Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, 28 July 1910, Page 1189

Irish News

ARMAGH—Cardinal Logue and the Accession Oath The following letter from Cardinal Logue on the subject of the King’s Accession Declaration appears in the London Tablet: —‘ In reply to your communication, 1 beg to say that I have on a former occasion expressed in very strong terms my views regarding the Declaration which is forced upon the King by a law passed in an age of intolerance and persecution. Though I think it needless to repeat those terms, I still believe they are justified by the wanton insult which the Declaration in question heaps upon Catholics. It is hard'to see why, of all the King’s subjects, Catholics alone should be selected as the objects of indignities and insults, or why their most sacred beliefs should be held up to reprobation. It seems the highest legal authorities hold that the Declaration as it stands is not only unnecessary, but even useless for the object for which it was meant. This, renders the offence to Catholic feelings the more wanton and unjustifiable. I think, moreover, that some clauses of this Declaration are little less offensive to his Majesty the King than they are to Catholics. They seem to treat the ruler of a great Empire as if he were a slippery trickster who would endeavor by equivocation or a secret arrangement with the Pope to mislead his subjects and tamper with the sanctity of an oath. The wording as it stands is far from complimentary to either the King or the Pope.’. A Centenarian Miss Mary Toner, widow of the late Mr. Michael Toner, Lurgan, who has died at Nazareth House, Ballynafeigh, Belfast, had reached the' age of 102 years and six months. Mary Barbour was her maiden name, and she was born at Magee’s Town, Ballinderry, in November, 1807. Her family suffered much for the Catholic faith. The daughter of a hedge schoolmaster, she became a teacher herself, and her younger brother was the first Catholic Inspector of ■ National Schools in Ireland. Mrs. Toner was present at the dedication of St. Peter’s Church, Lurgan, in September, 1833. CORKNot Afraid of Factionists Speaking at Aghada, Cork, on Sunday, June 5, Captain Donelan, M.P., said he understood he was marked out for eviction in the interest of conciliation, but, from what he saw that day he thought it would require something more than mere notice to quit to turn him out of his holding. He was a peaceable man., but if a fight was forced upon him he would not shirk it. He did not think he had done anything to forfeit the confidence of his constituents during the eighteen years he had the honor to represent gallant East Cork. In his judgment the political prospect was hopeful, for he was convinced the desperate efforts now being made to break up the pledge-bound Irish Party were doomed to failure. So far from having lost the confidence of the country, there were everywhere signs and tokens that the Irish Party have more fully possessed the confidence of the country. DUBLlN—Gaelic at the National University The Board of Studies of the National University of Ireland has decided in favor of making the Irish language a compulsory subject for matriculation for the year 1913 and afterwards. This is a notable victory for Dr. Douglas Hyde, the head of the Gaelic League, and himself a professor of the new University. There were very strong forces against making .Irish an essential subject, notably some of the Catholic Bishops. That fact, however, did not daunt Dr. Hyde, who had at his backhe is a Protestant himselfa strong and militant body of Catholics. The fact that the enforcement of the regulation will not take place until 1913 will remove any possible grievances on the part of the elder students to-day. Clongowes Union On Sunday, June 5, the annual general meeting of the ■Clongowes Union was held at the great Jesuit College.' Lord Chief Baron Palles presided, and there was a very large gathering of past students. In acknowledging a vote of thanks which was passed to him with acclamation, the Very Rev. Vincent Nolan, S.J., delivered an interesting speech, in the course of which he said the deepest thanks of all Clongownians were due to the Chief Baron for the munificent gift that had been presented by him to their new college chapel. It was the gift of the high altar, which was consecrated on Friday, the Feast of the Sacred Heart. They had also to thank Mr. Kieran, of Louth, for the gift of a side altar, and Mrs. Byrne of Drogheda, who had presented an altar of the Sacred Heart, which was now in the hands of the sculptor, in memory of her son, an old Clongownian, Mr. Thomas Byrne, the late Recorder of Manchester. Last year had been remarkable for the large number of Clongownians who had obtained distinctions, a fact which showed that the college maintained its old traditions. Bogus Jesuit Oath At an Orange demonstration held in Dublin recently the Rev. J. E. Moffatt, Grand Master, who presided, said the oath taken by Jesuits is as follows: —‘ I do renounce and

