nel, even in a steam-packet, to inquire into the case of one-third of your fellow-subjects? Ospeak it not in Gath!' The fault is in thy optics, which discern things best at a distance; and not in thy heart, which knows no distinction when the victim of misfortune or tyranny solicits thy aid and thy compassion. John, with all thy faults, I love thee still;' and I have mistaken your character if Ireland will not soon have cause to love thee too.

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The question of religious grievances, considered in a political point of view, is entirely one of expediency; and a correct answer to the inquiry, Ought England to emancipate the Catholics of Ireland?' deeides the case of that country. All arguments, therefore, are to be discarded, but those which go to affect the immediate or remote interest of the British empire. The question is thus narrowed into a reasonable compass, and is one on which very ordinary minds are capable of deciding. I suppose, from your hereditary prejudices, Mr. Bull, that it is absolutely necessary to tell you that Catholics reply in the affirmative to every one of Shylock's interrogatories, having generally the five natural senses in perfection, and act and talk very much like-other men ; nay, contrary to the assumption of the law, they absolutely exist in these kingdoms to the number of seven millions! If you have never seen one of them, I must tell you, to be sure, that in person they very much resemble-Protestants; and that, like Protestants, they would be eligible to all the rights of British subjects, only they have an unaccountable predilection for popery, which, to be sure, is a great folly in them; for, if they were of any other religion or sect, they might mount the woolsack, enjoy places and pensions, command our armies and navies, and, in short, have nothing to petition for, unless a reform in Parliament. Let us then see what is there in a name,' which renders it necessary for the collective wisdom' to keep one-third of the people, from year to year, on their knees-a position very humble, indeed, but very useless; for it must be confessed VOL. I.-No. I.

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that an erect posture would be more conducive to health, strength, and utility.

To the right understanding of Catholic principles it is absolutely necessary that you should, as far as possible, dismiss from your mind the current lies which bear the historic counterfeit of truth, and which you have heard so often repeated from childhood to the present time. Like the first reformers, perhaps, it would be better to make out a negative creed for the papists, and show what they do not, rather than what they do, believe.

In the first place, I must tell you, Mr. Bull, for your personal comfort, that papists do not consign men by wholesale to perdition, merely because they are not Catholics; and, though they have provided a halfway house for middling men to stop at, I hope you will be so well escorted as to pass on without inconvenience, and not fare worse for going farther. I see you are incredulous but the Catholic church never did teach that conscientious adherents of a different doctrine were necessarily damned. If you doubt the truth of this assertion I can produce a host of authorities, both Catholic and Protestant.

;

In the next place papists, as you call them, disclaim any authority in the pope, or any foreign potentate,

interfere directly or indirectly with their civil duty. They regard the Bishop of Rome only as the visible head of their church, whose power is limited to spiritualities; and they are religiously bound not to recognise him in any other character; so much so, that if he had the temerity-of which there is no fear-to invade these realms, British and Irish Catholics, by the doctrine of their church, would be bound to meet him in arms, and extirpate him and his followers, ere they polluted our soil with their footsteps, even though he fulminated bulls as well as grapeshot. No matter what has been; this is now the doctrine known and acted upon by all Europe: yet nine-tenths of the English people actually believe that Catholics promise civil allegiance to the pope; and think they are excluded from power and autho

D

rity because, forsooth, they will not swear unconditional allegiance to King George. More than five-andtwenty years ago Mr. Pitt, with the laudable motive of removing this erroneous impression, procured the opinions of several Continental colleges; but still the belief prevails, and even Irish Protestants (proh pudor) have not blushed to publish in 1825 the lie so oft o'erthrown.'

In all ages Catholics have fought, when called upon by their lawful sovereigns, against the pope; and even the Laureate admits that the Catholic clergy of England, as a body, were never disloyal but once.* When Mr. Southey acknowledges what it would be his inclination to deny, surely his authority is entitled to credit.

'No faith with heretics' is another stumbling block thrown in the way of emancipation; and, scarcely a month since, the Rev. Editor of a London magazine gravely placed it in the list of the damnable errors of popery: : yet that nothing can be more false is evident from the fact, that, if the charge were true, there would be no need of emancipation; for nothing keeps the Catholics out of Parliament, and other places of trust and profit, but their refusal to take an oath, propounded by Protestants, at variance with their conscience. Surely such men ought to be believed when they do swear. You see, John, how necessary it is for you to be on your guard against those who live by catering for your prejudices, and who would make you a dupe for their individual profit.

I have thus established, I hope to your satisfaction, two important facts; namely, that Catholicism inculcates loyalty, and teaches a proper regard for an oath legally administered. Consequently Catholics, like other men, can be obedient to the laws, as well as keep faith with their rulers. It is perfect nonsense, therefore, to talk about papists having it in their power to procure dispensations from the pope when it suits their convenience to break through their oath of allegiance-an oath which, in its strict and proper sense, is merely conditional, and superadds nothing to the obligations of a subject, whose duty is precisely the

same whether he takes it or not. The history of Europe bears ample testimony of the good behaviour and loyalty of Catholics; and even Great Britain records many singular proofs of their attachment to a Protestant monarch.

