head of the Orange organisation in this county— an organisation which includes none but loyal men amongst its members— I would ask how long the Government will allow this terrible state of things to continue ? Must we wait until blood has been shed, and civil war has broken out, before an end is put to meetings which stir blood of Ulstermen, and which, whatever the pretence may be ■^U'e simply disloyal from beginning to end. If the Parnellite party were not certain of police protection they would not dare to hold a single meeting within the bounds of our loyal province. I appeal to the spirit of Englishmen to consider this matter, and I call upon them to put a stop to a state of affairs which is a pcandal to a civilised country . I have now cleared my • own conscience in this matter, and the onus of what is certain to occur— unless immediate steps be taken to obviate it — must fall upon the shoulders of those who are responsible for the peace of the country.— l am, sir, yours faithfully. RossaroßE, Grand Master of the L. O. 1., Co. Monaghan. Kossmore Park, Monaghan, October, 1883. The following letter has been addressed te the Turns:— Sir,— Will you allow the people of England to read, in conjunc- • ion with the letter you publish to-day from Lord Rossmore, the

following incendiary placard, copies of which were extensively posted throughout Monaghan ? - " Orangemen of Monaghan— The late ' Invincibles ' and Land Leaguers are afraid to enter Monaghan, but they have flooded our county with proclamations asking your attendance at Rosslea on the 16th to hear their treasonable speeches. Attend, then, with Sir John Leslie, Colonel Lloyd, and myself, to assist our Fermanagh brethren in supporting their rights and oppose the rebels to the utmost, thereby showing them that Orangemen are, as heretofore loyal to England. They declare you as ready to obey them as their dupes of the South ; but we will show them, as did the Tyrone men, that they are liars and slanderers. Boycott and Emergency men to the front, and down with Parnell and the rebellion I God save the Queen 1 . " (Signed) Rossmobe G. M. Monaghan." Having been allowed to publish and circulate a document of this kind, Lord Rossmore calmly asks : " How long will the Government allow this state of things to go on 1 " And having nearly brought about a conflict between his Protestant and Catholic countrymeD, his conscience suddenly pricks him, and he flies to you, sir, for comfort and absolution. m No wonder the Orangemen of Rosslea were with difficulty restrained. They deserve full credit for their self-control ; as do those peers and members of Parliament deserve full blame who, for the . sake of the fortunes of the English Conservative party, have not shrunk from a wicked attempt to stir up in Ireland the well-nigh extinguished fires of religious hate.— l am, sir, v your obedient servant, October 22. Edwabd Sheil, M.P. Co. Meath.