Mr. Sharman Crawford has sent for publication to the Dubin ,
Papers a letter dememeing the New Tithe Bill, prefaced by contain- ing " Obeervatioos on the Present Posi:ion of the Cause of Re- ligious Liberty, respectfully addressed ta all the Real Friends of that Cause." In the course of these observatiens, Mr. Crawford charges Mr. O'Connell with " apostacy—unprincipled apetacy," and declaois that "the cause of religious and political freedien his been betrayed by the leader, who again calls for men and money, 'eider pretexts which bear upon their front the stamp of delusion." Neither he nor the Protestants of Ulster will therefore join in the Precursor agitation. Mr. Crawford asserts, that "if the effoits of the people of Ileland have failed to redress their wrongs, by that exertion of their momail power denominated the passive resistance syetem, that failure has been solely produced by the want of principle—the wont of steady action—by the apostacy of their leader—an apostaey consummated by his support of the bill lately passed—a bill which the minor apo.tates could never have dared to support—a bill which the Melbourne Gev..rnment should never have dared to propose, unless it had been sanctioetel aed supported by the acknewledged leader of the Irish nation." Mr. Crawford intimates that, in a succeeding letter, he will state the particuler dangers to which the cause of;eligious freedom is at present exposed; and will endeavour to suggest the objects to be contended for, turd the means to be pursued.
The Catholics of Ireland form but a section, though a very powerful one, of the body which in this country, till of late, were willing to trust in the professions of Mr. O'Connell, and to support a Whig Adminis- tration. To them must be added the party called Liberal Protestents; arid we believe we shall not misrepresent that ;body, if we take Mr. Sharman Crawford as a type of their political creed. This gentleman has addressed to the friends of religious liberty in Ulster—to the Li. beral Protestants, in fact, of the country at large-_a long and powerful letter ; and if we read it aright, his sentiments correspond in spirit with those already alluded to of his Roman Catholic fellow countrymen. The only difference is, that Mr. Crawford speaks out more boldly, and, calling things by their proper names—a spade a spade, and a knave a knave—openly denounces the treacherous leader of the Irish people as an "apostate," and demands the moral combat to prove the truth of his assertion.---Dublin Evening Mail.
Previous page
