humiliation; for Captain Rock has issued his Gazette, and a • Dublin and London Magazine' has just been published. This is as it should be the intolerant, the hypocritical and bigotted, must now yield to truth and reason ; and, though I am a host in myself, I am fond of assistance. I like the new magazine-the harp on the wrapper pleases-the portrait of my little darling Moore pleases the elegance of the paper and type pleases; and, above all, the matter pleases me. There are, to be sure, opinions broached that are not in accordance with mine; and one of the editor's correspondents has even discovered some talent in that humbug Hook's book. But this is nothing compared with the general merit of the articles, and, if I had room, I should transfer them all at once to my own pages; for some of them are nearly (though not quite) as good as I could produce myself. One of them, however, is SO apropos at the present time, that I have made room for it in my first Number; and I request the reader to compare it with the Address of the Association to the people of England. For my part I never read any thing of O'Connell's so lame and foreign to the purpose as that Address; for it is any thing but what it should be. It is very inferior to the following, both in diction, arrangement, and simplicity; and, if the Association would do their duty, they would put a copy of it into the hands of every man in England. John Bull will listen to reason,and, if the Catholics make out their case, they may rest assured of a favourable verdict.

OUGHT ENGLAND TO EMANCIPATE

THE IRISH CATHOLICS?

THE question of Catholic emancipation has been debated, in and out of Parliament, during the last forty years; and, on a rough calculation, fifty thousand books and pamphlets have been written on the subject.Don't be alarmed, John Bull-for 'tis to you I address myself-I am not going to examine this formidable

mass of conflicting evidence, or give you my opinion on the respective merits of all the writers and speakers who have contributed to the agitation of this momentous question. I have your interest at heart; and, knowing how valuable time must be to an industrious man like you, I am about to save you much waste of that stuff of which life is made,' and therefore request your serious hearing for a brief space,' and I promise to say, in ten minutes, all that has been or ever can be said on Catholic eman

cipation. You are a calculating man, John, and can readily estimate the value of my communication, for it will absolutely save you the three hours every morning you would otherwise spend during the present session-for emancipation is to be a debates on this national question, nightly topic-in perusing the lengthy which, like a labyrinth, appears to have no termination.

quire into the case of one-third of your fellow-subjects? O speak 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.

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?' decides the case of that country. All arguments, therefore, are to be discarded, but those which go to affect the British empire. The question is the immediate or remote interest of thus narrowed into a reasonable compass, and is one on which very ordinary minds are capable of deciding.

No impatience, no incredulity, John! The world looks upon you as matic and blustering, and egotisa thinking man-as one very phlegtical, but still so much alive to your own interest, that self is the Alpha and Omega of your every word and action. Considering the world as always in the right, I have long since fallen into this same opinion, and therefore would not now take hold of your button,' only that I know your welfare, both as an individual and a British subject, is intimately connected with the question under consideration. But your pride, your consistency, your honour, is also concerned; for, shall it be said that John Bull is actively alive to the wrongs of mankind in every country but his own? that his hand, open as day to melting charity,' is stretched out between the oppressor and the oppressed every where but at home? Shall the heathen blacks of Africa have your sympathy, while you neglect the Christian whites of Ireland? and will you brave the dangers of every sea and every climate in the laudable work of diminishing human misery, and refuse to cross the Channel, even in a steam-packet, to in

tholics 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 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, to 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 authority 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 so

vereigns, 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.

• Book of the Church.

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 during the next twenty years; for, though Catholics have all the personal property in the country, Protestants have all the patronage. To avoid all controversy on this subject, let us suppose that half the Irish members would in future be Catholics. What then? Why, that one-third of the people would, in a religious point of view, have fifty or sixty advocates, while the remaining two-thirds would have about six hundred! Is not that a pretty good security for the inviolability of our Protestant constitution, when protected by a Protestant king, Protestant ministers, Protestant chancellors, and as many other Protestant places as you can reasonably desire? for of these Catholics do not expect to deprive you. Our fears of the papists possessing themselves of every avenue to Court favour, and shoving the poor Protestants out of office, reminds one of George Cruikshank's Points of Humour,' where a general, who had 'sought the bubble reputation even in the cannon's mouth,' is seen running away lest a boor might eat him,

boots, spurs, and all. The truth is, John, the papists would come in for fewer places than they imagine; and, as one fact is worth a hundred arguments, I refer you to the case of the Whigs. There you see a formidable and eligible body in the state battling these fifty years for power without obtaining it; and I dare say it would be as difficult to find a Whig as a Catholic in any office under the direction or influence of government. No, no, Catholics would not crowd the levees at St. James's; and such as might gain admission there would be as suppliant as any knave that ever bent the knee to majesty.

ally gain over the other to it.' If we refuse to meet the Catholics on equal grounds, we must either refute this reasoning, or admit that our religion is not founded in maxims of reason and credibility.'

