Questions may be asked about his political opinions, his religious creed, and sometimes about the social position of his wife, but no one cares in the least about his ability.

The matter really turns upon the amount of influence which he can bring to bear.

So it happened that John Crawford, Freemason and Protestant, was appointed station-master at Clogher.

Of course, nobody really cared who got the post except a few seniors of John Crawford's, who wanted it for themselves.

Probably even they would have stopped grumbling after a month or two if it had not happened that a leading weekly newspaper, then at the height of its popularity and influence, was just inaugurating a crusade against Protestants and Freemasons.
The case of John Crawford became the subject of a series of bitter and vehement articles.