OR,
IRELAND'S MISERIES;
THE GRAND CAUSE, AND CURE.
B'Y THE
REV. EDWARD MARCUS DILL, A.M., M.D.,
MISSIONARY AGENT TO THE IRISHI PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
NEW YORK:
ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS,
No. 285 BROADWAY.
1852.




T. B. SMITH, STEREOTYPER3                       R. CRAIGHEAD, PRINTER,
216 William Street, New York.                        53 Vesey Street.




CONTENTS.
PART IL-IRELAND'S MISERIES.
CHAPTER I.
GENERAL WRETCHEDNESS.
PAGE
Country's present appearance-Commerce-Manufacture-Agriculture-Depopulation-Evictions, &c,.  9
CHAPTER II.
THE FAMINE.
Frightful mortality-Scenes of horror-Affecting incident, &c.,..                    14CHAPTER III.
EMIGRATION.
Extent-Progress-Miseries-Evils: moral, political, and
social, &c.,.,                                16
CHAPTER IV.
INCREASING PROSTRATION.
State of gentry - Farmers - Peasantry- Growth of
pauperism-Decrease of births and marriages, &c.,. 22




CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.
SINGULAR EXCEPTION.
PAGE
Superiority of Ulster-In manufacture, commerce, agriculture, &c.-Object of this volum.e,.. 32
PART II.-ALLEGED CAUSES.
CHAPTER I.
THE PHYSICAL.
THE COUNTrY-Soil-Climate-Resources, &c. THE RACE
-Celt and Saxon-Wales-Highlands —Irish mind,
and heart, &c...           39
CHAPTER II.
THE POLITICAL.
THE AGITATORa-Natural history of agitation-O'Connell
-Ulster, &c. THE LEGISLATURE-The constitutionLaws-Repeal —" Misrule," &c.,..         53
CHAPTER III.
THE SOCIAL.
HABITS-Feudalism-Style —Extravagance, &c.  PURSUITS - Trade- Agriculture - Rack-rents - Tenantright, &c.,....... 64
CHAPTER  IV.
THE MORAL.
KNOWLEDGE-General and religious ignorance-Superstitions, &c. &c. VIRTUE-Military, police, and criminal statistics-Consequent disorganization, &c. &c.
CONTRAST IN ULSTEaR-Light-Morality, &c. &c,,. 77




CONTENTS.                      V
CHAPTER V.
THE RELIGIOUS.
PAGE
THE CoINcIDENCE-Superlrity of Protestantism in England, Scotland, Ireland's provinces, counties, parishes,
towns, people. THE INFERENCE —the key of history
in Ireland, Europe, &c. cc.,.. 93
PART IILL-THE GRAND CAUSE.
Basis of demonstration,... 109
CHAPTER  I,
ROME ECLIPSES THE MIND.
-The Biblein Ireland-Altar har angues-Maynooth training- Priestly instructions-Impostures-MiraclesRome the enemy of all light-Congregation of the Index-Parent of barbarism-Fruits in Ireland, &c. d&c., 112
CHAPTER II.
ROME CORRUPTS THE CONSCIENCE,
PRINCIPLES -Absolution - Confession, &dc. &c.  IRISH
PaIESTHOOD-Profane swearing-Drunkenness-Sabbath-breaking-Adultery, &c. &c.  IRISH PEOPLEFrequency of crime-Its atrocity, &c &c., &c.   132
CHAPTER III.
ROME DESTROYS THE HEART.
Her hatred of the Bible-Payments-Tortures-Lough
Dcrg —  Purgatory-Priestly foragings-RobberiesButcheries-In Ireland and all countries-Truculent
spirit unchanged, &c. &c...             151




Vi                    CONTENTS.
CHAPTER  IV.
ROME DEBASES TIE WVIOLE NATURE.
PAGE
Makes mental imbeciles, social cripples, moral slavesDreadful engines of subjugation-Women-Convents
-Confessional -Degradation- Filth-Improvidence
-Idleness-Beggars, in Ireland and all Popish lands,
&c. &c.,.......170
CHAPTER V.
ROME BLASTS MAN'S TEMPORAL STATE.
FINANCIAL CURSE of Ireland-Destroys prosperityRobs community, &c. &c. PHYSICAL C(URSE-Effect on
soil, climate, race, &Co SOCIAL CURSE-Paralyzes energies; perpetuates feudalism, aggravates landlord
tyranny, &c. POLITICAL CURSE —Curses our civil blessings-Trial by jury-Elective franchise, &c.-Creates
agitation, despotism, &c. &c.,                 1. 89
CHAPTER VI.
ROME CLOUDS MAN S ETERNAL PROSPECTS.
Protestant pseudo-Liberals-Paganism of Popery-Popish mummeries-A scene of devotion-Sacerdotal
piety-The heavein of Rome-Her saints and sinners,
&c. &c.,..... 212
PART IV.-THE CURE.
Recapitulation-" The Mystery Solved,".  227
CHAPTER I.
THE MEDICINE-THE POPULAR REMEDIES.
THE CIVIL-The Land question-Ireland unfit for liberty-The mockery of freedom, &c. THE EDUCATIONAL




CONTENTS.                     Vii
PAGE
-National Board-Sectarian zealots-Godless philosophers-Insufficiency of mere education, &c. THE
INDUSTRIAL- Industrial. Schemes-Advantages-Defects, &c. —THE SCRIPTURAL-Touching incident-The
two atmospheres-Power of the Bible —Its amazing
triumphs-Glory of Britain, &c.,.   230
CHAPTER II.
THE MEDICINE-THE GRAND SPECIFIC.
PHILOSOPHY of the Gospel —Indispensable to virtue, happiness, and general improvement of mankind-Atonement- Regeneration-True Catholicon - Monstrous
folly of endowing Maynooth-FRuTTs of the GospelAwakens the mind-Purifies the conscience-Gives a
heart-Elevates the whole nature-Blesses for time,
and eternity-A word to our statesmen,             257
CHAPTER III.
THE TREATMIENT-INFORMATION.
Protestant ignorance-The practical of Rome-Its Satanic philosophy-The eclectic system of evil-Rome's
tactics in these lands-Blustering, cunning-Hatred
of, and designs on England, &c.,                  282
CHAPTER IV.
THE TREATMENT-LEGISLATION.
Rome a temporal power —TE CONVENTS-Their decoys
-Their horrors-Our duty. MAYNOOTH COLLWEGE —
Its history-Course of Instruction-Moral influenceEndowment-Infatuation of our rulers-Duty of the
people, &c. &c,... 293




V111                 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.
THE TREATMENT-EVANGELIZATION.
PAGE
Ireland's grand hope-Past neglect-Missionary statistics - The Irish Society- Dingle-Achill - Birr"d Irish Schools"-" Scriptural and Industrial Schools"
-Awakening in Connaught, &c.-The grand requisite
-Revival in the Churches-Prayer-Faith-Wisdom
-Union, &c.,                  ~                 816
CONCLUDING  APPEAL.
Alarming progress of Popery —Increase of Irish in England-Scotland-Australia-America, &c.-Hope for
Ireland -Evangelization —Emigration-Immigration,
~&c. &c^   e   o o..........8835




THE MYSTERY SOLVEDI, &,
PART I.
THE MISERIES,
APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY-COMIERCE —
MANUFACTURES.
THE present condition of Ireland is perhaps without a parallel amongst the nations of the earth,
Misery has long been this country's peculiar
portion. Her history has been written with tears
and blood.  Hier children are familiar  with sackcloth and ashes.  But in God's awful providence
she seems at length to have reached the climax of
woe; and is now passing through such a complication
of miseries, as has excited the astonishment and
pity of the world.
CHAPTER  I.
GENERAL WRETCHEDNESS.
THE first thing that strikes the traveller, is the
air of desolation which begins to pervade whole dis



10               THE MITSERIES,
tricts-especially in Munster and Connaught.  As
he wanders through these provinces, he sees halfdecayed towns, which once were so flourishing as to
send members to the Irish parliament.  He finds
whole villages in ruins so complete, that nothing
remains but a few- tottering wall-steads, to tell that
the hulm of life was ever there.  In some cases,
even these monumnents of desolation have disappeared, and the coachman points to a bare deserted
spot, as the site of a former hamlet.  And as to the
destruction of farmsteads and cabins, he can scarce
move in any direction but the scene appears as if
some invading army had passed by.
lHe finds, on inquiry, that this decadence had
commenced long prior to the famine, and was only
hastened by that fearful visitation.  On the eve of
that calamity, and while yet the tide of events flowed
in its usual channels, Ireland contained one third
the population, with one fourth the surface of the
United Kingdom; and yet her national revenue was
not one eleventh, being ~4,500,000 sterling out of
~52,00,000.  The registered tonnage of her shipping was not one twelfth, being 250,000 tons to near
3,250 000. And the proportion of persons employed
in her factories was one twenty-third, being, in round
numbers, 23,000 to 540,000; while her agricultural
condition could scarce be compared to Britain's* See Thom's Irish Statistics for 1849, pp. 64, 55, 1'7,
178, 182; Oliver and Boyd's Edinburgh Almanac for 1848,
pp. 141, 142.




GENERAL WRETCHEDNESS.              11
there being then in Ireland near 1,000:000 of holdings on 13,500,000 of acres of arable surface.  And
of these holdings, one seventh did not exceed 1 acre
each; one third consisted of from 1 to 5 acres;  not
one twentieth were above 50 acres each; and two
thirds, at least, were wretchedly cultivated.*
If we look to the circumstances of the population
of that period, our results are not less remarkable.
While the English upper classes have long been the
wealthiest in the world, few of the Irish were even
out of debt, and numbers were hopelessly embarrassed. While the English middle classes have
long been surrounded with comforts, Ireland can
scarce be said to have ever-had a middle class.
And of the few that even then existed, the means
were so slender, that often the Irish merchant was
poorer than the English clerk; and the Irish farmer
would have been thankful for the food which English servants threw away; while the entire agricultural class, representing seven tenths of Ireland's
substance, were fast sinking into poverty.  How,
then, shall we compare the lower classes of both
countries-the starved Irish peasant in his wretched
hut, with the happy English hind in his cheerful
cottage? More than three fourths of all the dwellings in Ireland were at that period built of mud.
Near one half of all the families in Ireland lived in
dwellings of but one apartment each.t  Two thirds
A; See Thom's Statistics, 1849, pp. 168, 169.
{ Census for 1841.




12               THE MISERIES.
of the entire population lived by manual labor, and
subsisted on potatoes. Near one third were out of
work, and in distress thirty weeks in the year;while not less than one eighth were paupers, or on
the very verge of pauperism.
We think no one can read these statistics without
being able to account for all the horrors of the
famine of 1847.. No prosperous country could be
utterly prostrated by the failure of one crop —least
of all, the potato-for no prosperous country depends
upon it.  It is the staple food of poverty or sloth.
That nation must have been foundering, which such
a calamity could so completely engulf.  The above
statistics demonstrate that Ireland wacts foundering
-that the people were already so impoverished, as
to be unable to bear any additional privations; and
many of them, indeed, so sunk in the gulf of wretchedness, that the least rise of its waters was sure to
overwheiu them.
The census of 1851 has accordingly shown the
disastrous effects of the famine upon Ireland.  Ten
years before, the population was 8,175,124.  At the
same rate of increase which had marked all previous decennial periods, it should at least have been
9,000,000 in 1 851; and many believed it had reached
that number in 1846.  Yet it was found to be only
6,515,794-thus revealing the astounding fact, that
in five years, the population of Ireland had virtually
decreased two  aifllions CCand ac hacf  or near one
Third Report, Poor Inquiry Commission.




GENERAL WRETCHEDNESS.             13
third    This number is within about 370,000 of
being equal to the entire population of Scotland.
We have only, therefore, to imagine the almost total
extinction of the Scottish nation, in order to form
some estimate of our loss.  lmoreover, in the year
1841, there were 1,384,360 dwellings in Ireland.
According to the census of 1851, the number was
then reduced to 111 5,007,-showing, that in the
mean time, no less than 269,353 of all the habitations of the country had been levelled to the ground!
We findc, from the same source of information, that
this dreadful clearance has chiefly taken place among
the small farmers-that humble class so graphically
described by the poet, whose little plot' Just gave what life required, but gave no more."
In 1845 there were, as already stated, near 1,000,000
of holdings in Ireland; and of this number, those
which contained from 1 to 5 acres each, amounted
to 310,436, and supported 1,862,250 individualsmore than one fifth of the population.  The census
of 1851 has revealed the awful fact, that near three
fourths of this entire class have been swept awaythere being then but 91,618 holdings, supporting
549,708 individuals! We find, moreover, that of
all the holdings which were under 15 acres each,
one half have disappearedl, involving the clearance
of 1,500,000 souls.  All this in a few short years!
yet even now, the depopulation goes on as rapidly as
ever.  Who that has a heart can read these details




14               THE MISERIES.
without emotion?  NEAR TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY THOUSAND DWELLINGS swept away! And in
these the pulse of affection once beat warmly; for
nature has endowed the peasant with feelings as well
as the prince.  To these; the poor man proudly
brought his bride.  In these, they no doubt spent
years of humble contentment, cheered amidst their
sorrows by each other's love.  There the another has
smiled over her infant's cradle, and perhaps wept
over its coffin too; and the hardy father has had his
toils beguiled by the innocent prattle of his little
ones. And there, too, have they often knelt around
their dying embers, and in their own humble way
and simple strains presented their evening prayer to
heaven!
CHAPTER  II.
THE FAMINE.
SUCH are the general statistics of our depopulation-the brevity of this sketch forbids minuter details.  It is enough to say, that of the above 2,500,000, the famine destroyed about 1,000,000, and emigration has removed the remainder; and let any one
imagine, if he can, the scenes of woe embraced in
these fearful figures! During tile horrors of 1847,
our country was transformed into a grave-yard and
a lazar-house.  It was quite common to see the peo



THE FAMINE.                 15
pie staggering like drunken men along the roads
from the utter exhlaustion of nature, their faces and
legs being swollen with hunger; and pages might be
filled with the bare record of cases the most affecting, of starvation, pestilenee, and death.  Let us
just present the reader with an instance or two.
At Killalla, the famished creatures used to crowd
round the house of the Rev. Mr. Rogers, wolfish
with hunger; and men once athletic and muscular
would stand before his windows, take the skin which
once covered a brawny arm; but now hung loose and
wrinkled, and double it round the bone in order to
prove the extent of their emaciation!  One woman
was found stretched on the bed by the side of her
dead husband, and after having just given birth to a
poor wasted infant.  It was not uncommon to find
whole families dead in their cabins together.  Nor
were cases rare in which the famished creatures became deranged before expiring; and in one such instance, the most awful of all the occurrences predicted against the Jews, was found to have taken
place-the delirious mother had fed on her dead infant! Our missionaries were doomed to witness
daily the most heart-rending scenes.  The Rev. Mr.
Brannigan one day observed a iman and his wife digging in a stubble field.  He approached and inquired
what they were doing. They told him they had five
children, whom  they had for a fortnight supported
on cabbage and mill-dust, but that they were now
actually starving'; that for the last two days they




16              TTHE MISERIES.
had kept them in bed to try to sleep off the hunger;
and that they had that day been out from the early
morning in quest of some wild roots, of which they
exhibited a handful as the fruits of their protracted
labors.  I Mr. Brannigan was moved, and, uttering
some kind words, he handed them two shillings.
This relief coining so unexpectedly on the poor man
weakened as he was by sorrow and hunger, comnpletely unmanned him, and he sobbed and wept in
the minister's face; while his wife still less able to
control her feelings, clasped her husband in her arms,
exclaiming —' My dear! our children won't die yet."
And yet these are mere samples.  How many scenes
more tragic still were enacted during that dreadful
calamity, which no chronicle has ever recorded, of
whose existence the world never heard, and over
which no tears of sympathy were shed, except perhaps by some fellow-sufferers! Nor must we forget
that, in consequence of the partial failure of the potato ever since 1847, many districts have been suffering an annual famine, and have now, therefore, almost equalled Egypt's seven years of dearth without
its previous seven of plenty.
CHAPTER  III.
EMIGRATION.
FoR many years a large portion of Ireland's shipping trade has been mere emigration.  And its ag



EMIGRATION.                 17
gregate amount can be best seen from the fact that,
aecordling to a late estimate, there are in America
3,000,000 of native Irish, and 4,500,000 more of
Irish descent.  In other words, America now con-tains of inhabitants of Irish blood, 1,000,000 more
than does Ireland itself!  Even previous to the
famine of 1847, the annual number of emigrants
had in six years steadily risen from 40,000 to
95,000; and since that time it has increased so
prodigiously, that the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners give the number emigrating in
1851 at 279,000.  The daily arrivals of emnigrants
at the port of New York alone, range from 700 to
1000, and of these the great mass are Irish.  Thus,
after flowing westward for half a century, the stream
of emigration, so far from diminishing, has swollen
into a mighty flood, and the world now gazes on a
phenomenon which can only be likened to the migrations of the Gauls or the Huns, or other wandering tribes of yore.  Multitudes are flying from their
once loved homesteads, as though Ireland were the
scene of some physical as well as social convulsion,
to a land xwhich comprises all they can henceforth
call a country; deeming even its wild forests an
asylum  from their woes.  They daily hear of the
untimely end of thousands of their fellow-emigrants
by shipwreck on the passage, or hardships on their
arrival; but so far is every other feeling overborne
by the one desire to escape, that the most timid
brave the deep, and the most infirm  encounter the
C)




18                 THE MIISERIES.
hardships. Of the crowds that thus hurry along in
this general " exodus," scarce one returns, save the
few who colle back fromi ill health or indolence,
niullc vestigiat rebtor'sus2; so that a large portion
of the country's business arises from  emigration.
From  it our railways are reaping a transient and
ruinous harvest-the numbers continually pouring
along the Great Southern and Western alone are
surprising.  And  seacoast villages, which vessels
were never known to touch before, ships now regularly visit for their human cargoes.  Churches and
chapels are fast being emptied.  The country begins
to feel the fearful drain, and faints from  excessive
depletion; yet on goes the increasing tide, and on it
promises to go.  In many cases the wail of the emnigrants who crowd our ports is not so heart-rending
as that of their friends whom  poverty compels to
remain behind; and had the people but the means
of getting away, whole districts would rise and take
their departure.  Even the warmest advocates of
the clearance-systenm begin to feel alarmed.  Instead
of a competition for land, as formerly, there has at
length'commenced a competition for tenants; and
some are seriously speaking of the necessity for parliamentary interference with the emigrant, to save
the country from complete depopulation-it being a
matter truly of easy enough calculation, that at the
same increasing rate of emigration, a very few years
indeed would leave Ireland a lonesome solitude.
Here is a state of things as mournful as it is un__________________________________  ___________________________________  ____________________ I~ U L~    ~




EMIGRATION.                  19
paralleled. We refer not so much to the previous
dreadful hardships which such a general flight implies; when, by a people proverbially attached to
Lhone a Canadian log-hut is now deeimed a blessing;
when the spell of comntr'y is so completely broken,
that America, once their last resource, is now the
goal of their hopes; and what used to be dreaded
as a land of exile, is now sighed for as a place of
refuge. Nor do we refer so much to the anguish
endured by our warm-hearted countrymen when
thus torn from their humble, but yet beloved homesteads! What this must be, the heart-rending cries
of the emigrants who throng our quays but too painfully show;  or their still more bitter wail, when
taking their last farewell of those homely abodes
which were endeared to them by a thousand recollections!  Not surely that these woes are to be
overlooked or underrated; on the contrary, they
must command the deepest sympathy of our nature.
He cannot be a man who could witness such scenes
without emotion, or feeling all that our native poet
has so touchingly expressed" Good Heaven! what sorrows gloomed that parting day
That called them from their native walks away;
When the poor exiles, every pleasure past,
Hung round the bowers, and fondly looked their last;
And shuddering still to face the distant deep,
Returned and wept, and still returned to weep."
Most affecting of all is it to see amongst those




20                THE MISERIES.
mournful groups, not the young and active merely,
but nmany a poor old 1man who had hopecd to lay his
bones in his fathers' sepulchre: —-to see trembling
old age thus turned out on the worldcl when almost
leaving it; doomed to recommence life's pilgrimage
at its close; and forced to encounter halrdships fit
only for elastic youth, and beneath which gray hairs
are all but sure to sink.  But we refer not now to
these calamities.
We allude rather to the moral and social evils of
this unnatural state of things.  For many years it
has been the very flower of the people who have
been leaving-our enterprising upright yeomanirywho were not content to live on dry potatoes.  It is
the bones and sinews of the country we have been
losing, who, besides contributing their labor and skill
to America's national wealth, have been carrying
with them each from ~10 to ~1000.  By the departure of this class it is reckoned that since 1845 the
country has lost in cash alone about half a million,sterling.   Thus Ireland has for years been little
else than a nursery ground for America, whence the
hardiest plants are being annually removed, while
the least thriving and healthy are left behind.  The
cream  of the nation has thus for years been flowing
off: like some liquid of which the purer portion at
the top has been repeatedly drawn away, till the
very sedirment itself begins at length to run off.
Such has been the draining process of Irish emigration, on which Britain has looked with indiference,




EMIG:RATION.               21
till now the best of the people are gone to rear cities
beneath a foreign banner, and all that remains for
England's proud flag to wave over, is the pauperized
and prostrated remnant.
Nor arethe political bearings of the case to be
wholly disregarded.  It were idle to deny that
America now holds that place in the hearts of most
of our countrymen which England ought to possess.
Hearken to their conversation, and America is the
theme of their eulogies; while England is spoken
of in terms of invidious contrast, and in a spirit of
moody discontent. Never was this fact more clearly
proved than during the American ambassador's late
visit to Ireland.  While at a recent festival in Limerick, the health of our beloved Queen was received
with hisses by some of the party, the people everywhere gave Mr. Abbot Lawrence a royal reception,
and flocked around him as though he had been a
visitant from  some better world.  In truth, the
hearts of the people are now in America. Enter
almost any dwelling, and the great aim of the very
servants is to save what will " take them out of this
country" to that land of promise.  Converse with
our struggling farmers, and the last hope of many is
that their sons, who have gone before, may be spared
to send for themselves and their families, and enable
them to exchange the condition of British subjects
for that of American citizens.  Follow that youth to
those distant shores, and you find him  sustained
amid their summer droughts and winter snows by




22                TtHE LMISERIES.
the hope of soon rescuing his revered parent from
hunger and " oppression," and welcoming hikn to
that "land of liberty" and wealth.
CHAPTER IV.
INCREASING PROSTRATION.
SuCH is the history of the millions we have lost —
let us now glance at the state of the millions who
remain.  It would be some consolation for the loss
of the former, if, as mlany hopedl, it would have conduced to the good of the latter.  According to our
over-p2o'-ol)Zctizon theorists, Ireland was like some overcrowded ship; and what was chiefly necessary to
save her from sinking, was simply to lighten her of
her human cargo.  Well, this has been done, and to
their hearts' content-has it enabled her to weather
the tempest?
Look to our nuppger clacsses, and how many of those
who were embarrassed in 1846 are absolute bankrupts now! Their property has so fast been passing
through the Encumbered Estates' Court, that 2000
petitions have already been presented, of which
1600 have been filatedl; and yet it is the opinion of
many that the labors of that court are only commencing.  You now pass by numbers of decayi-lag
nmansions which were once the homes of splendid
hospitality; you see their magnificent demesnes neg



INCfiEASING POSRl TI'LTfON.         23
leeted, and their -various nionulnents of elegance
fast going to rumin. And you find the only tenant of
their lonely halls to be, perhaps some Chan.cery
Izeeper, or else some old carevtaker of the faumily, who
entertains you with stories of its ancient 1~ grandeur."
Some of these dwellings have been turned into poorhouses —sad emnblem  of our country's state!-and
those who were once their lords are now penniless
exiles in distant lands: or earning a pittance in some
department of the public service.  The sons of several of our gentry have been glad to enter the constabulary as common policemen, and a few at least
are now private soldiers. A baronet is this moment a
common turnkey in aprison, and at least one gentleman
of high family has been discovered in a poorhouse!
There is something peculiarly affecting in these facts.
By a merciful arrangement of Providence, those who
have been cradled in hardshlips are for that very
reason best fitted -to endure them; but it is pitiful
to think of hundreds in actual want who were reared
as tenderly as any of our readers, and whose infant
locks the rude winds of heaven were scarce ever permitted to toss.  We have had applications from the
daughters of gentlemen, couched in terms enough to
make the heart bleedl begging to be made teachers
of our industrial schools on ~20 a-year. One of our
missionaries was some timne since sent for to visit a
reduced lady who was reported to be dying.  -He
found her in a wretched dwelling, and sinking mainly
fromn sheer privation; and the only relics of former




24               THE MIISERIES.
years he could see, were a riding habit and a silvermounted whip, which belonged to a beloved daughter!
And the most affecting feature of the case is, the
shifts to which these persons frequently resort in order to conceal their distress. In one case, the author
accidentally discovered the starving condition of a
gentleman with a large family, who had held a higl
situation in the Customs; and having at length so
far gained his confidence as to induce him to make
known his wants, he learned amongst other things
that the only covering which the gentleman and his
wife had over them at night was an old green baize
cloth to which he pointed on the table before hi:l: i
Look now for an instant to our micldfe class
-or rather to.that class which in Ireland comes
nearest to what is meant by this termn, and embraces
not only our merchants, shopkeepers, and higher
agriculturists, but our traders, farmers, and private
householders, of respectable character. but limited
means.  There is scarcely any better index of the
condition of this class, as well indeed as of all who
stand between it and our humblest peasantry, than
the state of our savings' banks.  Now, in 1845 the
number of depositors in the savings' banks of Ireland
was 96,422; and the amount deposited, ~2,921,581;
whereas in the year 1850 the number of depositors
had fallen to 47,987, and the amount deposited to
~1,291,798!
Another most important indication of a country's
prosperity or decline, is the amount of its inmports




WiCREASZNG PROSTRATION.           25
and exports.  Now, in 1.845, when we had a population of 8,500,000, our exports in grain alone were
worth ~4,500,000 sterling; yet, in 1850, with only
6,500,000 of a population to feed, the value of our
corn exports was but E!,500,000 sterling; —in other
words, this principal source of our wealth had, in
the above brief period, fallen away two t/ti"rcis! Nor
has this decline been confined to our grain trade.
Our exports in cows and pigs amounted in 1846, to
above ~4,500,000 sterling; while, in 1.850, they had
fallen away to ~2,200,000, or less than one half.
And when it is recollected that seven tenths of Irelail.d's wealth is agricultural, these figures but too
plainly demonstrate the rapidity of her decline.
If next we look to the private circumstances of
the farmers, we know that their live stock is one of
the most important items, and soztrces, too, of their
wealth.  Every one knows that much of the value
of their farms depends on their ability to stock them
well.  Now, in 1841, the average of live stock on
each holding under fifteen acres, was ~9, and the
total value on all the farms of this extent in Ireland,
was, in round numbers, ~10,500,000 sterling; while,
in 1851, the average value of live stock on each had
fallen to ~6 1 Os., showing that more than one third
of this source of our national wealth has also disappeared.  And it has been truly affecting to mark,
in so many farmers' dwellings, those sure and steady
strides of poverty which the foregoing statistics indicate; to see, first of all: how the farmer's little say



26                THE  iISERIES.
ings were gradually drawn from the savings' bank
till all was gone —then how his cattle were sold, one
by one, till frequently the last cow disappearedthen how his household furniture itself went, piece
by piece, and the very apparel of the famlily began
to be sold or pawned; and how the long-maintained,
but fruitless struggle, was finally closed by the poor
man giving up his farm on which his fathers had
dwelt for generations, and mournfully bending his
steps to the poorhouse or the sea-port.  The last
five years have hence been unexampled for the number of auctions and other sales; and when so many
were selling, and so few able to buy, the sacrifices
often made at these were, of course, enormous. Nor
have the pawnbrokers been less busily employed
than the auctioneers.  We have known even their
yards and outhouses to be filled with articles from
their surrounding neighborhoods.  And in some
cases they have suffered from  the very excess of
their stores, so many have been pawning and so few
purchasing!
Of course, there are many exceptions to this
general decline, both in our middle and upper
classes.  We speak of the majority, though we fear
it is the large majority; for if so many signs of distress appear in those ranks of Irish society whose
fondness for keeping up an appearance is' so proverbial, and whose dread of being thought poor is so
great, that they would almost rather starve than let
their wants be known, we cannot but conclude that,
__ __ _ __ _ _   _ __   __ _ __ _ _ _  ___ _ _ _ _ _'I




INCREASING PROSTRATION.               27
were we admitted behind the scenes, we would discover an amount of privation which would more than
justify the picture we have drawn.
If, then, such is the condition even of our gentry
and yeomanry, what can we expect amongst those
lower grades from which our vast armies of paupers
are chiefly recruited? Perhaps our poor-law statistics will form the best answer to this question. Let
the reader just look at the subjoined table,* which
marks the progress of our pauperism, with all its
ruinous expenditure, for 11 short years.  From  it
he will find that, whereas in 1841, the numbers
relieved were 31,000, and the cost of relief was
~110,000; in 1849, the numbers relieved were no
less than 932,000, and the cost of relief near ~C2,
200,000 — that is to say, for eight years the scale
continues to ascend till the number of paupers has
increased thirtyfold, and the cost of relieving them
Year.        Expenditure.        Paupers.
*     1841... ~110,278...  31,108
1842...  281,233...  87,604
1843...  244,374...  87,898
1844...  271,334... 105,358
1845...  316,025... 114,205
1846..      435,001... 243,933
1847...  803.686... 417,139
1848... 1,835,634... 610,463
1849... 2,177,651....  932,284
1850...    1,430,108... 805,702
1851... 1,110,892... 768,570
Tuom's Statistics, 1852, p. 203.




