other circumstance, the earliest period must be the best; as it feems that the inftantaneous change of the proportion of power of the two parties would be lefs than at any distant term. For as the Roman Catholics have now the power of acquiring landed property, their thare of it will perpetually increase, until it becomes proportioned to their numbers, induftry, and parlimony conjointly: therefore, at any future period that change would have been greater, and as the danger of such a change appears very much to depend upon its initial magnitude, if it had been deferred until they had acquired much more landed property, it would have been effected with much lefs fafety. Mr. McKenna has likewife demonftrated that, under the popery laws, the immediate intereft of the Roman Catholic church attached them to the crown; in oppofition to the confitution, which confidered them as aliens, and the laws which oppreffed them: and an afpiring prince, by their aflistance, might have raised himself above the power of the law. We now come to the fmaller pieces of Mr. M'Kenna. Among thefe we find three public declarations drawn up by him that of the Roman Catholic fociety of Dublin, fetting forth their object, the repeal of thofe acts by which they are aggrieved, as members of the Roman church. A fecond, by the members of that communion at Waterford. And a third, by thofe of Cork, occafioned by the refolutions of certain grand juries to oppofe the emancipation of the Roman Catholics, with their lives and fortunes; and herein he answers a charge of feditious practices brought against them. The first of the remaining tracts, is the preface to the fecond edition of his firft effay; in this he profeffes not to treat the fubject on the principle of the equality of men; but on that of the English constitution, that franchife is the fruit of property; he cenfures the intemperate proceedings of the county of Armagh against the Roman catholics, and to the charge brought against them of having formed confederacies of requifition, he anfwers that they were compelled into it by confederacies of denial. We next meet with his addrefs to that body, relative to the proceedings in the fummer of 1792, and on the means and practicability of a tranquil emancipation. This is a kind of fupplement to his firft differtation; and many of the arguments here brought forward have been already confidered in our obfervations on that tract. We shall confine ourselves, therefore, to the obfervation, that he ably attacks every thing which can be called a half meafure, and contends for full emancipation. The greater parts of the remarks which we might have made upon this author's thoughts on the prefent politics of Ireland, in his letter to R. Simms Efq. have been already anticipated in our account of the preceding tracts, except thofe which relate to Mr. Flood's plan for the reform of his Irish reprefentation. This, he affirms, by increafing the weight of the lower Proteftants in county elections, would have transferred every foot of valuable ground in Ireland from the induftrious improving Roman Catholic tenants to the Proteftant: while, by granting a vote to every inhabitant of a borough of the latter party, it only refcued thofe corporations from dependence, to confign them over to profligacy and corruption. The Elay on a Parliamentary Reform, and the evils likely to enfue from a Republican conftitution in Ireland, is the laft effay of this collection which remains for our confideration, and, in many refpects, the moft honourable to the author. The Republican principles which had been circulated in that country, under the pretext of reform, gave birth to this tract. Mr M'Kenna hère appeals to the uniform tenor of history to prove, that a Republican government cannot long fubfift in a polifhed nation. He affirms that the causes which will ultimately fubvert the American Conftitution, may be easily traced; but, were it otherwife, nothing could be inferred from the example of America: the circumitances of its inhabitants being fuch, that a form of government for it, will admit a greater proportion of democracy than for any other nation, for its whole population confifting of yeomanry, and men of middling fortunes, unmixed with any of that needy clafs called mob, that courtry becomes the easiest to govern of any in the world. He obferves alfo, that the blood of no citizen was fhed in Rome, while the patricians retained their fupremacy; the troubles excited by the Gracchi brought the state nearer to a democracy; and from that time, Rome was a scene of affalfination and carnage. The fpirit of a Republican, he alledges, is fevere to thofe below, and refractory to those above him. A Society in Dublin, for the fake of carrying their political views into effect, had publifhed an exhortation to the people to revive the volunteer corps. Mr. M'Kenna therefore expatiates on the bad confequences which muft arife, from perpetuating the practice of grafting the character of the foldier on that of the citizen. He maintains that lefs is to be dreaded from the direct Republicans than thofe, who fecking to diminish the influence of the Crown, are bringing the conftitution infenfibly to a Republic. That in every government, a motive for attachment to it must be provided. In def potifins potifms and democracies the terror of the axe restrains difaffection; in a limited monarchy influence prevents it. Such a government, he adds, muft totter, unless fupported by gratitude for favours received, or expectation of future benefits, but he denies that any approbation of indefinite means of corruption is herein intended to be implied. : Mr. M'K. alfo defends the hereditary peerage of Ireland, which had been attacked as useless, because wisdom is not hereditary by showing that when a country is fully peopled, diftinction of ranks neceffarily takes place, it being even difcernible in the fociety of Quakers, in defpite of all their contrivances to avoid it; and that if power and precedence be denied to opulence and birth, their poffeffors will affociate to elevate the Crown, that they may in return be raised by its allistance above the people. He points out, that by the feparate affemblies of the Peers and the Commons, every meafure undergoes a double deliberation, frequently of the greatest utility in national tranfactions. If the Crown had the periodical nomination of the members of the Upper House, it would acquire too much influence there; if it were periodically elective, it would imbibe the fpirit of popular ailemblies, but to an hereditary peerage there lie no fuch objections. Another great divifion of his fubject leads him to examine whether there be a neceffity for a reform in the conftitution of the Irish House of Commons: and here he shows, that the parcelling out the country into diftricts of nominally equal importance, would veft the reprefentation in the hands of mere country gentlemen, to the exclufion of the monied and learned claffes: and