Current:

Tomahawk (1867-1870), 24th April 1869, Edition 1 of 1, Page unpag, TO 2HE RIGHT ZOYAL ORANGEMEN.

Page unpag
Page 3
3 of 16

On this page

  • Departments (1)
    • TO 2HE RIGHT ZOYAL ORANGEMEN.
  • Text (4)
  • Transcript

    • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

      Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

      T H E T O M A H A W K: A Saturday Journa...

      T H E T O M A H A W K : A SATURDAY JOURNAL OF SATIRE . iiiittii ff fog Jurtljiu- n" § ttkttt . m ¦ 0 ~ —¦ '' "" "INVITAT CULPAM QUI PECCATUM PRETERIT . "

      No. 103.] London, April 24, 186 9. [Pric...

      No . 103 . ] LONDON , APRIL 24 , 186 9 . [ Price Twopence .

      To 2he Right Zoyal Orangemen.

      TO 2 HE RIGHT ZOYAL ORANGEMEN .

      My Most Excellent Friends,—You Have Now ...

      My most Excellent Friends , —You have now an opportunity which never has occurred before , and which can never occur again . The great union between Church and State in Ireland , the—as you fondly hoped—immortal legacy of Protestant ascendancy bequeathed to you by William III ., " of glorious memory , " is now not only threatened , but attacked by an all powerful majority of the . House of Commons , and must fall within the year . Such a chance of distinguishing yourselves by an exhibition of your loyalty , your zeal , your temperance , your discretion , and , last not least , your charity , ought to reconcile you almost to the inevitable fate of your idol . But it evidently does not , for were you less angelic beings than you are , your conduct might be stigmatized as bitter and narrowminded , not to say rebellious . Let us just see what your position is as defined by yourselves , and how worthy you have shown yourselves of retaining that religious supremacy over your fellowsubjects which you would demand as your inalienable right . After mature thought and prolonged discussion a large majority of the people of Great Britain and a much larger majority of the people of Ireland have come to the conclusion that the Protestant church ought to be disestablished and disendowed , not out of any sordid motive , much less out of any hostility to the Protestant church in itself , but because that Establishment has been Ions- resented as an injustice bv the

      great body of the Irish people , and has been found to act as a stumbling block in the way of those who would make an honest ' attempt to redress the grievances under which Ireland alleges that she suffers . You call this concession to the prayers of the people an act of gross injustice and confiscation . Now , are not many of you Orangemen advocates of tenant right , or at any rate of some great change in the land laws ? I mean of course those amongst you who are not landlords but tenants . Of course any concession to your demands which may interfere with any prescribed rights of the landlords will be a gross injustice . But this is an argument which does not concern many of you , let us come to more universal ground . Taking any property from the Church is confiscation , mere robbery . The State that gave it cannot take it away . Very well . How do you stand then , many of you living on lands taken from a Church centuries older in her form of creed than your Church ? How does your Church stand , the greater portion of whose revenues are derived from from property the Roman confiscated Catholic or p Church lundere ? d Is ( I the am doctrine using your that Church terms )

      property is inalienable to apply only to the property of the Established Church of England and Ireland ? If so , why 1 Do you believe your creed to be the only true one , or do you admit that other forms of Christianity may not be fatal to their believers ? If the Reformed Church is really founded on the assertion of individual liberty , and a wide basis of toleration , you cannot claim for it infallibility , which could be your only excuse for attempting to impose it on millions of your fellowsubjects against their will—against their earnest faith . I think , my excellent friends , that the less you talk about spoliation and confiscation the better , or you will revive animosities which the concession , so deprecated by you , is calculated to allay . Now we will come to the means by which you yourselves have declared it to be your intention , or your desire , to defend your Church ' s faith ; no—I beg your pardons humbly—your Church ' s Establishment and Endowments . You talk with most admirable zeal of defending these appurtenances of your religion with the sword . You threaten—oh terrible threat!—to desert the Sovereign to whom , as the faithful representative of William III ., of glorious memory , you have ever professed such devoted allegiance , not because the ministers and disciples of your Faith are going to be persecuted , deprived of all civic rights , harassed by extortionate imposts , degraded by petty insults , pursued even unto death—no , on no such trivial grounds , but because they—by your own showing , the wealthiest and most influential portion Of the population—are going to be deprived of that aid from the State which they have hitherto

      received . What noble conduct I You deserve well of your country , better of your Church . Why cannot such unselfish defenders of the Truth be canonized ? It is a monstrous thing that neither Earth nor Heaven contains adequate rewards for such brave disinterested servants of Religion . But of what do you accuse the wretches who are leading this attack against your citadel , against all you hold most dear ? Do you accuse them of avarice ? Money is mere dross to you . Do you accuse them of bitterness ? How sweet , how gentle your harangues are ! Do you accuse them of sacrilege ? How reverently you treat religion when you measure its duration by its income ! Do you accuse them of spoliation ? Your ministers have laboured for the poor pittance they receive—they have indeed ! Do you accuse them of treason ? Your loyalty is above all reproach , that counts the sovereigns you receive before it will let you cry " God save the Queen ! " Shame on you ! You are mean , you are contemptible , you are sordid , you are selfish , you are bloodthirsty , you are treasonous , by your own showing . Have you no self-respect—have you no love , no reverence , for the faith you profess , that you make it thus foul and loathsome before the

  • Citation
    • Tomahawk (1867-1870), April 24, 1869, page unpag, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/t/issues/ttw_24041869/page/3/