28               THE MISERIES.
twentyfold! Indeed, in 1848, the number receiving
relief, including out-door paupers, exceeded 2,000,000, or a fourth of the population; and if the last
two years exhibit a diminution, we fear this is to be
ascribed to something else than returning prosperity.
A depopulation of 2,500,000 should alone go far to
explain the phenomenon; while the country is so
fast sinking beneath a load of poor-rates, that in
several poorhouses it is found impossible to accom-.
modate the paupers of the district; and those who
find admittance, in many cases perish in such numbers from their miserable maintenance, that they
begin to shun the poorhouse as a sepulchre. In two
houses alone, those of Ennistymon and Kilrush,
there died in the year ending March, 1851, 3,028
paupers, being at the rate of 4 deaths a day in the
one house, and 4L in the other! The state of our
poorhouses, therefore, is no certain criterion of the
state of our pauperism.  Some of our Unions are
insolvent, and many are in debt; while the poor-rate
is so fast hastening the general decay, that a number of the rate-payers of one year are uniformly
found among the paupers of the next. The poorhouses built only 12 years ago, with ample accommodation for the estimated wants of the time, have
in many places been found so inadequate as to have
added to them three and four auxilicary workhouses.
A large portion of the town of Millstreet is at present thus occupied by paupers; yet our poorhouse
accommodation is still so deficient, that we fear the




INCREASING PROSTRATION.            29
foregoing table scarce indicates three fourths of the
existing pauperism of the country.
This prodigious amount of pauperism, embracing
near one sixth of the population, is yet but too easily
accounted for by a glance at the state of the peasantry. While the average wages of the English
laborer is about is. 6d. per day, that of the Irish
laborer is about 6dl.; it occasionally rises to 1 Ocl. and
is.; it is often as low as 3d. and 4d.; and, in the
slack seasons, numbers are content to work for their
food.' We have seen that, for weeks together, they
are unemployed; and in the west particularly the
labor market is so wretched, that you will see them
bringing ass's loads of turf and of chickweed for
several miles into town, and selling them for Ld. or
ld., and a messenger will gladly travel 10 or 12
miles for 6d. Their food is of the poorest description. Before the famine, it consisted chiefly of potatoes, with sometimes milk, often herrings, rarely
meat, and frequently nothing; but since the famine,
it largely consists of Indian meal stirabout, and this
frequently but twice a-day; and most thankful are
some of them  to get even this.  We have known
them to live for weeks on boiled turnips or cabbage;
and by the seaside you will see women daily dispersed
along the strand in quest of mussels or limpets, or
whatever else they can find.  You examine their
dwellings, and as you gaze on those wretched hovels,
with their straw roofs rotten and leaky, their floors
soaked with damp, and the green glut from the thatch




30              ZTIE MTSERIES.
often streaking their walls, you wonder how human
beings can possibly exist in theml! In truth, their
accumulated hardships have, since the famnine, wrought
a melancholy change on this once hardy race.  The
children are now generally wasted and sallow, the
parents have a famished look, disease is much more
frequent, and longevity is daily becoming rarer. There
are very few cabins which have not, within the last
five years, been scenes of sickness or death; and you
have only to enter and inquire for some parent or
child, to be pointed to a wasted patient on a sickbed,
or to the neighboring graveyard.  Hence the number of orphans is now quite remarkable. You will
meet them by scores in the poorhouses and begging
along the roads; and we fear it is this mournful fact
which, in a great measure, accounts for another far
more deplorable-that juvenile prostitution has of
late been increasing.
Nor has the distress of our peasantry failed to
show itself in other affecting forms.  It is indeed
the last symptom of an expiring country and a famished people, when not only is the voice of the
bridegroom and of the bride ceasing to be heard
therein, but even that of the new-born babe. Yet,
since the year 1847, the annual number of marriages
in Ireland is reckoned to have decreased one third,
and the number of births to have proportionally declined; while in many cases the wasted appearance
of both mother and offspring is truly affecting to
behold, and the powers of nature have been so far




INCREASING PROSTRATION.           31
exhausted, that abortions are of frequent occurrence.
It is also asserted, that in some districts lunacy itself is increasing. In a word, life has become with
many a desperate struggle to live. Even our enormous poor-rates, while beggaring the country, have
not yet left our paupers the alternative of a poorhouse or a grave; for deaths from starvation are still
of frequent occurrence.  Nay, even reduced below
the alternative of flying to a foreign land or dying in
their own, it has been proved that several prisoners
committed the crimes they stood charged with, in
order to obtain the privilege of transportation.
We shall now only add the marvellous fact, that
all this decay has been proceeding in an age which,
for general advancement, has been termed the age
of wonders, and that Ireland has been thus fearfully
retrograde in the very swiftest hour of the world's
onward march.  During the same period in which
Britain has been rising to the highest pinnacle of
greatness, Ireland, by her side, and beneath the
same sceptre, has been sinking to this deep degradation: until now, the one is the mistress and the
other the mendicant of the world; the name of the
one is a, glory commanding the respect of the nations, and that of the other a byeword commanding
at best their commiseration.  In the same time in
which America has been transformed from  a wild
forest of Indians into a land of unparalleled prosperity, our people have grown so utterly wretched as
to fly to her backwoods as to an asylum, to accept




35$              THE MISERIES.
of her menial employments as a boon, and after being in many cases masters at home, to be thankful
for the post of hired servants there.  And what
crowns the case is, that not only has this national
consumption bid defiance to every form  of treatment, but it seems rather to have grown worse under
each successive remedy, and now appears likely to
be arrested by nothing but dissolution. Each new
measure has only blasted our hopes-each fresh
loan has but increased our burdens-each remedial
experiment has miserably failed, and often proved a
curse rather than a cure; —until now our social maladies have reached such a height, that unless in some
way arrested by God's gracious providence, in a few
more years our country's funeral dirge must inevitably be heard.
CHAPTER V.
SINGULAR EXCEPTION.
To this general scene of wretchedness we must
notice a partial, yet remarkable exception.  The
province of Ulster has long presented so strange a
contrast to the rest of Ireland, as to have elicited
the surprise even of continental tourists. Though
warnmed by the same sun, and watered by the same
skies, this one province has prospered while the rest
have declined; and you have only to cross the boun



SINGULAR EXCEPTION.            33
dary line which divides them, to find a comparative
desert on the one side and garden on the other.
If you look to Ulster's condition prior to the famoine, you find it has long been the home of comfort
and industry, and the headquarters of our commerce
and manufactures.  Of the 22,591 persons employed
in our factories in 1846, nearly four fifths belonged
to our northern province; the proportions beingUlster, 17,304; Leinster, 3,732; Munster, 1,155;
and in Connaught not a single one.  To give one
example of the relative progress of our northern and
southern towns. In 1786, Belfast was an unimportant place with a wretched harbor, and the revenue
of its port was but ~1,500,000 sterling.  In 1838 it
contained 50 factory steam-engines; in 1841, its
mills for spinning linen yarn alone amounted to 25,
one of the principal employing 800 hands; in 1846,
the Tidal Harbor Commissioners pronounced it " the
first town in Ireland for enterprise and commercial
prosperity;" and in 18.50, its port revenues had increased to ~29,000,000., On the other hand, Kilkenny was an important city when Belfast was a village; it once had several factories, 11 water-wheels,
and such a carpet manufactory that Kidderminster
petitioned for repeal of the Union.  In 1834, Mr.
Inglis saw one man in the principal factory which
once employed 200; and he adds, that of the 11
water-wheels one was going, not for the purpose of
driving the machinery, but to prevent it from rotting  3




34               THE MISERIES.
If you next turn to the period of the famine, those
scenes of horror which were so common in the south
were scarcely known in the north of Ireland; and
many of those who did perish there were natives of
Connaught and Leinster who poured into Ulster in
quest of food. Of ~10,000,000 of relief sent to Ireland at that period by public and private charity,
scarce ~1,000,000 is supposed to have reached Ulster;
while that province actually contributed large sums
for the relief of the south and west, and has ever
since paid the rate-in-aid tax for the same end.
Finally, if you look to its condition since 1847, you
find that those calamities which have prostrated
Munster and Connaught have fallen upon it with but
mitigated severity.  While Ireland has lost one
fifth of its inhabitants, Munster almost one fourth,
and Connaught nearly one third, Ulster has not lost
one-sixth. Its capital, Belfast, which in 1841 contained above 75,000 inhabitants, had risen in 1851
to near 100,000, showing an increase of upwards of
24,000   In fact, the population of Ulster is now
relatively greater than it was before the famineconsisting in 1841 of above one fourth, and in 1851
near one third of Ireland's inhabitants.  Of the
government advances made during the famine, the
entire of the country owes near ~4,500,000: of this
Ulster owes little more than ~500,000, or one eighth
of the debt to near one third of the population. Its
pauperism is not half so great as that of the other
provinces; its proportion of the entire poor-rates of




SINGULAR EXCEPTION.             35
the country being also about an eighth.  In a word,
you find that Ulster, though exposed to every ordinary influence felt by Munster and Connaught, has
scarce known the miseries which have given them
such fearful notoriety. So soon as you enter that
province, the entire aspect of the country changes.
All around assumes that air of social health which is
so easily perceived yet so difficult fully to describe.
You have left behind the region of filthy cabins and
swarming beggars, ruined villages and deserted farms;
and you enter a territory of comparatively rich cultivation, studded with comfortable dwellings and
thrifty towns. And you cannot but feel that, from
whatever cause, Ulster is at least fifty years ahead
of its sister provinces in all the true elements of national progress; and in its general aspect, so much
more resembles Britain than Ireland, that one could
almost fancy some physical convulsion to have severed it from the one island and attached it to the
other.
Such is Ireland's temporal condition.  We now
proceed to that question which has been so frequently
asked and so variously answered —What is the cause
of such fearful wretchedness, particularly of the
marvellous contrast we have traced between one of
our provinces and all the rest?  What makes Ireland a desert and Ulster its only oasis? or how came
the Newry mountains to form the boundary line between the abodes of comfort and the haunts of woe?




3i0             BTHE MISERIES.
On this subject how much has been written, yet
now little seems to be understood! Each successive
writer has found out the " true cause" of our iniseries, and of course the infallible specific: yet these
have been endlessly various and often directly opt
posite.  In truth, to Ireland's other misfortunes this
also has been added, that she has long been the
practice-ground of social and political theorists.
Never was laboratory the scene of more experiments,
nor patient the victim  of blinder quackery.  Until
now the only parallel to her case seemns that of the
woman who spent all her living on physicians,'" and
was nothing the better, but rather grew worse." The
result, of course, has been calamitous.  Not only
has a vast amount of talent and treasure been wasted
on Ireland which, if wisely applied, might ere now,
under God, have achieved her salvation, but not a
little of what was meant as medicinal has proved absolutely poisonous; and, untaught by the experience
of the past, many of our most intelligent philanthropists and statesmen are to this very hour hanging
over our expiring coumtry,-perplexed about the
treatment, because ignorant of the grand disease.
How long and anxiously have we looked for some
one to arise and dispel this ignorance forever!some one who would trace out the cause of Ireland's
miseries with such clearness and candor, as would
leave ignorance nothing to mistake, and bigotry
nothing to say.  No such person having as yet appeared, and our country meanwhile sinking at a




SINGULAR EXC EPTION.            377
rate so fearful; a very humble individual has been
urged to undertake a task which can no longer wait
for an abler pen.  Nothing but the emergency of
the case could have secured his consent.  But what
would be presumption in one class of circumstances
becomes imperative duty in another; and in a crisis
like the present, diffidence should yield to higher
feelings, and the most obscure emerge from  the
shade, if he can but render his country the least
possible service.
We crave, then, the reader's candid perusal of the
following pages, whatever political or religious creed
he may hold.  We would especially bespeak for
them  our countrymen's calm attention.  They are
penned by one who can yield to none in devotion to
his country and distress for her sorrows; who has
spent the best years of his life in seeking her good;
whose heart has often bled for her woes and throbbed for her future enlargement.  HEe entreats them
to lay aside, at least for one brief hour, the spirit
of party; and if not on the high ground of their
comlmon country, at least on that of their coimmon calamities, make this small sacrifice at the
shrine of reason.  Common woes and dangers have
united the deadliest foes.  The most hostile brothers have embraced over a parent's dying bed. And,
oh! shall qwe ever permit the historian to tell, that
even the grave, which entombed so many of our
countrymen, could not bury along with them  our
feuds and dissensions; that these alone were flour



38                THE MISEIIE S,
ishing, when all. else around us decayed; that amid
the throes of our expiring country, we could not
suspend our suicidal strife; and therefore that her
death was at least hastened by her own children's
hands?
* We may observe once for all, that we have
found it impossible, in so small a volume, to notice
the numerous sources from  which our facts and
statistics are derived.  But the reader may rely on
their correctness.




PART II.
ALLEGED CAUSES,
THE alleged causes of Ireland's miseries may all
be classed under the six following heads. Some
have ascribed them  to something in her physical
state; some, to her pOlitiCGal condition; others, to
her social; others still, to her mnoral; while a fifth
class has attributed them to her religious character;
and a sixth has ascribed them, in part, to each of
these. Let us briefly inquire how far each theory
is accordant with truth.
CHAPTER I.
THE PHYSICAL.
THIS branch of our subject divides itself into the
People, and the Land of theidr Birth.  Does the
cause, then, rest with Ir'elandc or the Irish?  Is the
ground cursed with sterility, or the air with pestilence?  Is the climate bleak, or the coast inhospitable?  Is the island a Sahara or a Campagna di




40               ALLEGED CAUSES.
Roma  Or is the now fashionable theory the correct one, that the r'cce is hopelessly dcegenerate and
splent-that, with them,: "lisfortune is another name
for misconcluct"-ancl that the Irishman, wherever
he goes, is pursued by the curse of Cain or Cainaan,
and for similar reasons?
TIE COUNTRY. —Is the cause, or any part of it,
found in the coz12try? The question scarce deserves
an answer. Ireland is as much celebrated for beauty
as misfortune.  Volumes have been written on its
scenery and resources.   Swarms of tourists are
annually lured to its shores. Poetry, often extravagant, speaks but sober truth in styling it the
" Emerald Isle."  And it is the unanimous verdict
of mankind, that in all the requisites of national
greatness, the entire island, but especially its southern province, is perhaps unequalled beneath the
sun.
In truth, here Nature has lavished her stores. If
we turn to the climate, Heaven never blessed a land
with more genial skies. Its temperature rarely falls
below 30~ or rises above 75~; and thus it is preserved alike from the rigors of northern and the
burning heats of southern climes.  Its atmosphere
is peculiarly free from disease, and altogether so
pure, that till reduced by late hardships, its people
were proverbially healthy; and so mild are the winter months of the south particularly, that the invalid
takes shelter in its coves from the less kindly airs




THE PHYSICAL.                 41
of Scotland and Ulster.  If you look to the soil, it
is proverbially fertile.  Its fields wave with the
finest harvests.  Its very mountains are verdure to
their summits.  Notwithstanding its vast tracts of
waste land, and the wretched cultivation of much
that is reclaimed, Ireland exports twice as much
provisions as it retains for its own population.  The
mere trade in its agricultural produce employs a
fleet of steamers most part of the year; and you can
scarce sit down to a table in Great Britain on which
you will not find the produce of its soil.
Nor is it less bountifully provided with other
elements of wealth.  It is intersected by the finest
rivers.  Its bowels teem with the richest minerals.
Its coasts swarm with shoals of fish.  It contains
some of the best harbors in the world; and such are
its engineering facilities, that there is scarcely a
tunnel in all its railways. While, as to still higher
commercial advantages, it stands out on the world's
highway —the Atlantic-with the fleets of nations
daily passing by; and between the old world and
the new, as though designed to be their link of communication, and enjoy the blessings of both.  In a
word, on this wretched country the God of Nature
has showered his bounties so profusely, that one can
scarce help thinking it was designed to be a garden
of plenty instead of a land of paupers.  You would
say, that if on earth there was a spot which He had
graciously exempted from  the full effects of the
curse on' man's first disobedience," it was this; and




42              ALLEGED CAUSES.
that nothing but some na/lignacZnt agency could possibly have hindered it from becoming the model and
envy of the nations, instead of being their prostrate
suppliant.
Therefore, the country's physical condition, so far
from accounting in the slightest for her miseries,
makes them, in truth, more unaccountable. And
the contrast between Ulster and Munster, as well
as between Britain and Ireland, instead of being
thus explained, becomes more perplexing than ever.
Plants which even in England require a hot-house,
flourish in Ireland in the open air; whilst Scotland
is largely indebted to her even for poultry and vegetables. And as to other advantages, Nature has
given to the south of Ireland the finest river in the
three kingdoms —the Shannon; and the most magnificent harbor-Queenstown.  Who would compare
to the former the Bann, or even the Clyde, or to
the latter the slimy port of Belfast, or the sandy
entrance to Liverpool?  Whatever "English jealousy" may be thought to have denied us, it has ever
conceded that Ireland is naturally the finest of the
British isles; and we shall only add, that Munster
is confessedly the richest portion of the island. The
farther you travel south, both clime and soil become
more kindly. The snow-storms which visit Ulster,
are scarce ever seen in Munster; and the "trap"
hills of Antrim can ill be compared to the " golden
vales" of Tipperary; while the same universal award
which has conferred on Ireland the title of the




THE PHYSICAL,               43
6' Green Isle," and on Munster that of 1" the sunny
south," has pronounced Ulster the "black north,"
and Scotland the " barren rock."'
THE RACE. -Is the cause found in the natural character of the people? Is the Irishman more sparingly
furnished than the Englishman, or the southern than
his northern brother, with those qualities of mind
and heart which form the elements of a noble race?
Such is the favorite theory of some. Because our
poor countryman has yielded to influences suffcient
to degrade the finest race, degradation has been all
but pronounced his normal state.  Because he has
not been more than human, he has almost been considered less.  His worst misfortune has been thus
converted into a fault, and he has been exposed to
general scorn for the very thing which composed his
strongest claim to general sympathy.  The reproach
which should have been heaped on the authors of his
shame has been lavished on their injured victim,
until now his very name is a byeword; you will hear
even the expression in Christian circles, " a blessed
land but a cursed people;" and the words of one of
our finest sacred melodies have been uncharitably
applied to him"Where every prospect pleases,
And only man is vile."
The doctrine just amounts to this-that the blood
of the Saxon is naturally purer than that of the




44              ALLEGED CAUSES.
Celt; and its advocates consider it at once the most
just and charitable explanation of Ireland's wretchedness, that the Irish, as such, have somle hereditary
blemish, which we may pity but can scarce hope to
cure.  The shortest refutation of this doctrine would
be to trace the distribution of the two great families
of which the Celt and the Saxon are themselves but
branches-to appeal, for example, to Celtic France,
the second nation in Europe; to show how much
England herself owes to the arms and arts of the
Celtic Normans; and to prove, besides, the utter
impossibility of knowing, at this time of day, what
blood is Saxon and what is Celtic, in a race so mixed
as the British.
But we are content to meet our theorists on their
own ground; and, assuming that the Irish are Celts,
and the English Saxons, we shall demonstrate the
falseness of their hypothesis. If they mean no more
than that the Irish as a nation have long been exposed
to influences which are found in the course of ages
to degrade a people, this is not to explain the mystery of Ireland's woes, but only to remove it a little
further off; in truth, it is virtually to give up their
theory, for this position none will deny; and the
true question then is-What are these degrading influences? But if they mean that there is in Irish
blood a deeper natural taint than what we all inherit
from our first progenitors, we pronounce the theory
false and absurd.  The blue-eyed Saxon and the
black-eyed Celt are children of the same common




THE PIIHYSICAL.              45
parent; and the corruption which has flowed from
that original fountain, has been shared alike by all
its streanms.  The history of every race has proved
that none is nzaturcally worse than another, but that
each in its turn has risen and sunk according to the
influences to which it has been exposed; andl to
charge the evils of Ireland on the Celt as a race,
proves not the guilt of the accused, but the ignorance
of the accuser.'In the middle ages, when Saxon
lands were sh:oudced in darkness, Ireland, then most
purely Celtic, was the seat of learning for Europe;
it is now when the least Celtic that she has grown
most wretchel; and this shifting on the social scale
would itself demonstrate, that her children's degradation springs not from anything wvithin them, but
somethingig foom wzithott.  Again, the midland counties of Munster and Connaught contain a mixed
race of Saxon, Norman, and Danish blood: while
the pure aboriginal Celt is chiefly found in their
western regions,-yet the fact is notorious, that it is
these midland counties which are the chief scenes of
blood, and those western regions which have the best
excuse for poverty. Morever, on the Highlands of
Scotland and the mountains of Wales, we find two
other branches of the Celtic family; and who hears
of their hills being drenched with the blood of murder? Where can you find over all their wide moors
assassin-clubs nightly plotting  crime, or ruffians
swearing away innocent life for hire; or that general
cronspiracy against law and justice, which has filled




46              ALLEGED CAUSES.
Ireland with police and military?  No  the British
Celts are as proverbial for peace as is their Irish
brother for disturbance.  The most orderly sailor
wlio enters our ports is the Welshman, and our
Queen yearly seeks the Scottish Highlands as the
most quiet retreat in her kingdom.
You say that these British Celts are at least like
the Irish, poor and indolent?  We ask how mountaineers can well be otherwise. Is it on the stormy
side of Snowdon or the Grampians yoki would look
for wealth or bustling enterprise?-or is it stc/b
dreary moorlands you would compare with one of
the finest islands of the sea? Why, it seems almost
as necessary that the British Celts should be poor
and slothful, as that the Irish should be wealthy and
diligent; yet they have not a tithe of the sloth and
poverty we find in Ireland.  The traveller can testify how  cultivation is creeping up their bleakest
mountains, while with us the process is reversed, and
the wilderness is creeping down upon our finest vales.
And though in 1847 the potato failed with them as
with u s, yet who heard of their hills covered with the
dead and dying-of millions granted them from the
treasury-of months spent with their case in parliaiment-or swarms of their beggars disturbing the
world?
How, then, can face explain the difficulty, when
we find such difference in tribes of the same race?
Yes; and strangest of all, in the same tribes at different periods.  Time was when Wales and the




THE PI-MIIGAL.               47 1
Highllands were the very home of blood and desolatioch.  The Welsh mountains have witnessed tragedies which still form the theme of many a thrilling
story; and those Scottish glens through which our
Sovereign wanders unattended by a soldier, once
rung with the clansmen's wildest yells. Now, surely
any natural degeneracy of the race would exhibit
much the same features at the same time in all its
tribes; yet here we have two emerging from barbarismn to civilization in spite of vast disadvantages;
and the third, from having once been the light of
Europe, fast sinking into ruin, despite all that can
be done to save it.
So much for this groundless assertion. We now
go farther, and boldly assert that the Irish, so
far from being naturally degraded, possess qualities
so admirable, that nothing but the foulest mismanagement could have hindered them  from becoming
one of the finest nations on the earth; and we feel
the more at liberty to speak on this point, as none
but an Irishman can truly comprehend the odd construction of the Irish mind.  To most men it is a
puzzle-and to the British a national contrast: They
see before them a strange,medley of faults and virtues, of blunders and cleverness, of the conmic and
the tragic; and'they are bewildered amidst the
ndolks and corners of a mind so singular. Hence they
are unable to discern between his natural qualities
and his actual condition-between what he is and
what he might be made; and because they see him




48              ALLEGED CAUSES.
begging and stealing, and robbing and murdering,
they put him down as all but hopeless.  Alas! they
forget that in truth he has been " more sinned against
than sinning," and have confounded the man with
the malignant influences with which he is beset.
If you look even to his body-where will you find
a hardier?-able on dry potatoes to work down the
English laborer on his flesh meat and ale; and one
cannot see his miserable diet without wondering
how nature can manufacture such bone and sinew
out of food so wretchedl! Yes, and within that
robust frame dwells a spirit whose buoyant vivacity
years of sorrow have not destroyed-of which his
fun and frolics are but the irregular escapes, and
which one cannot but think was mercifully given
him to support him under woes which must have
crushed a more gloomy and contemplative spirit.
Tf you look to his mind, lie is at least as much
celebrated for intelligence and wit, as for wildness
and rags.  Expressions to him the most commonplace, you hear detailed as gems by the delighted
tourist; nor can we think their simile very much
exaggerated who have compared his mind to the
nfragments of the diamond sparkling in the brilHliancy of unpolished lustre. And even as to those
more substantial qualities for which he usually gets
less credit, where has he ever been carefully trained
that he has not rewarded the cultivation? Shall
we appeal to the revolution wrought by Lord
George Hill in one of the most barbarous of our




THE PHYSICAL.                49
mountain regions?2  or speak of the Connaught
children who come to our industrial schools absolutely wild-needle and thimble being to them perfect nmystery-and who in a few months become
new beings, and execute work so fine and delicate
as to have won a high place at the Great Exhibition.  While as to more lofty pursuits of mind,
though our country cannot boast many stars in the
firmament of knowledge, she has at least shown
what her sons could do were their advantages equal
to those of others; and has given to philosophy, a
Boyle-to literature, a Goldsmith —to eloquence, a
Grattan, and to poetry, a lIoore-to the senate, the immortal Burke, and to the field, the Hero of Waterloo.
Finally, if you look to our countrymen's heart,
what fine traits of character you will often see
bursting forth through all his degradation! Within his rude bosom -lies the germ of many a noble
quality which, if duly ripened, would make him a
fine speciien of human nature.  Hospitable to a
proverb-generous to a fault-grateful, confiding,
warm-hearted, and enjoying a world-wide renown for
that reckless valor which seems scarce conscious of
danger!  Of this the peninsular war furnished
scores of romantic instances; and the truth of
O'Connell's doggerel none can dispute" On the field of Waterloo.
I)uke Wellington would have looked blue,
If Paddy hadn't been there too."
* " Facts from Gweedore," by Lord George Hill.
4




50!,L EloUA.LL| U, D CAYU i /l'.
We have noticed those heart-rending proofs of
passionate tenderness which are daily furnished by
our departing emigrants; and if any one is disposed
in cruel coldness to hint that such affectionate grief
is too strong to last, we appeal to the letters and
remittances they are continually sending home, not
to their parents and friends only, but often to their
neighbors, to enable them  also to emigrate.  It appears from official papers that near ~2,000,000 sterling have in the last three years been remitted from
North America by these poor people.  And a return
lately made by the Post-office shows, that one third
of all the letters coming weekly from America are
destined for Ireland.  Follow those letters to their
destination!  Imagine the sensation produced in
each humble abode when the anxiously-expected
epistle from some absent child arrives! The village neighbors flock in to hear it read; and as some
one more learned than the rest reads aloud, mark the
tears, not only of the old couple, for that is nothing,
but of many a kind-hearted neighbor! It, is full of
inquiries after old acquaintances, and tender allusions to by-gone scenes, which, despite their occasional tinge of the ludicrous, do vast credit to the
best feelings of our nature.  In a word, the character of the Irish is so richly dramatic, as to have
given rise to a distinct class of writers, such as
Edgeworth, Lover, and Carleton.  The bleak winds
which beat on their half-naked forms may make
their bodies more callous, but they leave their feel



THE PHYSICAL.               51
ings as tender as ever; and those sensibilities which
misfortune sometimes blunts in others, it often makes
morbidly acute in them.
Still we own they have many faults; we only assert, and engage to prove, that these are the off
spring of the unhappy circumstances in which they
are placed; while we contend that many of them
confirm the position we are establishing, and are the
faults of a fine mind which has been poisoned or
neglected.  How many of our countrymen owe their
present poverty to the very excess of their hospitality?  How many, their turbulence, to that unsuspecting confidence in their advisers, which marks a
generous mind?  How many of their worst quarrels,
to that warmth of temper which usually accompanies
warmth of heart? And if, as is too justly alleged
against our countrymen, there is as much mercury
in his heels as there is wit in his head; if he is as
fond of handling the shillelagh as the spade; it is
owing much to that impulsive ardor of character
which is as useful when well trained, as it is mischievous when ill directed.  Nor should we omit to
mention, that, being a sort of living hyperbole, he
has in very many respects earned a reputation much
worse than he deserves.  When he is drunk, he
makes the whole town know it; when provoked, he
bawls and gesticulates as though he were frantic,
and perhaps makes free with his neighbor's head;
yet we who know him well assert, that in all this
" pother" there is not so much real, and far less en



52              ALLEGED CAUSES.
during wrath, than is often betrayed in another man's
scowl.
Here, then, we find the elements of a noble race
-a mind and heart of a structure as fine as it is,
singular, resembling a complicated but delicate musical instrument which is easily destroyed by a
clumsy hand, but gives forth the finest tones when
swept by a skilful performer.  We have here a character peculiarly capable of great good or great evil
-of the loftiest elevation or the lowest degradation
-which, like their own rich soil, can produce nothing
in common measure, but exhibits equal rankness in
the weeds that infest it, and richness in the flowers
that adorn it-a character, in short, which can be
turned to the best or the worst account, and has
been justly compared to fire, which when uncontrolled is the most destructive of elements, but skilfully managed, is the most useful, serving alike to
propel the engine and kindle the incense of the
altar 
And thus we demonstrate that Ireland's miseries
can no more be traced to the race than to the country; that, on the contrary, the natural superiority
of both proves that not only must the cause be
sought in some other quarter, but that it must truly
be one of dreadful malignity to have desolated so
fair a land, and degraded so fine a people.




TIHE POLITICAL.             53
CHAPTER  II.
TIHE POLITICAL.
WE now approach a subject which contains perhaps the most popular solution of Ireland's wretchedness-the very eugreka of multitudes.
For many years we have had two sets of rulers,
the one in St. Stephen's, and the other in Corn Exchange; and we have had each charging the other
with our country's woes, in terms generally more
forcible than courteous.  The grand text of the one
has been-"- the curse of British misrule;" and a
favorite theme with the other —" the pest of Irish
agitation."  And if what the one party rings in our
ears be true, the wrongs of Hungary are but trifles
to ours; while if we are to listen to the other, such
swarms of demagogues must needs destroy the finest
land.  Let us judge for a moment between parties
so fierce, and statements so conflicting.
THE AGITATOR. —It is true, Ireland has for ages
been the hotbed of agitation.  Inhabited since the
days of Elizabeth by two distinct races, having little
in comlmon but the soil they tilled, regarding each
other as aliens in blood and religion, and their feelings embittered by their relation as conquerors and
conquered-the result has been, that party strife
which has so long afflicted Ireland, and those swarms




54              ALLEGED CAUSES.
of agitators that have so long infested it.  Hence it
has been almost as much the scene of political conflict, as though this were the necessary condition of
its being —a something which floated in the atmosphere and grew on the soil.
But what if it is those who denounce this agitation who are themselves in part to blame for its ez-,
istence?  Some real and more imaginary grievances
are the agitator's stock in trade; and Britain has in
times past furnished so much of the former, as has
made him but too successful in palming off the latter.
Nay, even her mode of redressing grievances has
sometimes served his trade almost as much as her
obstinate continuance of them.  Wise and timely
concession is death to the agitator; but her concessions have often been so tardy, and made with so bad
a grace, as rather to have increased his power. She
has too often led the Irish to think that she has
granted them more from motives of fear than from a
sense of justice.  And when the agitator thus discovered that little could be got without clamoring —
when he saw, or thought he saw, that turbulence
fared better than loyalty, that the quiet petitioner
was shoved aside, while the noisy blusterer obtained
a ready hearing —no wonder that he pushed his trade
and found it to flourish.
We must add our conviction that the evils of agitation are much overrated.  It is error, not truth,
which suffers most by it in the end.  Even the
worst form of it can only thrive on popular ignorance;




THE POLITICAL.               55
yet it tends of necessity to dispel the ignorance on
which it thrives, and thus it sooner or later perishes
by its own hand.  We appeal to the career of the
great Irish demagogue.  Not only did he do much
to emancipate the Irish mind, and, by inspiring the
people with a love of civil liberty, awaken of necessity some longing for its twin sister, religious freedom; but it was his own teaching which mainly
enabled them, at length, to see through his schemes,
provoked that revolt which cost him his life, destroyed Irish agitation as a trade, and sent him down to
the grave so little regretted, that you will now seldom hear pronounced, even by those who once worshipped him, the name of that prince of agitators,
who, from the rock of Darrynane, once governed the
empire. Irish agitation has thus committed suicide.
O'Connell is no more: and where is now his vast
train of followers? Young Ireland, that killed him,
is also gone, having perished ignobly in a cabbage
garden. Conciliation Hall is closed; Tara's Hill is
now as silent as Tara's Halls. Even the priests,
once omnipotent, already know that their new' Defence" agitation is doomed to be a failure.  Our
quick-sighted countrymen  have learned wisdom.
They have discovered their " Liberators" to be
greater tyrants than those from whom they proposed
to free them; so they are bent on emigration, not on
agitation; their thoughts are in the land of the
West.
Finally, agitation is sometimes a positive duty.




56              ALLEGED CAUSES.
Constitutional agitation is the Briton's privilege,
and, where grievances exist, the country's blessing;
and if, in designing hands, it has been the parent of
rebellion, it has, in upright hands, been the parent
of progress.  To it we are indebted for every political boon we have ever gained, from the triumph of
Runnymede to our latest reforms.  Our glorious
Constitution itself is its child. And if Irish agitation is an evil, it has sometimes, we fear, been a
necessary one.  If at this moment, for instance, we
see agitation rise in Ulster —a province as proverbial
for peace as is the rest of Ireland for turbulence,if we see amongst its foremost leaders, not the desperate adventurer who has been schooled in the
club-room, but the quiet farmer who follows his
team-if we see this man doing violence to all his
tastes and habits, passing at once from the plough
to the platform, and there reciting his tale of sufferings with an artlessness that proves its truth, and a
feeling which proclaims their intenseness-above all,
if we see him countenanced by those gospel ministers
to whose labors it is owing that Ulster is the Goshen
of Ireland, and amongst whose flocks those who
denounce them  as "reverend agitators" can alone
sleep safely on their pillow-then must we own that
there is surely some good cause for a phenomenon
so singular; and we must charge the attendant evils
of such agitation, not on those who seek redress, but
on those who efutse it.  If their story is false, it is
easy to convict them of falsehood; but if true, it is




THE POLITICAL.               57
the foulest wrong to call them  incendiaries-the
cruelest mockery to bid them  be still-the vilest
hypocrisy to denounce their strong language without
breathing a whisper against the oppression which
provokes it-and the basest insult to the gospel to
ask its ministers to make it the despot's tool by
preaching silent submission while the fruits of their
pastoral toils are being blasted, the only fair province in Ireland is being desolated, and those who
are the very salt of our country are being driven to
other climes.
Having said this much on the general subject of
agitation, we still most freely admit that it must
have greatly injured the country; but to say that it
has ruined it, is absurd. Agitation may produce
national discontent, but where has it ever caused national dissolution?  Besides it is those western regions which have been the least agitated that are the
most distressed, and those midland districts which
have suffered least, that have been the chief scenes
of excitement; while it is well known, that years
ago, when political agitation was at its height, the
country was comparatively prosperous, and it is when
its fires are almost extinguished that we have reached
the lowest depths of misery.
Besides, agitation itself is not a primary evil, but
owes its existence to other evils.  It either springs
from real grievances —and then not the agitator but
the legislature is chargeable with its evils-or from
imaginary grievances, and then they must be charged




58              ALLEGED CAUSES.
on the guilt of the demagogue or the ignorance of
his dupes-causes which are moral, not political.
With wise and just rulers there can be few grievances, and therefore little righteous agitation: with
an enlightened and virtuous people there canl be few
dupes or deceivers, and hence little unrighteous agitation.  Therefore, granting it, as we do most freely,
to be one cause of our miseries, it is but a derivative one, and must itself be traced to some higher
cause.
THE LEGISLATURE. —IS our country's blood, then,
on the hands of our rulers? Surely there must be
good ground for the everlasting cry of " Sassenach
oppression," which even our village children have
learned to repeat.  It can scarce be possible that
the favorite theme of the Irish agitator, and the
most fruitful source of Irish discontent, should prove,
when examined, " like the baseless fabric of a vision."
Let us see. The "curse"' alleged must be found
either in the constitution or the mode in which it is
administered.
Is it the constitution you object to. Then would
you have republicanism?  So have France and Mexico; and there you have edifying specimens of liberty! Or absolute monarchy? So have Russia and
Austria; and Africa contains not baser slavery than
is imposed on those countries by the " beardless
Nero," and the "northern bear."  Or an ecclesiastical government? So has Rome; and if you wish a




THE POLITICAL.               59
sample of a government at once diabolical and dastardly, committing the vilest crimes in the name of
Jesus, read Nicolini's late History of the Pontificate
of Pio Nono.  Or a mixed government, combining,
as far as possible, the benefits of the others without
their evils?  Why, this is what you are blessed with,
if you only knew your blessings. Defects it has,
like everything human; but these deserve not to be
named in comparison to its perfections. It is the
glory of England, the envy of Europe, the admiration of the world; and had. Britain done no more for
Ireland than to displace her barbarous Brechon laws
with such a glorious code, that was a boon which
deserved her eternal gratitude!
Is it, then, that Ireland is defrauded of the blessings of this constitution, and is the victim of unjust
laws?  Doubtless, in the best statute book, there is
room for improvement, and, as we have hinted, we
could suggest amendments in our own. But what
true British subject can look this instant over Europe, and not feel thankful for his own immunities?
While our countrymen have been roused to madness
by the demagogue's artful tale of British wrongs,
how carefully has he withheld the far longer list of
British benefits?  Grant that, in former days, England did not thoroughly act out the principles of liberty, civil and religious;-this was owing to the darkness from which the world was then but emerging;
and the blame rests not with her, but the authors of
t/zis darkness.  Grant that she imposed disabilities




60               ALLEGED CA-iSES.
on the Roman Catholics;-if such acts of iniquity
as the gunpowder plot convinced her that they could
not be trusted with power, who but themselves were
to blame for the loss of it?  Or, granting that there
once was ground for the charge of British misrule,
on what do you rest your accusation now?  Are we
insufficiently represented in Parliament?  We have
105 members, while Scotland has only 53.  Is the
suffrage too limited?  For a long time, it embraced
even 40s. freeholders, and, as is now universally admitted, this proved not a blessing but a curse, and
led to that subdivision of land which has so greatly
enhanced our calamities.
Is it, then, the legislative union which has wrought
our country's ruin? Such has been the language of
a thousand meetings, and the hottest bolts of "patriot" indignation have been launched against the
very name of " that traitor, Castlereagh;" while
repeal has been proclaimed the measure which would
usher in the millennium of Ireland.  Well, union is
usually strength, not weakness.  Scotland has felt
the full force of the proverb since her parliament
was transferred from  Holyrood to Westminster;
and how can the same measure prove Scotland's
prosperity and Ireland's destruction?  Besides, other
stubborn facts interfere most rudely with our patriots' assertions; for it appears from  the records of
the Irish House of Commons, that trade had so
grievously declined before the union:, that College
Green was beset with complaints on the subject;




THE POLITICAL.               61
while, according to returns from time to time ordered
by the Imperial Parliament, our imports and exports
have, since the union, greatly increased. Now if, as
we are told, the southern provinces have declined
since the union, of course this increase must have
been chiefly confined to Ulster; and then comes the
problem, how the union can be such a blessing to one
province, and such a curse to the rest, especially
when, instead of being the most favored by government, Ulster has been notoriously the most neglected
of the four? In truth, a parliament in which so few
were found proof against the " bribes" of Castlereagh,
was, at best, but a doubtful blessing; nor, were all
the ancient glories of College Green to be restored,
could we expect an assembly of much purer patriots,
if we are to judge by the specimens that often grace
our hustings, and offer our country their senatorial
services.
Again, we are told of the heartless treatment which
Ireland receives at the hands of Britain.  Nay, so
far have base men reckoned on our people's ignorance,
that they have assured them no country groans beneath such a load of taxation! Why, the taxes of
Great Britain are, at least, thrice as numerous, comprising a long list, unknown in Ireland, of taxes on
carriages, gigs, horses, dogs, servants, coachmen, heraldry, income, plate, &c.; and our only heavy imposts
are our poor-rates, county-cess, and tithe-rent charge,
all of which are expended among ourselves, and the
severity of two of which is owing to our own poverty




62               ALLEGED CAUSES.
and crime.  And as to oppr essive 1 v-s,,w we as-k e
what page of our statute book are th1y containet?
Or h wlere, alas! can you find ammongst us those features of down-trodden greatness which oppression
never fails to bring out iand w hch have made the
Pole and Huinngarian the adc;iration o- the world?
is it such wretches as thiong  our jtils, who constitute the victims of British oppression?-or such
deeds as larceny and felony that compose our claims
to the sympathy of nations 2  itisrule! such was
the impression the attempted rebellion of 1848 made
even on its own leaders, that they were heard to
confess that their countrymen "c did not deserve to
be free."
The truth is, Ireland has been the object of the
most pains-takins-taing legislation  and whatever have
been the sins of our rulers, it would be downright
wrong to deny this.  3{ore time is each session
spent on Irish affairs, than on all our colonial affairs
together; and more of the public treasure has been
lavished on Ireland than any other portion of the
empire.  Since 1800, 33 Committees of Parliament,
and 21 Government Commissions have been appointed to inquire into the causes of our miseries: and the
best means of their removal; and during the salme
period we have received ~26,000,000 sterling in mere
grants and advances.~ ~t1,000,000 has been given
to construct harbors for our commerce; ~8,500,000
to encourage our manufactures; ~8,000,000 to save
* Thom's Statistics, passim.