Why, then, are Catholics in these kingdoms, contrary to the policy of all other states, excluded from the rights of subjects? Because, say their opponents, it is necessary for the security of our admirable constitution, and the safety of our church establishment. This is the sum-total of their objections; and all that has ever been urged against the Catholic claims amounts only to this.

Now, John, the British constitution is called admirable from the security it affords the inhabitants of these realms, and is universally acknowledged to be the most eligible in Europe for men to live under. The Catholics themselves seem to admit this when they solicit admission within its pale; and I never heard that their religion made them such slave-enamoured wretches as to prefer despotism to liberty, or such fools as not to desire the preservation of those forms under which they could acquire wealth, honours, glory, and independence. Whatever benefit they might now expect from the destruction of the state, nothing of the sort could enter their heads when once they formed a part of it. But the Catholics, if emancipated, could not possibly injure the constitution, because it would neither be their interest nor their inclination to do so.

In the event of the Catholic claims being acknowledged, the Duke of Norfolk and one or two other noblemen might return two or three Catholic representatives to serve in Parliament; while Ireland, in all probability, would send over Daniel O'Connell-though I confess that I do not know for what county even the promoter of the Catholic rent would be returned. At all events, I do not think that Ireland would send six Catholic members at once dur ing the next twenty years; for, though Catholics have all the personal property in the country, Protestants have all the patronage. To avoid all

While it is, therefore, demonstrable that much mischief and no earthly good arises from the exclusive system, let us see if any benefits would accrue from concession. The Catholics must certainly look upon emancipation as of some value; for men seldom pursue any thing very eagerly, from which they do not anticipate some advantage. They tell us it would completely establish tranquillity in Ireland, the first thing of which that country stands in need; and that their peasantry, instead of being rebels at a beck, would become dutiful subjects, obedient to the laws, moral in their conduct, and industrious in their habits. All we can do is to believe or disbelieve them: if the former, emancipate them speedily; and if the latter, emancipate them even more speedily. There is no alternative; we have tried coaxing and coercion long enough without any profit, and have now only to reverse our policy, and see what justice and reason will do. There is one presumption in its favour-it cannot prove more mischievous than the former; and, if it likewise fail to be beneficial, we can re-enact the penal laws, and resort to the old experiment of braying in a mortar.' The power that can repeal a law may renew it at a future day; and thus, by keeping the rod in pickle, you can scourge the Catholics into obedience if ever they should prove refractory.

Perhaps, after all, John, your contempt for the papists will not let you regard them as either deserving or formidablele-as either worthy of concession or entitled to consideration; and that emancipation, notwithstanding its moral justice, will be time enough any day within these hundred years. For God's sake, as a pious man, beware of the sin of presumption! You lost America through your arrogance; I pray Heaven you may not lose Ireland through obstinacy and indifference!

Do not look so gruff, man: I am your friend; and, unless you submit to the guidance of your real friends, you will plunge down the precipice, upon the verge of which you are unconsciously standing. Like Cæsar, you can afford to acknowledge a

fault, because you have virtue enough remaining to atone for past misconduct. Be therefore wise in time; apply soft lenitives' to the wounds you have inflicted; conciliate those who have become, in a physical point of view, your superiors; and augment the national strength by the acquisition of seven million subjects, who otherwise will assuredly become your enemies.

Sycophants and hypocrites may tell you otherwise; but listen to the voice of Nature, for she speaks audibly here. Towards Ireland you have been cruel, vindictive, and unjust; you have heaped wrongs upon wrongs; and, like the ruffian Israelites, you have insulted the weakness of your victim when incapable of resisting your brutal ferocity. But, like Samson, the growth of what may be called her excrescence has renewed her strength; and, if you now revile and despise those you have degraded, depend upon it the Corinthian pillars of the British constitution will tremble about your ears. Don't imagine your former brutifying conduct is forgotten the Irish may forgive, but can never forget. The tales of English cruelty and injustice are yet fresh in Ireland; and the natural warmth of the peasant's heart is fomented into a spirit of revenge while he listens to the vulgar, but faithful, narratives of his country's wrongs. The prevalent and hereditary opinion is unfavourable to the present connexion, and can only be changed by changing the habits of the people- What so likely to do this as the granting a boonworth much or little-upon which they have long fixed their hearts?

Still incredulous! Well then, John, look upon this map of Ireland. You see it is composed of hills and valleys, lakes and bogs; but, what is most remarkable, it contains seven millions of inhabitants, the nineteentwentieths of whom are rank papists! aye, John, papists in spite of law and schools; for, though hunted, like wolves, for a premium, they have not only maintained their ground, but have nearly pushed the Protestants out of the kingdom. This,' to be sure, places Ireland in an awkward situation; and you may abuse