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Show EnglishChurchnienand Irish Politicians I S (Catholic Transcript.) I It looks very much as though Mr. Balfour's education bill will become I law and that without the votes of the j Irish members. England and Wales j will alone profit by the measure, but i its enactment would" place the Catho- i lies of those two countries oh a basis ef practical equality with the members ' of the established church, and thus S officially lift a tremendous burden from ; parishes which want their own schools. : The faithful of England and Wales are : naturally anxious to obtain such recog- nition from parliament. Cardinal Vaughan and the other Catholic bishops of England would like j to make surety doubly sure and rally the Irish members to the support of , the bill. It has been said too, that ! the hierarchy of Ireland would like- ise be glad to see the representatives i of their country behind a measure which engages to do ample justice to i their co-religionists of England and 'Wales. But the outrageous treatment i to which Ireland is at present sub- j jected, whether at home or in parlia- ! nient. has determined her representa- ; lives to remain aloof. And so, if the education bill passes the upper and ! lower house. Mr. Redmond and his followers will not receive the gratitude of their brethren in England -and Wales. ' "ardinal Vaughan's appeal to the Irish members has brought ut and emphasized the fact that between the celt in parliament and his fellow-i fellow-i Catholics in England there is not pre cisely the feeling of brotherhood which ? existed among the early Christians and I which made them eager to undergo ; personal sacrifice for the greater good ; of the cause. Indeed, his eminence's lai;ation to co-operate was not even ilent!y tabled. Some of the more out-'; out-'; -I'oken members took occasion of his t V'te to n mind the archbishop of West minster that the Catholics of England an lay out a sorry claim to the suffrage suf-frage ,f their brethren across the chan-) chan-) 1.-!. i Michael Davitt seems to have elected I himself the spokesman of the members bluntly informs his eminence that i K-itii.-h Catholics were never counted i; ..r.g the friends of the Irish more- loeiit. They were rather numbered .in. org its "deadly and malignant ene-i ene-i n.ies." That's strong language, but it ; is language which has been repeated over and over again during the past de-c.'des. de-c.'des. In order to give point to his re- ply, Mr. Davitt reminds the cardinal of a bit of unfriendly interference on the part of the English brethren which Irish Catholics resented at the time, and which they have not yet forgotten. Everyone knows that Archbishop Walsh of Dublin is not enly the darling of the Irish" patriots, but the ablest and most forceful man in the hierarchy of the country. On the death of Cardinal McCabe, every public-spirited man in Ireland picked him out for cardinalitial honors. Their wishes, however, were not realized. Here, according to Michael Davitt, is . the cause of their disappointment: disap-pointment: "When the pope signified his intention of raising an Irish ecclesiastic to the cardinalate after the death of Cardinal McCabe. one archbishop stood out in universal Irish Catholic esteem and fa- j vor for his brilliant gifts as a churchman, church-man, his unswerving patriotism and his courageous defense of the tenantry of Ireland. He was the choice of our race, and it was actually intimated to him from Rome that the honor of the cardinalate cardi-nalate was to be his. But England intervened. in-tervened. The Duke of Norfolk and his agents went to work, with the result that one-in no way obnoxious to English Eng-lish feeling was preferred and Ireland was thus balked of her wish and choice." And so- we are forced to conclude, however reluctantly, that. the extreme devotion 'of English Catholics to the unionist -party has cost them the respect re-spect and friendship of their fellow-believers fellow-believers beyond the channel. It Is asking too much of flesh and blood to require the Irish members to forget the obtrusive interference of English Catholics in' the past, and rush to their assistance now that grave interests are at stake. Irishmen were, no doubt, satisfied that religion as well as politics would be advanced were Archbishop Walsh promoted to the Roman scarlet, but British politics would not have it and English Catholics were instrumental in blocking the way. Yet, if Ave read history- aright, these same obtruding Cathoiics owe something of their present pres-ent status to the friendly interference of the emancipator. They should never have given the Irish members a chance to say that they had forgotten forgot-ten the good offices of Daniel O'Con-nell. O'Con-nell. It is. however, an intense satisfaction satis-faction to be assured that Mr. Balfour's measure of justice will become law, ! even if the Irish members are forced to hold aloof. |