THE POLITICAL.               63
our people from  the grave of famine; while our
canals, railways, agriculture, and fisheries have all
been nursed at the public expense. Nay, even our
charitable institutions are largely supported by parliamentary grants.*  Yet, while not a tithe of this
kindness has been shown either to Ulster or Scotland, the southern demagogue has for years harped
upon British neglect.
WThere, then, can you find such political grievances as can at all account for our miseries; or how
explain that our least favored province is the most
prosperous, and its people the most loyal, though at
least as able to detect, and ready to resist oppression
as any of their countrymen?  Does it not demonstrate how little our disease is connected with politics at all, that we have for years been growing
worse, while our legislation has confessedly been
growing better; until now, the country is at the
point of dissolution, when according to our political
empirics she should at least have been convalescent?
Alas if legislation could have blessed us, we should
now have been the happiest of nations, for on no
country's behalf have more statutes been framedand our people are at length beginning to perceive
this.  They have seen how their " patriots" have all
been strangely hushed in the hour of our deepest
distress, when, if British misrule is its cause, their
voice should have been louder than ever. And they
are beginning to see that other motives may influence
* Thom's Statistics, 1852, p. 251.




64              ALLEGED CAUSES.
an agitator besides those of pure-minded patriotism;
that, after all, parliament can do little for a country
if it will do nothing for itself; and that in order to
prosperity, Ireland needs something far different
from what agitation can extort, or legislation concede.  Hence they are beginning to suspect that
the grand cause of their evils is something in themselves rather than in the laws-something which
follows the Irishman beyond his native shores, and
makes him the same wretched being in every town
in Britain; beyond the United Kingdom, and makes
him the same byeword by the lakes of Canada, and
on the plains of Australia; aye, beyond the " curse
of British misrule" altogether, and makes the southern the chief inmate of American jails, while many
a northern has reached the first rank amongst her
citizens!
CHiAPTER III.
THE SOCIAL.
TIius, the mystery of Ireland's woes seems but to
deepen as we proceed. We have sought its solution
in her physical state, but it is not there. We have
examined her political state, neither is it there. Perhaps we shall be more successful in our present department of inquiry.
We cannot give the reader a better key to Ire



THE SOCIAL.                 65
land's social state, than to say that the clouds of
feudalism  still linger on her hills.  Why they so
linger after having gone lup so generally off the face
of Britain, shall hereafter be considered; it is enough
now to state the fact.  You not only see it in the
extreme paucity of a middle class, that index of a
country's progress; but you can still trace the old
division into barons and serfs only too distinctly in
the modern one of gentry and peasantry; and you
have, of course in a milder form, the same haughty
assumption in the one class, and the same servile
submission in the other.  This remark will prepare
the reader for the following brief glance at Ireland's
social state, under the simple classification of habits
and pursuits.
HABITs.-There is little which more distinguishes
the upper classes of Ireland from those of Britain
than extravagant habits, combined with foolish notions of rank and style. Inquire into the history of
those decayed families which now fill the land, and
you will find, that with many honorable exceptions,
doubtless, they have for generations lived in a manner unsuited to their station, and incompatible with
their means.  Even so late as 60 years ago, high
life in Ireland was little else than a round of fashionable dissipation; and the wildest escapades to be
found in the works of Barrington and Lever, were,
if not literally, at least in substance perpetrated. A
host considered it discreditable if any of his guests
5




66              ALLEGED CAUSES.
were allowed to leave his table without needing
help; and so deliberately did the guests themselves
prepare for their fate, that they often wound up
their watches before sitting down to dinner! As
for fighting, Sir Lucius O'Trigger was the commonest character.   No gentleman travelled without
duelling pistols. Hiis "marking irons," as they
were called, were as indispensable an article as his
razors; and doubtless sufficient ground was given
for the squib which represented the morning orders
at an hotel sometimes to be, "1 Pistols for two, and
breakfast for onze!" What, then, shall we say of
other vices? It was the frequent boast of not a few
of these gentlemzen, how many females they had destroyed; and such moral nuisances were many of
them, that absenteeism itself became a blessing, and
the most important service they ever rendered their
country was to die.
Alas! these habits have not all died with them.
The improved tone of society at large forbids, of
course, the same reckless wildness; but so far at
least, as extravagant style is concerned, too many of
our present gentry walk in the ways of their fathers.
With many highly honorable exceptions, the same
passion for display which has already beggared them,
continues, though the means of indulging it has failed.  Numbers are at this moment living at the expense of others, when no longer able to live at their
own. And to judge by their conduct, one would
think that they considered it the deepest dishonor




THE SOCIAL.                67
for a gentleman to stoop to any kind of industry;
more disgraceful to be a shopkeeper, than to be hopelessly indebted to one; and scarce so humiliating to
borrow one's bread, as to earn it in some honest calling; while nothing is to them more incomprehensible
than that English members of parliament should
sometimes be proprietors of a warehouse!
Habits travel downwards; and those of the upper
ranks have been aped by our scanty middle class.
Men often retire firom business and set up as " gentlemen,' with less means than Englishmen generally
commence on; and you will meet dozens in every
southern town, driving about in total idleness, on'" fortunes" which English farmers would scarce deem a
competency. The same passion for style marks their
very nomenclature; —a small trader is a merchant,
and a shop a store; a plain cottage is a villa, and a
common street a mall.  Nor is it less observable
in their domestic arrangements. Convenience usually
yields to show; —if the drawing-room is well kept, it
is not so much matter about the kitchen; and the
back premises often sadly contrast with the lawn.
The young gentlemen's ambition is to have a dog or
a horse. The young ladies sit in the drawing-room
and play the piano; and if one drop of blood of any
ancient family can be traced in their veins, then, no
matter how penniless they may be, the thriving " upstart" who aspires to their hand often meets a response more prompt than agreeable.
What, then, shall we say of our peasantry?  You




ALLEGED CAUSES.
need only enter one of those innumerable cabins
which disfigure the face of our country, to get a
glimpse of their condition. You enter and find sometimes two, but oftener one apartment; and there the
pig and the family dwell harmoniously together.
You look around and find a group of half-naked
urchins, whose legs are encrusted with mire.  You
ask for the poor man's wardrobe-it is all on his
back; and a sad specimen it usually is of " looped
and windowed raggedness."  You cannot help wondering how, when once out of his clothes, he can ever
get into them again, or perhaps your wonder rather
is how this can be a difficulty, there being so many
entrances.,Finally, you ask his history, and find
that, from whatever cause, his entire class has for
ages stood still on the borders of civilization; and
that whole districts continue in a state of primitive
barbarism, not much exceeded by the American Indians.  You traverse, for instance, the entire west
coast, from Donegal to Cork, an extent of 300 miles,
and stretching the whole length of Ireland; and can
scarce discover one sign of that upward tendency
which distinguishes the man fromn the beast; but
the same unchanging style of hut and habits continues through generations, as though their only
guide really were the instinct of the lower creation.
PursuIrTs.-We have seen the sickly state of our
husbandry, commerce, and manufacture, despite the
rarest facilities-that perhaps in no country has na



THE SOCIAL.                 69
ture done more, and art done less.  Alas! every effect has its adequate cause.  Let any one brought
up in an English town, accustomed to its matchless
habit of business, and the clock-work regularity of
its establishments, pay a visit to any of our southern
towns, and in what a different atmosphere he instantly
finds himself! tIow forcibly he is struck with the
air of idleness that pervades its streets; he is not
less struck with the unbusiness-like appearance, and
often positive slovenliness of its shops and offices.
And. save where some Scotch house has chased it
away, he finds much the same style of business, with
all its attributes-its high prices, and second prices,
and indifferent assortments-which prevailed in those
"good old times," when the affairs of life jogged
quietly on; when the goddess of pleasure shared the
throne with the god of riches; and when the evening
was the best part of the day. Nor let him be surprised to see the proprietor taking his drive during
business hours, or hear of his going a-sporting once
a-week or so. Least of all, let him wonder when he
examines his ledgers, to find them fall short of his
English notions of accuracy.  And to all this let
him add such a moral tone in society, that it is
nothing rare for a clerk to abscond, or an employer
more than once to fail, or even plain cheating itself
to occur-and then let him say if our commercial
decline is any great mystery.
Should any one pronounce this picture overdrawn,
we assert that it is rather the reverse.  Is it not no



70               ALLEGED CAUSES.
torious, that all over the south and west-(for we
speak not of Ulster; its social state, we shall presently see, is as different from1 the rest of Irelandc as
its temiporal)-our best houses, in most departments
of trade, are Scotch and English; that, even now,
they are flourishing when our own countrymen in the
same business are melting away; and that it is to
them we are mainly indebted for the little comnmercial character we possess 2  It is they who have
compelled our own people to adopt their improved
mode of business, and created a trade where none
previously existed.  To them  we are largely indebted for a fish and pork trade; and there was not
in the entire pasture county of Kerry a single butter market, till one was, some years ago, established
by a Scotchman! Even our Irish employers themselves find it often necessary to employ Scotch or
English servants. Are not our railways generally
constructed, our fisheries conducted, our banks ofilcered, nay, even our posts of gardener and landstewardl, filled by strangers?  Was there ever such
folly as to blame all this on England, as some are
so fond of doing.?  The tides of business obey the
same laws with those of the ocean; ancd if we ourselves were what we ought to be, the whole power
of England could not produce this state of things.
Nothing, in fact, can make inferior articles long keep
the market against superior ones.  Natural laws are
too strong for artificial restrictions; and if there is
any conspiracy against us, it is not an English, but




THE SOCIAL.                  71
a world-wide conspiracy.  The Dutchman undersells
us in the London markets; the American undersells
us in our own.  Our hottest repealers themselves
traverse England for goods which they might often
get at home; and too well they know  why —thiat,
however humbling the truth, poor Ireland has dropped far behind in the world's colnmmercial march.
But the chief interest in Ireland, is the,agicuzltc.ral; yet, though no people are more dependent
on the farmn with none is the style of farming worse.
No man seems to trust mnore to the mere vis zatct'ce
than our peasant farmner.   Subsoil ploughing he
scarce ever heard of, and draining was rare until the
late drainage bill was passed —he usually leaves the
water to go as it came.  His ploughing is bad, his
fencing worse, and his spade, called a loy, seems as
if made on purpose to disturb the ground as little as
possible.  His crop is usually left to struggle on as
best it can against an army of weeds; and as if it
were sacrilege so far to interfere with Nature's wildest productions as to cut them down, you will see
thistles standing on the harvest ridge, the crops having been carefully cut azcay cta'otnzcl tzhem, and in
windy Autumn's days, you will meet their winged
seeds careering along the fields.  As you go westward, things grow worse.  In Mayo, you will see
the limestone in the river beds, and the turf on their
banks to burn it withal; yet it lies undisturbed, as
though its use were unknown; and even so late as
1847, when Mr. Brannigan introduced turnips to




72              ALLEGED CAUSES.
Ballinglen; so new were they to the peasantry, that
they went by the name of " Brannigan's turnips."
You inquire the cause of such agricultural delinquency, and find that, as usual in Ireland, all men
blame all men but themselves.  The tenant declares
that the rent is too high, and the landlord replies by
threatening to raise it; the one protests that his
landlord is a tyrant, and the other that his tenantry
are sluggards: and each adduces so much in proof
of his charge, that one is half inclined to believe
them both. At all events, the truth seems to lie between them.  WVe cannot believe the tenant to be
the innocent martyr he represents himself, or that
high rents are the sole cause of his wretchedness,
else how is it that those tenants whose land is ls. an
acre, are usually as poor as those who pay 20s.?
Indeed, it is quite a common remark, that this class
never thrive until their rent is raised: and should
we charge on the landlords all the poverty, even of
those who pay the highest rents, their own broken
fences and weed-grown fields would testify against
US.
Still, we believe that the tenant's wretchedness is
mainly chargeable on the landlord, or, rather, the
wretched system of landlordism in Ireland, and that,
of all the secondary and derivative causes of our
miseries. this is the chief. The gentry being the
monopolists of the soil, have always been able to let
it to the peasantry on whatever terms they pleased;
and the latter, having no other means of livelihood,




THE SOCIAL.                  73
have had no alternative but to accept their terms or
starve.  Such entire control presented temptations
too strong for slender virtue.  Such irresponsible
power naturally led to tyranny; such complete monopoly to exorbitant rents; such easily acquired
wealth, to extravagant living; and all together, to
many of those evils in which both landlord and tenant are now hopelessly involved.  Forgetting that
property has its duties as well as its rights, many
landlords lived as though they were born but to enjoy, fi'oug'es conszumere nzati:, and, instead of seeking
the elevation of their tenants, treated them as mere
ministers of their pleasures; and supporters of their
extravagance.
This conduct sowed the seeds of manifold evils;
the events of the last thirty years have fearfully accelerated their growth; at length the terrible harvest
has come, and landlordism now reaps as it sowed.
Fifty years ago, the extravagance of our gentry was
at its height, and their estates were becoming rapidly embarrassed.  At the same period, the wars of
Napoleon had raised farm produce to an artificial
price.  The opportunity was too tempting, and the
landlord. generally raised the rent in proportion.
While the wars lasted " times were good;" the farmer could pay, and the landlord lived accordingly:
but ever since the peace of 1815; farm produce has
been sinking in value, till now it is not one half its
old  e'arq' price: yet land has still continued at the
old wanr,rent, and in many cases risen far above it;



74              ALLEGED CAUSES.
tJ:l1ti;~s: [-e fatrmn- nas as much, or more, rent to pay
with but one half the means of paying it; and the
result has, of course, been his rapid decline.  In
vain were the landlords entreated, for their own
sakes, to lower the rents in time; in vain were they
assured that they were'' killing the goose which laid
the golden egg;" in vain were they reminded that
they were driving to America the very flower of
their tenantry, and filling their places with a degraded class, many of whom would promise any rent
and pay none.  It was utterly vain.  They had not
the sense to foresee the future consequences, nor the
firmness to withstand the present temptation, and so,
allured by" 1 a high bid," they drove off their substantial farmers to make way for a pauper tenantry; and
now the day of reckoning has arrived.
These evils have been aggravated by various circumstances.  One has been our system of " middlemen" —that' squireeni" class, who, holding under the
head landlord, sublet their property at rack-rents,
and, instead of earning their bread with the sweat
of their own brow, lived in idleness on the sweat of
a down-trodden tenantry.  Another, hlas been the
oppressive exactions of unprincipled agents, with
their grim  train of bai/iTjs and dcr-ivers.  Even so
late as 1845, the " Tintzes Commissioner" brought
to light a system  of iniquity, on the part of both
middlemen and agents, which was scarcely credible.
it has often been remarked, that whoever is poor,
agents generally get rich; and could the " office"




THE SOCIAL.                75
walls speak, the mystery would perhaps disappear;
while, to say nothing of such oblations as eggs and
butter, geese and turkeys, many are the more costly
offerings with which a trembling tenantry are obliged
to propitiate a middleman's favor.
But the crowning hardship is the tenant's liability
to have the fruits of his improvements grasped by
his landlord.  If a peasant rents a common for 5s.
an acre, and, by his own sole exertion, makes it in a
few years worth 20s., the landlord not unfrequently
raises the rent to 20s., and gives him his option to
pay it or " quit."  The present Tenant-Righlt agitation in Ulster owes its existence to these unrighteous
exactions.  The Ulster farmers are by far the most
improving in Ireland.  They found Ulster a desert;
they have made it a garden. " Tenant-Right" simply
means the tenant's right to the benefit of his own
improvements.  Besides its obvious justice, it was
secured to them at the time of the " Plantation,"
and has ever since been the prevailing usctage in
Ulster.  But the farmers have of late got some
cause to think that the sooner it is made law the
better; and nothing but the mnost short-sighted policy
would resist a claim so; righteous. That landlord
must be blind who does not see that, if he would
have his estates improved, it is by rewarding, not
punishing the tenant for his industry. No man in
his senses will make improvements in the prospect
of being robbed of them, or taxed for them; and if
this is the reward the Ulster landlords will confer




76               ALLEGED CAUSES.
upon tenantry who have made their position such an
enviable contrast to that of Ireland's other landlords,
let them rest assured that the same ruin awaits them
which has now fallen upon these their brethren.  In
truth, it is manifest that no concession of mere
tenant-right can now save them.  A series of social
changes has so altered our entire condition, that the
relations of landlord and tenant must be completely
readjusted to meet these altered circumstances. To
resist such a measure seems to us like contending
against fate, and, we fear, the longer it is deferred
it will be the more sweeping when it comes.
Such, then, is a brief sketch of Ireland's social
state. Well, the complicated cause of our wretchedness begins at length to unfold itself; for what else
but social decay could flow from such social derangement?  It surely requires no great sagacity to perceive that such habits must lead to want, and want
to general disorganization, or that that country 9nust
decline, in which all classes, from the landlord to
the peasant, so generally neglect the duties of their
station?  A  country which wears such an air of
idleness, that the Englishman, on first landing from
his own busy home, almost fancies he has arrived on
some holiday; whose style of business and farming
is so bad, that he protests it would entail certain
bankruptcy in Britain, and where the advent of a
Scotchman is deemed a blessing to a neighborhood,
and he makes a fortune on the spot where his predecessor starved. Nor can we have better proof of




THE MORAL.                  77
our position than the social superiority of Ulster.
We have already seen its comparative prosperity;
well, the least observant traveller who visits this
province is struck with the diligence of the husbandman, the enterprise of the merchant, and the peaceful, plodding industry of all.  There, all is frugality
and simplicity-mothers, even of the first.rank,
attend closely to their households, instead of driving about in their carriages.  There, idleness and
style, instead of being deemed  respectable, are
despised; there, men take rank, not so much from
what their fathers were, as from what they themselves agre; and instead of the high-born profligate
being respected, and the architect of his own fortune
despised, there is practised the noble sentiment of the
Roman, who, when taunted by a profligate patrician
with his obscure birth, replied, " You owe all your
greatness to others, I owe mine to myself."
But it is evident that Ireland's social state must
itself be derivative; and, while one cause of our evils,
must flow from higher causes.  What can these be?
is our next subject of inquiry.
CHAPTER IV.
THE MORAL.
LET us here premise, that knowvledge and vzrtue,
and ignorance and vice, are the chief causes of social




78              ALLEGED CAUSES.
elevation and degradation respectively. Enough of
the former must raise any nation to the highest pinnacle of greatness; while enough of the latter must
sink it to the lowest depths. What makes the chief
difference between the savage and the sage but
knowledge, or between the angel and the demon but
virtue?  The nation which has most of both must
necessarily leave others behind. Scarce anything
could keep down a people all light and virtue, and
nothing could elevate a people all ignorance and vice.
And this is so obvious, that let a wilderness be filled
with the world's best benefactors, and it would soon
become a paradise; then let these be succeeded by
the worst malefactors, and it would quickly become
a wilderness more terrible than at first  or let it be
filled with succeeding generations, varying in their
degrees of light and virtue, and all other things
being equal, its condition would vary in exact proportion.  How seldom does virtue find its way, even
by mistake into a jail! And so rarely is knowledge
itself found there, that for the four years ending
1850, the average annual proportion of prisoners in
Ireland who could read and write, was not 18 per
cent.e  Let us see how far Ireland enjoys these
blessings:KNOWLEDGE.-According to the census of 1841,
* Thom (1852), p. 201. It is this intimate connection of
ignorance and vice which has induced us to class both under the one head of moral causes. Their powerful mutual
influence will become more apparent as we proceed.




THE MORAL.                   79
near 53 per cent. of the population of Ireland could
neither read nor write; while only 26 per cent.
could both read and write   Thus our educational
statistics, at the very first glance, bring out the
astounding fact, that 11 years ago three fourths of
the people were devoid of the simplest rudiments of
knowledge. You ask how can this be accounted for.
Till the National Board was established, whole districts depended for their education on the Irish
Hledge School-that matchless nursery of knowledge, whose site was a bog, whose forms were often
the floor, whose slates and copy-books were sometimes the chalked walls and door, and whose schoolbooks such select works as the ~" Irish Rapparees,'
and:" Freny, the Robber;" while all was presided
over by a pedagogue, compared to whom, Goldsmiti.h's schoolmaster himself was a trifle."  What,
then, was our learning when such was its seat? Even
yet the National Board has a stupendous task before it.  There are still whole districts into which
scarce a book or a newspaper penetrates, and where
you will find professional scribes who are employed
by the people to write their letters for them  to
America.
We have already noticed the barbarism  of our
western coast. The numerous islands in particular,
which so beautifully stud the bosom of the Atlantic,
and seem designed, like smaller gems, to garnish the
"emerald, set in the ring of the sea," are sunk in
* Report, Commissioners, Public Instruction, 1834.




80              ALLEGED CAUSES.
such primitive ignorance, that when, some years
ago,. a boat from Tory island was driven by a
storm on the mainland, the crew pulled leaves and
branches off the trees to show as curiosities on their
return!*
Their moral and religious ignorance is still more
deplorable.  It is quite notorious that thousands in
Ireland never saw a Bible; never heard of the
Trinity; know  nothing of the Saviour but the
name; and are so ignorant of the nature of vice
and crime, as to be restrained from it chiefly through
fear of the prison.  To the question, "Who made
you " how often have our missionaries received the
answer, "! It was my mother, sir!" To the question,
" Are you a sinner?" you will often get the reply,
"No, indeed, sir!" We ourselves have often asked,
"How many persons are there in the Godhead'" and
have been answered, "I do not know, sir;" and in
reply to the question, 1" Who is the Holy Ghost?"
have been told by several that they never heard of
a Holy Ghost! And should you express surprise
at any of these answers, you are often silenced by
the touching reply, " God help me, I never got the
learning."  God help them, indeed! and these are
not savage heathens in the jungle, but our own
Chr'istian fellow-countrymen-of whom, even while
we write, some are passing before the judgment
throne!
Hence their amazing superstition.  You will see
* Noel's Tour.




THE MORAL.                   8 l
charms called " gospels," and 1" scapulars" tied round
their necks, and fixed in their cabin roofs to keep
away devils and fairies!  If their cow takes ill, it is
"fairy shot;" if their churn will not yield the butter, it is " blinked;" indeed, they seem as if they
thought evil spirits had a, peculiar fancy for a dairy,
and had little else to do than play pranks with the
milk and butter.  Their superstitious minds have
covered the land with holy wells, trees, lakes, and
mountains, each having its patron saint-rivalling
the ancient Greeks in their poetic creations of naiacls,
nereids, fauns, and hamadryads.   You will sometimes see them, as they pass a holy well, take off
their hats and begin to mutter as if addressing some
spirit who resided in its waters.   Most of these
wells are endowed with miraculous powers, and are
therefore frequented by many.   Some cure the
lame, and some the blind; others seem not particular, but extend equal relief to all diseases. And
one well in Erris, most unworthy of its country, is
so ungallant as to have an utter aversion to the
entire feimale sex!'If next we turn to thatfourt/z pacrt who can read
and write, while very many are most highly educated,
the attainments of the majority are, we fear, but
slender.  In 6 counties, and 74 towns, with populations ranging from 2,500 to 12,400 each, there was
not in 1849 a single book-shop; and in the entire
island there was, in proportion to the population,
* Gregg's Visit to Erris.
6




82              ALLEGED CAUSES.
only one for every 9 which then existed in Scotland!" While, as to private libraries, it is said that
in the greater part of Connaught, there do not exist
as many books as would stock a book-shop in a small
Einglish town.t And we fear that even these would
not be found of the most select kind-and that the
library, so composed, would be one rather of entertaining than useful knowledge.  Indeed, so low is
our thirst for learning, that, except in a few towns,
the trade of bookseller is bad; that of publisher
worse; and that of author worst of all. The latter
have almost always to look, and usually repair to
England for a livelihood.  We have not more than
two or three magazines which deserve the name;
and the majority of at least our western newspapers,
while generally dearer than the London Timzes, are
sorry samples of a country's literature.  In truth,
the cacoethzes scribezndi has never been a failing of the
Irish.  Nor can we say much more for the suetclo
legendi.  Our people are fonder of the newsroom
than the library; and when they are found amongst
the corridors of the latter, poetry too often carries
it against philosophy-fiction against fact; and even
Brown and Newton have generally to yield to the
rival claims of Scott and Dickens.
In a word, if you make the experiment, you will
find that even our best classes are as far behind the
Scotch in substantial attainments, as they are before
them  in polite accomplishments.  Hearken to the
X Colportage in Ireland, pp. 9, 10.  t Ibid.




TIlE MOIAL.                83
conversation in Scotch and Irish steamers, and you
will ofte  find the Scotch farmer to possess mnore
solid information than the Irish landlord.  On, religious subjects especially, the Irish gentleman would
find himself but a sorry match for many a shepherd
on the Lammermuirs. Inleed, such is the thirst for
learning in Scotland, that not only do youths who
are destined for the merchant's desk usually attend
the university, but we have known common tradesmen to work in their shops one half of the day, and
attend the college classes the remainder.  And
though we cannot speak so favorably of the general
attainments of the English, they have ever been remarkably distinguished above the Irish for the important quality of being thoroughly acquainted, each
with his own business, no matter how little they may
know beyond it.
Now, if thus it appears that the minds of the Irish
are left for the most part as waste as their mountains, we ask, what must be the effect?  Never was
" knowledge power" so much as now. Education has,
in fact, become the grand road to advancement; national greatness can now be attained no longer by
arms, but by arts and sciences; and in the clear
conviction of this, other nations are pushing on with
all their might in the march of enlightenment.
MWho, then, can wonder if Ireland statioznary, has
been lef by the world prog'ressive; if ignorance, only
matched in the dark ages, should have no chance in
an age of pre-eminent light; and if the vast superi



84               ALLEGED CAUSES.
ority of other dountries in the whole field of industry,
fronm the highest manufacture to the huImblest tradce
should have driven us out of even our own mlarket 2
Surely the blindest can scarce help perceiving that
nothing short of a standing miracle could have hindered the tides of prosperity friom  leavTing such a land,
and flowing to other shores.
IRmTUE.-Again, the amount of virtue amongst
us the reader himself can estimate by the following
facts and statistics. The number of troops stationed
in Ireland now for many years is surprising: —the
annual average of the last 8 years has been upwards
of 25,000 men! Thus, to control 7,000)000 of professing Christians, it requires near one fourth of that
magnificent army, which is found sufficient (our native Indian troops excepted) to control the greatest
empire on which the sun ever shone; containing
156.000(000 of subjects and tributaries; of whom
120,000,000 are heathens and Mohanmmedans! And
if to this military force, we add 13,000 constabulary
and metropolitan police, we have in this small island
a constant army of occupation of 38,000 men!*
You exclaim — Can such a force be required? at
least must it not supersede the necessity of jails and
gibbets?  Alas! it is a country of prisons as well as
garrisons. There are in Ireland 155 jails and bridewells; near 700 law courts, from  assizes to petty
sessions;it and 10,000 persons ministering to justice,
* Thoomns Statistics, 1852, p. 185.   lb). passim.




THE MORAL.                   85
from the judge to the bailiffE.   And catn this array
of tribunals be required? Enter any southern court
whatever; mark the crowds who throng the building
and hang round the door; see the piles of indictments, processes, and sunmoronses; observe the prodigious mass of business transacted during one single
term; and then you may form  some conception of
the gross amount of lacw going on continually over
the land with all its disorganizing influences.  Yes,
and though weeks are frequently spent at the assizes
of one single county, yet the business is often left
unfinished, and special commissions are sometimes
required to relieve the crowded prisons.  In fact,
our chief public buildings, in addition to poorlzhouses%
are jails and courthouses; and our most flourishing
business is that of lawyers and solicitors.
Again, in Great Britain, with thrice the population of Ireland, and this consisting largely of the depraved manufacturing classes, there were in 1850,
only 31,281 cozmnittals, while there were in Ireland
in the same year 33,326, or upwards of 3 to I!t
Yet this gives no accurate idea of the proportions of
actzcual crime in these two countries; for conspiracy
against the laws is in many parts of Ireland so perfeet, that even assassinations take place in open day,
within view of scores of people; and not only do they
not inform, but so screen the assassin that he often
eludes the utmost vigilance of the police.  Nor is a
less mournful fact brought out by the relative pro* Census,'41.'f1 Thlo's Statistics, 18i52, pp. 199, 201.