disown any allegiance as due to any heretical. King, Prince, or State named Protestants, or obedience to any of their inferior magistrates or officers. I do further declare the doctrine of the Church of England, of the Calvinists, Huguenots, and of other of the name Protestants to be damnable; and they themselves are damned and to be damned that will not forsake the same. I do further decide that I will help, assist, and advise all or any of his Holiness s agents in any place wherein I shall be, in England, Scotland, and Ireland, or in any other territory or kingdom I shall come to, and to do my utmost to extirpate the heretical Protestants’ doctrine and to destroy all their pretended power, legal or otherwise.’ Writing to the Irish Times with reference to the above libellous assertion, Very Rev. W. Delany, S.J., says: ‘ I am and have been for more than 50 years a Jesuit, and I can only characterise this statement as an utterly'baseless and foul calumny. I have lived often for a considerable timein some of the principal houses of the Jesuit Order in Italy, Spain, France, England, Canada, and the United States. I,have, at one time or another, filled almost every office of authority in the society, and I am therefore perfectly familiar with its constitution, and I most solemnly declare that neither the alleged oath, nor any other of the kind, was ever taken by (or proposed to) me, or to any other Jesuit, to my knowledge and, therefore, that I can only characterise the Rev. Mr. Moffat’s statement as a gross, libellous slander. Mr. Moffat’s only possible justification for making such a charge against myself and my fellow Jesuits would be that he has convincing evidence that the charge is true. If the charge be proved to be true, he will have done a service to the public in showing us up in pur true colors. I challenge him, therefore, to repeat his statement about myself or about any other Jesuit by name, and we shall, without delay, give him an opportunity of proving his case in the public courts. If he made the charge without such evidence, or any evidence at all I fail to see how his making such a statement can be justified.’ Parliamentary Election The Harbour Division of Dublin has chosen well (says the Freeman’s Journal). A worthy successor to the late Mr. Timothy Harrington in the representation of the seat has been found in Mr. William Abraham. Mr. Abraham was the unanimous selection of the Convention. The result of the somewhat protracted discussions with regard to this constituency will, we are confident, give satisfaction to every thinking Irish Nationalist. Mr. Abraham is a veteran m the National struggle; one of that band of Protestant Nationalists who rallied to the banner of Parnell y e ® ,rs ago, and for twenty years a trusted member of the Irish 1 arty. His long and faithful service had earned for him, however, National respect; and his eviction fi om North-East Cork at the General Election was one of the most discreditable, as it was one of the most characteristic and illuminative, episodes in the factionist campaign. Mr. Redmond, summing up the results of the General Election in his speech, declared that, with the single exception of Mr. Magee’s egregious candidature in West Belfast, the attack on Mr .Abraham was the most disgraceful incident of the elections. It cast a valuable light upon the value of Conciliationist professions, that, while accusing the Irish Party of being dominated by a sectarian society into which no Protestant could obtain an entrance, a campaign should be started against a universally popular and lespected Protestant Nationalist. Mr. Abraham’s offence was that he had been consistently faithful to his leader and to his colleagues. That same reason justified his selection by the Nationalists of the city of Dublin. With Mr. Red- ' mond, we may congratulate not only the Convention, but Dublin and Ireland on the choice. KING’S COUNTY—White Gloves ; > Jiidge Curran was presented with white gloves at TullaQuarter Sessions on June 6. The last occasion on which he was presented with them he said he was obliged «?. sa that they did not represent the state of the entire King s County, but on the present occasion they thoroughly represented the peace of the whole county. There had been no cattle driving, no intimidation, and no injury to property since he last sat in Tullamore. He congratulated the King’s County on its peaceable and orderly condition. TIPPERARY— Set off to the Budget „ At the annual meeting of the Thurles Rural District Council, Mr. John Hackett, M.P., was unanimously reelected chairman, and, in returning thanks, referred to the extensive and generous schemes carried out under the Laborers’ Acts for the agricultural laborers. Proceeding he said that the party which called themselves Independent Nationalists were using every effort towards dividing the people and setting Irishmen against Irishmen, and, continuing, said All the arguments of the Independents regarding the Budget has been exploded, and the Budget is seen not to be the terror it was represented to be. While it increases taxation by half a million, it is responsible for bringing over three millions into this, country in old age pensions and grants. So that instead of being an injury it is more or less of an addition to the country. True some of the industries of the country have been hit by the Budget, but the time is now come for the introduction of the new Budget, and I think I am safe in saying that these imposts will be adjusted in favor of Ireland and wherever

