CARDINAL CULLEN AS A PATRIOT.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 111, 12 June 1875, Page 8

CARDINAL CULLEN AS A PATRIOT.

TtitH action of Cardinal Cullen with regard to the centennial has endeared him more than ever to the people. He has addressed a letter to the clergy of the diocese of Dublin, ordering a collection in all the churches for the centennial. In this letter he says :—: — To O'Connell's peaceable and noble exertions, to his love of justice, accompanied with, hatred of violence and revolution, we owe Catholic Emancipation, the downfall of a hateful and degrading ascendency, and the abolition to a great extent of a cruel penal code. We cannot, therefore, but rejoice that the memory of so great a benefactor should be honoured and respected. Hence, I have promised to do everything in my power to bave his birth celebrated on the hundreth anniversary in the most becoming manner in our churches, and thanks returned to God for the blessings He has vouchsafed to confer upon the Catholic Church and upon Catholic Ireland through the agency of the Great Liberator. lam cure, reverend brethren, that you will assist me in securing the success of this work of religious gratitude. As for the civil fetes, we may leave them in the hands of our honoured Lord Mayor and his excellent associates, fully confident that everything will be carried on with the good order, tlie pomp, and all the magnificence that are required to make this celebration worthy of O'Connell and of the Irish nation. Yours faithfully, 1 Pato Cabd. Ctjiien. Dublin, March 11, 1875.