86               ALLEGED CAUSES.
portion of conzvictions.  The same conspiracy against
law and justice appears in our very courts; scenes
of perjury the most revolting are common on the witness table; and in party cases, the frequent expression even of jurors, before entering the box at all, is
that they will " eat their boots" with hunger before
they find against the prisoner! Hence the striking
fa ctJ that while in Britain, of the above 31,281 committals, there were 23,900 convictions, or nearly three
Lourths, of the 33,326 prisoners committed in Ireland, there were only 17,108 convicted, or not much
over one halIof
Perhaps you exclaim-Surely this array of crime
must at least have been of the pctt.y kind! Alas!
its character was as melancholy as its amount.' One
fifth, at least, of the above convictions were for offences of the highest class; while of the entire number convicted, there were no less than 1,858 sentenced to transportation, and 17 sentenced to death It
All this, too, in a year of unusual peace!  Then
what must have been the statistics of our disturbed
years?  In 1848, we had near 40,000 committals,
almost 3,000 sentenced to transportation, and 60
sentenced to death    You say this was during the
famine period    Alas! it was even so.  Unawed
by the wrath of Jehovah himself, as if made worse
by those fearful judgments which He sent to make
us better, the period of our greatest calamity was
that of our most dreadful wickedness, and the work
* Thom's Statistics, pp. 199, 201.    D- Ibid




THE MORAL.                  87
of blood went on most rapidly beneath the outstretched arm of the angel of death.
Now, if such an amount of crime loads our calendars, despite the vigilance of an omnipresent police,
the bristling of 38,000 bayonets, and the dread array
of courts and gibbets, it is surely impossible to resist the conviction that were this enormous pressure
removed which keeps down the wild elements of vice
and crime, they would instantly burst forth with resistless fury.  Indeed, such has been somewhat the
case, even notwithstanding the presence of this force;
for what has been Ireland's whole history but that
of a moral volcano of pent-up fires and periodical
eruptions, with whole counties in constant disturbance, and the entire country in occasional rebellion?
Therefore it is manifest that even the foregoing statistics give no clear idea of our actual condition.
Such an amount of crime canll only exist where the
social mass is fearfully diseased; and when correctly
viewed, merely serves, like ulcers on the surface, to
show the depth and malignity of the internal disorder.  And faithfulness compels us at once to say,
that with many honorable exceptions, there is in all
classes a want of that high moral tone on which social health so much depends, and from  the absence
of which crime and misery necessarily spring.
We have glanced at our prevailing habits of idleness, extravagance, and style. Now the history of
such habits has ever proved that their unhappy vietimrs will live, if they can, at the expense of others,
i L. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _     _  _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _




88               ALLEGED CAUSES.
when no longer able to live at their own, and not be
over-scrupulous about the means they adopt to prolong the dire struggle for existence. And so you
have, in our wretched land, the needy landlord racking the tenant, and the thriftless tenant evading his
exactions   the employer taking advantage of his
servants and tradesmen, and these taking their revenge by general unfaithfulness and frequent combinations; in a word, such a state of dishonesty, that
where any legal flaw is found in their bonds and contracts, nine out of every ten usually take advantage
of it.  This system of mutual wrong has, of course,
propagated and spread, giving birth, on the one hand,
to extortions, distraints, and ejectments, andcl on the
other, to secret scheming, open resistance, and frequent assassinations.  And thus have matters gone
on for many years, till the unavoidable crisis has at
length arrived; yet you wonder at our country's
prostration, and speak as if some enchanter's curse
were mysteriously resting on her! A country where
masters and mistresses must generally stand over
their servants to prevent their work from being destroyed by carelessness or neglected through sloth;
in whose very turnip fields you will see sheds erected,
where men keep nightly watch against the thief and
the robber; in whose markets firkins of butter have
been seized for being partially filled with clay; in
whose farm-yards constant vigilance is required to
* Inglis' Tour, p. 167. Indeed, these statements are confirmed by every author acquainted with Ireland.




THE MORAL.                 89
save the fowls from  disappearing; and where the
employer must often search his men, as they leave
his stores in the evening, to save himself firom being
robbed! A country which has long been proverbial
as the " land of jobbing;" where exists an entire
class called " Sunday men," from never being seen
except on Sabbaths, because they cannot then be arrested for their debts; and where not only is the
arm of Justice paralyzed, but even the hand of Charity so foully abused, that the paupers often steal the
bedclothes of the poor-houses which keep them alive,
and deeds were on all hands perpetrated in connection with the late government relief-money, which
we would positively blush to record! Is it s~uch a
country you would expect to prosper?  Why, unless the laws of Heaven were reversed, and vice, not
virtue, was the basis of prosperity, the half of what
we have stated would blast the fairest land; and yet
we have not stated the half of what exists. And it
is blindness, or something worse, to charge the fruits
of our own misdeeds on a Parliament which, with all
its erroneous legislation, has, at least, evinced some
desire to save us from ourselves.
Does any one deny these fearful statements, or
say that, even if true, they ought to be suppressedc 
Alas, to deny them were absurd, and to suppress
them were criminal.  False delicacy has too long
concealed what faithfulness should have disclosed;
and now that our country is sinking so fast, it were
monstrous treachery to cover up those malignant




90              ALLEGED CAUSES.
ulcers of which she is expiring, when her life depends
upon faithful probing.
KNOWLEDGE AND VIRTUE IN ULSTER.-If our solution is the true one, then should Ulster, being the
most prosperous, be also the most enlightened and
virtuous part of Ireland.  Now, by the census of
1841, the proportions of the population in each.
province who could neither read nor write, wereUlster, 33 per cent.; Leinster, 38; Munster, 52;
Connaught, 64. Thus, it appears that, of persons
totally ignorant, there were then in Ulster fewer by
one third than in Munster, and by one half than in
Connaught. Not less difference is found in the general intelligence of those who can read and write;
and mnuch mnore in their religious knowledge-the
northern child evincing an acquaintance with revealed
truth not often found in the southern grandfather.
Indeed, the great educational superiority of Ulster
is clearly proved by the fact, that while Connaught
almost exclusively depends on National Schools for
education, and Ulster has many others besides, yet,
with twice the population, the latter province contains thrice as many National Schools as the former.*
And, though a large number of the youth of Ulster
are educated at the Scotch universities, yet, during
the session of 1849, the students attending the Belfast Queen's College amounted to 192; while, in
that of Cork, there were 115; in that of Galway,
* Thom's Statistics, 1852, p. 197.




THE MlORAL.                  91
68; and of this latter number some of the most
eminent were natives of Ulster.~  While, as to industrial knowledge, we shall only add, that the south
has been sending individuals to the north to learn
the cultivation and manufacture of flax; and the
National Board is obliged to employ northern females to teach their southern schools the sewed muslin manufacture.
The difference in moral character is still more remarkable.  Of the 25,000 troops usually stationed
in Ireland, scarce 3,000 are found in Ulster, and, except in its southern counties, even these are wholly
unnecessary.  Not a soldier is stationed between
Belfast and Derry, a distance of 70 miles, embracing two most populous counties and various large
towns.  Of our 13,000 police, the number stationed
in Ulster, in 1851, was 1,901, little more than a
seventh of the force for a third of the population.t
And our prison statistics prove that even these are
comparatively unnecessary.  Of our 33,326 committals in 1850, the number in Ulster was 5,260, not
one sixth part.t  Yet, considering how many crimes
escape detection in the south, from the prevailing
conspiracy against the laws, and how few, in the
north, from the opposite cause, even this is too large
a figure to represent the proportion of actual crime.
The characcter of crime shows a still more remarkable difference. At almost every northern as* Thom's Statistics, 1852, p. 193.    f Ibid. p. 180.. Ibid. p. 199.




92               ALLEGED CAUSES.
sizes, the first sentence of the judge's opening address
to the grand jury, is one of congratulation on the
peace of their county, and the lightness of their
calendar.  Comparatively few are transported from
Ulster; and capital crime occurs there so rarely,
that of 23 executions which took place in Ireland in
the years 1849 and 1850, only two occurred in
Ulster.*
In short, the vast moral superiority of that province is seen on every hand.  In many districts, the
doors of the dwellings are seldom locked; in numbers of shops a child can safely deal; while the
atrocities which are the rule elsewhere, are the exception in Ulster.  There landlords are scarce ever
shot, or murderers sheltered, or wretches known to
swear away innocent life; while in most counties,
assizes last a day or two, jails are half empty, and
gibbets scarce ever required.  During the assassinations of 1848, one threatening letter was sent to the
county Derry, to a landlord of high respectability;
and it came from  Connazg/t!  The excitement it
created was intense-abundant proof of the novelty
of the. occurrence; and the people formed themselves
into a guard, and kept sentry for weeks round the
gentleman's demesne; yet some journals would persuade us that, for the last few years, Ulster has become a scene of agrarian disturbancee
Now, of course it is impossible fully to estimate
the influence exerted on Ulster's prosperity by its
* Thom's Statistics, 1852, p. 200.




THE RELIGIOUS.               93
superior light and virtue; in the security of property, the influx of capital, the encouragement of enterprise, and, above all, that general elevation and success which are the sure fruits of education and
morality.  But sonime idea of its magnitude may be
formed from  the fact, that with one third of the
population, Ulster's share of the police, jail, and
poor-law expenses of Ireland, is, in round numbers,
but one eighth!
CHAPTER V.
TIIE RELIGIOUS.
THUs far have we proceeded in unravelling the
perplexed web of causes from which Ireland's miseries have sprung.  Will the reader be kind enough
to accompany us one step further?  After the most
careful estimate of the share which vacious alleged
causes of our country's wretchedness have had in
producing it, we have found the chief to be her
ItORAL DEGRADATION.  But it is manifest that this
cause must also be derivative; and we know of but
two possible sources to which it can be tracedc:some'adiccli    defect in the people themselves, or
some matdliS'nat inzfluence to which they are exposed.  We have demonstrated that it is not the
forezer; and we have hitherto failedl in our search




94               ALLEGED CAUSES.
for the latter.  We have seen that the Irish are
neither cursed with Moorish ferocity nor Beotian
stupidity, and that neither ill the country nor the
laws can any such evil influence be found as will at
all account for such fearful degradation.  One other
field of inquiry alone remains.  Is the cause to be
found in our Religious condition?  One would naturally suppose that religion, professing, as it does,
to mould and regulate our whole nature, so as best to
fit us for earth and heaven, should exert on any
people a paramount influence for good.  Why has it
not been so in Irelandcl    Has she not a sufficient
supply of Christian ministers?  2,176 Established
clergy, from  the primate to the curate;  2,361
Roman Catholic clergy, with a large auxiliary staff
of monks and nuns; and 624 Presbyterian, with
281 Independent, Methodist, and Baptist mIinisters?*  Why, with such an army of ecclesiastics,
Ireland should be " an island of saints;' and there
must be fearful guilt somewhere, when it is more
like an island of savages.  Then, we solemnly cite
them to trial, that we may see at whose door lies
the tremendous guilt of having wrought such ruin
on a land so fair. Our rule of judgment shall be
that of One who cannot err- " YE SHALL IKNOW
THEMI BY THEIR FRUITS"'t:-One who appealed to
his own works in proof of his divine commission +
* Thom's Statistics, 1852, pp. 386-392, 414-421, 422-429,
430-432.   t Matthew vii. 15-20.   k John x. 37, 38.




THE RELIGIOUS.                95
disowns the church which cannot do the same;
proclaims all religions i'mbpostr'e that pretend to be
from  God and are not like God;t and declares that
"in TI-us the children of God are manifest, and the
cllildren of the devil-whosoever clodea  not rightCO7IIsCSS is not of G-od."j
T-uE CoINCIDENCE. -The two great religious systells of these kingdoms are the Protestant and
Roman Catholic.  It is clear from  the above test,
that whichever of these most fully promotes "' that
righteousness which exalteth a nation," gives the best
proof of its divinity.  And should it be found that
one of them  invariably exalts, and the other as invariably degrades a people, then is the one as certainly TIRUE and the other as certainly FALSE, as though
the fact were proclaimed by an angel from heaven.
Now, if we compare our two islands, we find Great
Britain the most happy country on earth, perhaps
the most Protestant; and Ireland the most wretched,
one of the most intensely RIoman Catholic.  Britain,
that little spot which would scarce be missed if sunk
beneath the waves, is the queen of nations, and her
namne a passport among remote barbarians; while
Iloman Catholic Ireland, in all respects fitted by the
great Creator for sharing the glories of her sister
isle, is as utterly degraded as the other is illustrious;
and the name of Irishman a term of as deep contempt
as that of Englishman is a title of honor.  We find,
* John viii. 41, 44. f 1 John iv. 1-6. f 1 John iii. 8, 10.




96                ALLEGED CAUSES.
moreover, the most Protestant part of Great Britain
-Scotland-the most enlightened and virtuous; and
the most Roman Catholic parts of Ireland —Connaught and Munster —the most benighted and depraved.  Except in a few Highland districts there is
scarce a Roman Catholic in all Scotland who is not
Irish. while, at least until 1847, only one fifth of
Ireland's population  was Protestant.~   Yet the
formler is a land of authors, the latter not even a land
of readers; the one is as much distinguished for its
virtue as the other for its crime; and even a large
portion of the crimes of the one is committed by
Irish Roman Catholics, while a mere fraction of the
crimes of the other is the work of Protestants.t
And lest this difference might be thought to arise, in
part at least, from the social or political state of
these two nations, follow them  through all their migratory wanderings and it is still the same.  In
every region you find the one filling the post of
honor and trust, and the other sweeping the streets
or carrying the hod; and while the Scotchman in
* According to the Report of the Commissioners of Public Instruction (1834), which contains our latest denomninational census, we find that Ireland then contained 1:5117,228
Protestants, and 6:427,712 Roman Catholics.  Of Protestants there were:-Established Church, 853:064; Presbyterians, 642.356; Dissenters, 21,808; total, 1,517,228.  Frorn
the same source we learn that the entire Presbyterian body,
except about 4,300, are found in Ulster.
t This fact is forcibly brought out by the jail statistics of
Scotland.




THE RELIGIOUS.                  97
Ireland conducts our banks or warehouses, the Irishman in Scotland is found in the coal-pit or the
prison!
If next we turn to Ireland itself, we find from the
census of 1834, that in Ulster the Protestants then
were to the Roman Catholics in round numbers as
11 to 19; in Leinster as 2 to 11; in Munster as 1
to 20; and in Connaught as 1 to 23.*  Now, we
have seen the immense difference between Protestant
Ulster and Roman Catholic Munster and Connaught
in their statistics of ignorance, crime, and poverty.
The brevity of this work has alone hindered us from
giving the statistics of Leinster.  But any one who
consults the same authorities from  which we have
taken those of the other three provinces, will find
that it call four as is the Protestantism, so are the
knowledge, virtue, and prosperity.   To give one
more sample-in the year 1848, there were, in round
numbers, 3 persons receiving relief out of every 100
in Ulster; 7 in Leinster; 14 in Munster; and 19
- The Commissioners of Public Instruction have followed
the ecclesiastical, and not the civil divisions of the island.
Now, in their four ecclesiastical provinces, which, though
not quite coincident with the four civil ones, are sufficiently
so for our purpose, we find the religious denominations to
stand thus:-Province of Armagh, 1,171,618 Protestants,
and 1,955,123 Roman Catholics. Province of Dublin, 183,609
Protestants, and 1,063,681 Roman Catholics. Province of
Cashel, 115,233 Protestants, and 2,220,340 Roman Catholics.
Province of Tuam, 45,768 Protestants, and 1,188,568 Roman
Catholics.
7




98              ALLEGED CAUSES.
in Connaught!  Here is a graduated scale singularly correspondent to the Protestantism  of each
province, and, excepting Connaught. the very reverse
of what we were entitled to expect.  For, besides
other advantages, Leinster has long been the seat
of government, and enjoyed the benefits of the
"English pale;" not only is Munster the garden of
Ireland, but its population are the oldest inhabitants
of the land; while Ulster is a mere colony little
more than 200 years old, and composed for the
most part of a few Scotch adventurers, who were
doomed to struggle for years against a host of difficulties.
If from the provinces we descend to the counties,
we find the same proportions prevailing with singular exactness.  To make this perfectly clear, we
shall contrast a few of the most Protestant with a
few of the most Roman Catholic counties.  In
Antrim, the Protestants are to the Roman Catholics nearly as 3 to 1; in Down, more than 2 to 1;
in Derry, about 1 to 1; and in Donegal, 1 to 3;while in Cork, they are 1 to 16; Limerick, 1 to
22; Kerry and Waterford, 1 to 23; Mayo and Galway, 1 to 24.~  Now, mark how the light of each
county is as its Protestantism. with only an exception which establishes the rule; Donegal being
mountainous, without a single large town; while
Cork and Limerick are full of populous towns, with
* Compare Report of Commissioners of Public Instruction, (1834.)




l   1IEf i0 XlCliS.       9 9
all their educational facilities. In 1841, the proportions who could neither read nor write, wereAntrimn, 23 per cent.; Down, 2'7; Derry, 29; Limerick, 55;  Donegal, 62; Cork, 68; Kerry, 72;
Waterford, 73; Galway, 78; and Mayo, 80.i Thus
in the most Roman Catholic counties we have four
fifths of the people in total ignorance; in the most
Protestant only one fifth; and in all, with the above
exception, the ignorance increasing as the Protestantism  diminishes! We might farther prove, that
in all those counties those who can neither read nor
write, are almost all Roman Catholics. Instance
Donegal, the only county out of its place in the
above scale; and according to a report of the Rev.
E. M. Clarke, chaplain and local inspector, of 138
Protestants confined in Lifford jail in 1849, 91, or
near three fourths, could read; while of 922 Roman
Catholic prisoners, only 213, or not one fourth,
could read.t  Indeed, all those districts which are
remarkable for their religious and general ignorance,
such as the West Coast region above noticed, are
those in which the Church of Rome has for ages
held unbroken sway.
Nor is the contrast less remarkable in the crime
than the ignorance of these counties. In the four
Protestant counties of Antrim, Down, Derry, and
Donegal, the gross number of committals, in 1848,
was not in proportion to the population one fourth
*~ Extracted fiom Census of 1841.
f Derry Stanldard, February 21, 1850.




100             AL-LEUGE  CAUSES.
that of the four Roman Catholic counties of Kerry,
Limerick, Galway, and Mayo; yet, of the latter,
none but Limerick belong to the " disturbed districts."' Again, while from the prevailing conspiracy against justice in the latter, their convictions
are not much over a thircd of their committals, in
the former they are nearly four fifths.  And there
is really no comparison as to the character of the
offences: —for example, of 69 criminals hanged in
Ireland, in the 6 years ending 1850, 13 were executed in Limerick alone, only 4 were hanged in
Ulster, and only 1 in any of the above Protestant
counties —viz., in Donegal, the least Protestant.
Finally, as a mere sample of their temporal condition, we find that, in the 4 Roman Catholic unions
of Kanturk, Listowel, Castlebar, and Ballinrobe,
there were, in 1848, TWELVE TIMES aS many paupers
relieved, in proportion to their population, as in the
4 Protestant unions of Larne, Kilkeel, Coleraine,
and Newton Limavady. And the awful state of
these unions may be conceived from the fact, that
half the population of Listowel, and one third that of
Castlebar and Ballinrobe, were at that period obliged
to support the remainder ItLest any remnant of doubt should hang on the
reader's mind as to the extent of the coincidence we
are tracing; lest he should cherish the least suspicion that Ulster owes its superiority to some other
* Thom's Statistics, 1852, pp. 199, 200.
t Ibid., 1849, pp. 144-148.




THE R ELIGIOUS.             101
cause which we are unable to discover or unwilling
to disclose-let us turn for a moment to its own
counties. While in Antrim, its most Protestant
county, the per centage who cannot read or write is
23; in Cavan, its most Roman Catholic, it is 51.
With a population a little over that of Derry, that
county has annually twice as many committals, and
not one third the proportionate number of convictions. i The number of police stationed in Derry in
1850 was 106, at the expense of ~5,299; while in
Cavan there were 396, at the cost of ~16,985-over
thrice the expense, and near four times the force.t
In short, Cavan is notoriously the most turbulent
county in Ulster, and constantly occupied by a large
body of military; while the only troops in the entire
county of Derry, are a depot stationed in Londonderry city, whose services are scarcely ever required.
From counties we might even descend to parishes.
One of the richest in Antrim is the parish of Killagan; and one of the poorest, that of Cushendun; yet
in the former the Protestants are to the Roman
Catholics as 6 to 1, and in the latter as 1 to 9.t
Do you say the northern Roman Catholic was
driven back to the mountains by the Ulster settlers?  Then we ask, What has so generally driven
the southern Roman Catholic to the mountains too?
By what other foes has lie been pursued thither
than those evil habits which compel men to retire
* Thornm's Statistics, 1852, p. 199. t Ibid., p. 180.
t Ibid., p. 183.




102             ALLEGED CAUSES.
before the advance of light and virtue?  But not to
dwell on this, go to some of our finest plains, where
no stranger has disturbed the southern.  In the diocese of Cashel, Roman Catholics are to Protestants
in the enormous disproportion of 28 to 1; and that
naturally luxuriant region has long been known as
the place where the demon of murder holds his
court, and those assassination clubs have existed
where each deed of blood is deliberately planned.
Do you impute these crimes to landlord oppression?
We ask not why such oppression, often as intolerable in Ulster, occasions there so few dreadful
crimes, and why these few are almost exclusively
committed by.Roman Catholics; but we take you
at once to the towns, where no landlord can rack,
but men rise or sink by their own conduct.  Instance Belfast and Cork, in the former of which
Roman Catholics are to Protestants as 1 to 21, and
in the latter as 5 to 1; and in the ten years ending
1851, the population of Belfast has increased
24,400, or near 33 per cent., and its trade and
manufactures proportionally; while the population
of Cork has in the same period increased 5,700, or
not 5 per cent.; and even this consists for the most
part of paupers, whom, during the last 5 years,
want has driven in from the surrounding country!
Nay, pass if you please through the streets of each
town, and you will find that in both, and with the
very same opportunities, the Protestants are the highest, and the Roman Catholics the lowest of the people.




THE RELIGIOUS.                103
We really must not weary the reader;-but as
the last resistless proof of the fact we are establishing, examine the individucals of each persuasion,
and you will find the Roman Catholics as a clacss
everywhere the lowest in knowledge, virtue, and
wealth,-the uneducated, the criminals, the servants
of their own land. And this is so common as to be
the subject of frequent remark amongst themselves.
It is notorious that during the late famine, even in
Ireland's most Protestant parts; the immense proportion of the r'elieving were Protestants, and of the
relieved, Roman Catholics.  The vast majority of
our prisoners, even in Protestant districts, are Roman Catholics. And our poor-house, jail, and hospital statistics usually show, from  twice to four
times as many Romnanist as Protestant inmates, in
proportion to the denominations of each district.
We have already seen the proportion in the Donegal jail,* and we find much the same in all the rest.
On the 8th of May, 1850, there were in Derry, 41
Protestant and 118 Roman Catholic prisoners-being three times as many of the latter, in proportion
to the population of the county; and on the 14th
* Mr. Clarke, in his Report, pronounces a high eulogium
on' the admirable conduct of the Presbyterians of Donegal, as evinced by the fact, that of a body exceeding 40:000,
only 26 were committed within the year."  The design
of this work prevents us from giving the poor-house, prison,
and education statistics of the various Protestant denominations; but it is only justice to the Presbyterian body here
to state, that these statistics assign the first place to them.




104             ALLEGED CAUSES.
of May, in the same year, there were in Tralee jail
572 Roman Catholic and only 4 Protestant prisoners. In short, turn where you will, and the result
is the same; you can generally tell the prevailing
denomination from the appearance of every parish,
every village, and almost every house in the land.
THE INFERENCE.-HOW is it possible to account
for this?  If Romanism be true and Protestantism
false, Ireland's mystery was never half so dark as
now; for, in all other cases, has truth exalted and
error debased mankind: but here we have degradation the offspring of heaven, and elevation the child
of hell. But only venture the supposition that Romanismn is false and Protestantism  true, and like
some dissected map the most shapeless part of Ireland's puzzle falls into its place in a moment.  Observe how it unfolds every mystery in our physical
and mnoral state; and explains why the "Black
North" is a garden, and the " Sunny South" a wilderness; why southern jails are crowded, and northern ones half empty; and why the southern, with
naturally the finest parts, is yet so degraded.  lark
how it solves our political enigmas; shows why
Ulster flourishes and Munster declines beneath the
same laws; and not only explains why the country
grows worse as her legislation grows better, but demonstrates that it must be so, if our rulers have at
the same time been encouraging Rome. See what
light it throws on Ireland's history; explaining the




THE RELIGIOUS.               105
well-known fact, that it was while her principles
were Protestant she was the school of Europe, and
that from the hour the sword of Henry and the
treachery of Adrian forced her to bow at the Virgin's shrine, her glory departed, and she sunk into
wretchedness.  And observe how it accounts for
the alternate fall and rise of the Celt and Saxon in
the social scale; nay, for the otherwise inexplicable
shiftings on that scale, which we have noticed, of
the Celtic tribes themselves; explaining how the fall
of Celtic Ireland dates from her submission to the
Pope, and the rise of Saxon Britain from the hour
she flung his yoke away;' how the Celts of Britain
continued Popish long after their Saxon brethren,
and just so long did their mountains ring with the
shouts of embattled clansmen; and how, from  the
very moment the Reformation reached them, were
their claymores  sheathed, and  their mountains
echoed far other sounds.
Nay, the history of Europe is explained by the
same key. Rome was in her zenith during those
"dark ages" which men now blush to recall, and the
darkness thickened the mightier she grew; but the
Reformation dawned, and with it rose the sun of
-" We know that the Magna Charta, the Crusades, &c.,
had before the Reformation done much for England; we
only maintain that they were more ove:rrlded than designed
for her good. The Magna Charta itself owed its existence
more to the selfishness than the patriotism of the barons,
and was meant to increase their own power rather than the
people's freedom.




1 06             ALLEGED CAUSES.
Europe.  And mark how those countries only sprung
to life which this Reformation visited.  Germany)
Holland, Britain, emerged at the same instant froin
Rome and misery; Spain and Italy retained their
allegiance, and grew  more wretched.  Ay, and so
uniform  is this connection between Protestantism
and prosperity, that it seems scarcely affected by
climate, or soil, or race, or government, or any other
usually modifying cause.   On the mountains of
Spain, and the plains of Italy; beneath the despotism of Austria, and the freedom of Switzerland; in
the empire of Brazil, and the republic of Mexico;
the same blight marks the dominion of Rome.
While the same blessing rests on the realms of Protestantism, whether in bleak Scotland or genial England, or swampy Holland, or Alpine Switzerland, or
the United States of America, or the remote isles
of the Pacific.
* The only exception which even Roman Catholics attempt to urge is that of Belgium. Suppose we admit it,
" the exception proves the rule."  But local causes may
modify the influence of any religion. Such causes exist in
Belgium; among which are freehold farms and a liberal
constitution; and making due allowance for these, the condition of that country is the strongest confirmation of the
fact we are establishing. The most prosperous part of Belgium is the most Protestant; the south-west, the most Roman Catholic, is styled from its misery the " Ireland of Belgium."  The manufactures, for which that country gets
credit, were introduced by the French Protestant refhugees;
while its general prosperity is much overrated, as is proved




THE IRELIGIOiUS.            10'7
And the most striking fact of all is, that the intenser the Romanism the blight is the deeper, and
the purer the Protestantism  the blessing is the
greater.  Either the law of moral influence is a delusion, or the more numerous the priests, they must,
if their systenm is good, exert the greater influence
for good, and a country's virtue will be as the nulmber of their chapels.  Now, in Scotland, the most
virtuous land on earth, the priests of Rome scarcely
exist; in Spain, the most debased, they are literally
swarming; Rome, their headquarters, is a sink of
iniquity; and the Irish, everywhere degraded, are
everywhere the most intense Roman Catholics.
Unless, therefore, you believe that God's religion
would blast, and Satan's bless mankind; or that
God, in aiming to raise fallen men, has failed of his
aim and degraded them, and that Satan, in aiming
to debase them, has failed of his aim and exalted
them; —nay, unless you admit the horrid blasphemy,
that in all ages the Holy One has been the patron
of vice and the Evil One of virtue-that God and
Satan have exchanged characters, and heaven and
hell changed places-then is the Romish system
weighed in the balance and found wanting.  For on
1no land has the Sun of Righteousness ever risen
without bathing it in floods of light and virtue; nor
the clouds of error ever fallen without sinking it in
by the fact, that no country but Ireland was the scene of
such horrors during the late potato failure.-(See Edinbuqgh Witness, Jan. 19, 1850.)




108            ALLEGED CAUSES.
darkness and vice.  Reader I is all this true —is the
half of it true?  Then, if you have any concern in
the matter, are you bound by the most solemn obligations to accompany us while we inquire-W'iH
IS DEGRADATION THE CONSTANT FRUIT OF ROMANisM 2




PART III.
THE GRAND CAUSE.
THE moral universe, like the material, is upheld
by a few simple LAWS, on the observance of which
its existence depends. These, like their Author,
are infinitely wise and good; therefore, their violation must be incalculably disastrous; and the only
possible mode of arresting such disaster when it
occurs, is to restore the violated laws to their full
sway again. All true religion rests on this proposition. And as our DEMONSTRATION shall be based on
it, we beg the reader's special attention to it.
Two of these laws we have found to be cknowlzcdge
and virtue.  And it has often been demonstrated,
that the law by which the stone falls and vapor
ascends, is not more necessary to the material universe than these are to the moral.#  But the sum
of all icnowlecIge is acquaintance with God and his
works; and the sum of all vig'tue, because of all the
commandments, is love to God and our neighbor.t
And from these cdl good saprings-whatever coun* See Dick's Christian Philosopher.
f Matthew xxii. 37-40.




110            TIlE GRAND CAUSE.
try, whatever world has most of them, must be most
prosperous, exalted, and happy.
Man was made under these laws, and actdapted to
them-with a mind to acquire knowledge, a conscience to practise virtue, and a heart to feel love.
And, of course, as these chiefpcarts of his being are
improved or injured, must his whole natur'e be elevated or debased.
Now, the end of religion is just to train man in
obeclienzce to these laws. And the simplest possible
test by which to know how far any religion is true
or false, and therefore how far it is beneficial or pernicious, is to ascertain how far it accomplishes this
end.  Take a simple illustration:Science holds that place in the material world
which r'eligion does in the moral; —it deals zvith
thze qnaterial lawcs.  Now, trzte science proceeds in
strict obedience to these laws; explains every phenomenon by them, and therefore, like them, is beautifully self-consistent, unchanging, wise, and beneficial; while false science is based on ignorance  or
disregard of these laws, and hence is contradictory,
fluctuating, absurd, and mischievous.  Thus, true
science explains eclipses and diseases, and regulates
navigation and the healing art by the lawvs which
govern the stars and the human body respectively,
and is, therefore, the parent of manifold blessings;
while false science, disregarding these laws, has
given birth to astrology and quackery, and those
endless superstitions, with all their absurdity and




BASIS OF DEMONSTRATION.           11l
mischief, which have in all ages made millions the
dupes of imposture, trembling at eclipses, consulting
the stars, and using charC?mis for the cure of diseases.
Just in like manner truge religion, regu'latirng oar
mnoral cure by the laws which govern our moral
nature, is beautifully self-consistent, wise, and benign, and is the great parent of happiness here and
hereafter; while false religion, disregarding these
laws, is absurd and mischievous, giving birth to
those various superstitions which have in all ages
led men to crouch before priests, and rely for salvation on the senseless mummeries of idolatry.
Try any false science by this test, and it is detected
in an instant.  But just by the same test do we detect a false religion.  See, for instance, how, before
its tremendous light, Paganism and Mohammedanism vanish like fogs before the morning sun. If,
therefore, we find in the Romish system  the same
defiance of the laws of God and of man's nature,
and the samne inconsistency and absurdity, it inevitably follows that it must be equally false and pernicious.
Now, we solemnly charge that system with setting
these laws as completely at defiance, as though its
aim were to thwart them all; —with being the enemy
of knowlecge, virtue, and love, and thus entailing on
its victims degradation and ruin; with attempting
to eclipse the qnincl, corrupt the conscience, destroy
the heart, debase the whole gzatuzre, and thus ruin
man's tenmporal state, and blight his eternal prospects.




112            THE GRAND CAUSE.
CHAPTER I.
ROME ECLIPSES THE MIND.
THE glory of our race is niund.  It lifts us above
the brutes and assimilates us to the angels. The
religion, therefore, whose effect is to extinguish or
dull this immortal spark, must be the enemy of God
and mnan.
Now, mark the uniform conduct of Rome.  She
knows that "God is light," and Satan the prince of
darkness; that the very first voice of Jehovah which
echoed through chaos, was, " Let there be light," and
that the arch-fiend's first utterance over this fair
earth, was, "Let there be darkness;" and that accordingly God created man in " knowledge," and
Satan has shrouded the world in ignorance.  She
knows, too, that the grand struggle of God's servants
in all ages has been to banish this darkness, and of
Satan's to deepen its gloom; insomuch, that from
this their very titles are derived-the "powers of
light —the "'powers of darkness."
Now, amongst which of these does she range herself? None knows better than that sagacious church,
that "; knowledge is power," and that the only possible way to elevate nind'zc is to enlighten it.  She
knows, moreover, that God only needs to be known
in order to be loved; that men hate him because
they do not know Him;.that religion is therefore




ROME ECLIPSES THE MIND.            1 3
called the knowledge of the Lord; and that the
shortest way to bring on the millennium, is to " fill
the earth with this knowledge." * She is well aware
that it is because the arch-deceiver knows this too,
that he has ever struggled to shroud the world in
midnight; and hence, that to spread light is tofolflow, and to extinguish it is to thv/art the laws of
God and of man's nature.  And she is equally aware
that trtLth has everything to gain by the light, while
it is only imposture that can profit by darkness; and
therefore that all honest men love the light, while
only Satan and his servants hate it-like the lurking
assassin, and for the same reason.  Yet in the full
consciousness of all this —knowing that by opposing
the light, she not only violates the laws of God and
our nature, but exposes herself to the very wvorst
szuspicionts, her whole history has been one dire struggle against it.
RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE.-Shall we commence
with her own beloved maxim, "Ignorance is the
mother of devotion?" According to this matchless
aphorism, He who gave us'reason demands its extinction as the first requisite of worship; Hie who
made us above the brutes frowns on our homage
till we make ourselves equal to them; and He,
whom to know is to love, so ill bears inspection, that
the less we know Him we love Him the better!
Why, it is not even an ingenious apology for delusion,
* Isaiah xi. 9.
8




114            THE GRAND CAUSE.
and, except for its blasphemy, is really not worthy
the old serpent. According to it, the most degraded
savage must be the most devout, Christ's minister's
the most godless, and Adam vastly improved by the
fall. In a word, barbarism must be the best state,
and civilization the worst; Paganism is the world's
blessing, and Christianity its curse; the apostles deserved martyrdom, and their murderers canonization;
the Prince of Light is the world's worst enemy, and
the Prince of Darkness its truest friend!! God has
said, " My people perish for lack of knowledge."
And so to make himself known He has hung out
Creation, and written his Word; and on the wondrous cross has shown us " deity full robed," "in all
his round of rays complete." Well, the universe
gaze enraptured; heaven rings witn hallelujahs;
earth is commanded to echo the news. Forth steps
this system, and bids heaven and earth be hushed;
burns the book which tells of his love —the only
book God ever wrote; tears down the superscription
which even a pagan put over the cross; and draws
the pall of night over the world!
Now, fancy three thousand priests for ages enforcing this maxim in every corner of Ireland with a
fierceness of which the following are but a few
samples.  The "greater excommunication" contains
the most fearful torrent of curses that ever issued
from  the mouth of hell!*  Any one so cursed is
* Of this hideous production, which would fill two pages
of this book, we give the following specimens: —" May the




ROME ECLIPSES THE'IIND.          115
supposed to be thereby hopelessly damned. No one,
on pain of the same doom, must speak to him, shelter
him, or give him  a morsel, though starving; and
while the " curse" was still powerful in Ireland, you
might have seen the people running away as the
cursed individual approaehed, lest the earth should
open and swallow  them! Well, let any of their
flocks send their children to an industrial school, to
learn virtue, industry, and the fear of God, and this
curse is levelled at their heads, accompanied by the
most exciting harangues from the altar; the people
are often urged to deeds of blood, and the priest
sets the example with his horsewhip or cudgel.
Even in the enlightened  county  Antrim, priest
Walsh pronounced this curse on a poor miller for
reading the Irish Bible to his neighbors.  The
priest of Achill commanded his flock to have pitchforks well sharpened, and, in case Mr. Nangle, or
any of his agents entered their houses, one was to
stand at the back door, and another at the front,
Father, who created man, curse him! IMday the Son, who
suffered for us, curse him! May the Holy Ghost, who is
given to us in baptism, curse him! May all the angels,
and archangels, and saints, damn him! May the heavens,
and earth, and all the holy things contained therein, damn
him! May he be damned wherever he shall be! May he
be cursed inwardly and outwardly! May he be cursed in
the hair of his head! May he be cursed in his brains,
temples, forehead, ears, eyebrows," &c. &c. Here follows a
minute enumeration of every part of the body, to the very
"toe-nails," and each is severally " damned"!!




