Series 01 Part 02: Hughes family correspondence, 3 April 1917-22 September 1918 - Page 245
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[Page 245]
3.
or other who disagrees with him, Ryan, or Dr. Mannix, for choice. The result is that when Ryan came to Sydney yesterday & spoke in the Domain, about 100,000 people turned out to greet him, & he has been boosted into a popular hero, – a sort of Ajax defying Hughes's lightning. Mannix too speaks against Hughes several times a week at every school break-up, when he goes to distribute prizes to school children, & as for myself & the others who went for Mannix, we are being roundly abused in the Catholic Press & the Freeman every week by priests, bishops & laymen, & the fight goes merrily on. We must have hit the Catholic Labourites fairly in the wind, & they are just now getting their breath again and are screaming at us to our own exceedingly great content. The best evidence that your opponent is hurt is to be found in the squeals he sends up to Heaven, & judging by that standard he is very much hurt indeed. Old John Meagher broke forth the other day on "Gentlemen Catholics", & publicly thanked God he wasn't one of them. Bishop Carroll of Lismore honoured Heydon & me with what he fondly believed was scorching satire, & perhaps the climax was reached so far by the Rev. E. O'Brien of Mosman who wrote to the Catholic Press last week comparing us to the Chiniqueys [Chiniquy], & Maria Monks, who have defamed the Church. Considering the last two names belong to people who have written obscene libels on priests & nuns, & whole books no decent person would read, we can fairly assume that our friends are getting exhausted in their search for parallels for our action. I send you some further cuttings which will amuse you. Did I tell you