Thus it appears that neither church nor state are in any danger, though Catholics should be admitted to participate in the constitution; and that their principles are not inimical to national liberty is proved by their being, as they always have been, meritorious members of the freest states in the world; for in Great Britain only are they dishonoured by national suspicion. The effect of exclusion is apparent in discontent on one hand, and insult and oppression on the other a state of things productive of a long train of evils now visible in Ireland, as injurious to this country as to the sister kingdom. At all events, I know not one benefit arising from Catholic exclusion, unless that may be called such which tends to thin the population by nightly murders, and enables the Irish peasantry to practise the art of war in time of peace.

Our apprehensions for the church are as uncalled for as those for the state; for, as they are with us considered inseparable, the security of the one naturally implies the safety of both. There is no danger to which the Church would be subject, in the event of emancipation, to which she is not already exposed; for the Catholics are doing now with effect what they would do then under every disadvantage. Nothing more true than that they are ambitious of making proselytes by every means in While it is, therefore, demontheir power; and, if they were not, strable that much mischief and no they would differ from all other reli- earthly good arises from the exclugious communities; for every creed-sive system, let us see if any benefits even your own, John-is gratified by would accrue from concession. The the acquisition of converts; and, Catholics must certainly look upon while you hold out every inducement emancipation as of some value; for to papists to apostatize, they would men seldom pursue any thing very wish to persuade every Protestant in eagerly, from which they do not anBritain to embrace their peculiar ticipate some advantage. They tell faith. So far the contest is pretty us it would completely establish equal; but, to gain a complete vic- tranquillity in Ireland, the first thing tory, you have only to deprive them of which that country stands in need; of the attractions of a persecuted and that their peasantry, instead of creed, which, on experience, has being rebels at a beek, would bebeen found to possess an almost su- come dutiful subjects, obedient to pernatural property in acquiring and the laws, moral in their conduct, retaining converts. Really the ela- and industrious in their habits. All mour raised about proselytism is ri- we can do is to believe or disbelieve diculous, if not a little hypocritical; them if the former, emancipate them for the Church of England, in a speedily; and if the latter, emantemporal point of view at least, must cipate them even more speedily. always, from the liberal nature of its There is no alternative; we have principles, possess peculiar advan- tried coaxing and coercion long tages over Catholicism; and, if it enough without any profit, and have makes no converts, it certainly seems now only to reverse our policy, and in no danger of losing any adherents. see what justice and reason will do. In religion,' says Paley, as in There is one presumption in its faother subjects, truth, if left to itself, vour-it cannot prove more mis. will almost always obtain the ascend-chievous than the former; and, if it ency. If different religions be professed in the same country, and the minds of men remain unfettered, and unawed by intimidations of law, that religion which is founded in maxims of reason and credibility will gradu

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 Ca tholics 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 formidable-as either worthy of concession or entitled to consideration; and that emancipation, notwithstand ing 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

remain unconciliated, I dare not calculate on the result. Bogs, mountains, and defiles*-a million rebels, (not one less,) composed of the most active, fierce, and ferocious peasantry in Europe, assisted by foreign troops, money, and arms-part of your army in India, the remainder on the Continent, and your navy divided between the east and west;-this is the outline of a probable picture; and if, after its delineation, you continue incredulous, you will not have the excuse of the unsuspecting sentinel, who cried out All's well' a moment before the secret mine exploded beneath his post.

to do this as the granting a boon-place! but, if they did, and Ireland worth 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 the Catholics as long as you wish, but still they are so obstinate, they will neither go to church, nor cease to demand as many privileges as Protestants; and, if you refuse to comply with their just demands, they will at least get very angry.