116            THE GRAND CAUSE.
to render escape impossible; while he uttered the
most frightful imprecations on all who would even
work for Mr. Nangle, which he described as working
for the devil; and he "prayed that those who disobeyed his orders might not have a child that day
twelvemonth, and that when they died they might
have none to stretch them."'I This pious example
has been diligently followed elsewhere. A late devoted lady was, for keeping a farm school in the
neighborhood of Milltown, county Kerry, the frequent subject of such altar abuse by the parish priest
as we cannot pollute our pages with: her boys have
been repeatedly cursed in the chapel, and assaulted
on the roads; and twice, on the sabbath evenings
after such denunciations, were a number of persons,
including the writer, set on and stoned by the Milltown mob. While, on one occasion, at Ballymaciola,
he and an entire congregation were attacked by priest
Timlin and an infuriated rabble, and a number of
persons were brutally beaten.
The chief object of all this deadly hatred is the
BIBLE.  When any of their flocks are suspected of
the crime of stealing a little light from this blessed
book, they frequently enter their houses and search the
chest, the bed straw, the very rafters, for it; and
when they have found it, they have been known to
take it up in the tongs, lest it should pollute their
fingers, fling it into the fire, and burn it to ashes!
* See Hon. and Rev. Baptist Noel's Tour in Ireland, pp.
171, 172.




LOMIE ECLIPSES THE MIND.         117
TI-IE BIBLE! that blessed volume, which suits every
taste but a corrupt one; which teaches nothing but
truth and virtue, and opposes nothing but error and
sin; that emanation of God's own mind, and therefore pure as the mind that produced it; whose plain
lessons no man can follow without becoming Godlike,
and no country could obey without becoming an
Eden; that book has ever been the object of Rome's
relentless hate-cursed from the altar, burned by
the hangman, and its readers butchered by thousands!
What Pope has not hurled his anathemas against it?
It was one of the last acts of the late pontiff, and
one of the first acts of the present one, to write
1" Encyclical Letters" against it.  Even the "liberal" Dr. Doyle compared Bible Societies, for mis
chief, to Whiteboy societies, and the Bible itself to
the works of Rousseau; and loudly extolled a certain man for having buried in the earth a Bible that
had been given him! And not to weary the reader
with proofs which we might furnish from every county,
let them take the following sample of the harangues
of the Irish priests against it. Preaching before
Dr. M'Hale and a number of his clergy; and choosing, no doubt, the theme most grateful to sacerdotal
ears, Friar Jennings thus exclaims:-" As the
poison of Bible information is fast falling and spreading, in this parish particularly, you ought, by all
means possible, to put a stop to the machinations of
these heretics; for assuredly any one who practises
the reading of the Bible will inevitably fall into




118            THE GRAND CAUSE.
everlasting destruction.  Why would you permit
persons who bring with them the worst of all pestilence, the infectious pestilence of the Bible, which
would entail on yourselves and your children the
everlasting ruin of your souls?  They who send
their children to schools where the Scriptures are
read, do give their children bound in chains to the
devil!""
Is it strange that our country is filled with darkness and crime, whose very altars ring with such
heaven-daring blasphemy?  This blessed book is so
pure and holy, that it is easy enough to account for
the hatred which devils and wicked men feel against
it.  Hence it has ever been the chief ground of conflict between the servants of light and the legions
of darkness. And in this fearful struggle we have
ranged on one side, prophets and apostles, and the
world's brightest worthies  and on the other, the
entire brood of infidels and criminals, from Voltaire
to the vilest wretch that ever rotted in the purlieus
of vice. Well, here we have this " Church of God"
leading this crusade against the book of Godl, and
ranged with Paine against Paul, with Julian against
Jesus, with the scum of the earth against its very
salt. And what is the plea for this deadly hatred?
Because it is obscure and misleads the people! So,
then, the effect of a book all tutht is to deceive, and
of a volume all cdivinze is to damn! And He who
can neither err nor deceive, gave it to us in the full
Protestant Penny Magazine, No. xxvii. p. 39.




ROME ECLIPSES THE HMIIND.         119
foreknowledge that it would thus mislead us, and
the better to insure our ruin, commands us to read
it; and His priests must step in to arrest the rash
production, and save His cause from being destroyed
by H-:imself!  Why, if there was one shred of honesty in this plea, then should every chapel resound
with expositions, and every parish teem with commentaries on it.  Yet you will travel days without
finding amongst their flocks even a Douay Bible
with their own notes; and be tired of life ere you
hear of a course of lectures on the gospel from  a
single altar.  Nay, their own primate Cullen rages
against those who would circulate it as "Bible
hawkers," and their own organ, the "Tablet," raves
about the places where it is circulated as "hells
opened!"  But this plea has not even the merit of
ingenuity.  No man can follow its plain directions
without becoming virtuous; and this is to misunderstand it! The nursery child whose eye glistens
delighted at its stories, unconsciously testifies that
it has reached that highest climax of simplicity,
plainness enough for the infant mind; and this is to
be unintelligible! What if, after all, its real fault
is this very simplicity?  Had it been filled with
such foolish jargon as the Breviary, or the Lives of
Saints, it might not have been so much hated by
those champions of plainness, who offer the very
prayers of the altar in an unknown tongue.  It is
not the spots but the splendor of the morning sun
* John v. 39.




120            THE GRAND CAUSE.
that makes him feared and shunned by the birds
of night; and the Bible's true crime in the eyes
of Rome, is not its obscurity but its celestial clearness.
Again, who can help admiring the matchless device of a CHRISTIAN MINISTRY, and the moral power
of a gospel pulpit; or contrasting the Christ-like
pastor with the pagan priest, and the divine service
of the Christian church with the mummeries of a
heathen fane?   Mark that man of God, moving
through his flock a living sample of holiness; on
Sabbath teaching truth divine, and through the
week exemplifying it:
"The man whose heart is warm,
Whose hands are pure, whose doctrine and whose life
Coincident, exhibit lucid proof
That he is honest in the sacred cause,"
Now, turn we from  this charming picture to the
Irish priest and altar.  Taken usually from  the
lowest of the people, and often from turning the
spit or tending cattle not their own, the Maynooth
students are rude enough samples of the Zignuzn
sacerdotis.  You would say they have but one
chance of becoming educated men and gentlemen,
and that is found in the college they attend. WTell:
that college is usually Maynooth. In its cells they
are immured-their books a few monkish authors,
their companions, youths as raw as themselves-and
there, as best they can, they must form their man



ROME ECLIPSES THE MIND.           121
ners on the one, and their minds on the other.
There they are trained in the casuistries of Bailly,
the subtleties of Delahogue, and the legends of Butler;-the first of these being a' book so vile, that
Napoleon himself prohibited its use; and if this is
one of Rome's sacred books, what must be her profane ones? There they are taught that Torquemada
was a saint, and A'Becket a martyr, and the world's
brightest worthies detestable heretics.  And, after
a course of training, devised with fearful skill, to
shrivel the mind and wither the heart, in which
bigotry can scarce help blackening into fanaticism,
forth they are poured like a fiery flood from  this' spiritual vomitory," to spread ignorance and error
through the land.  Forth comes the scion of Maynoothl -how different even from the "continental"
priest!-a sad instance of the intoxicating effects
of shallow draughts from  the Pierian spring, to
bluster and swagger through some hapless parish,
and perhaps swear at and horsewhip some degraded
flock.
You deem this picture colored?  Could you only
hear some of those gems of literature which issue
from hundreds of Irish altars, you would condemn
it for its dulness. If any hapless parishioner has
failed to pay his dues, or otherwise incurred the
wrath of his priest, woe to that person; for if anything can be said against his fair name, the congregation are most likely to be edified with it all.  We
have known even the Under garments of the females




122.TITE GRAND CAUSE.
to be attacked, for want of a better theme.  If a
landlord is to be denounced, or if an election is approaching in which an obnoxious candidate must be
opposed, the work is done in the house of prayer,
the better to screen the instigator from public justice. Who has not heard of the altar advice, once
deliberately given to a congregation, to kidnap the
Protestant electors and confine them until after the
election? and " if," added the priest, " any one meets
you and asks you what you are doing, tell them you
are hunting cornerakes!"  Another priest declared
that the lady who kept the farm-school already noticed, was nightly visited by infernal spirits; another, that devils were swarming in the rafters of the
house of a Scripture reader named Davern, and
that he had seen them there himself; while a third
assured his flock that Satan had been seen rising out
of Lough Corrib- his whole body, from his " enormous head" to his " ponderous tail" being made of
stirabout, and that therefore if they would not withdraw their children from Mr. Dallas's schools, they
might in the stirabout they got there eat his " satanic
majesty" himself unawares.~  Such outrageous effusions are multitudes doomed to receive as their
Sabbcath instructions-not even "stones" instead of
"bread," but "serpents" instead of "fish."  That
blessed engine, the pup/it, is perverted into one of
mischief; the very conduits of the waters of life are
thus by Satan seized and poisoned; and yet you
X Gregg's Visit to Connemara, p. 13,




ROME ECLIPSES THE MIND.           123
wonder how  our countrymen's hearts are so depraved, and their minds so degraded.
But even these are trifling samples.  A flourishing Presbyterian mission exists in Mayo.  During
the horrors of 1847, the priest of the district assured the people that the famine was sent them as a
judgment for tolerating the "missionaries."   One
of them reminded his flock that it was the north
wind which usually blasted their potato stalks; and
declared that not a single potato would grow in Connaught till the "northern heretics" were expelled.
The curate of Ballycastle asserted that "not till
pearls would grow in his boots," would they otherwise expect the potatoes to return. Another declared from the altar that Mr. Brannigan was not a
human being, but "one of the fallen angels" who
had assumed the appearance of a man; and threatened that unless the people removed their children
from the mission schools, he would turn one half of
them  "into hares, and the other into hounds, and
thus amuse the country gentlemen with a first-rate
hunt." And such fears did the poor people entertain, lest this metamorphose should actually take
place, that they were only induced to let their children remain at the schools by Mr. Brannigan promising, that if the priest turned them into hounds and
hares, he would restore them to the human form!*
You say such cases are rare-we assert they are of
* Mr. Brannigan's speech before the Irish General Assembly in 1847.




124            THE GRAND CAUSE.
constant occurrence; and we are only amazed at the
ignorance which at this time of day would question
their prevalence.  Why, miracles themselves are
every-day events amongst us; and what wonder, if,
when France is blessed with its Rose Tamisiers, and
Italy with its winking virgins, " Catholic Ireland"
should be vouchsafed some celestial manifestations?
You say the priests do not attempt such things
in England?  What! amongst such obstinate heretics, who would only laugh and cry delusion! —
who sneer even at those miracles which Newman
himself has just countersigned; and won't so much
as believe that St. Anthony did sail to Russia on a
mill-stone, and St. Denis, when decapitated, carried
his head in his hand for miles! But Ireland is a
land of the faithful. And so she is honored with
such miracles as the " Estatica" of Youghal, and the
devil cast out of men in the shape of a crow! And
from  Lough Derg to Googan Barra, from  Croagh
Patrick to Carrigaline she is covered with wells and
hills, over which, of course, priests are the presiding
geniuses, and which dispense blessings of every kind.
In these the blind receive their sight, the lame walk;
every form of malady flies; and when the cure fails,
want of faith is of course the reason. What, though
other lands rejoice in their protecting relies; though
to oblige the faithful, the angel Gabriel has given a
feather from his wing; the Virgin Mary a bottle
of her milk; and the blessed Saviour has so multiplied his coat, that you have one at Treves, another




ROMIE ECLIPSES THE MIND.         125
at Rome, and half-a-dozen elsewhere; and each
apostle has kindly left his head in so many different
places, that if all his heads were collected, he would
have at least as many as the great Red Dragon  --
what, though by reason doubtless of our propinquity
to heretic England, we are denied such blessings,
and have not so much as an apostolic toe-nail, or
rotten tooth to bow down to,-with our miracleworking priests, we can manage to get on without
them.  If our fishermen want a good fishing season,
they have but to send for the priest; and for the
small charge of 2s. for blessing a boat, and 2s. 6d.
for blessing a net, they may have as many miraculous draughts as they please. When a pig or a cow
takes ill, let the priest be paid for saying a mass or
two, and if the owner has faith enough, the animal
is sure to recover. Nay, if you want every form of
goblin kept at a respectful distance, only get some
"holy water" or " blessed clay" from the priest; and
there is not an inhabitant of the infernal world that
will not fly before you!
Such are a few specimens of the teachings and
practices of our Irish priests. And now, we ask,
what can you produce worse amongst the jugglers of
India, or the fetish priests of Africa?  Yet these
are but specimens-we are prepared with many as
bad, if challenged to produce them.  To what utter
prostration must these men have reduced their people's minds, before they could believe or tolerate
* Seymour's Pilgrimage to Rome.




126            THE GRAND CAUSE.
such imposture! And if Rome can so besot and
kill the finest mind as to have in a few years transformed Newman himself into a devout believer in
her most drivelling legends, what mntst be the effect
on our countrymen of a system which thus at once
excludes the truth and teaches such impudent falsehoods?  Or what mind could help sinking into utter
decrepitude when thus deprived of its proper aliment, and fed instead on a compound of trash and
poison, such as never yet has failed to benight and
stupefy the finest race that has ever been exposed to
its blasting power?
SECULAR KNOWLEDGE. -We have seen that Ireland does not know her alphabet, and that in every
parish the ignorance deepens as Rome prevails.
Now, the omnipotence of the priesthood is their
own loudest boast.  Until very lately, they ruled
the country-the government itself was obedient to
their will-and from the centre of their respective
parishes they were virtually able to look around
and exclaim, "I am  monarch of all I survey."
Then surely no one will doubt that such men, who
could drive their people like sheep to the hustings,
and through the worst of the famine keep the Repeal chest full, could have planted the country thick
with seminaries, and Pmade Ireland the glory instead
of the shame of the age.  When have they ever
once so employed their powers?  They have not
been slow to wield them in other directions; but




ROME ECLIPSES THE MIND.          127
where are the libraries they have formed, or the
lectures they have founded?  They have raised
millions for political objects; how much have they
raised for literary ones?  They have formed scores
of societies for agitation and mischief; point out
one they have ever projected for the mental improvement of the masses? Why, all that has ever been
done to elevate their own people has been effected
by Protestants; and the only share the priests have
had in each movement, has been to give it their
most determined opposition.  When an effort has
been made by industrial schools to send a few rays
of light into those benighted western regions, of
which for ages they have held undisturbed possession, they manifest a fury which proves but too
clearly how they " hate its beams," and tremble at
the approach of the schoolmaster.  One female
teacher the  author saw  in  a dangerous fever,
brought on by a priest entering her school, and
flogging the terrified children.  Lately a Ballina
priest was prosecuted for beating a poor widow on
the head because her child attended an industrial
school; and you may see, in a late " Tyrawvley
Heralcl," a long letter from his pen in defence, and
even laudation, of the horsewhip, as one of the
choicest implements  of ecclesiastical discipline.
And when a Scotch merchant established a similar school in Westport, from which the Bible was
wholly excluded, the priests never rested till they
destroyed it.  National schools have been offered




128            THE GRAND CAUSE.
them, giving them " complete control," yet numbers
have refused to accept them: many who at first
adopted them, did so in a great measure out of opposition to those Protestant ministers who were unfriendly to the National Board; the more sagacious
have long seen that these schools are springing a
mine beneath their feet, and would gladly close
them if they could; and as the best proof of this,
every means are employed, from the thunders of the
Vatican to the decrees of Thurles, to destroy those
Queen's Colleges, which are founded on the very
samne lrinciples.
You reply, there are many exceptions. Of course
there are; yet, perhaps, not so many as you think.
Do you not observe, kind reader, that our few
priestly patrons of learning are chiefly found in
Protestant districts-that their schools are frequently commenced after the Protestant ones, and
as frequently cease when, from any cause, the latter
are given up; that we never heard a word of a Popish University till cafer the Queen's Colleges were
established; and that some of the worst enemies
of our industrial schools are now establishing similar ones, as the only hope left them of wiling their
children away from us? Yes; and if the Ulster
Roman Catholic is more enlightened than his Connaught brother, think you it is Popery he has to
thank for it?  Can you really doubt the doom that
would have befallen him, had he been cradled in
those western regions where Popery reigns, and




ROME ECLIPSES THE MIND.          129
with it mental "1 chaos and old night;" or be at any
loss to know what the Connaught priests would do
for Ulster, did they possess the power?
But, of course, it is not in these islands, where
Rome's constant restlessness proves how fettered she
feels, that you are to look for her genuine character.
Go to those dominions where she " sits a queen," and
the prince does homage to the priest; and where has
she ever gained the ascendency that her first step
has not been to extinguish the lig-hts?  Go to her
capital, and see the vast machinery there constantly
employed to stifle the free utterances of mind.  Behold that " conclave of owls," the Congregation of
the Index, ready to pounce on every author who
would dare think for himself, and consign him to the
Inquisition for the good of his soul.
By that ghostly tribunal has the traveller's portmanteau been ransacked.  In their expurgatory and
prohibitory index, the first book proscribed is the
Word of God! And while you search it in vain for
the vilest productions, you see in its dark catalogue
such matchless works as those of Locke and Bacon,
Addison and Hale, Cowper and Young, Mosheirm
and Robertson!  Instructive contrast, truly, between Rome and England! Earth's most illustrious
authors the one rears and the other proscribes.
True, painting and sculpture have flourished under
Rome, and there is a good reason.  Such men as
Raphael and Angelo were this giant enslaver's best
servants, by filling her cathedrals with that charm9




130           THE GRAND CAUSE.
ing " drapery," which spell-binds the ignorant devotee; for none knows better than Rome how to speak
to the senses by the statued aisle, and the painted
window, and the Gothic edifice.  Painting and sculpture were therefore smiled on by Rome; but under
such patronage, they have been well compared to
beautiful captives chained to the chariot-wheels of
somle Ethiopian divinity.* But look to the history
of other sciences, and Rome has been little better
than their jailor. How often have her police mounted guard at the astronomer's door, and watched even
the inspirations of the poet! It was this infallible
church which persecuted Harvey for discovering the
circulation of the blood; beat Prinella with rods for
saying the stars would not fall; and seven times
tortured Camparella for asserting there was a multitude of worlds.  Yet this is the church which Paul
Cullen has had the effrontery, in his Drogheda manifesto, to pronounce the very light and civilizer of
nations! —a church which, in the name of Paul, imprisoned Columbus for saying there was a new world;
and, in the name of Joshua, imprisoned Galileo for
the blasphemous assertion that the earth moved.
Why, she has been the grand impediment to the
world's progress. Long was medicine doomed to
see inoculation classed among the mortal sins; long
had surgery to beware of making one heretical incision; spectre monks have haunted the geologist in
the bowels of the earth, and dogged the geographer
* Wylie on the Papacy.




ROME ECLIPSES THE MIND.         131
on its surface:-the earth herself durst not go round
until she got leave from the LPope; and had Georgium Sidus appeared but a century sooner than he
did, he would no doubt have been anathematized for
his profane intrusion.  In comparison to Rome, infidelity is a patron of light:-the disciples of Voltaire at least think —those of "the church" must
simply believe; infidel France is a land of authorsPopish Spain a land of ignorance. Mohammedanism itself is more friendly to learning-the arts
flourished in Arabia, and Spain owed her greatness
to the Moors.  Nay, even Paganism cries out against
the injustice of being here classed with Popery:Rome, once the seat of learning, is now its sepulchre;
-the muses have long fled from their ancient Italian
haunts, and in every part of that classic land the stranger meets the r-uitns of Pagan greatness; and the Forum, which once rung with the inspirations of Tully,
now resounds with the babble of ignorant monks.
Such, then, is the system beneath which Ireland
groans,-a system  which, for darkness, leaves heathenism behind, makes the office of teactcer a burlesque on the name, and gives the infidel ground to
say, that the mythology of Greece or Egypt is more
friendly to knowledge than the religion of Jesus, and
that in this respect Peter can but ill compare with
Osiris or Olympian Jove. Surely, then, we have
sufficiently accounted for Ireland's ignorance. Beneath a system which has for centuries "squatted
like a night hag" on the energies of Europe, is it any




l32            THE GRAND CAUSE.
wonder she should suffer so deep an eclipse?-a
system which, wherever it has swayed its sable
seeptre, has turned back the sunbeams of light
on the dials of the world! And lest there should
remain the least doubt on the subject, she has herself of late been kindly doing much to help the
feeblest faith.  Those " dark ages," which men blush
to remember, she now openly parades as the very
glory of history.  The most peerless volumes of
modern times, she avows her desire to supersede
with the fables of mediseval monks. Her long-buried
trumpery is exhumed; her obsolete calendars are reproduced; her silliest fooleries ostentatiously paraded; and St. Lawrence O'Toole is invoked in her
public gatherings.  Yes, and it is the moment when
the whole world is rushing on at its highest speed,
amidst the blaze of the nineteenth century, that her
priests, like creatures of night, would choose to crawl
back into the dungeons of the twelfth, and are doing
their very utmost to drag the nations after them.
CHAPTER II.
ROME CORRUPTS THE CONSCIENCE.
WE have proved that sin mZust bring ruin, and
virtue prosperity. It was sin that blasted paradise;
that scathed the earth; that burned up Sodom;




ROME CORRUPTS THE CONSCIENCE.        133
that drowned the world; that kindled hell; above
all, that crucified the Saviour.  Sin is that hideous
thing which has turned angels into demons; comes
sounding up from the depths of hell in the wailings
of the lost; and could not be forgiven till the sword
of justice was quenched in the bosom of mercy, and
the Lord of glory had borne such punishment as
none but Omnipotence could inflict —or bear. No
wonder, truly, if a God all virbte should evince his
supreme abhorrence of a thing so dreadful; and if
his entire administration should aim at its destruction. So to arrest this fell thing all providence and
grace conspire: but to spread it with all its miseries
is Satan's constant aim. Therefore, the religion which
conduces most to virtue, must most accord with tile
laws of God and the interests of man; while that
which would relax the obligations of the divine law,
must needs be a traitor to God, and a curse to man.
Now, what has been the tendency of Rome? 
Reemember that virtue is man's normal state, and
vice his abnormal; the one his healthy condition,
the other his disease; the one, in short, his greatest
blessing, and the other his greatest curse.  Therefore, to be absolved from virtue were his greatest
calamity, and the religion that would pretend to
absolve from it, must be his worst foe. And yet the
grand aim  of Rome's theology seems to be, to get
rid of that intolerable burden, virtue, which forms
the heaven of saints and angels.




134            THE, GRAND CAUSE.
HEER PRINCIPLES.-Fiirst, The doctrine of venial
sins proclaims the vast majority of man's transgressions to be undeserving of a hell at all.  A little of
penance or of purgatory suffices to expiate them,
and even these can be vastly mitigated by prayers
and payments.   Then as to the few qno'tal sins
which remain, the transgressor need feel no uneasiness; for his church has provided so many facilities
of pardon, that not even. the vilest wretch can perish,
who is not bent on his own destruction.  As oft as
h1e pleases he can repair to the confessional, and
return as pure as the virgin snow.  Nor is it at the
confessional merely he may be cleansed; all along
the road of life, fountains of purification are placed
at convenient distances.  Scarce has he emerged
from the womb, when baptism makes him an "infant
cherub."  Confirmation in due time cleanses the
"sins of his youth."  Every Sunday he may partake of the eucharist; and no sooner does he swallow the "wafer-god," than his title to the skies is
renewed.  And as his whole way through life is
thus carefully guarded, so at the hour of death
extreme unction comes "to lubricate his passage
into eternity." Nay, lest by possibility these nulnerous safeguards should prove insufficient, the realms
of purgatory stretch away beyond the grave. 3Moreover, not only may the sinner obtain pardon for past,
but license for ftcure sins.  From the days of Tetzel, who made Europe an indulgence-shop, the privilege of committing the blackest crimes has been




ROME CORRUPTS THE CONSCIENCE.    135
bought at Rome's spiritual bazaar.  Simon Magus,
in his "iniquity," thought to purchase the gift of
God with money; but here Simon Peter is made to
leave him far behind, by selling sin itself for gold.
The commandments of God have been set up to
auction, and the luxury of breaking them sold to the
highest bidder.  We ask, What must needs be the
effect of such a system, by which poor human nature
is not even left to its own corrupt tendencies, but
God himself is made to hold out premiums and
incentives to sin?  How is it possible for Popish
lands to escape being red with crime, and foul with
pollution? Some wretch is tempted to do a deed
of blood; while yet he hesitates, conscience remonstrates, reason condemns, and the looming gibbet
grimly frowns on the half-formed design.  But,
amidst this array of stern remonstrants, one kind
friend appears, and whispers a more accommodating
morality-tells him, that if man is severe, God at
least is indulgent, and has empowered himn to pardon the darkest crimes that ever judge condemned,
and send to heaven the foulest criminal that ever
justice sent to the gallows. Is this a colored picture?  Then is all history a fable.  Deeds have
been done. beneath Rome's fostering shade, from
which even corrupt nature recoils; the civil power
has often had to protect public virtue from  the
ecclesiastical; and iniquity has often fled to the
priest for shelter from the policeman, and found a
sanctuary by the altar from the terrors of the bench.




136            THE GRAND CAUSE.
You,say the priest admonishes the confessor? —
what cares he for all his lectures if pardon forms
the closing sentence?  Now, surely this alone would
sufficiently account for Ireland's crowded jails and
loaded calendars.  But lest we should wrong this
system, let us turn for a moment from its principles
to its practice.
HER, PRIESTHOOD.-If there is any good in a
religion, it will, of course, be found in its ministers.
They are at once its exponents and examples. In
them it lives and breathes as its visible embodiment.
And if. in all times and places, the majority of them
have been good or bad, this alone stamps the character of the system; and ever nmst, till grapes grow
on thorns, and figs on thistles.  Besides, it is reasonable to think that Christ's ministers should be
Christ-like-that the servants of the Holy One
should themselves be holy-especially if their very
work is the spread of holiness.  Would it not be
monstrous to suppose that the thrice-holy Jehovah,
"'who cannot even look upon sin," would freely
admit its approach to his alta-r, and appoint) as
"e2saCfnzless to his flock," men who are a disgrace to
hiuman nature?  Do we not find, on the contrary,
that his prophets and apostles were men of the
most heavenly minids, C" full of faith and of the Holy
Ghost?"
Now, what is the character of the Irish priest?
Surely he must be the purest of men who is admit



ROME CORRUPTS THE CONSCIENCE.    1.37
ted daily to God's inmost pavilion, to learn the
secrets of the invisible world; to whom are entrusted the keys, and even the thunders of heaven; nay,
who multiplies at will the body, soul, and divinity
of his Maker.  At least, of all ministers he should
be the most spotless.  The Roman Catholic has no
other evidence but his word of the existence of a
purgatory5 whether his parent is there, whether he
is escaping, or when he escapes; nor no other guarantee but his faithfulness for the right performance
of those ceremonies on which his own eternal safety
hangs.  All depends upon the priest -— the divine
authority of the " church" on his veracity-the salvation of the people on his fidelity.  In a word, on
that man's single shoulders rest the tremendous
responsibilities which attach to the keepership of
the gates of heaven.  Would you not expect such a
man to be as bright a saint as Noah, Daniel, or Job
-to be the very image and reflection of Christ
himself? Well, we have already seen a little of his
character-how he can handle the horsewhip, and
burn the Bible.  And let the reader remember,
that of his conduct in these matters we have given
the most meagre samples. Such an everyday affair,
for instance, is priestly opposition to the Bible, that
if you ask the children of our mission-schools who
hates it most, they answer, " The devil;" and if you
ask, Who next to the devil, they at once reply,
"The priest!"'   Even the American ambassador,
* Gregg's "Visit to Erris," p. 34.