he might have added, of the mercantile intereft. He maintains, that every plan of reprefentation must be vicious, which excludes a due proportion of eminent and deferving perfons, felected from the different profeffions of importance, from feats in Parliament. This he lays down as a principle, and this we think well worthy of confideration. Even in behalf of the most difcredited part of the Commons, the members of the clofed boroughs, this writer affirms, that if none of them had exifted, the most useful and independent men who ever fat in the Houfe would have been loft to Ireland. To inflame the paffions of the multitude and make them demand this reform, an abolition of taxes had been held out as an effect to be expected from it. The abfurdity of a government fubfifting in the prefent ftate of fociety without taxes is evident; but Mr. M'K. informs us, that the taxes of Ireland compared with its abilities, are lower than those of any other civilized country: and, due correction being made for the mis-ftatement of Paine, the different values of money, and the circumstances of the two countries, the Prefident of America enjoys a more princely revenue than the King of Ireland. From a tract fo excellent as this, it would be unpardonable not to produce fome fpecimens, and the following seem to be well calculated to give a juft idea of it. "The political fpeculators of the present age appear to have divided themfelves into two fects; of thefe, the one eftimates very highly, the other moderately, the good qualities of our fpecies; the former apparently convinced that honefty, juftice, and temperance conftitute the outlines of the human character, incline to think that we cannot be too little controuled; the latter, obferving how frequently these virtues are mixed with an alloy, are defirous to provide for the poffible operation of the kindred foibles. The firft are fond to refer whatever does not coincide with their ideas of right, to the vice of fyftems and wickedness of rulers; the fecond, admitting that fuch accufations may be, and often are, well founded, attribute general effects to general caufes; human focieties, like him of whofe nature they partake, are not deftined for perfection, and like him, are confounded in incoherency when they purfue it. With the former, all arrange themselves whose scope of obfervation is not very extenfive, all who have thought little and not profoundly. In this clafs also, a benevolent man may find himself, efpecially if he should happen to be also a man of not much reflection. But tenderness is not always the characteristic of this fect of politicians; fevere to those below, refractory to those above him, the public fpirit of the Republican is not unfrequently animated by envy; his defire of equality feldom reaches lower than his own rank: his reluctance to acknowledge a fuperior is fometimes, rather inconfiftently, combined with a repugnance to renounce his own pre-eminence. With the latter defcription we ufually difcern thofe who having read, obferved, and inveftigated minutely, perceive the prefent rather a clofe reprefentation of paft ages, and that the page of hiftory, like the theatre of politics, is tarnished by depravity. Thefe latter are willing to ftrike a compromife, facrificing barren rights for productive happinefs. Aware that we must be governed, they think the manner of governing a secondary confideration. So far they certainly are right. To enjoy the advantages of order is the most important of all privileges." P. 165. "The dangers of this age feem to impend rather from the people than the monarch. Monarchy, exactly poifed, as is that of England, is highly eftimable. It has all eminent writers on its fide. But it has more, a double experience juftifies it; that of England, in which it has produced great good; that of every other form of government, none of which have ever procured permanent and radical happiness. The oppreffions of abfolute monarchy, the convulfions of democracy, conftitute alike the panegyric of the English conftitution. The recent events of France inftruct us, that the practice as well as the theory is valuable. It is not fufficient that there be a king, the throne will totter unless by the means of influence with which he is invested, many many are taught to look to the monarch with expectation and grati tude; hence the neceflity of a very extenfive patronage. Unless he be decorated with fuperior dignity, opulent nobles will outfhine him in the public eye, and become his competitors; hence the utility of a moft fplendid revenue." P. 176. From the account, and the paffages, we have here given, our readers will doubtlefs have formed a very advantageous idea of the merit of this effay; and we think it entitled to a diftinguished place, even among thofe on the fame fubject, which have been received with popular approbation, Univerfal praife, however, is feldom deferved, and thould as fel dom be given: accordingly, without entering into any difcuffion upon it, we condemn the following principle: Society.is a combination of those who have, against thofe who have not." We are inclined likewife much to doubt the policy of the wish, that every county in Ireland may, ere long, be a manufacturing diftrict." This does not feem to agree very well with the natural distribution of labourers over the face of a country. We have befides heard that weavers having been fettled upon fmall farms, in fome parts of Ireland have thereby become indifferent weavers and bad hufbandmen. Nor are the benefits of the end he means to obtain by it clear; he expects that these manfacturers, becoming forty-thilling freeholders, will counterbalance the votes of the more opulent farmers, at county elections, and thus weaken the landed in tereft. For our parts, we expect no benefit to arife from weakening the natural landed intereft in the counties, or the mer cantile intereft in manufacturing towns. The writings of Mr. M'Kenna have been, as we before obferved, the proximate cause of uniting the profeffors of the two religions in Ireland into one people. A much fuiler account than ordinary has therefore been given of thefe tracts feparately; it remains to fay fomething of their general character. Mr. M'Kenna has therein difplayed great facility in the difcovery of arguments to enforce his opinions. Many of them are diffinguifhed by their weight, their originality, and the manner in which they are bought forward. But this fertility, which has mostly fome connection with that fplendid but dangerous quality of exuberance, has betrayed him not unfrequently to occupy unneceffary or untenable ground. Sufpicions have fometimes led him into unjuft cenfure, and cenfure into afperities. In the arrangement of his arguments, fo as to make them afford mutual fupport to each other, and imprefs the fulleft conviction, he does not appear to have done all that might be expected. His greater effay, that on the Conflitution of Ireland, may be given as an example: it |