LETTER FROM DANIEL O'CONNELL, ESQ. TO MR. BUCHAN OF KELLOE.
" Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour."
Merrion Square, Dublin, 12th October 1335. Sir—Tim catechism which I was taught contained the exposition or the last word of that Divine commandment thus : Q, Who is meant by your neighbour? A. All mankind—including as wall all those who differ with us in religion as those wbo actually injure us." Without more preface, I come to the cause of my thus addressing yon. The news- papers represent you to have said, at a special meeting of the Assembly, that I sou "an impious person, and had polluted the soil of Scotland." Such was your testi- mony against me. I deny both parts of your accusation. I deny that I am an impious person; and I utterly deny that I have done any mischief to the soil of Scotland. The latter, to lie sure. is figurative language ; and I readily forgive you your "poetic imagining." I merely caution you against using other than the language of sobriety Is lieu you address a grave and sober assembly. But that which I complain of is, your gratuitous charge against me of my being au impious person. You made that accusation in an assembly of persons of undoubted worth and respectability—in the solemn assemblage of the Clergy and reverend Elders of the Scottish Church. You made it without any provocation from me. I had never assailed your Church or your religion; tens indeed, did l over speak lli.scourteously of the religion of any man ; still less, did I ever accuse vou or any other man of impiety. I know. Sir. that it is forbidden to me to judge of the servant of another master. I would, therefore. not presume to pronounce judgment upon the piety of any fellow Christian—the servant of that Gal Who sees the secrets of hearts, turd sr Ito alone can pronounce a judgment with full knowledge of all the merits. I do, therefore, complain of your condemning me ; you, who are not my peter, and have not heanl me in my defence. Yet. without jurisdiction, or authority, or know ledge we the cause, aou fulminate your anathema and pronounce ow accursed—that is, am impious person. 1 have no means of know ing our character, save from finding that you are a mem- tier of the General Assembly of your Church : I therefore am warranted in considering you a respeetable person. The charge was 'mule against me in a hotly entitled to respect. Judge, them how painful it ought to be to me. who have all my life been the decided advocate of freedom of conscience, to find myself treated as if I were an infidel by a fellow Christian, in an assemblage of the Heads of a National Church.
However. I am so accustomed to every species of vilification. that I would not make this appeal to you to retract your unjust charge, but that I ant actuated. I firmly be- lieve, by higher motives thou any whid. could attach to my 'criminal feelings. If I
understand you right, you have in my person assailed that religion of which I am a member. Your charge against me is, I conceive, a charge against the Cat ludic faith, which I profess nod most sincerely believe.
The impiety you accuse me of is the profession of the Catholic faith. If you dis- claim that intenthm, and mean to cs Ohre the charge to me iudividually, then it is not worth while to discuss the matter bother. I readily forgive the personal calumny, and will speedily forget that it ever existed. Let us understand each other : What I call the " Catholic faith "—simply because I am convinced it is so—you probably cull " Popery." or " Itomanism." or none' other insulting denomination. Be it so. It is intelligible to both of us. I will nut complain of, though I protest mildly, but firmly, against the insult. One thing is certain, that I never will imitate the example of those w ho tail at the religion of others. I never will call your religion by any name which you disclaim or disavow. I may not be able to call it by as flattering a denomination as you may claim for it; but I outer will de• nominate it by any term which you deem to be an insult. These preliminaries being understood. I proceed to expostulate with you upon the calumny you have uttered agaiost my religion. I do so in the total absence of harshness or violence of language. I can be harsh and violent enough upon political topics, but I deem either the one or the other totally unsuited to religious aubjects.
Let me then ask you, whether it be helloing, or even decent. to stigmatize: es impious the religion of the great and overwhelming majority of die Christi:or world—the only religion knows or recognized in Christendom for many, very many centuries—the only religion or Scotland for many ages—the only religion of Great 13, itain for at least eight centuries, as I am warranted in saying even by the Book of Homilies of the Church of England?
I conjure you tc recollect that this charge of impiety is made by you against a great proportion of your ex sting fellow subjects in Great Britain and Ireland. In Ireland alone the Catholics—the impious, as you are pleased to call us—are ,,,,,,,,, to be six millions and a half. The Catholics of England, Scotland, and Wales, probably amount to one million and a half. If you take the trouble of looking at the list of Catholic chapels built and building in Great Britain, you probably will not deem this an over- estimate; but take them at only one million—and they certainly amount to that num• her at the haat, they make for Great Britain nod Ireland seven millions four hundred thousand. Is it really not too bad to charge such a Ismailia of your fellow subjects and fellow Christians with impiety ? But the Catholics are, I do beliese. more numerous in the United Kingdom than any other Christian persuasion. I doubt much whether there are seven millions and a half belonging to the Established Church of Englaud. One would say, certainly nor more. Of your religion—that is, of persons in communion with the Established Church in Scotland—there are not more than two millions and a half. Ought you, then, so ligh,ly and idly to accuse us of impiety ? It e Catholics of the present day do not accuse you Presbyterians of impiety ; and set we are three for one. This floes nut make its inso- lent. Why, then, will you laud affronts at us ? You write my religion. I never still revile yours. And yet I am as firmly cons inced that you are in error as von are that the error is mine. But my cons ict ton of your error is only a reason why 1 should pity AM pray for you—not any reason why I should abuse ur calumniate your creed or yourself.