138            THE GRAND CAUSE.
on his late visit of kindness, could not allude to
the blessings that volume had conferred on his own
glorious country, but forth comes a growl from St.
Jarlaths, and the Popish papers suppress the sentiment.
But we have other charges still to prefer. There
are few precepts of the decalogue with which the
Irish priest has not taken liberties. Profane swearing, that lowest of vices confined to the very canaille;
that vernacular of the ring and the cock-pit, is by no
means uncommon amongst them.  One of our missionaries, who met a priest on a Relief committee in
1847, was obliged to threaten him with exposure if
he did not desist from blaspheming; adcl never was
it the author's lot to listen to such a torrent of oaths
as Priest Timlin poured forth during the riot at
Ballymaciola. Yes, and though his entire conduct
on that occasion was the theme of every newspaper,
not a whisper of disapproval was ever known to be
breathed by priest or bishop over broad Ireland.
His brethren clung around him  during his whole
trial; and to this hour he rejoices in the undiminished sunshine of his own diocesan's favor.
We fear we can say as little for the temperance
of the Irish priesthood.  Indeed, the " jolly priest"
is a stereotyped phrase amongst us; and the scenes
which are sometimes enacted amongst these reverend symposiasts, are said to be of the most extraordinary description.  On such occasions, not much
respect is shown for the glasses or decanters, and




ROME CORRUPTS THE CONSCIENCE.        139
sometimes little more for each other.  We have it
on the best authority, that a dance on the table is
nothing new, and that even to be under the table, is
by no means uuncommon.  Nor do they always confine themselves to midnight convivialities; the sun
often looks on their frailties; and their flocks have
occasionally to help them home from a fair.  In the
open street of Killalla, one of themn in this deplorable state got hold of the Rev. Mr. Rogers, and actually kissed him, as the preface to some request he
was going to make!
Again, a disregard of truth has been an old feature of Rome.  To her belongs an entire order,
who have " reduced scheming to a system, and wear
the mask by rule;" who unblushingly avow that not
only truth, but every other moral obligation, must
yield to the " interests of the church:" and the immortal Pascal has taught us how well they have exemplified this iniquitous doctrine. There is not a
crime in the dark lists of perdition, that the "Society of Jesus" have not over and over again committed, for the glory of God and the good of men's
souls! Yet the Jesuits are Rome's best-beloved
agents; and numberless bulls and decrees demonstrate how generally she has practised their tenets.
That meanett of vices, lying,-that grand auxiliary
of all other vices; of which the Devil is, by preeminence, called "the father;" and to be charged
with which even worldly men count the foulest insult; has been the favorite vice of the infallible




t40            THE GRAND CAUSE.
church. From her earliest days to this very hour,
when she has just absolved Joseph of Austria and
Ferdinand of Naples from their most solemn  oaths
to their subjects, oaths have been but straws to
Rome; she has laughed at the most sacred pledges,
and in almost all her standards. from the decrees of
the Lateran to the class-books of Maynooth, has
openly taught that truth must never stand in the way
of the "church's" interests.  Here is, perhaps, the
worst feature of the system, indicating but too clearly its paternity.  You see it in its every doctrineenough of truth to make its lies go down with the
ignorant.  You see it in all its practice —seldom the
fiat lie, but one masked beneath some shuffle or quibble, designed as a loophole in case of detection. Instance her denial, in the face of all fact, that she
forbids the use of the Scriptures, on the miserable
plea, that any one may read them who has a license
from his priest! Instance the pitiful Jesuitism of
the Popish bishop of Clifton, in the case of Miss
Talbot, and of Wiseman himself, in the matter of
the cardinal's oath, as thoroughly exposed by Dr.
Cumming.  Indeed, the brazen audacity with which
the Popish priests can put forth the grossest untruths, could scarcely be credited by those who do
not know them. Priest Walsh, of the glens of Antrim, cursed from the altar the miller already noticed, and several others, for acting as Irish teachers; and yet, immediately after, proclaimed through
all Scotland that there was not an Irish teacher in




ROME CORRUPTS THE CONSCIENCE.        141
that whole neighborhood! In the case of the Miltown riots, not only did the parish priest publish in
the papers the grossest untruths  but the attorney
for the defence, who himself had no peculiar interest in the matter, sent the Cork Excaminzer a report
of the trial, containing at least FIFTY falsehoods,
and in which, besides a long speech from himself
which had never been spoken, he makes several witnesses depose to the reverse of what they actually
did swear.  Yet even these are but trifles.  It is a
common remark in Ireland, that no Popish jury will
convict a Popish priest, nor Roman Catholic witness
testify against him; and not much wonder, if he can
send them to heaven or hell at his pleasure.  In the
trial of Priest Timlin, one unhappy wretch, when
being sworn, was detected putting the book to his
chin; in the belief that, if he could avoid kissing it,
he was not sworn at all.  Another swore, first, that
he could speak no English, then, that Mr. Johnston,
who could speak no Irish, had a long conversation
with hinm about attending the service at Ballymaciola! The charge against the priest was established
so clearly, that the barrister, himself a Roman
Catholic, while charging the jury, administered to
hini the severest castigation, assuming, as a matter
of course, that he would be convicted; yet the jLry,
in the full knowledge of all the facets before they entered the box at all-for the outrage took place in
the neighborhood-at once acquitted the prisoner.
Nay, what is still more instructive, this was univer



142            THE GRAND CAUSE.
sally expected before the trial commenced at all.
" As soon as I see who the jury are," said a Roman
Catholic attorney, engaged in the prosecution, to the
author, " I'll tell you whether you'll get a verdict;"
and the instant they were sworn he whispered again,
"You may make up your mind you'll get no verdict!"
It is needless here to speak of the blessings of
the Sabbath-that heavenly institution so worthy
of God and beneficial to man.  It is enough to say,
that wherever it is abolishedl, true religion expires.
The system, therefore, that would destroy or weaken
its obligations deals a fatal stab to the best interests
of man.  Yet by the priesthood of Ireland the first
day of the week is made the hack of the other six.
If there is to be any political meeting, the Sabbath
is preferred as being an idle day.  At a great " Sunday Demonstration" held in Tipperary in 1847,
Archdeacon Laffan ridiculed the hyypocrisy of some
who had sufficient conscience left to decline attending
on that day.  And the largest procession we ever
beheld, got up to welcome O'Connell to Cork after
his victory in the State prosecutions, and reckoned
to contain seventy thousand individuals, took place
on the Lord's day, by the appointment of the priests 
and in order to give the entire day to it, they announced on the previous Sabbath, that mass usually
over at noon would that day end at eight in the
morning.  WVe have seen a priest in Connaught
coolly superintending his laborers in the field on the




ROME CORRUPTS THE CONSCIENCE.        143
Sabbath.  And another in the same province, not
only publicly advertised the auction of his crops for
that day, but actually held a raffle in his chapel after
"Sunday mass," having previously distributed lottery tickets of which the following is a copy:-" To
be raffled by the Rev. Arthur O'Dwyer at Athenry,
on Sunday the 18th of IMay, 1851, a beautiful lever
watch.  The proceeds of the raffle to go to the repairs of the Newcastle chapel.  Tickets, one shilling
each!"
So much has been said by others on priestly violations of the seventh comamandment, that we are
disposed to omit that branch of our mournful subject.  The first revealed remark ever made on man
by God was, "It is not good for man to be alone,"
and all experience proclaims its infinite justness.
WVe cannot imagine a more satanic device than that
which cuts off the Romish clergy from the softening
and refining intercourse of woman.  But if there is
anything in their church worse than celibacy, it is
the diabolic contrivance of the confessional.  That
single device sends its blasting influence in all directions, and in none more fearfully than in that of the
priest himself.  Oh, how that man is to be pitied
who is continually exposed to the corruptions of the
confession-box, and whose mind is the very cesspool
into which the abominations of a whole parish are
constantly running! But if even one of these devices is so dreadful, what must be the combined influence of both?  Think of a young, full, hot-blooded




144             THE GRAND CAUSE.
priest daily encountering in his confession-box trembling youth and beauty, perhaps some one in particular, the poison of whose eyes he may have unconsciously imbibed, and whom, if he dare, he would
make his virtuous wife.  " I will suppose him a saint
-unable to fly, he apparently groans, sighs, recommends himself to God; but if he is only a man, he
shudders, desires, and already without knowing it,
perhaps he hopes. She arrives, kneels down at his
knees before him, whose heart palpitates.  You are
young, or you have been so; between ourselves,
what do you think of such a situation? Alone most
of the time, and having these walls, these vaulted
roofs as sole witnesses, they talk-of what?  Alas,
of all that is not innocent.  They talk or rather
murmur in low voice, and their lips approach each
other, and their breaths mingle.  This lasts for an
hour or more, and is often renewed."x  And the
subject of conversation, such as could not elsewhere
be hinted at! The priest bound to put suggestive
questions enough to pollute even angelic purity, and
the penitent bound to answer them; the Roliish
doctors having ruled that concealment from a motive
"so vain" as modesty " would be sacrilege." t  All
* Paul Lewis Courrier.
j Not only Dens but Delahogue and Bailly, Maynoothl's
recognized class-books, contain questions so execrable that
no man of the least delicacy could repeat them. Dens,
vols. i., iv., vii., passio7; Bailly, ii. pp. 228, 229, iv. p. 483;
Delahogue, Tract. De Pen., pp. 164, 169.




ROME CORRUPTS THE CONSCIENCE.        145
this done in the name of holiness!  Why, to say
that corrupt nature could stand such an ordeal, outrages common sense.  To say that it has done so
belies all history. From the pontiff to the coadjutor, the priesthood of Rome have in all ages revelled
in debauchery.  The Vatican has been turned into a
seraglio; and as for the humble cur6e his flock has
often compelled him to live in concubinage as a protection to society i While nunneries —those " sacred
retreats" from  which, according to M' Hale, "the
odor of sanctity and virtue is diffused-'lhave ever
been such scenes of pollution, that even so late as
1845, Mr. Seymour found that four nuns were enceinte in one convent at Rome.*  Can we izmagine
then. that the Irish priest, his brethren's equal in all
other vices, should be their superior in this alone?
Alas, despite a system of secrecy fearfully perfect,
their impurity too often transpires.  But for the
sake of a country which, notwithstanding their corrupting influence, still bears a high character for
chastity, we refuse to lift the veil.
In truth, we are weary of the subject, and shall
only add, that on the Irish priesthood are directly
ehargeable mlany of those outrages which disgrace
our country.  Many a man besides Major Mahon
has proved the victim of altar harangues; and while
the wretched dupes of priestly instigation have perished on the scaffold, and now sleep in the grave of
infamy, those who in heaven's eyes are the real mur* Pilgrimage to Rome, p. 187.
10




146            THE GRAND CAUSE.
derers still walk at large and disturb the country.
Our missionaries are often obliged to prosecute their
poor dupes for outrage; and yet while doing so, are
painfully sensible that they are not touching the
real culprits; they feel the presence of the priest
like the great tempter in every scene of riot they
encounter, yet like him he is invisible and eludes
their grasp! Keeping always out of " shot range"
himself, his part is to instigate —that of his flock to
do and suffer.  Instance the abortive rebellion of
1848. For with all their zeal, the Irish priests have
never shown much taste for fines and imprisonments,
and seem in no wise ambitious for the honors of
martyrdom. Assassination itself, they have all but
lauded. Archdeacon Laffan, in the meeting aforementioned, pronounced " John Bull" too great a
coward to shoot a man from  behind a hedge; and
when the altar denunciations of'47 became so frequent as to engage the attention of parliament, and
draw forth some letters to M'Hale from  English
noblemen, he not only defended his priests in characteristic terms, but called on one of the writers to
put on sackcloth for daring to interfere, and to "weep
between the porch and the, altar."  Now, who that
considers the power of the priesthood can wonder at
the crimes which follow such conduct, or doubt that
if they so pleased our country would enjoy tranquillity?  It was in this full conviction that when, in
the above-mentioned year, a certain district began to
be disturbed, some of the people met and resolved,




ROME CORRUPTS THE CONSCIENCE.    147
that if any belonging to it was shot, they would shoot
the priest by way of reprisal. The effect was surprising.  No more thunder pealed from the altarno more threatening letters reached the post-office
-the happiest change seemed to have come over
priest and people-and tranquillity reigned in the
parish!
Such, then, is a brief sketch of the Irish priesthood.  We have no doubt its correctness will be
impugned: but this will only be an additional proof
of our charge, that Rome will deny anything when it
suits her purpose.  In ignorant circles, her priests
have been known to deny the existence of the Inquisition, and to pronounce the Bartholomew massacre
a vile slander.  Doubtless many of the Irish priests
are moral men, especially in Protestant districts;
for Rome distributes her troops with consummate
skill; and as she has ever had her Murrays for the
court, and her M'Eales for the mob, so has she always assigned her more upright priests to the Protestant localities, and those of more dubious character to the Popish. But to the foregoing statements
we defy contradiction, and none know this better
than themselves. Why should this sketch be deemed
incorrect?  Are the priesthood of any other land
much better; and are they not worse where the
shade of Popery is the deepest?  Rome, its capital,
has ever been a den of priestly corruption, and the
"Vicars of Christ" have been foremost in guilt.
Baronius, himlself a cardinal, declares that they




148            THE GRAND CAUSE.
4' were not pontiffs, but monsters;  and proves the
charge by facts with which we must not pollute our
pages.  In the " church's" palmiest days, the priests
enjoyed exemption from the dominion of the laws,
and verily they required it; for crimes that would
shock the modern criminal daily stained their hands;
while such monsters as Alexander VI. and CAesar
Borgia made the palace of the pontiffs a sink of
abomination, in which incest, sodomy, and murder
were of frequent occurrence.
THE PEOPLE.-If such are the pastors, what must
be their flocks? No stream rises higher than its
fountain; and the inspired aphorism, " Like people
like priest," is sustained by all experience.  Indeed,
it is pre-eminently true of the Church of Rome; for
while in other churches the pastor is only one instrument of grace, in her he is its sole dispenser-the
only channel of the waters of life; and if that channel is poisoned, his flock have no chance of escape.
In our chapter on Ireland's Moral State, we have
seen how sadly this is verified in her case.  And will
the kind reader pardon us if, for the sake of a people
who have so long borne the blame which should have
rested on their blind guides, we decline returning to
the subject, farther than by giving two examplesthe one of the frequency, the other of the atrocity,
of crime amongst us?  Ie -will remember that the
district of Cashel is amongst the most Popish in
Ireland. A few years ago, the following paragraph




nO3ME CORRUPTS THE CONSCIENCE.    1.49
appeared in the papers under the usual heading,
" State of the Country:"-" THE CASHEL BENCH OF
MAcISTRATES. —The following have been the gentlemen who, within the last few years, usually attended
this bench: —R. Long, father shot, himself twice
fired at; W. Murphy, father shot; S. Cooper,
brother shot; Leonard Keatinge, nephew of Mr.
Scully, shot; E. Scully, cousin of Mr. Scully, shot;
Godfrey Taylor, cousin, Mr. Clarke, shot William
[Rowe, shot: C. Clark, brother shot; nephew, Mr.
Rowe, shot!"  Again, amongst the cases tried by
the special commission of 1847, was that of a party
who went to the house of a man named Hourigan, in
order to shoot him.  He was absent; but the ruffians, instead of retiring and waiting for another opportunity, shot his wife dead in the kitchen.  A child
lay dying in the room; they entered, dragged him
out of bed, held him up against the wall, and-unmoved by the pleadings of terror, unsoftened by the
pallor of sickness, unawed by the presence of death
-they presented a pistol, and shot him dead on the
spot!!
Perhaps you say, such wretches, though professed
Roman Catholics, were without the pale of their
church.  Suppose we granted this, it would only
prove what all history confirms, that there is a point
in Rome's demoralizing course at which she loses
hold of her own votaries-that in her dreadful process of social putrefaction there is a stage at which
portion after portion sloughs and comes off. The




150             THE GRAND CAUSE.
brigands and sbtir'i that infest the towns and mountains of Italy herself are terrible proofs of this truth.
But we cannot grant even this supposition, for
crimes have been sometimes concocted on the way
from  the chapel.  Nay, devotion and murder have
occasionally so closely followed each other, that, like
the Thug of India, the assassin has prepared for the
deed by repairing to the altar, and, as IMr. Nolan
has proved, often confessed to the priest the meditated crime, and thence dejcpra'tcd to commit it; and
to crown all, the priest's vow of secrecy has hindered
him  from giving the doomed victim  the least intimation of his danger.   Besides, it is notorious that
most of all our petty offences-larcenies, for instance
-are the work of mass-going Roman Catholics, and
are duly confessed to the priest; yet, though we are
told Rome always requires the penitent to restore the
stolen property, how few cases of restitution are ever
heard of amongst thousands of cases of theft!  The
only parties who seem to profit by the trade, are
the thief who steals and the priest who forgives him.
Such are the moral fruits of Popery! Hedged
round with malign influences —kept in such ignorance that many of their sins they do not even know
to be such, you would say vice was with our countrymen a thing of moral necessity.  And canz it be
equity to assert the'' majesty of British law" on such
degraded creatures, and pass by the men who are
* See several fearful cases of this kind in Rev- L. J.
Nolan's pamphlet. Dublin: 1838.




ROME DESTROYS THE HEART.          151
chargeable with this degradation?  Oh, one would
think mere humanity would hasten to the rescue of
a people so trampled beneath the feet of the Beast.
The wail of the emigrant who is torn from his home
appeals to Christian pity against it.  Every bugle
that sounds from its hundred barracks tells heaven
and earth of the ruin it has wrought. The blood
alike of murdered and murderer cries to heaven for
vengeance on it.  The dying groans of multitudes,
as they rise on the wintry winds, tell of its dreadful
havoc.  The throes of an expiring country bear awful testimony to its deadly venom.  And, oh, what
thousands of ruined souls will rise up in judgment
against it at the last!
CHAPTER  III.
ROMWE DESTROYS THE HEART.
MAN has a heart; and what a dismal world it
would be if he had not! Now, mark how wonderfully the God who made it adapts his laws to it, or
rather it to them.  "God is love," and his religion
is love.  Its grand theme is-"God so loved the
world," &c. Its divine founder is the loving Saviour, " who loved us, and gave himself for us."  Its
great command is-love one another; and its heavenly influence such, that none can fully practise it
without becoming angels of kindness.   On the




152            THE GRAND CAUSE.
other hand, all false systems are cruel as their
author.  Their gods are demons; their rites often
tortures; their priests oppressors; their arguments,
the sword; while their code often teaches men to
expiate their crimes by crimes still greater, and
their dark domains are "full of the habitations of
cruelty."
If, therefore, we find that Rome withers the
heart; if, instead of inspiring love, she has rather
proved its very sepulchre, mingling blood itself with
her sacrifices; if hers is a god who delights in the
pilgrim's blistered feet and bleeding knees, a service
which has borrowed many of the tortures of paganism, and a spirit which transforms men, not only
stones, but demons-then again is she convicted as
the enemy of God and man.
LOVE TO GOD. —Love to God is the "first commandment;" that church therefore cannot be His
which makes it not her first object. Now, a very
simple test of a church's real spirit, is her treatment
of His "means of grace:" instance the Bible-the
Sabbath-and prayer. The child, in proportion as
he loves his parent, will of course love to hear fromn
him, to visit him, and to linger in his presence.
Well, we have seen how Rome treats the Divine
Word.  So frequent are her Bible burnings, that
almost every paper gives some fresh instances.  In
the " Mayo Constitution" of the 25th November,
1851, the Rev. Mr. Townsend of Ballyovee, re



ROMIE DESTROYS THE HEART.          153
ports the burning of two Testaments in his own
presence by a monk, and adds, that " the ruffian
thrust the burning book into his face, triumphing
over his dark deed of iniquity, and calling it a'damnable' and' heretical' book."  The Bible! that
divine message of love froniom our Father in the skies,
pored over by thousands with tears of ecstasy! Oh,
fancy a son hunting like a demon for his father's letteris, then nmaking a bonfire of them, raving the while
against all who dare murmur disapproval, and yet
pretending to love that father!
We have also seen how iRome treats the Sabbath.
That blessed day, so ardently loved by every true
saint, is to her so irksome that she cannot even pay
it a decent outward respect.  It is to her such a
bore, that it is generally over by noon, —that is,
when the mass is concluded,-and the remainder of
the day is given up to amusement. In purely Popish countries, the evening is spent'in fetes and theatricals; in our ownz, often in dancing and cardplaying-the priests themselves mingling in the
scene.  And one of tlem who was lately rebuked
for this profanation, coolly replied, that rest and
recreation were the very design of that day, and a
"little innocent amusement" he saw no harm  in!
Was there ever clearer proof of Rome's spirit than
this?  The wicked say, " When will the Sabbath be
gol:e?" the believer says," When will it return 2"
antld each following his tastes, spends it, the one in
his Father's service, and the other in his.  Yet




154            THE GRAND CAUSE.
here is a "church of God;' which has ever taken
the lead in the ranks of Sabbath-breakers.
Take one other example.  Prayer, the saint's delight, is Rome's most usual penance.  At every confession prayers are dealt onut by Papal Rome, as
stripes used to be by Rome Pagan, in tens, twenties,
thirties, and with a similar object.  So that you will
see thousands of penitents rhyming over their pater's
and caves with all possible speed, as though trying
how soon they could get done with the task; and
that they may not utter one prayer beyond the prescribed number, keeping the exact "count" upon
their beads-an invention contrived for this very
purpose.  Communion with God, then, is the penance of Rome; and it is this feelinzg of penanceitself a sin most monstrous-which is designed as
satisfaction for all other sins! Only fancy a child
deeming converse with his parent his greatest punishment, and counting this dreadfully unnatural feeling a merit in his parent's eyes!
Then it is a system of mneg'chandise as well as
slavery.  That God who gives everything; " who
gave his only begotten Son,"' "' without money and
without price," and commands his ministers " freely
to gi)ve as they have freely received,' is represented
as making his own house a " house of merchandise,"
and giving nothing without a quid p1ro quo.  Salvation itself is made a system of traffic, in which gold
is the currency, grace the commodity, the altar the
shop, and the priest the salesman. For to Rome




ROME DESTROYS TIIE HEART.          155
belongs the glory of the discovery, that in heaven as
on earth,' qzontey answereth all things."  Without
it you need expect little, but with it men have got
indulgences to murder their own parents; and so accustomed are the people to pay it on all occasions,
that they have sometimes asked our missionaries
when about to pray with them —" But, sir, what will
you charge us?"  When a chapel is to be repaired,
the gates are often shut on the Sunday morning
with sentinels stationed at them, and none allowed
to enter who do not first pay; the priest himself
perhaps superintending the scene with cudgel in
hand, and freely employing it against such as would
pass without contributing.*  At baptismus, the priest
receives from 2s. 6cd. to 5s.; at weddings, from  ~1
to ~20; and often as much at each funeral for masses for the soul of the departed.  In these cases a
plate goes round, the priest often accompanying it;
if each contributor gives not according to his supposed means, he is often most liberally abused; and
so shamefuliare the scenes of this nature which are
frequently enacted at the very grave, that they have
by the vulgar been called "canting the corpse."  In
short, be the service what it may, whether at the
baptismal font, the hymeneal altar, the dying bed, or
the gloomy grave, the horseleech is there, crying,
" Give, give."  On every mile of the road of life
there is a toll-gate, ay; and beyond it too.  As has
-* Mr. Inglis was eye-witness to a scene of this very description in Cahir. (See Tour, 1834.)




156            TEIE GRAND CAUSE.
been truly said, their people pay for coming into the
world, pay for passing through it, pay for going out
of it, and pay after they leave it! And so lucrative
is this last device alone to an avaricious priesthood,
that purgatory has been sarcastically termed, 6 the
fire that makes their pot boil."  Oh, Simon iMapgus
was discovered to be " in the gall of bitterness" for
"! supposing that the gift of God could be purchased
with money," but here are professed successors of
the apostle who detected him, who will not part with
it except for money! The spirit of Christian love
prompts even the laynman  to " do good to all as he
has opportunity," but here are ministers who disregard such opportunities as are not golden ones.
Dear reader. do you doubt the truth of this charge?
We can hardly wonder that you do; and yet, alas!
it is too well sustained.  The present wonderful
openings in Connaught were in some measure caused
by this very circumstance; for, during the famine,
the priests, in numbers of cases, would not take the
trouble of crossing a few fields to anoint the dying,
because they had no money to pay them! And this
is the religion of the God of love! Why, humanity
would frown the wretch out of society who would
refuse to save a drowning man unless paid for his
trouble; but here are men, who profess to be able
to save souls to any extent, yet will let them perish
to any extent unless their purse is replenished by the
transaction, and who thus prove themselves impos



ROME DESTROYS THE HEART.           157
tors, who do not believe in their own masses, or
wretches who will not offer them.
Once 1more, it is a religion of cruelty; proceeding
throughout on the assumption that God demands,
not the sanctification, but the sacrifice, of the nature
he has given us, and representing him as delighting
in such tortures as are presented to Juggernaut or
Kali.  With Rome the degree of sanctity is always
measured by that of voluntary suffering;  and she
holds up to our admiration such devotees as Hardwigg of Poland and Margaret of Hungary, because
they so mangled their bodies that "' they could scarce
be recognized."' Read the lives of her saints; see
how the biographer kindles into ecstacy as he tells
you how one mangled his body with scourges, another rolled himself in thorns, a third nailed himself
on a cross, and a fourth burned himself in the fire.
Or visit some of her holiest scenes of devotionLough Derg; for example.  See that group of pilgrims approaching it; it is a bright autumn afternoon, but there is a gloom on their brow, strangely
contrasting with the sunshine around them-say, is
it the spirit of him who exclaimed, " I joyed when
they said unto nze, Let us go unto the house of
God 17"  They approach that dismal lake, surrounded
with dreary bogs, and selected with Rome's usual
skill to impress the mind with gloom.  Arrived at
that stygian water, they are ferried across to Station
Island, and there undclergo a course of self-inflictions,
not much exceeded at the island of Gonga Sagor.




158            THE GRAND CAUSE,.
And is this the sweet service of the God of love?
Think you that poor devotee, who has finished his
last round at Patrick's Purgatory, with his cloth: es
all torn and draggledl his knees all cut and bleeding,
can dream that that Saviour, who delights in this unmeaning torture, is the same with him who yearned
over the widow of Nain, and wept by the grave of
Lazarus?  And yet even this is little; he is taught
that this same Saviour has prepared for him another
purgatory, of which Patrick's is a feeble type; where,
according to the best authorities, some are transfixed
with red-hot nails, others lashed by devils with
dreadful whips, others gnawed by fiery serpents with
ignited teeth, others pierced with the flaming stings
of burning serpents, and others still shot out of
belching volcanoes, and received back into their
burning craters, to be shot out again and again! 
Such a saviour he may d&'eacd; we ask, can he possibly love him? Oh, what a hideous caricature of
that blessed Emmanuel, who suffered in our stead i
Yet to these torments he consigns his own children
for those transgressions which, but for his own licenses to sin, they might never have comomitted! ay,
and the period of their torment there he makes to
depend much on the length of their purse.  Thel
poor may burn on in those flames-the 1rich may escape in a month.  Their priests could pray them all
out, but will not, unless paid for it, and that by
Christ's command! And yet you wonder, reader,
at the irreligion of our hapless countrymen, to whom




ROME DESTROYS THE HEART.          159
the God of love is thus presented as the God of cruelty-the heavenly countenance of the Prince of
Peace distorted into the face of a demon-the Sun
of Righteousness overspread with the lurid hue of
an eclipse-and by the same act, the glorious cross
veiled from their trembling gaze and such purgatorial horrors presented in its stead.
LOVE TO MAN. —The religion of Jesus makes us
kind.  To use the words of the prophet, it turns
the wolf into the lamb.  Shedding its kindly influences over the whole face of society, it stills the
stormiest elements of life; and makes the flowers of
social happiness, so often laid prostrate by the tempests of hunman passion, to raise their drooping heads
and exhale a sweeter perfume.  And even War,
that cursed demon that Christianity is destined ultimately to destroy, it meantime half disarms; distils
some drops of mercy into the poisoned cup he holds;
and half quenches the firebrands he flings around.
In a word, beneath its heavenly sway hearts cease
to bleed, and tears to fall; a thousand streams of
relief flow, as if by enchantment, through the haunts
of misery; and the downcast mourner looks up and
smiles.
Has this been the influence of Ronimethat church
which trusts so muctch to her " good works,'" and keeps
a treasury of supererogatory grace?  Alas! she has
done less to relieve human wretchedness, and more
to create it, than all the other churches in Christen



160            THE GRAND CAUSE.
dom; and while we find within her bosom a Bonner,
a Beaton, a Cortez, and an Alva, in vain do we search
for a Clarkson, a Wilberforce, or a Howard.
The same spirit of cruelty which fancies the Most
High to take pleasure in tortures, is exhibited even
to the lower creation.  We refer not merely to the
bull-baiting scenes of Popish Spain, which even
Andalusian ladies delight to visit; we would only
ask you to examine the torn backs of the donkeys
and horses at any of our southern fairs, and then
attempt if you dare to enforce the act against cruelty
to animals. Nor is this want of feeling less displayed
by the children of Rome in their dealings with one
another.  Roman Catholic servants will generally
tell you that they prefer Protestant masters to those
of their own persuasion, and assign the reason that
they are kinder to them  when in health, and far
more tender in sickness.   Ask their own poor
whether they get imost relief firom  Protestant or
Roman Catholic, —from  the parson or the priest?
Often have we ourselves asked them why they do
not go to their own clergyman for alms, and been
answered, "God help us, we need not go to him."
We have made careful inquiry at some of the principal hospitals in Ireland, and the results have in
this respect proved truly instructive.  In the north
and south infirmaries of Cork, the vast majority of
the inmates are Roman Catholics, and of the contributors, Protestants, in proportion to their respective populations in the city and county; while one




ROME DESTROYS THE HEART.           161
of the directors of the Belfast I-Iospital lately characterized it as "a Protestant Hospital for Roman
Catholic inmates."  It is in vain to attempt to
ascribe  this difference in any respect to recent
calamities, for it has always existed.  In 1834, Mr.
Inglis found 2,145 persons on the books of the Dublin Mendicity Society House, of whom only 200
were Protestants; and though the vast majority of
the inhabitants of that city are Roman Catholics,
he states, that for every pound subscribed by them,
there were ~50 subscribed by Protestants.  It is
equally vain to plead that Roman Catholics are
usually poor-if the church of Rome so impoverishes a people as to make them a public burden, is
she not all the more bound to give them what relief
she herself can afford? Yet, even during the period
of the famine, when every drain of selfishness should
surely have been stopped to swell the streams of
charity, the vast proportion of the relieved were
Roman Catholics, and of the relieving, Protestants;
and while the Protestant laclborers of Ulster and
Britain were sending their wages to the famished
south, it was the topic of public remark, that balls
and entertainments were going on as usual in several
southern towns, though paupers were nightly dying
in their streets 
We have already shown how little the priests seem
to comprehend the Divine aphorism,;" It is more
blessed to give than to receive;" but the cases of
extortion we have noticed are such as are sanctioned
11




1562           THE GRAND CAUSE.
by the church.  Sometimes, however, the priests
carry on a little spiritual foraging on their own authority. Even in Ulster, we have often seen the
small farmers driving to the priests haggard their
half-load of corn, under the name of the "priest's
stook." In Connaught, a similar tax is levied, called
the " priest's' bart.' "  At the various a stations" for
confession which are held in different parts of each
parish, a " treat," as it is termed, must be given to
the priest; and the poor people have been known to
sell their pig, in order thus to entertain him! Such
a burden is this felt, that if any of the flock are suspected of Bible-reading, or other heretical practices,
he often, by way of punishment, appoints stations at
their houses; and so intolerable has the custom
grown of late, that in some dioceses, a breakfast has,
by the bishop's orders, been substituted for a dinner;
while owing. doubtless, to the waning influence of
the priests, the Synod of Thurles has found it necessary to discountenance the practice altogether.
During the late famine-when the Hindoos of Calcutta and the Copts of Alexandria were sending relief to Ireland-its own priests, in many cases, not
only left the people to perish, but robbed them of
the alms bestowed by heathen and Mohammedan
charity.  One priest made large sums by selling
holy salt to cure the potato disease, and many gave
their last sixpence to purchase this specific; others
sold the relief-tickets with which they were intrusted for gratuitous distribution; while several gave




ROME DESTROYS THE HIEARTT    163
them to the people on condition that the first relief
procured should be brought to them, as payment of
arrear-dues!'  Of some, it was reported that they
never gave a satisfactory account of the relief which
was entrusted to their care; and such currency did
these rumors gain, that those who had first entrusted them therewith, soon thought it better to commit it to other hands.  And Dr. MHale himself,
while appealing through the papers to public sympathy on behalf of the starving masses around him,
was convicted by the relieving officer as a defaulter
in the payment of his own poor-rates! The author,
while in Connaught in the winter of 1848, was as
much struck with the fulness of the priests' haggards
as with the emptiness of their people's; and, as an
explanation of the phenomenon, a brother missionary related the following anecdote:-In the neighborhood of Westport, dwelt a poor man who supported a family on five acres of land.  When the
potato failed in 184'7, his all was destroyed, save a
small patch of oats, which amounted, when reaped,
to sixty sheaves.  The priest\came round for his
" bart."  The wretched man pointed imploringly to
his wife and family. You say, surely the priest gave
him something; at least, it is impossible he could
have asked him for anything; and, for the sake of
our common humanity, one would fain so believe.
But, deaf to every entreaty, dead to every feeling,
he commanded his servant to count into his cart
Ireland in 1846, pp. 174-176.




164            THE GRAND CAUSE.
20 sheaves of the 60, and then he marched off with
his booty! i Yet these men, who have only themselves to support, are the professed ministers of Him
who " was rich, yet for our sakes became poor," and
from his great tribunal will proclaim to the wicked,
"I was an hungered, and ye gave me lzo meat," &c.
No wonder the remark should be common amongst
their flocks, that " a priest's money never wear's well."1
Yet this is the system which purchases heaven by
liberality and love —has whole orders bearing such
musical names as " Christian Brothers" and' Sisters
of Mercy"-and especially boasts its convents as
sanctuaries of heavenly charity! Well, we shall
presently take a peep into these sacred retreats, and
shall only now remind the reader, that such cases as
those of Miss Talbot, the Misses M'Carthy, and
Maria Monk, show that, within the abodes of celestial love, there is pretty frequently betrayed a hankering for the gold that perisheth, —ay, and various
other passions of a terr'estrial type!
Yet this is but lingering on the threshold of our
theme.  If you wish to see the inmost soul of Rome,
consult the records of persecution. The only weapon
Christianity knows, is the " truth in love."  Besides,
its Author knows that mnind may be convinced, but
cannot be coerced; that force may make hypocrites,
but never true Christians; that the heart can only
be won by kindness, and to attempt to force affection,
is only to create disgust. Two individuals compete
for your heart; one of them  imprisons, tortures,




TOME DESTROYS THE HEART.          165
burns you; you can scarce help abhorring him.  The
other yearns over you, showers kindness on you, lives
for you, dies for you; can you refrain from loving
him?  As acts the latter, so acts Christ-according
to the laws of God and of our nature.  As acts the
former, so does Rome-these laws seem to give her
small concern. We will not insult the reader by
proving, for the thousandth time, that her tenets are
persecuting. We wonder why others are at so much
pains to do this, because, forsooth, Rome denies it.
We look to her whzole ccazeer, their best commentary,
and find it to be one of blood. The boot and thumbscrew have been her favorite arguments; and, as a
living writer has calculated, she has shed more holy
blood than all the gibbets on earth have shed of
felon blood!  Look to the Irish massacre of 1641,
planned by the priests in Multifaruhan Abbey, in
which 60,000 Protestants perished amidst their murderers' exulting yells.*  Witness the rebellion of
1798. which, at first wearing a political aspect, soon
becatme in many parts little else than a butchery of
Protestants, under the direction of the priesthood.
Or look to other lands; and is there a country in
Europe whose soil has not been fattened with the
blood, whose air has not been rent with the groans
of Rome's victims?  Pope Julius caused, in seven
years, the slaughter of 200,000 Christians; 100,000
fell in the Bartholomew massacre; 100,000 in the
butcheries  of the Waldenses and  Albigenses;
* Some say 100,000.




166            THE GRAND CAUSE.
1,500,000 Jews, and  3,000,000 of Moors, were
slaughtered in Spain; 15,000,000 in South America
and Cuba; while the cold-blooded butcheries of the
Dutch by the Duke of Alva, of the English by
Bloody Mary, and of the Spanish and Italians by
the "HOLY Inquisition," are familiar to all our
readers. The latter infernal tribunal has destroyed,
in Spain alone, 2,000,000 of lives;* while Rome
is calculated to have shed, in all, the blood of
68,000,000 of the human race!!
Yet this brief summary gives no such conceptions
of the character of Rome, as the circumstances under
which these butcheries were effected.  You see her
popes and cardinals coolly plotting the extermination
of whole countries, and then chanting Te Deumns
when their schemes have succeeded; and you see
them  executing their plots with a refinement of
cruelty, of which only hell seemed capable.  Who
can read of the engines of torture by which myriads
were tormented in the dungeons of the Inquisition,
without fancying himself in the prisons of the damned,
and surrounded by the fiends of perdition? Yet
these horrors were matters of jest to the inquisitors
themselves. " Give me a Jew," said Azzerro, the inquisitorial butcher of Cordova," and I will show you
in my. crucible a residuum of ashes!" And the most
revolting feature of the case is, that these atrocities
have all been perpetrated in the name of Jesus, and
for the love of God! The female martyr, whilst
* Llorentes' History of the Inquisition.