else democracy is hit. We have been told by the Independents that we can never get Home Rule until _we take on the same platform those who have been our bitterest enemies in the past. Well, the platform of the United Irish League is wide enough for them to come upon _ if they choose. If they come upon it without any conditions, because the Irish Party will never again agree to any conditions having for their object the placating of landlords and Unionists of Ireland .inch as we agreed to under the Local Government Act of 1899, when £770,000 per annum was given as a bribe to allow the people’s representatives to take up the management of their own local affairs. Railway Accident Last week a portion of an excursion train at Roscrea, Tipperary, was accidentally disconnected, and it descended a gradient and collided with a passenger tram at Birr. Many passengers on the runaway train jumped out and were seriously injured, and 100 were injured when the collision came, several being severely hurt. Death of General Butler As we were informed by cable at the time, General Sir William Butler died at Bansha Castle, Tipperary, on June 7, after a few days’ illness, the immediate cause of death being syncope. After referring to Ins brilliant career as a soldier, the Freeman’s Journal goes onto say. General Butler was a typical Tipperary man—a six-footer, muscular, with a strong face full of character a man who always knew his own mind, and who would not allow even red tape to prevent" him expressing his opinions; a mani ot great charm of manner, of the most delightful geniality and good nature; but above all things a man, and a lippertry man. The most memorable incident of his long and brilliant career in the British service was his action, as temporary Governor of Cape Colony, just before the outbreak of the Boer War. He was Commander-in-Chief at the Cape in 1898 and 1899, Sir Walter Hely-Hutchmson, another Irishman, born in Dublin, being Governor. Sir Walter got into delicate health, and was ordered home, and in his temporary absence General Butler acted as Governor. In that capacity, and as Commander at the Cape, he was asked by the Government to make a report m view of possible hostilities with the Boers. At that time all the high and mighty members of the Government and their brilliant military advisers were quite certain that 2U,UUU British troops would walk over the burghers without any trouble,, and, within two months or so, plant the Union Jack on Government House at Pretoria. One day a thunderbolt arrived in Downing street from Capetown. It was Sir Wil-liam-Butler’s Report. Sir William, who had served in several campaigns in South Africa, knew that country well, and especially he knew his Boers, and their system of fighting, and what tough customers they were. If the Government were bent on war (he said) it would be folly to attempt to fight the Boers with less than 100,000 men. This sound advice, based on knowledge and experience, was ignored by the wise Unionist statesmen of London, who knew better. His advice was not listened to, and consequently, instead ot the war lasting for two months, it lasted for three years, and instead of 20,000 bringing the war to a close, it took a quarter of a million. 3 GENERAL Then and Now ... Mr. W. T. Stead, writing recently in the Review of Reviews, says:‘lt is just a quarter of a century since I first set foot on Irish soil. Ireland was then in the throes of a fierce class war. The air was full of the sounds or strife. Politics dominated everything. The two great outstanding features in the Irish landscape were the Castle and the prison. It was, indeed, a distressful country, a land of evictions and of crowbar brigades, of plans of campaign and of buckshot, a land of hideous internecine civil war. To-day everything has been transformed. - In ray brief stay in Dublin I did not hear anyone speak of the Castle, and there was no patriot to be visited in gaol. Peace has replaced war, and the only outstanding grievance was the complaint that the predominant partner had forced upon Ireland a far too liberal scale of old-age pensions. The old distressful Erin had vanished, and in its place there was a new Ireland, full of hope and energy and self-reliance. Never, I was assured on every side, had Ireland been so Serous, her soil so well tilled, her prisons so empty, her people so contented. It was indeed worth a far longer journey than from Euston to the North Wall to see with one’s own eyes so marvellous and so beneficent a transformation. As I have said, Mr. Parnell’s statue has not yet been mounted upon the pedestal being prepared for its reception at the end of O’Connell street. But si monumentum requiris circumspice ! It was not granted to the Moses who led his people through the wilderness to see the Promised Land towards which he had directed their journeying. But he saw it afar off and was glad. He labored, and his countrymen are entering into his labors. The pacification of Ireland, now manifest to every eye, is the direct result of the years of storm and stress which are now happily but a far-away memory of the past. His people have got, or are in fair process of getting, the land which they. till •