brought him into conflict with the clericalism of the broader movement. At issue with O'Connell O'Connell's paper, The Pilot, did not hesitate to identify religion as The "positive and unmistakable" mark of distinction between Irish and English. As leader of the Catholic Association, O'Connell had fought to secure not only Catholic entry to Parliament but also the prerogatives and independence of the Catholic Church. It was, he maintained, "a national Church" and should the people "rally" to him, they would "have a nation for that Church". O'Connell, at least privately, was of the view that "Protestantism would not survive the Repeal ten years". He assured Dr Paul Cullen (the future Cardinal and Catholic Primate of Ireland) that once an Irish parliament had swept aside Ascendancy privilege, "the great mass of the Protestant community would with little delay melt into the overwhelming majority of the Irish nation". In 1845, the Dublin Castle administration proposed to educate Catholics and Protestants together in a non-denominational system of higher education. The Nation welcomed the proposition, but O'Connell, claiming that there had been "unanimous and unequivocal condemnation" from the bishops", opposed. Disregarding Thomas Davis's plea that "reasons for separate education are reasons for [a] separate life", and declaring himself content to take a stand "for Old Ireland", O'Connell rejected the "godless" colleges. For Duffy there was a further, less liberal basis, for his disaffection: O'Connell's repeated denunciations of a "vile union" in the United States "of republicanism and slavery", and his appeal to Irish Americans to join in the abolitionist struggle. Duffy believed the time was not right "for gratuitous interference in American affairs". Not least because of the desire for American support and funding, it was a common view. Young Ireland Following Davis's sudden death in 1845, Duffy appointed Mitchel deputy editor. Against the background of increasingly violent peasant resistance to evictions and of the onset of famine, Mitchell brought a more militant tone. When the Standard in London observed that the new Irish railways could be used to transport troops to quickly curb agrarian unrest, Mitchel responded that the tracks could be turned into pikes and trains ambushed. O’Connell publicly distanced himself from the seditious import of the remarks—it appeared to some setting Duffy, as the publisher, up for prosecution. When the courts failed to convict, O'Connell pressed the issue, seemingly intent on effecting a break with those he referred to disdainfully as