But you rely on the Irish Protestants, do you? I see, Mr. Bull, you know nothing about the matter. If all the members of the Established Church in Ireland were placed at equal distance from each other along the island, they might, perhaps, if every man were provided with a speaking-trumpet, convey a telegraphic dispatch from the Giant's Causeway to Cape Clear, and nothing more. But Protestants out of office are as little to be relied on as Catholics; for they have uniformly been found at the head of every Irish rebellion. There can now be no use in concealing the truth; you have been too long in the dark, and the real friends of the empire will speak out. The Catholics, looking upon England as invincibly unjust, are far, very far, from being warmly attached to you; while the Presbyterians, almost to a man, are discontented and ambitious republicans. This is Mr. Wakefield's opinion; and I know it, from personal observation, to be as true now as in Ninety-Eight, when they originated the rebellion.

A wise man will not conceal from himself the difficulties that lie in his way; and it now becomes the duty of the legislature to look well to the state of Ireland. If between thirty and forty thousand men are, at a time of almost universal peace, necessary to preserve tranquillity in a single district, what number would be required in case of foreign invasion and domestic treachery? God forbid that either should ever take

It is the fashion of the day to treat all subjects connected with Ireland as light and frivolous, and to look upon that kingdom rather as a burden than a benefit to England. This is what the late Lord Londonderry would have called a fundamental error, and I pray you avoid it altogether;' for, though Ireland costs you annually (thanks to your own wise policy!) some four or five million pounds, still without her you would be a mere cipher-a make-weight in the political balance of Europe-a helpless people, at the mercy of any power that might choose to exhibit you, at the table of the Holy Alliance, as a marriage portion for some legitimate prince or princess. Without Ireland your foreign possessions would only accelerate your downfall; but, with her, you might afford to surrender them all, and even be stronger for the loss. During the last war (I speak it entre nous) our land forces, without auxiliaries, would have disappeared in a month before the French army; and would you think to cope with them if unassisted by Irishmen? You are an imperious egotist, 'tis true; but I hope your pride has not yet got the better of your judgment.

These lovely isles must stand or fall together; and, if it be not your own fault, England can never be extinguished through the side of Ireland; for it is now completely in your power to raise around you an imperishable barrier, not of blocks and stones, but of as brave and grate

Such as wish to inquire into the state of national defence in Ireland may consult Mr. Wakefield's chapter on that head in his Account of Ireland, Statistical and Political,' vol ii. in which the difficulties a regular army would have to encounter are ably detailed.

ful hearts as ever beat within the breasts of men. You do not-you cannot-forget the Pyrenees or Waterloo-the Seventy-Fifth' or 'the Faugh-a-Balloughs'—who met your enemies only to triumph; and these were Irishmen and Catholics. Be just to both, and an inexhaustible army of the best troops in Europe will always be ready and willing to fight your battles. Gratify the Catholics, and rest secure with your spinning jennies and steam-engines ; for, keep Paddy in your army and navy, and a foreign foe will never set his foot upon the British isles.

You now see, John, that the Catholic question is not so unimportant as you at first imagined; for it is of such serious magnitude, that the future welfare of the British empire turns upon it. Justice demands that the people of Ireland should be emancipated; and the peculiar situation of these kingdoms renders it absolutely expedient that their claims should be speedily complied with. Delay not the gift until its value is diminished; but give now cheerfully what you may ultimately be glad to give. Never hesitate when you are about doing a God-like act-that of manumitting millions who are in unprofitable bondage. The wisest and best of your countrymen have approved of your intention; for emancipation numbers among its advocates George IV. (God bless him!) Paley, Watson, Johnson, Fox, Pitt, Burke, Grey, Holland, Canning, &c. &c.; and has or had for opponents Patrick Duigenan, Sir Thomas Lethbridge, Tom Ellis, the John Bull' newspaper, and Blackwood's Magazine.'

I have addressed myself to you, John, because on your favourable opinion depends the success of emancipation. The privileged party in Ireland, being just equal to the number of offices in the kingdom, and being greatly in want of their places, and fearful that the Catholics might supplant them, will never consent to the passing of a measure which they apprehend would go directly to affect their individual interest. To you, therefore, the Catholics look with the utmost anxiety; for your opinion is now the barometer of their hopes Z. Z.

and fears.

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