I should, iudeed, hope that the time was come when t Itrist ions of every persuasion would attend more carefully each to his own religion, than to the censure or cumlenn nation of the faith or religion of others w hu differ with them It is time to give up vituperation, and abuse, aud calumny upon our respective creeds. and to I hiuk and speak of one another in terms of mutual he beatanee awl reciprocal charity. After all, I ark you. Sir, what is the use of abusise epithets on the subject of
reli- giaa? 1 on do not convince or tend to convince me of my error, by calling me impi- ous. F ny, if you were to use lauguage ten times more asusive, it would present no argumeut to my mind against my religion, or its favour of yon.. The contrary is the natural consequence.: go further, and use blows and personal violeucm still you do nothing to persuade or convince. You may make a hypuente and renegade, but you • do Lot make a «invert : co further still, and and "limpid!'" with death you make a martyr, but you also exhibit a persecutor. and on his part no Christianity at all. The time ise„.„e when perwee,en, eerie: as well as corporal, should cease—whets argument should be substituted for iuvectire in matter of religion, ni d heaerotenee and charity preside over the differences and discussions of Christian men In this spirit I invite you to withdraw your calumnious charge of impiety, or to sea tale it by proof. 1 am ready to meet you in fair argument, and to defend, without heat or passion, that faith on which my hopes of eternal happiness test. I do not pro- voke the controversy—but infinitely trestle I shrink from it. I do not invite it, but Ido not dread it ; and I am quite ready for it. If you embank in the controversy, it shall certainly be conducted ou my part in the total absence of any thing is hick could violate that Christian charity which is my first and most ardent desire to see prevail amongst Christians of all denominations.
It may be thought and said. that it would be preferable that I should leave your charge of impiety unnoticed. My opinion is otherwise. I owe too deep a debt of gra- titude to the people of Scotland, not to repudiate the charge of impiety uptas the man whom they pure so honoured. I have too great a restrict for the integrity and Weill. goatee of the Scottish people, not to be persuaded that they will esteem me the inure for the sensitiveness with which I seek to expel from the vocabulary of Cluistiaus terms of reproach and obloquy, as addressed to their creeds turd modes of faith. Besides, the last remaining hope of the Oligarchs and rameitiolists of abused power is to lie found in exciting rancour, animosity. and strife amongst the ditrerent sects and persuasions of Christians. The forward march of improvement in our social state— the attainment of equal rights to all—the shifting of the fiscal 141IdeLIS of the State from the operative classes to the possessors of property—the amelioration of our instal tutions until the machine of the State partakes.of the improvement of all other spa cies of machinery. — all those tranquil alterations which are destined to plainer cheap government and good government—all this mass of puddle and private utility, is now sought to be retarded and stayed and stopped by the chfrusion of bigotry nod religious jealousies. It is an oft-repeated experiment, by which a combination of all the oppressed against the oppressors has been many a time prevented. But the cry of " Na Popery" is almost exhausted. Its last efforts are puling and paltry ; but they are perseveringly made. 'f he Hero of Waterloo has now BAIL, of other resource. The more practised hypocrite of Tamworth is literally at his last i rayers. The minions of Toryism, anxious tbr public plunder and for a restoration of those happy. happy days, when favouritism supplied the place of talent and of worth—and lastly the lordly ma- jority of 170, "our most potent masters." are now defended by their last bulwark— the animosity. jealousy, and rancour. which formerly subsisted and now are sought to be reanimated between the various sects and persuasions iutu which the British and Irish people are divided. This, therefore, is the time to discountenance every thing that tends to assist the common enemy of our country's welfare—to n pudiate every thing that tarnishes or stains our common Christianity. On the contrary, let us proclaim "the peace of God" amongst Christians of all persuasions, and that combination ut good men which can easily extinguish hypocrisy and injustice, and establish in their stead constitutional liberty, I have the honour to be. Sir, your obedient, humble servo IA,
DANIEL O'CONNELL.
Previous page