ROME DESTROYS THE HEART.          167
being torn to pieces by these monsters, was ever and
anon greeted with these words, —" Beloved sister, recant."  Heaven's blessing has been invoked on their
most shocking butcheries, and their victil's groans
have been drowned by their chants and hallelujahs.
When thle edict of Nantes was revoked in the face
of the most solemn oaths, thereby effecting the ruin
of nmyriads, a hoary-headed wretch exclaimed," Lord,
now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine
eyes have seen thy salvation!!'  Yes, in the name
of RELIGION cdeeds have been done at which humanity slhdders; and the rude soldier has wept over
the innocents his priest has forced him to slaughter.
And such a system of blood you must believe to be
divine, such fiendish cruelty to spring from heavenly
love, and deeds that would disgrace the bloodiest
idol, we must father on the meek and gentle Jesus!
Oh, think of that " Lamb of God" careering through
the world with a sword in one hand, and a crucifix
in the other; followed by a train of inquisitors, bearing such instruments of torture as Indians never
dreamt of!!
You say she is changed? Then produce the man
who has heard her lamentations over the holy blood
shie has shed.  Changed! What bloody decree has
she been known to revoke-what fiendish butchery
to deplore?  Were we not told the other day by her
own organ L' Univers, that another Bartholomew
massacre had now become necessary? Changed!
Witness in proof the scenes of Madeira and those of




168           THE GRAND CAUSE.
Tahiti-Tahiti, that little isle in the distant Pacific,
transformed by gospel missionaries from an island
of savages to one of saints, Rome beheld from afar,
like Satan eyeing Paradise, and never ceased her intrigues till it lay torn and bleeding at her feet.
Changed 7 Witness the Inquisition at Rome, unveiled by the revolution of 1849 to the gaze and
execration of Europe, with its concealed traps, deep
wells, quick-lime pits, &c.; and which was restored
to its ancient vigor the instant the Pope returned.
There is a change, we own, from the tiger in the forest to the tiger in the cage; but he must be judicially blind, who does not see, from all her late proceedings, that she only wants the power in order to
bring back the days of Smithfield. Have we not
given sufficient proof of her spirit amongst ourselves
in the scenes of Achill, of Ballymaciola, of Milltown,
and of Dingle? " I have told all my people," exclaimed priest Connolly, " to hiss, shout, and insult
them in every way they can, so as nzot actually to
break the law."  Sufficiently intelligible!  If the
law but sanctioned an auto-da-fe, can we doubt that
this gentleman would soon let us have one?  And
if such persecutions abound despite the protection
of Victoria, what might we expect were another
Mary raised to the throne?
Such, then, is the system which borrows the name
of the God of love! And of the manifold mysteries
which enwrap his providence, perhaps the most inexplicable is that he has so long endured a church




RtOME DESTROYS THE HEART.          169
which has revelled for ages in the blood of his
saints, and far outdone the cruelties of Attila and
Nero.  Who can wonder that the glorified martyrs
seem restless and impatient beneath the altar, and
cry,  How long; 0 Lord, holy and true, dost thou
not judge and avenge our blood on thein that dwell
on the earth?"  How often amongst ourselves has
Rnome dried up like a scorching sirocco, the streams
of social kindness, and fulfilling to the letter the
apocalyptic prediction, forbidden her people to "buy
or sell" to our missionaries?  Iow often has she
sought to freeze the springs of the Irish heart, and
forbidden the people " to give the missionaries a drink
of water," insonmuch, that they have sometimes, in a
manner truly characteristic, evaded the stern command by giving them a drink of miilk! Yet by
some they are deemed savages, whilst scarce a whisper of censure is breathed against that church which
thus labors to instil into their souls its scorpion
venom, and make hatred of Protestants the chief
article of their creed;-a church which, wherever
she has the power, rends into shreds nature's tenderest ties, and sets the parent against the child,
and the child against the parent; and which seems
to have become more  wicked with advancing years,
till now in her growing decrepitude she is gnashing
her broken fangs at the young buoyant Spirit of
light and liberty that is, shaking its wings over
Europe, and till those who erst were her credulous




170            THE GRAND CAUSE.
apologists, would gladly join in the jubilant shout
which shall ere long ring to heaven-" Babylon is
fallen, is fallen!"
CHAPTER IV.
ROME DEBASES THE WHOLE NATURE.
THus have we demonstrated the blighting influence of Rome on the three chief parts of man's
nature.  But there are various qualities essential to
human progress, which spring from these as branches
from the stem, and on which the character of Popery
is singularly displayed. As when the tree is lightning-struck, the blasting influence is seen on every
leaf and twig, such is the scathing effect of Popery,
not on the chief parts only, but on the minutest
ramifications of the character and conduct.  We
can only trouble the reader with a very few examples.
THE DEVICES.-Mark how the whole tendency of
Popery is to paralyze the energies and blight the
better qualities of man.  WVhat so certain to beget
mental inertness in all the affairs of life, as the
dreadful device of keeping him in a state of mental
torpor in regard to its grand concern, religion?
Will the intellect which is always thrown into a
mesmeric sleep at the altar, not feel the deadening




ROME DEBASES THE WHOLE NATURE.   171
effect in the world?  Can the mind which is pinioned one half its time use its wings so expertly the
remainder; or a man who is a imere machine to-day,
become by his simple volition a philosopher to-morrow?  Then the whole tendency of Popery is to
make its victims social cripples, and their life a prolonged childhood.  From  their cradles to their
graves they are dependent on their priest; he thinks
for them, prays for them. shrives them, anoints
them, manages all their eternal concerns, and interferes pretty freely with their temporal also. They
must not even use their senses but as he directs;
for when he tells them  bread is no longer bread,
they must believe him.  And thus their whole
training makes them  helpless creatures; they acquire of necessity the habit of dependence; and accustomed to confide to other hands their eternal all,
the gr'eater interest, they come but too naturally to
confide their temporal all, the less.  How sadly exemplified in the case of our countrymen! If they
want their rivers deepened, their harbors improved,
their very land drained, they look elsewhere for assistance.  Hospitals are established-they look to
parliament to support them; trade is decayingthey look to parliament to relieve them; the potato
fails-they look to parliament to feed them; they
want a Galway Packet Station, and look first to
England, then to America.  Nay, they cannot even
get up a rebellion without seeking foreign aid: in
1798, Wolfe Tone presents himself before the
__________________ _______________.________~______ i




172            THE GRAND CAUSE.
French Directory; in 184-8 Smith O'Brien waits
on Lamartine.  And thus our poor country lies a
paralytic on the world's highway, crying to all nations to come and help her along!
Look farther to the havoc which Rome works on
one's spirit of independence.  Such are the terrible
conditions imposed by this giant enslaver, that it is
scarcely possible to be at once a Papist and a man.
First, there sits the priest on the throne of God, the
keeper of that man's conscience, the jailor of his
mind, and the factor of his eternal inheritance —do
you expect such a man to stand erect before this
dread deity; to dispute the will, however capricious,
or resist the commands, however intolerable, of that
ghostly father, whose smile is heaven, whose frown
is hell'?  "I have power to strike you dead this
minute," exclaims Maria Monk's confessor.  Of
course, with any but the most hopeless -unbeliever,
this must have ended the controversy.
Then, reader, place yourself, where that poor Papist must often kneel, at the confessor's feet.  There,
on pain of incurring mortal sin, you must open to
him the very depths of your soul; thoughts which
you would rather die than to disclose to any other,
must all be divulged to him.  There is no escaping,
for with the help of a thousand suggestive questions
furnished by Dens and Bailly, he will, ere you rise,
worm himself into your inmost heart, and sound the
lowest depths of your bosom. And this scene is so
often repeated, that in effect, whatever you are do



ROME DEBASES THE ~WHOLE NATURtE.   173
ing, you feel as in the presence of this terrible being; it is as though he were ever dogging your steps,
penetrating your most retired haunts, and like some
ghost entering your midnight chamber and peeping
through the curtains of your couch.  Could Satan
have devised a more deadly engine by which to obliterate within you every trace of manhood?  Is it
possible to look in his face, who knows all your secrets, and feel yourself a man? If yet any shame
has survived this prolonged course of degradation,
must you not feel overwhelmned in presence of this
personator of the great Searcher of hearts? Now,
surely one needs but to remember that this engine
of moral slavery is worked every day in every parish
of Ireland, in order to understand why the Irish
Roman Catholic is so often a spiritless and crouching serf.  Can you wonder to hear of the Connaught
peasant, who crawled out on the road as the priest
rode by and kissed the footprints of his horse? or
feel much surprise to hear of O'Connell kneeling
down in the mud of Cork streets to receive the
priest's benediction? or the English Arundel and
Surrey lately doing the same before the priests of
Limerick?  No, let but this serpent coil itself round
a man's heart, and Emg'lish or iTish, he is a man no
longer.  Well, accustomed to crouch before one
man, it becomes natural to bow down to all.  The
willow that one storm has effectually bent, can never
afterwards stand erect against any; and the man
who humbles himself to his priest, comes almost in



174            THE GRAND CAUSE.
stinctively to do the same to his landlord and his
master: and hence the obsequious servility of the
southern Roman Catholic, so singularly contrasting
with the northern Protestant's sturdy independence.
But there yet remains to be noticed another element of moral slavery more terrible still.  One
would have thought that with the afore-mentioned
engines of subjugation, Rome might have sat down
content; but lest amongst her prostrate millions,
there might yet be found one to raise a freeman's
head, she has invented her doctrine of "intention'
according to which the validity of every ordinance
depends on the intentions of the priest who performs
it.  If from ignorance, neglect, or sheer malevolence,
he does not in the ordinance "' intend to do what the
church does," the ordinance is ipsofctcto utterly null
and void, and the victim of his carelessness or wickedness remains still in his sins.
We ask, Can Brahminisln or Buddhism present
anything like this?  On the priest's intention, for
instance, it depends whether the flour is a wafer or
a god; or whether, in partaking of the eucharist,
the worshipper is swallowing the Saviour. and thus
securing salvation, or adoring a bit of paste, and
thus committing mortal sin! So is it with all the
other ordinances-on the priest's intention everything depends, and the worshipper knows this. How
absolutely overwhelming is such a man's power,
whose mere intention can send a whole parish to
purgatory or farther!  Why, the Almighty himself




ROMIE DEBASES THIE IWHOLE NATURE.    175
must be utterly lost sight of in presence of this
impostor-deity; —in his hands, and at his mercy,
must the genuine Roman Catholic believe himself
to be for time and eternity.  Would you mock such
a man by talking to hiti of freedom, who lies at his
priest's feet in the most abject prostration, who has
nothing that he dare call his own, and who believes that
heaven is his if he can only please and bribe his
master, while hell waits on this spiritual tyrant's
word, and follows his ghostly displeasure?  Oh!
the most galling yoke that ever crushed the African
was liberty sweet to this.  His chains at iost can
but pierce into his bones, but here are chains which
eat through a man's soul; and the deepest atrocity
lies in this, that it is his very feelings of devotion,
his very concern about his soul, all that is to be
admired in him as a poor sinner seeking salvation
-it is these which are taken advantage of, the better to enslave and ruin him.  Surely it is not difficult to guess the author of such a contrivance; we
trust there is but one being in the universe capable
of the reach of wickedness it betrays.  Say, is it
strange that our' poor countryman, on whose credulous ignorance such a doctrine is from  infancy so
industriously palmed, should submit to any abuse
which his priest may choose to heap on him; to be
flogged and kicked, nay, perhaps to see the last
indignity offered to his wife or daughter without
daring to complain?  " What, sir," exclaimed an
Irish laborer, when beaten by his priest till his face




176            THE GRAND CAUSE.
was covered with blood, and asked how he could
endure it —  What, sir, strike a priest! if I would
touch a priest, my arm  would wither from  the
shoulder blade."
Well, surely this at least completes the list of
Rome's enslaving schemes-surely this must be the
last fold of that fearful net, in whose meshes her
victims seem so hopelessly entangled-and surely
the skill of Popery's subtle author has nothing
worse to add.  Alas! our painful task is not yet
done-those who have read Michelet's "Priests,
Women, and Families," will understand that there
remains to be unfolded one other device, the most
deeply diabolical of all. We have already hinted
at the amazing wisdom and goodness displayed in
making man "male and female;" to that single
arrangement, with all the relations it creates, is our
race indebted for not only its existence, but a very
large amount of its virtue and happiness.  The
felicity of paradise was imperfect without it; and
the relation which was thus found necessary to
complete the joys of innocence, contributes more
than any other, when its laws are duly observed, to
mitigate the woes of fallen humanity.  The church,
therefore, which would frustrate the designs of this
great arrangement, instead of laboring to secure its
fullest, healthiest results, must be an unutterable
curse to mankind.  Well, we have seen the fearful
effects even of a partial interference with it in the
celibacy of the Romish priesthood-the terrible




ROME DEBASES THE WHOLE NATURE.   177
revenge taken by nature, even for this comparatively slight violation of her laws. Then what must
be the effect, if; as we now proceed to show, Ronme
has ever labored not only to rob this divine arrangement of its benign influences, but to invest it instead
with malign ones; and not only to frustrate woman's
holy destinies as the "guardian angel" of each generation, but to attempt to transform  her into its' destroying angel "
Be it remembered that God has given woman an
influence almost incalculable, and a sphere to exert
it in all but boundless.  By endowing her with the
softer sensibilities of our nature, he has made her,
in her own sphere, omnipotent for good. Her weakness thus becomes her strength, and her reign one
of love; and she moves through society a centre and
a source of influences inestimably valuable in a world
like ours-softening its asperities, refining its grossness, sweetening its bitterness, and alleviating its
woes.  And these she exerts everywhere-as a child
in the nursery, as a sister in the family, as a daughter by her parents' side, in the hallowed affections
of a wife, and in the exquisite tenderness of a
mother.  Oh, it were demon wickedness to mar or
blight such a merciful arrangement as this! No
wonder the arch-fiend has always aimed to destroy
woman first as the surest means of destroying man;
you see it in the first temptation, in the history of
the flood, and all over the world.  Wherever Satan
reigns, there woman is debased; she is the ~Mahom12




178            THE GRAND CAUSE.
medan's toy, the Hindoo's captive, the African's
beast of burden, and the prostrate slave of all. And
if you would see the Satanic skill and inicquity of
this, you need only to contrast the Christian mother
with the Heathen, or the AMonicas with the Agrippinas of mankind; the one giving the world an
Augustine, the other a Nero, and each the source
of a stream of moral influence, of which the one
proved a river of life, and the other a desolating
flood.
In Popery he has pursued the same policy, but
with a profounder subtilty.  First, by his various
contrivances for discountenancing marriage-such
as its entire system  of nunneries-he seeks to frustrate the designs of woman's existence;-to rob
mankind of her precious influences, and reduce herself to a social nonentity, buried alive in gloomy
cloisters, with nothing but the ghost and shadow of
womanhood remaining.  And thither that hapless
creature is consigned; to wage, as best she can, perpetual war with all the feelings and adaptations of
her own nature;-by this dark contrivance transformed at once froml  being the fairest creation of
God to be a pitiable anomaly on earth, unable to be
an angel, yet not permitted to be a woman, and thus
doomed to virtual suicide.
But since celibacy is too great an outrage on our
nature for even Rome to commit with much success,
her next and grand aim is to take possession of the
soui, which she -cannot thus blight; and to trans



ROME DEBASES THE WHOLE NATURE.   179
form  those females whom she cannot thus banish
from society, into tools by which the better to effect
her deep designs against it.
As the convezt is her great instrument in the one
case, so is the con2fessio2zal in the other; —and will
the reader just attend while we briefly unfold a contrivance as diabolical as ever was hatched in hell, for
destroying woman's purity and degrading her soul.
The process begins in very infancy; at the tender
age of five, the joyous-hearted little girl is dragged
to the confessional, like a lamb to the slaughter, to
have sins suggested of which she never thought before, and questions put from which innocence recoils;
and that mere infant must there be cross-questioned
as to whether she has yet felt any carnal desires 1!~
As years advance, these questions increase in vileness, and that innocent young creature, as often as
she approaches her confessor, must be dragged
through an examination so disgusting that we cannot pollute our pages even with a sample; it is enough to refer our readers to those depositories of obscenity, Dens, Delahogue, and Bailly, in which there
are whole chapters on " immodest thoughts, words,
touches, looks, and acts," and all these must be
turned into questions, and by the female distinctly
answered! There is no escape even for the blushing ovigin, for a " general confession may not only
be unprofitable, but even dangerous and improper,"f
* Dens, vol. vi. p. 204.'f Curr's " Familiar Instructions," p. 123.




180            THE GRAND CAUSE.
and therefore "it- is necessary to explcin everyt/hing!"  Neither is mnatbrimony the least protection;
for these obscene inquisitors obtrude themselves into
the marriage chamber, demand the secrets of the
nuptial couch, and make the minutest inquiries
ci' ca actu7m  conjtacgalem!"  Nay, this infamous
system spares not the disconsolate widoaw in her
weeds; for it is a mortal sin even " to recollect the
joys once sanctioned by her marriage vow, and must
therefore be specially confessed. "J  Only imagine
every Roman Catholic maid and matron in Ireland,
dragged annually at tihe least through this sink of
abomination, at the mere pleasure and after the
prurient fancy of some coarse bachelor priest, and all
this enacted in the name and beneath the mask of
religion! Is it really possible that Rolman Catholics
can tamely submit to this? Oh, does it not imply
a moral degradation absolutely pitiable  How can
a father permit his lovely daughter to be exposed to
such on ordeal?-how can a husband endure to have
his virtuous wife subjected to such debasement? —
above all, how can a bashful female, she who would
prefer death to a tithe of this dishonor friom any
other hands, submit to be robbed by an unmarried
priest of all that gives dignity to woman, and leave
the confessional a degraded thing?  We speak not
now of its debauching influence, we stop not to ask
by what miracle of preserving grace woman can ever
* Christian's Guide to Heaven, pp. 80, 81.
t "Progress of the Confessional." p. 20.




ROME DEBASES THE WVHOLE NATURE.   181
leave such a scene a virtuous being; but we ask,
even were all that has ever been said and actcmittect
of the confessional's debaucheries a monstrous libel.,
even were woman always to escape dest~rtctionz, how
can she possibly escape degradationz? If even a mnian
of any feeling cannot look his confessor in the face
how can a womnczn attempt to do so?  It is simply
impossible. Unless such scenes have obliterated her
feelings altogether, she must even in her own eyes be
a debased and humbled creature; and what a dreadful alternative this, alike fatal to her dignity, either
to have her modesty extinguished or continually
outraged!
Now, mark the tremendous consequences.  She
has humbled herself to her priest, and he has by
this means acquired over her a boundless authority.
She dare not resist it'-she never does; for one
glance from that basilisk eye, darted into her soul,
is at any time enough to suppress the first risings
of revolt.  Well, having thus secured her, the priest
has secured all the'influence which God has given
her. All is made over to him, to be employed as
he directs, and from that hour she is transformed
into an evil genius.  Descending from her lofty station as the world's benefactress, she becomes the
mere menial and decoy of "'the church."   The
wholesome streams of influence which flowed from
her, are now drugged and poisoned; her children,
her husband, her whole household. she influences as
the priest directs her, and thus, by one fell stroke,




182            THE GRANID CAUSE.
the best safeguard  of society is laid in  ruins.
Satan has again succeeded in his first great temptation; and the plea of fallen Adam comes to mind" It was the woman whom thou gavest to be with
mle 1"
THE FRuITS. —It is impossible here to trace out
all the effects of this profound conspiracy against
the best interests of mankind-we can only trouble
the reader with an example or two.  Indeed in
this, as in our other chapters, our aim is rather to
give him  the clue to each chamber of this dark
labyrinth, and leave him to follow its windings himself.
It is wonderful how similar are the fruits of all
false systems; —how  like, for example, are the
habits of the Pagan and the Papist, and the condition of the Irish hut and the Indian wigwam.  One
of. the most striking and usual effects of true religion
is cleanliness, and of false religion is filth.  If cleanliness is not " next to godliness," it is at least closely
connected with it; for how seldom have you seen a
truly pious household who, in their whitewashed
walls and well-swept floor, did not bear pleasing
testimony to the gospel's elevating power! Now,
in Protestant England, the humblest cottager wages
an eternal war with dirt. Enter if you will his little kitchen, and every vessel is shining on the shelf;
and could you only pass from thence in an instant
into many an Irish Roman Catholic's parlor, you




ROME DEBASES THE WVHOLE NATURE.   183
would be at no loss to decide in which of the two
you would prefer to dine! In fact, Popery is emphatically a filthy religion.  The cabins of Irish
Roman Catholics are embowered in dirt,-you can't
pass near them without the risk of defilement; and
as you see their doors fronted by dung-heaps, on
which filthy children are wallowing, while their
parents are lazily lounging about, you can't help regarding the revolting spectacle as a visible protest
to heaven against a system which could so brutalize
immortal beings.  Yes; and you who charge this
on our countrymen as such,/& have you ever been in
other Popish lands?  M. Roussel, speaking of his
tour in Switzerland. says-" I mlet a carrier who
enumerated all the clean cantons and all the dirty
ones; the man was unaware that the one list contained all the Protestant cantons, and the other all
the Popish ones."*  And in the " holy city," where
is so instructively exemplified every feature of the
"mother of abominations," we have this one also;
for Seymour declares, that " every species of filth,
and every kind of odor, greet the visitant on his
entrance among the streets of this city of the
church."  " For filth, for odors, for indecency, for
all that is offensive to the eye, to the feelings, to
the habits of a cleanly and orderly people, the city
of Rome' surpasses almost any other city in the
world."t
* New York Evangelist, 1849.
t Seymour's Pilgrimage to Rome, p. 139.




184            THE GRAND CAUSE.
Another striking point of contrast between Christian and Pagan lands, is the measure of respect
which each shows to its dead. In the latter, for
instance, you will see dead bodies lying unburied,
and half-devoured by birds and beasts of prey. Now,
every traveller has observed that a contrast precisely similar exists between Protestant and Popish
countries.  In our western graveyards, you will not
only see bones strewn about on the surface of the
ground, but half-decayed ends of coffins sticking out
of the graves; and only just contrast these horrid
golgothas with the neat-planted country churchyards
of Protestant Ulster and Britain! Yet a still more
revolting scene is found in the Irish wuake-that
remnant of the funeral games of Panganism, in
which not only smoking and drinking, but all kinds
of amusement are indulged in; and these too often
winding up with the characteristic fiznale of a row,
in which the belligerents have sometimes been known
to struggle and tumble over the corpse itself i Yet
the priest, by reason of his mighty influence, could
easily put down such practices, and vastly inmprove
the people's general habits; but when has he ever
made the attempt?  And if you ask the reason, his
answer is, that it would be useless.  So, then, he
who is omnipotent when a Bible is to be burned. or
a Scripture-reader mobbed, is, by his own confession,
only impotent for good 
Instanlce, again, the general degradation which
prevails in all " dark places of the earth," with its




ROME DEBASES THE WHOLE NATURE.   185
attributes of sloth and improvidence.  Give an Irish
peasant a -patch of bog on which to build a hut and
plant potatoes, and he seems to have reached the
climax of his wishes.  His brightest visions seem
realized in his cabin of mud, —his highest aspirations
in his rood of potatoes,-and the motto of his life
seems henceforth to be, "Why should we think of
to-morrow?"  There he vegetates; but not alone.
Whatever other precept he sets at naught, no man
seems more reverentially to regard the first great
command, " Be fruitful and multiply."  Perhaps by
eighteen he is married; and we have known the
"happy pair" to be obliged to borrow the coat and
gown in which the nuptials were performed. During the late famine, a man who received daily relief,
in Ballina, petitioned for a double supply, on the
ground that the committee were so kind and his
prospects had thus grown so bright, that he had
married a wife, and the extra relief he sought was
for her! Everything else is in keeping: time,
the most precious commodity to an Englishman, is,
by the Irish Roman Catholic, squandered with
lavish hand; while to diligence he is so little accustomed, that when working in the fields he must stop
to gaze at each passer-by; and, in his case, the plea
of the unjust steward is reversed, for we have known
him to leave his " digging" in the field to "beg" a
half-penny from a passing stranger.  Indeed, begging seems the national trade, and never was a race
more fertile in expedients to awaken liberality and




186            THE GRAND CAUSE.
impose on simplicity. They have been known to
make ulcers in their legs with bluestone; and you
would think those naked children who pursue the
coaches along the road had the most unquenchable thirst for learning, for " the half-penny" is always " to buy a book."  Yes, though the sixth of
Ireland's population is in the poor-house, this
has scarce perceptibly diminished the number of
strolling beggars. By the highways, you see them
posted like sentinels; as you pass through a town,
they follow you, invoking the saints' blessings on
your departed parents' souls.  If you enter a shop,
they instantly surround the door; and, even late at
night, you'll hear their monotonous call rising in the
stillness of the half-deserted streets.
Do you say it is because they are Ir-ish? We deny
the ungenerous charge. The Irish Protestant we
have known to be half starved in his dwelling before
he would divulge his wants.  No; it is the necessary fruit of a system which, by degrading the whole
soul, begets of necessity the spirit of a beggar;
which, by laying such stress on the mqze?'it of almsgiving, holds out a premium to begging; and which,
by its various mendicant " orders," invests the trade
with not only the garb of respectability, but the
sanction of religion. Hence, what Popish country
does not swarm with beggars?  While you travel
for weeks through Prbtestant America without meeting one, save from Ireland, every traveller tells you
how the Popish lands of Europe are filled with them.




ROME DEBASES THE WHOLE NATURE.   187
Mr. Wylie had no sooner crossed the torrent which
divides the Protestant republic of Geneva from the
Popish kingdom  of Sardinia, than amongst other
characteristic marks of desolation, he met troops of
beggars, whose "numbers seemed endless.  Every
other mile, in the day's ride of 50 miles, brought
new groups, as filthy, squalid, and diseased, as those
which had been passed."    Or, perhaps you may
say,'tis necessity which makes the Irish beg?  Alas! 
the shortest way to get rid of the importunity of
some of them, is, as we have known, to offer them
employment. And is it not common for Irish laborers to beg their way, not only going to the English harvests, but returning from them, no matter
what earnings they may be carrying back; nay, to
resort to various schemes to avoid paying their fare
in the steamers which bring them home?  We have
seen the mate sometimes confining them in the hold,
sometimes kicking them round the deck, sometimes
stripping them almost naked, before they would confess they had a farthing about them; and in one
case, the honest sailor, in his indignation, flung the
poor wretch's waistcoat overboard, whereupon he
raised a howl of lamentation, exclaiming that he was
a ruined man; and then the truth came out that he
had several pounds sewed up in its folds!
And these are thy trophies, O Rome-the proofs
of thy divinity-the fruits of thy celestial sway!
Oh, how oft, when witnessing such scenes as these,
* Wylie on the Papacy, p. 482.




188            THE GRAND CAUSE.
has our very soul burned, not only with shame for
our country, but indignation at the system which has
made her the world's very scorn! And we have felt
amazed at the effrontery of those priests who, daily
walking amid the ruins they have wrought, can not
only lift their heads like other men, but rage and
bluster the while against England as the cause of all
this mischief, and speak of themselves and their system as the peerless embodiment of transcendent and
persecuted worth, and the only hope of Ireland's
elevation!! Surely in the light of these astounding
facts must the mist which has so long enveloped
Ireland be dissipated, and the contempt of which
she has been the innocent object, be henceforth levelled against her cruel enslaver.  For, if beneath
even bodily slavery the finest race on earth degenerate and become in time mere wrecks of humanity,
0! what must be the effects of such a moral thraldom lying with its whole weight on our countrymen
for ages! —a thraldom which, masked in the guise of
Christianity, kills the energies that divine religion
quickens-brutalizes the feelings which it refinesdebases the nature which it exalts-in a word, as
thoroughly curses as ever it blessed-and makes the
whole man, to which the gospel would have given
the swelling bloom of health, like some spent and
palsied frame, the shattered remnant of what it was!




ROME BLASTS MiAN'S TEMPORAL STATE.   189
CHAPTER V.
ROME BLASTS MAN'S TEMPORAL STATE.
SUCH) then, is Rome.  Like some parasitical plant
which embraces and kills the noblest tree, it twines
itself with deadly grasp around man's whole nature;
or like some poison poured into the veins, it sends
its moral death-drugs through his whole soul. And
now, having seen how it MlUST destroy a people, it
only remains to show how, in Ireland's case, it HAS
done so. And for simplicity's sake, we shall take
up the leading topics of the two first Parts of this
work which have not already been disposed of; and
briefly applying our vwhole line of arg'gument to Ireland's financial, physical, social, and political state,
proceed to the completion of our demonstration.
THE FINANCIAL. —Rome has impoverished Ireland indlirectly by its ifztences, and directly by its
i2mposts.
If she keeps her people sitting in darkness while
others are enlightened, steeped in vice while others
are virtuous, and their whole souls like a bow unstrung while others are nerved with energy and life
-then, unless God were to rain gold from heaven,
is their poverty as inevitable as eternal laws can
make it.  Why, Rome's very holidays tend in this
direction: her calendar contains a fast or feast for




190            THE GRAND CAUSE.
every day in the year, and demands the observance
of seventy of these, exclusive of Sabbaths; so that
nearly a fifth part of every O"good Catholic's" lifetime is consumed in the worship of dead men and
women! And what must be the effect of such continual interruptions to business on a nation's wealth,
and on all those habits which are the springs of
wealth? or how can the man who idles on Monday
and Wednesday, help feeling the  tnzsettling,' effect
throughout the rest of the week?
If, then, Roime's very devotions tend to poverty,
what must be the influence of her vices and crimes? 
We have proved that it is she that has filled the
land with violence; at her door then lie, of course,
the disastrous consequences. It is she that is mainly
chargeable, not only with our enormous military,
constabulary, and jail expenditure-not only with
our ruinous outlay on law and lawyers-not only
with our crushing poor-rates-not only with the actual expense of our immoral habits themselves, but
with all the calamitous effects of these, direct and
reflex, on the t'aclde and 1)progress of the country.
And who can pretend to estimate these?  Think of
the loss sustained by one disturbed district, or the
injury inflicted by a single gang of ruffians, before
they come within the grasp of the law at all; and
yet to all this positive loss you must add the still
larger negative item.  You must enter our cri~ninals' cells, and estimate, not only the injury they inflict on society, but the good they would have con



ROBIE BLASTS IANB S TEMPORAL STATE.   191
ferred on it, had they only been virtuous-you must
wend your way to our seaports, and reckon the loss
sustained by the flight of our best people, who, in a
better state of society, would have prospered at
homne-you must then pass through every towtmv and
plarish, and calculate the loss incurred by the paralysis of our trade, and the wretchedness of our agriculture;-and, finally, you must visit every streat
and har'bor, and reflect how many capitalists our social disorder has driven from our shores, and how
many more it has hindered from approaching them;
all this, and more, you will be obliged to estimate,
before you can form a correct idea of the financial
curse of Popery.
We have already seen a little of Rome's direct
imposts, and in truth but a little; for the amount it
wrings from the starving Irish is scarcely credible.
Poverty itself brings no exemption; —-we once knew
a common charc-woman to fast from her dinner for
days in order to procure her 1"voltutary offering;"
and in various towns you see magnificent chapels
now rising to the skies, but while pleased with their
beauty, you perhaps little dream, that like the Egyptian pyramids they have been reared by the sweat
of bond slaves, and owe their existence mainly to the
hard earnings of the poor.
We have shown how, during the horrors of the
famine, Rome fed on the alms of charity, and "' gleaned in the rear of starvation."  It was during these
horrors that the Pope fled to Gaeta; and at the very




19~2           THE GRPAND CAUSE.
time when the priests were appealing to Protestant
liberality on behalf of their starving millions, they
were sending thousands of pounds to his "a holiness;"
who, in return, sent theum his blessing. and a few
hundreds of their own money to distribute amongst
the dying!  No wonder, truly, that our poor emigrants breathe freely when they reach the shores of
the west, and express themselves as thankful for
having escaped the exactions of their priests as those
of their landlords. No wonder that, with all their
efforts to "bring their friends out," they are never
known to bring out their priests! and where an occasional priest does follow and join them, no wonder
that the first lesson they take pains to teach him is
that he is no longer in Ireland. " Sir," exclaimed an
Irish laborer on the banks of the Delaware, to a
priest who had insolently refused to take five dollars
for some rite-" Sir, do you think it is in Ireland
you have me?"
Nay, not only has Rome extracted the morsel
from the mouth of hunger, but outraged those feelings of our nature which even barbarians are accustomed to respect.  A young pair become attached,
and the priest often hastens the marriage for sake of
the fee, although he knows they must borrow the
money wherewith to pay him.; Nay, one of our missionaries has detailed a case in which not only was
the match made by the priest, but the bride never
saw the bridegroom till she met him on the way to be
married! and he adds, that when they met, the poor




