THE following letter by Mr. M’Carthy, the well-known Protestant witness, written in 1914, is worthy of the perusal of our readers:
When Parliament met on 11th November, Mr. Asquith broke the pledge, solemnly given last September, that the Amending Bill would be “an integral part of the Government’s programme.” The King’s Speech stated that only measures connected with the War would be introduced “at this stage of the session,” leaving us to infer that the Amending Bill is to be brought forward at a later stage.
While Christians rejoice that the national energy is being justly concentrated on defeating the enemy in battle, let us remember that, if we neglect the defence of our Protestant position—which one does not hesitate to call the main point—the Romanists in our own country stand to achieve an accession of political power after the War which would nullify our victory over the foreign enemy. And as the designs of Germany were disbelieved until War burst upon us like a thunderbolt, so the deep-laid political schemes of Rome, if now ignored, are certain to have disastrous consequences. Rome has spies everywhere. She openly controls all political parties. There is a clear call, therefore, for a faithful band of Christians to concentrate on this peril by prayer and action, while the bulk of the nation are otherwise occupied.
You may have noticed that the Chief Unionist Whip, Lord Edmund Talbot, one of the most active Romanist propagandists in this country, wrote publicly to the Unionist Members on 6th November, discouraging them from attending at the opening of Parliament or taking any interest in the work of the session; despite the fact that Mr. Asquith had publicly invited the Radicals to attend! On the following day, Mr. Bonar Law, ignoring his Chief Whip’s letter, publicly invited the Unionist Members to attend to their business! During a long experience of politics, I cannot recall a Chief Whip taking such a course; nor can I refrain from noting the similarity of terms between the Unionist Whip’s letter and that which Mr. Redmond issued to the Nationalists at the same time!
The Papist canker at the heart of British politics is a real and growing danger. It makes an independent opposition impossible, just as it has prevented us from opposing the Dublin Parliament Bill on the only genuine grounds which could have secured its defeat, namely, the religious issue. On the reading of the King’s Speech, the Opposition made no protest against, or even allusion to, this breach of the solemn promise given to induce the King to sign a Bill handing all Ireland over to Romanist Rule!
I have written to Unionist leaders in England and Ireland pointing out:—I. That the operation of the main Bill only stands suspended for twelve months from 18th September, 1914; that two months of that period have now elapsed; that, if the Amending Bill be not introduced until January or February, nearly half of the Suspensory Year will then have passed by; and, finally, that, as matters stand, we have no guarantee that it will be introduced even then. II. That the objective of this policy is obviously to put us off until near the end of the Suspensory Year and then offer such terms as Mr. Redmond permits, with the threat that, if we do not accept them, the main Bill subjecting all Ireland to the Roman Church will come into operation automatically. III. That the inevitable result of such a policy must be Civil War in Ireland at or before the conclusion of the present War—an opinion confirmed by well-informed Irish correspondents.
One of the Unionist leaders to whom I wrote, an ex-Cabinet Minister, advised me “to approach Mr. Asquith privately!” His words were: “In this I believe we can all, yourself included, do more for our country by approaching the Prime Minister privately!” The lamentable admission conveyed in this suggestion proves what I have so often told you, namely, that the heroic work of Protestants in Ulster was being steadily undone by political chicane at Westminster! The grand result of the fight against the Dublin Parliament Bill is that it caused the voice of Protestantism to be definitely heard in Great Britain for the first time for over half-a-century! May God preserve that voice now from being stifled by private intrigues!
The Roman Ecclesiastics are seeking profit everywhere out of this terrible War. The new Pope, in an Encyclical Letter published this week, claims the restoration of the Temporal Sovereignty and a voice in the re-settlement of Europe. The document is full of insidious flattery for Kaiserism, and uses the phrases “Religion of Christ,” “The Gospel,” and “The Authority of God” as synonyms for the Religion of the Papacy, the Roman Catechism, and the Authority of the Pope, who is spoken of as “The Vicar of Christ.”
How few of the British public are aware that a Papal Concordat was forced upon Servia this year and actually signed on 24th June, securing a Roman Establishment there consisting of two Archbishops and a network of Parish Priests to receive Stipends from the State! All who became converts to Rome were to be virtually independent of the National Government; while the Papacy expressly got control of the education of Roman Catholics and full authority over the parties to mixed marriages. As Roman Catholics only number 1 in 250 of the population of Servia, it is not surprising that the galling injustice of this Concordat was followed, four days after its completion, by the slaying of the Heir to the Austrian Throne on 28th June. Thus did Roman intrigue provoke the terrible conflict now raging.
And we know how, a month afterwards, on 26th July, the shooting affray in Dublin, which precipitated the Declaration of War on 28th July, was equally the result of Roman intrigues in British politics.
The Hierarchy in Ireland still stands aloof from the effort to obtain Roman Catholic recruits, and Mr. William O’Brien declares that the slackness of recruiting there, when “a million recruits have offered themselves in Great Britain,” will mean “sacrificing all that Ireland would have gained if she had imitated that example,” and will “furnish English Party politicians with the only excuse that can now be invented for deserting the Home Rule cause or for partitioning Ireland when the War is over.” So may it come to pass that Rome will overreach herself. In that sure hope, let us, instead of lowering the flag, redouble our efforts to gain the victory for truth!
An organised effort is being made to increase the number of Romanist M.P.s for Great Britain. Since I wrote to you about Sir Stuart Coats’s candidature for Wimbledon, I have been in communication with Mr. Tyrrell Giles, Chairman of the Magisterial Bench, who is a most prominent local Unionist; also with Mr. Chaplin, the Sitting Member; and with Lord Rathmore, President of the Unionist Association of the Wimbledon Division. One has elicited the admission that Sir S. Coats, whose only public record consists in his obsequious devotion to the Papacy, is a complete stranger to the constituency—Mr. Tyrrell Giles, for instance, having never seen him until the day of his selection! I am now trying to arrange a deputation to Lord Rathmore to request that the candidature be withdrawn in the interest of the Unionist Party as well as of the public. Should we not succeed in this, I hope to issue a statement to all the Members of the Unionist Association of the Division, the majority of whom are entirely ignorant of the detrimental power wielded by papal propagandists over British political organisations.
At so great a crisis we praise God that our Christian defence effort is privileged to be “a faithful witness” against the definite attempt of powerful Romanists to obtain political supremacy in our Protestant country. “A faithful witness will not lie” (Prov. xiv. 5). Even the completest victory over German brutality must not be bought at the cost of subjection to Roman Priestcraft.
Believe me, dear friend, in the sure hope that God will not allow our people to “Believe a lie,” inasmuch as we once truly received and long cherished “The love of the truth” (2 Thess. ii. 11); and relying on a God-given triumph over foreign and domestic foes, yours most sincerely,
MICHAEL J. F. M’CARTHY.
If there be but one crack in the honey-glass, there the wasp will be buzzing; and where there is but some one sin favoured, there Satan will be tempting and upbraiding.—Brooks.