ROME BLASTS RMAN'S TEMPORAL STATE.  193
bride thus addressed her future spouse —-" May I
make bold to ask what is your name?" But iRome's
golden harvest is by the deathbed and the grave;
and in those solemn scenes where the most rugged
nature has melted, —-where the hand of extortion has
let go its grasp, and unkindness itself has been known
to weep, she alone has remained unmoved; and by
working on a dying father's terrors, so often robbed
his children, even while weeping over him, that parliament itself has been obliged to protect them by
its Charitable Bequests' Bill. Oh, think of a church
of God thus feeding like a vulture on the dead as
well as the living! Surely the bold highwayman is
honorable in comparison to the men who creep into
the death-chamber, and, alike unmoved by the groans
of the dying and the anguish of the living, do their
pilfering work beneath the cloak of religion and the
forms of law!
Nor must we blame the Irish priest alone; Rome
is everywhere the same spiritual maelstrom sucking
down the wealth of nations; and the successor of the
fisherman who had neither " silver nor gold," has in
all ages been the world's great plunderer.  While
the whole state revenue of Rome is but 8,000,000 or
9,000;000 of dollars, its church property is worth
400 000,000 of francs, and yields a revenue of 20,000,000 a-year.~  Ay, and poor miserable Spain,
unable to pay any one else, is this moment paying
the priests 50,000,000 of dollars per annum.  Now,, aavazzi, 13thl Oration.
13




194            THE GRAND CAUSE.
if bankrztpt nations are thus muleted even in these
days of Rome's impotence, imagine, if you can the
state of things when Europe lay in chains at her feet.
At one time a large portion of its entire property
had been drawn into her capacious jaws; and it was
to prevent her from swallowing England up that the
law of mortmain was enacted; while those who see
the ruins of abbeys, cathedrals, and monasteries which
are thickly strewn over Europe, and reflect on their
enormous revenues, may form some idea of the pecuniary millstone which once hung on the necks of
nations.
THE PHYSICAL.-We have only space for a word
or two on the soil and climate of Popish lands.
"; What!" you exclaim, " does Rome even mar the
face of nature 2"  Yes, dear reader, the ground was
cursed for man's frst apostasy, and why wonder that
it should feel the effects of his last and greatest?
And as if to show more clearly her scathing influence, it is usually the finest countries which God has
permitted Rome to occupy, while the poorest have
as commonly been assigned to Protestantism.  To
the one he has given green Ireland, fair France, and
sunny Italy; and to the other barren Scotland and
sandy Holland; yet the latter are blessed, and the
former so thoroughly blasted, that of Italy, for instance, a late traveller could not help exclaiming," The devil has again entered Paradise:" and this,
too, while Protestantism  found Britain a paltry




ROME BLASTS MAN S TEMPORAL STATE.  195
island, and America a vast wilderness, and has made
them  the pride of the world!  It is the same in
Ireland; IRome has possession of not only its best
provinces, but its most romantic spots. To her belong Wicklow, Killarney, Rosstrevor, and Lough
Gill; and who that has visited these lovely scenes
can forget the nuisances which are found in their
midst-who can forget the filthy beggars, for instance,
who in Killarney torment the tourist at every step
like summer flies in some sweet bower; or help
adopting the very words of Baptist Noel, when gazing on a similar scene at Killaloe:" But in Ireland there is an omnipresent mischief,
and when you would let your thoughts repose among
the sweet influences of nature, then Popery looks in
on you like a spectre; or, if it be half concealed
like a snake among the flowers,' there comes a token
like a scorpion's sting,' warning you of its hateful
presence. I felt it at Killarney, I felt it at Rosstrevor, and here it is again." Yes, and not only can
you trace the trail of this serpent along the ground,
but you sniff its odors in the breeze of heaven.
Cultivation affects climate, and cleanliness promotes
health; and if to Popery we are indebted for undrained bogs and filthy cabins, then it is it we must
mainly thank for that damp which is the result of the
one, and those diseases which are caused by both. If,
then, Popery injures even our salubrious clime, what
report can we expect from other lands?  Instance
Italy,'the seat of the beast;" and in the days of the




196            THE GRAND CAUSE.
Csasars, towns and villages stood where the Pontine
Marshes now send up their poisonous vapors, and
that vzcdal'ia was but slightly felt which is now the
scourge of the land.
But it is in the -acce you see the chief physical
effects of Popery.  Eden suffered much by the fall,
but Adam  suffered more; and we appeal to the
reader if we have not proved that those blemishes
which attach to our countrymen, are chiefly chargeable on Popery.  The very body feels its curseyou see the " mark of the beast" not only on the
"forehead" but the frame; and no marvel, when
you think of the influence of crime and misery on
bodily strength and stature.  The contrast is remarkable between the Roman Catholic peasant of
Kerry, and the Protestant peasant of Antrim;  and
what is yet more striking, between the Roman
Catholic and the Protestant of Kerry itself.  The
same contrast is seen between the Frenchman and
the Englishman; and what demonstrates that this
is owing not to anything naturcl to these races, but
to some influence exerted'ucphon them, is the fact that
the stature of the French has diminished, while that
of the English has increased. For, according to
Raudot in his I Decline of France," the height required for a French infantry soldier in 1789, was
but 5 feet 1 inch, and in 1832, a time of peace, it
had to be reduced to 4 feet 9 inches and 10 lines;
while in England, on the contrary, the mziinimzuem,
height 20 years ago was 5 feet 4 inches, and now it




ROME BLASTS MAN S TEMPORAL STATE.  197
has risen to 5 feet 7.  If such are the effects of
Popery on the body, what must be its influence on
the soul? We appeal for answer to all Popish lands.
What a contrast is the Brazilian to the American
and the Austrian to the Englishman!-or:where was
ever a finer race than the ancient Andalusian? and
what have the priests now made them? —" they took
in hand a nation of heroes, and they have produced
a generation of hens."" In a word, no matter how
different the race, Protestants have everyvohere the
same great moral features of resemblance; and so
have Rooman Catholics. And what singularly proves
the degrading power of Rome on the Irishman in
particular, is that it affects the very bravery which is
his national quality.  How can a moral slave be a
hero? And so marshal him under priests as leaders, with crucifixes as ensigns, and you find him flying before Cromwell, before William, before the soldiers of 1798; but place him in the ranks of the
British army, where his priest can no longer trample
on him, and though he remains a Papist, and is therefore the most troublesome soldier in his regiment,
his natural spirit of bravery comes again, for it was
not dead but sleeping, drugged by the opiate of
Popery-and so he has contributed his full share of
those laurels which England wears on her brow!
And thus we demonstrate that if the Irishman is
worse than other men, it is Rome which has made
him so; and, oh! it is melancholy to see this poor
* Bishop Mechior Cano-quoted by Gavazzi, 8th Oration.




198            THE GRAND CAUSE.
victim of her guilt wandering the world, like some
outcast from society, with that reputation blasted
which is more precious than life.  True religion
gives a character, and in these days character is
everything; but, alas our poor countryman! his
very name is enough to close against him the avenues to success.  How often do you read in advertisements for clerks and servants, the humiliating
nota bezee-" No Irishman need apply!" How often
when in search of employment in English and Scotch
towns, is the door rudely shut in his face the moment his brogue is heard  And how often have we
known him on that account.to deny his country and
try to disguise his fatal shibboleth! Yes, and because the Ulster Protestant hcts a character, and the
Munster Roman Catholic has zone, how often does
the latter in other lands attempt in his distress to
pass himself off as a native of Ulster! What a fearful odds is against him here, when at the least he
requires years of good conduct to nzake the character with which a Scotchman starts the first hour!
And what a pitiable condition is this to be reduced
to: if he remains at home to be in danger of starving,-if he leaves it in quest of an honest livelihood,
to be still exposed to starvation,-and however innocent he may be, to find himself everywhere a shunned
and suspected man!
THE SOCIAL.-On this section we need scarcely
dwell.  If, as we have shown, Rome violates those




ROME BLASTS MAN S TEMPORAL STATE.  199
eternal principles on which the existence of society
depends; surely social dlisorder at least must be the
result.  It follows inevitably from  our whole argument, that the direct tendency of Popery is to lay in
the dust the entire social fabric.  And it is truly
wonderful how distinctly its effects are seen in the
general condclition of its victims.  It has smitten the
cean, and you see the results on all that is his-in
his filthy dwelling and ill-trained family, his weedgrown fields and broken fences.  The master mind
of the household is injured, and you see the effect on
everything around; the mainspring of the watch is
out of order, and it tells on the motion of every
wheel.  How  truly exemplified  have we already
found this to be in our countryman's HABITS; it
only now remains to trace it in his PURSUITS.
IRemember, then, dear reader, how  Christianity
quickens, and Popery kills, the energies of man;
how the one is like the sun in spring, waking all nature to life, and the other like the frost in winter
overspreading it with the dreariness of death; and
you have the reason, which some cannot, and others
will not see, why there is as great a contrast between Protestant and Popish communities, as between the flowing tide and the stagnant pool.  How
mournfully illustrated in Ireland's case! How much
has been done by public and private philanthropy to
infuse a little life into her sluggish veins! yet, like
some exhausted patient, she continues to sink in
spite of every restorative: each proves, at the best,




200            THE GRAND CAUSE.
but a temporary stimulant whose effects disappear
as soon as it is withdrawn; and when there does
seem a slight amendment, you are afraid to trust it,
and can never tell whether it may be only like the
occasional flicker of a dying lamp. The priest sits
as a nightmare on the social energies, and presides
the evil genius of the stagnation he creates. And
this is so manifest, that could Ireland and Scotland
exchange populations, the one would become a garden, and the other return to the wilderness state;
and could each have its ancient inhabitants restored,
how soon would it resume its ancient character  Is
it not the same in all Popish lands? What a social
contrast they present to Protestant ones, in spite of
their superior natural advantages-instance the two
great European peaninsulas, Spain and Italy! What
prodigious commercial facilities are theirs!  Yet
how long, think you, would their inhabitants have
dwelt in the woods of America, or on the swamps of
Holland, before they would have made them  the
homes of commerce and wealth? In truth, wherever
Popery flourishes, nothing is in vigor but Popery.
Had it still reigned over Europe, where would now
have been its steamers, its railroads, its telegraphs,
its forests of shipping, or its ten thousand inventions,
which are the wonder of the world? Nay, with all
the surrounding stimulus of that Protestantism
which has created these, how much of them have
Popish nations yet? Look at their miserable towns,
with grass on the streets, and the people lounging




inOME BLASTS MAN'S TEMPORAL STATE.   20i
about as though motion were a burden; or their
best seaports, with a few paltry craft, and their finest
harbors, almost like that of Tyre, a " place for fishermlen to spread their nets;"-everything still as
though they were asleep, or like some bliglted forest which hears not the.voice of spring;-and all because they are,.in reality, lying  benumbed  and
stunned beneath the stroke of this moral torpedo!
Moreover we impeach Popery as the grand inzdirect
hindrance of our social progress; as the parent, for
instance, of that feudalism  whose remains still so
much impede it.  That curse cannot exist under a
pure Christianity; its spirit cannot but exist under
Paganism  and Popery.  And so we find that, if
brought forth by the former, it was, at least;, brought
up by the latter; flourished most in Rome's palmiest days; received its deadly wound at the Reformation; and in every country has just decreased as
pure Protestantism has increased.  And it MUST be
so. Popery being the intensest form of spiritual
despotism, not only has the strongest affinity for
civil and social despotism, but creates that social
condition from  which they necessarily spring.  We
have seen that the man who is accustomed to crouch
before his spiritual superior, soon comes to crouch
before his social superior.  Slavery becomes his
state: and once divide society into haughty priests
and prostrate people, and it will, of consequence,
divide itself into barons and serfs, masters and
slaves, and produce, through all its ramifications,




202            THE GRAND CAUSE.
those various forms of petty tyranny beneath which
Ireland, and all other Popish countries, groan. Instance our chief social grievance, landlord tyranny;
and is it not, in all our provinces, mitigated in proportion to their Protestantism, from Connaught to
Ulster?  Just because Protestantism, by begetting
all those qualities which improve the man, renders
any extensive oppression impossible; for, if it does
not so improve the landlord's own heart that he will
not oppress, it so elevates the tone of society that he
DARE NOT. And this healthy tone is, after all, not
only the best preventive of abuses, but, in the long
run, the only effectual one; for not only do all useful laws spring from it, but without it they are comparatively worthless. Now, we have demonstrated
that Popery either destroys or prevents the existence of such a tone; and so it follows, that the
landlord tyranny against which our priests exclaim,
would, at the least, be greatly mitigated but for
themselves. What landlord would dare attempt in
Kent or the Lothians the same acts of cruelty which
are committed with impunity in Galway? And the
Tenant-Right leaders themselves admit that their
chief hindrance is the want of that lofty, virtuous
public feeling, which is the best means of overawing
the oppressor; which would compel both landlord
and legislature to listen to their claims; and which
nothing but the blessed Bible has ever yet created.
Here, then, we have a monument of Rome's
destroying power mournfully instructive-a coun



REOME BLASTS MAN S TEMPORAL STATE., 203
try at once a garden and a grave; indented by harbors without a sail, pervaded by rivers whose banks
are still; with above the finest clime unavailed of,
beneath the richest mines unwrought, around the
most fertile soil untilled; and inhabited by a race,
which in natural parts have few superiors amongst
the sons of men. Well, let the extent of the ruin
at least serve to convince us of the malignity of the
cause.  And when we behold Ireland teeming with
natural stores, yet starving; covered with improvement societies, yet a desert; and receiving millions
of aid, yet a beggar — when we see Scotchmen in
our banks, and Irishmen in their prisons; foreign
ships doing our trade, and our countrymen not the
crews but the cargoes;-when, in short, we look on
every jail and poorhouse, soldier and policeman, oh!
let it give fresh zeal to our evangelistic efforts, and
fervor to our prayers on behalf of a land on which
God has so long permitted Rome to do her worst,
-as if He thereby designed it to be a SPECIAL
WARNING to all nations to beware of her blasting
power.
THE POLITICAL.-We charge on Popery imainly
Ireland's political evils.  First, but for it those
grievances which exist amongst us would either have
been mitigated or long since removed. There is a
moral state which invites misrule, and another which
makes it impossible.  Demosthenes keenly felt this
when he told the Athenians that even were Philip




THE GRAND CAUSE,
dead, their conduct would raise up another Philip.
Tt has been the experience of all ages, that rulers
will enslave if the people will let themy and thiat
the only effectual breastwork against the eneroachmnents o the one, is the elevation of the oiller.  It
is only becozo a certain, moral level that a nation can
be trampled on, and the moment it gets above this it
flings off the oppressor,  HEence, Popislh lands are
the home of despotism, and Protestant lands the
sanctuary of freedom.  Hence America. Scotland,
England, have flung off the tyrant's yoke.  If7 then,
Ireland is En bondage, as some maintaini it must be
because she lacks those qualities which would hlave
secumed liberty for her just as certainly as for them;
and hence those priests who loudly complain of her
thraldom, are themselves convicted as indirectly the
cause; for had any other nation than England been
placed by her side, would not the result have been
the same?  The sanze, did we say? —Let the present state of Europe answer the question. It was in
England's power to oppress Ireland to any extent
for aught such a priest-ridden nation could have
hindered her; and had England continued Popish,
all history is a fable if she would not have oppressed
her.  Thus it follows, that the political blessings
Ireland enjoys, have sprung fr'om EnCltga'nd'sP Protestantism, while such political wrongs as she suffers
are inclirectly owing to her own Popcr^y.  Nay in
truth, the worst grievances she has ever endured
are directly chargeable on Rome.  Were n.o those




ROME BLASTS MAN9S TEMPORAL STATE.  205
"disabilities," for instance, of which Roman Catholies have so loudly complained, in great part of
their own procuring?  Did not Rome convince our
fathers, by too many unmistakable proofs, that they
must either bind her, or themselves submit to be
bound?  And when they saw that she never got
her hands loose but the first use she made of her
liberty was to spring on themselves, what else could
they do but bind her again?
So much for our political grievarces.  We next
assert that Popery robs of their benign influence
most of our political blessing's.  Instance its influence on our laws.  A highly virtuous state of society makes somewhat tolerable the worst laws,
while a vicious state renders mischievous the best;
the one turns the evil into good, and the other the
good into evil.  In Scotland, for example, those
taxes on servants, dogs, &c., from which we are exempt, have proved blessings, by leading the people
to a simpler style of living; while our exemption
has proved a curse, by encouraging in us a more expensive one.  In Ulster, again, the poor-lazv works
so well, that several poorhouses are almost selfsupporting; while in Munster several unions are
bankrupt, and the very guardian's board rooms are
the scenes of party violence.  And had the Scotch
Presbyterians got those ~8,000,000 of relief which
we so shamefully mismanaged; judging by their
whole Character, we are entitled to assert that they
would, have  annihilated  pauperism  in Scotland.




206            TIHE GRAND CAUSE.
Alas, it is the same, withL alm.ost every other effort
of legislation.  O'Connell boasted'he could "drive a
coach and six through any Act of Parliament;" and
thus, in direct contradiction to the whole aim) of his
life, unconsciously proclaimed how littile mere legislation can do if it has not a virtuous community on
which to operate.
Instance, again, our glorious Constitutltion2. Take
that very bulwark of liberty, triazl by jury'; anc we
have demonstrated by various facts that Popery has
in numerous cases made it an absolute mockery, and
that justice would be infinitely safer in the hands
of the judge.  Hence the friends of truth and order
are rejoicing in the late " Justice's Act," which virtually transfers so much power from  the juries to
the magistrates.  So utterly incompatible is the
genius of Popery with that of liberty,-so unsuited
does it seem to any other state than one of slavery,
-that even this trifling approximation  towards
despotism  has done wonders  in quieting  those
horse-whipping priests, who, turning our very constitution against itself, trampled down the liberty
of whole districts because they knew that no Popish
jury would convict them.
Take one other bulwark of British liberty, the
"elective franchise." Between the landlord and the
priest this has also been little better than a mockery; for the people must generally vote for whatever candidate these masters direct.  If they disobey the former, they are ejected; if they rebel




ROME BLASTS MAN  S TEMPORAL STATE.  207
against the latter, they are " damned."  4' Whoever." exclaimed Father John O'Sullivan from  the
altar, on the eve of an election for Kerry-" whoever will vote for that renegade, the Knight of
Kerry, I won't prepare him for death, but will let
him die like a beast, neither will I baptize his children."' Fancy, then, these people between those two
tyrants —the one threatening temporal ruin, and the
other eternal! It is all very well when both support the same candidate; and right thankful are the
poor creatures to escape by being simply robbed of
their rights as freemen. But the landlord, being
often a Protestant, is frequently opposed by the
priest; and then, imagine if you can the dilemma
of the people!  Still the Scylla of beggary is
nothing to the Charybdis of perdition; the terrors
of the confessional far exceed even those of the
"crowbar brigade;' and so the priests generally
carry it over the landlords, have frequently boasted
that they could "return cow-boys to parliament,"
and have often led their dupes to the hustings when
they scarce even know the candidate's name! Thus
one of the dearest rights of freemen is by Popery
transformed into not only a yoke of bondage, but
such an instrument of ruin, that thousands of the
people would deem its withdrawal the greatest mercy
that England could extend them. Yet these priests
are the champions of popul1ar liber'ty! —and one of
the standing themes of their platform harangues is
* See Progress of Confessional, p. 66.




208            THE GRAND CAUSE.
the deficiency of the suffrage, and the necessity for
its extension!!
Finally, Rome is the direct cause of our political
agitcations.  It has been well said, that it is her nature to produce tyranny when she is in power, and
rebellion when she is not; and this single sentence
is the key to the political intrigues of the priesthood
in every land.  How has it been exemplified in Ireland, making her entire history one of disaffection
and rebellion! Or who so simple as still to doubt,
that the r'eal aim of the Irish priesthood, through
all their political struggles, has not been equality
but ascendency, not liberty for the people but supremacy for themselves?  Shall we call it charity
or infatuation which refuses to see that the real
meaning of Irish agitation is the restlessness of
priestly restraint?  Can any man believe that the
love of popular liberty is the reason why these reverend agitators have kept the country simmering for
ages, and sown it thick with the seeds of lawlessness
and crime; or doubt that the real yoke which galls
theml is our uREEDOM.I and that had we but the laws
of Italy or Spain, which degrade the people and exalt
the priests, they would be as loyal as their brethren
of those realms?  Talk of Popery as the friend of
liberty! whose every dogma breathes despotism, and
whose every act exemplifies it! That any Protestant
should ever doubt its intolerance, because its priests
have had sometimes the hardihood to deny it, is to
us a matter of perfect astonishment.  Surely the




ROME BLASTS MAN'S TEMPORAL STATE.  209
last two years might be sufficient to open the blindest eyes.  Those priests, during the revolutions of
1848, with a subtlety altogether worthy of thenL,
appeared foremost in the republican ranks, and were
the noisiest of the crowds who shouted, "liberty,
equality, fraternity,"-were all twh  while quietly
waiting the turn of the tide; and so are NOW the
avowed leaders of that dreadful conspiracy which is
formed against the freedom of Europe.  Liberty!
Are they not making every effort which conscious
guilt and terror can suggest to extinguish the spirit
of freedom in the world?  Is not Pio Nono at this
moment the rallying point of all Europe's trembling
despots?  Has he not heaped paternal benedictions
on the perjured tyrant of Naples, and the unprincipled usurper of France?  And is not his own despotism so intolerable, that he needs two nations to
protect him from the violence of his oppressed children?  Liberty! His own poor subjects cannot
wring from the "Holy Father" one single drop of
liberty's sweet cup.  And is not the whole Romish
Church publicly rejoicing in a series of the most
shocking outrages, ever committed against liberty
and humanity, by Louis Napoleon Bonaparte?  ]Did
not Cullen himself, in a late letter to the Uzitvers,
echo the blasphemy now ringing from every continental altar, and ascribe these atrocities to the special
interference of Providence?  Yet he is the head of
those Irish priests who have for years been the
champions of freedom!-and who now, while lavish14




210            THE GRAND CAUSE.
ing their blessings on Europe's basest tyrants, are
defaming its most hallowed patriots! Instance Kossuth, that representative and symbol of outraged
freedom.  When the world was doing honor to the
illustrious exile, they not only stood sullenly aloof
but betook them to their usual weapon, slander;
when gladness beamed on the brows of thousands,
the scowl of vexation lowered upon theirs; and
when both shores of the Atlantic resounded with
shouts of welcome to the Magyar hero, their conduct
clearly testified that they would have shouted more
joyfully over his grave.  How often have we heard
Irish Roman Catholics speak with rapture of American freedom, and long to fly to that land of promise
from Britain's Egyptian thraldom; little imagining
that America owed this liberty, under God, to those
puritans whom they are taught to abhor, and that
but for them it might now have been like such lands
of Popish colonists as Brazil and Mexico! Yes, the
poor creatures little know that the freedom that they
enjoy even here is owing to Protestantism; that
were Ireland's rulers Popish, it would fare no better
than other Popish lands; that in Protestant countries ONLY can Romnan Catholics breathe and speak
freely, without dreading a spy in every companion,
and an arrest in every corner; and that if over such
Popish lands as France, during her short-lived republics, liberty has ever hovered, it has only been,
like the bird of Noah, over a wide waste of waters
seeking in vain for a spot to rest on!
____ ____ ___ ____ __ ___  _ _ _______    ______________-i




ROME BLASTS MAN9S TEMPORAL STATE.  211
Thus Popery in various ways blasts man's temporal state.  By demoralizing it degrades, by doing
both it impoverishes, and by impoverishing it farther
degrades and demoralizes.  By withholding knowledge it enslaves and beggars, and by these it renders
the acquisition of knowledge impracticable; so that
here we have a course of action and reaction going
on, of cause and effect constantly reproducing each
other.  And thus, like the snakes of Laocoon, this
great red dragon has twined itself round every limb
of the body social, in so many deadly coils that disentanglement seems hopeless, and death inevitable.
Yet think of the unblushing effrontery with which
the Irish priests are this moment lauding it as God's
choicest blessing to man.  Think of Dr. Cullen,
while doing his utmost to complete the degradation
of which his predecessors have left so little to be
done, having the hardihood to say, that Rome "' has
been the instructress and civilizer of all nations of
the earth.  Every noble ancd useful institution that
we possess has originated wvith her; and to her are
dlue the presercvation of the arlts and sciences in the
age of darchness, and thoir revival and dclffusion at
a later period!!""   Ay, these are the terms in
which " the Primnate of all Ireland" addresses Christendom in the nineteenth century! If he had meant
the most cutting sarcasm on his religion, he could
not have expressed himself better; and this single
sentence proves how utterly hopeless are the men
* Address to the Corporation of' Drogheda, Aug. 17, 1851.




212            THE GRAND CAUSE.
whose own Chief is so reckless as to mnake such an
outrageous assertion in the very face of the world.
TWhen at the late Dublin " Defence" Demonstration,
Mr. Moore ventured to hint that a Pope could persecute, this "head of the Irish Church" in holy horror stopped him, assured him that Rome was " the
parent of liberty," and pryovecd it by refusing him
liberty to explain  Oh, if such is our metropolitan
primate, what must be our rural priests! If he
could thus speak in the face of Christendom, what,
think you, will they stop at amongst a peasantry
whom by such fearful contrivances they have so well
prepared to believe any falsehoods! If he thus ventured to bully a member of Parliament, how must
they handle their degraded slaves! And if that
member did not dare to open his lips in reply to a
statement so outrageous, what must be the prostrate
vassalage in which the common people crouch and
cower at the feet of their ghostly tyrants!
CHAPTER VI.
tROME BLIGHTS MAN'S ETERNAL PROSPECTS.
WE have now reached a part of our subject before
which all the rest must fade like the lamp in the
light of day.  It is the unceasing assurance of One
who has the best right to know, that in comparison
to eterzity all which ever engrossed us in time is as




ROME BLIGHTS MAN S ETERNAL PROSPECTS. 213
the dancing bubble on the stream.  He assures us
that we stand on a narrow isthmus, with on one side
an ocean of bliss, and on the other a lake of fire;
and He conjures us by such motives as might wake
the rocks and stir the tenants of the grave, to seek
the one and flee the other. If, therefore, we find
Rome exposing its dupes to that fiery perdition
while pretending to save them from it, and in order
to do so, borrowing the name of Jesus, and stealing the passwords of heaven, then are all its other
atrocities angel innocence to this; and it stands
forth to the execration of the universe as the most
dreadful plot against the human soul that ever was
hatched in the depths of hell.
In proof of this, it were surely enough to refer to
our previous argument. Would you say that a system
which so utterly blasts the earth, could be possibly
fit for the skies?-that a church which makes a hell
below, could make a heaven above?-or that those
eternal laws which are essential to the safety of the
universe, are dispensed with only in its great metropolis?  The point, therefore, is already proved,
unless you suppose that God requires higher qualifications for earth, his footstool, than for heaven, his
throne; or that He who cannot endure sin even on
this fallen earth, permits it to deluge the most glorious of worlds? But as there is a godless liberalism
abroad now-a-days, which calls it bigotry to say that
the Romanist is in any great danger-which, beneath the stolen garb of charity, dishonors God,




214            THE GRAND CAUSE.
leaves souls to perish, and paralyzes the efforts of
those who wozuld save them-and which, perhaps,
may even say that we have drawn n too dark a picture of Rome in this book —we shall now take her'
even as they would dress her out for view; and,
to leave them  forever without excuse, prove our
fearful charge with all the clearness of demonstration.
They will at least grant that happiness or misery
depends mainly on the state of the HEARlT.  They
are aware that Haman, a premier, was wretched
because a gate-keeper would not bow to him; and
Ahab, a king, took to bed because denied a patch
of ground; and the world's Conqueror wept because
he could not push his conquests to the stars: and
they will surely admit that men torn with such passions must anzywtere be wretched.   Yet all men
have within them the gerumns, at least, of the same
passions; and hence, till these are crushed, TrITE
happiness is out of the question.  Surely they must
see this; yet we shall mlake it still more plain. God
himself is infinitely happy only because he is infinitely GOOD.  It cannot be because he is in heaven,
for he is everywhere; nor because he is Lord of the
Universe, for he was happy before it was made:
nothing, therefore, remains from which it CAN spring
but his own infinite excellence.'Tis the same with
all his creatures.  Angels do not surely leave their
-bliss behind them, when they come down from heaven
on errands of love; nor devils their misery, when




ROME BLIGHTS MAN S ETERNAL PROSPECTS. 215
they come up from hell on their schemes of wickedness.  No; their own bosoms are a heaven and a
hell respectively.  We ourselves also feel this; with
all our efforts to find happiness without, our truest
happiness is found wvithin, and consists not so much
in zwhere as in w~hat we are.  We see it in the
serenity of many a cottager, and the suicide of many
a prince; in the dark scowl of villany, and the sweet
smile of kindness; and even in the peevish face of
the child when naughty, and his beaming countenanice when good.  If, therefore, you would make
us happy in any world, there is but one way-m lake
Es GOOD.  Substitute in our hearts one set of affections for another, radiant kindness for lowering
malignity, transparent truth for sneaking falsehood,
noble generosity for despicable selfishness, open
frankness for sullen suspicion, in a word, ethereal
holiness for foul pollution; and is it not perfectly
manifest, that such a mere exchange of affections
were to pass from hell to heaven, and that without
this no external enjoyments could materially avail?
Now, to effect this change is the grand object of
the gospel.  Its whole aim is to PURIFY THE HEArT.
By doing this, it nips both sin and misery in the
bud, and thus necessarily secures happiness on earth,
and meetness for heaven.  Here is its blessed plan,
which, for simplicity of design and perfection of success, is worthy of its glorious Author.  Here is
neither mystery nor magic, but the most perfect systemn of adaptation.  By the Divine Spirit thus turn



216             THE GRAND CAUSE.
ing a man from sin to holiness, he must become a
good and therefore a?hap3py man.
Look now to false systems of religion, and they
never once aim at the heart; on the contrary, Satan's
grand object seems throughout them all to be to
prevent the entrance of one holy feeling.  Their
whole round of worship is a substitution of the forznal for the sp2iritcul.  Everything is designed for
the senses, and nothing for the heart; so that their
most imposing ceremonials are but pompous mockery, and  their devoutest worshipper a whited
sepulchre.  Yet is not this a perfect picture of
iRome?  In her system, all is paardon-regeneration
is unknown-salvation inz sin, never salvation f'rom
sin.  The very term  holiness is bereft of its meaning, and made a mystic sign —-so we have holy water,
salt, oil, clay, wells, loughs, trees-everything but a
holy heart.  All is external-penance of the body
for sorrow of soul, confession to the priest for contrition before God, corporeal sufferings,on earth, and
material fires in purgatory.  Even the means of
grace are made substitutes for grace.  Those pipes
and conduits of the waters of life, whose whole virtue lies in their connection with the Fountain, are
substituted for the waters they were meant to convey; so you have devotions whose value is their
number, not their fervor —the fact of their performance is everything, the spirit is nothing at all.  We
ask, cans this sanctify?  D oes it do so?  We see in
God's gracious plan the most beautiful connection




ROME BLIGHTS MAN'S ETERNAL PROSPECTS. 217
between the mleans and the end; but what connection is there between holy water and a holy lifebetween bleeding knees and a bleeding heart? The
one, religion cannot but make holy, yet it is a " damnable heresy;" the other can only do so by some
such magic as the witches of Macbeth would have
employed, yet it is the religion of the holy God!
Oh, if this system can save, of course so can paganism'; for its scheme of salvation is precisely similar.
Do you say we are overstating the case?  Enter
any Irish chapel during mass —mark that priest in
his fantastic robes, surrounded by boys in white
frocks, often the greatest scamps in the parish —observe his mystic movements, his bows and genuflexions; now turning to the altar, and then to the people; shifting the mass-book to one side, and then to
the other-and remember that most of all this is
dumb show, and when he does speak, it is to mutter
in a language the people neither hear nor understand. And do'you say THIS has the least effect on
their hearts?  Then observe their vacant, devotionless looks 
Indeed, if the endless prayers of the Roman Catholdie had the least sanctifying power, he could not
but be the purest of men.  Yet observe the scenes
of abomination enacted at every holy lough and
well.  Visit St. Patrick's well on midsulmmer evesee those crowds of devotees, with bare feet and tied
up heads,-some running in circles, some kneeling
in groups, some jumping about like maniacs, most




218            THIE GRAND CAUSE.
of them covered with dust and sweat, not a few with
blood, and all taking incredible pains that neither
trowsers nor petticoats shall protect their knees
from the sharp stones; while from the whole crowd
a horrid din continues to rise to heaven. And you
call this devotion! Then read the following picture, drawn by an eye-witness:-" Shouting, and
howling, and swearing, and carousing, filled up every
pause, and threw over the spot the air of hell. I
was never more shocked and struck with horror;
and perceiving many of them intoxicated with religious fervor and all-potent whiskey, and warming
into violence before midnight, at which time the distraction was at its climax, I left this scene of human degradation in a state of mind not easily described."  Do you say the priests are not accountable for such scenes?  Then read a little farther:"On this occasion, the Irish Catholic clergy were
the mad priests of these bacchanalian orgies-the
fomentors of fury, the setters on to strife, the mischievous ministers of the debasement of their people, lending their aid to plunge their credulous congregations in ceremonious horrors.'" Thus, under
their own priests' specicil direction, their very prayers are made pretexts for sinning. Instead of being
a means of removing sin, they are made the purchasemoney for greater indulgence in it; and their rounds
of devotion are designed to clear scores with the
Most High, in order to begin iniquity de nPovo!
* M'Gavin's Protestant, pp. 403, 404.




ROME BLIGHTS MAN S ETERNAL PROSPECTS. 219
But even supposing such things were not so, and
that the utmost we could charge on this church was
mere form'ality, you will please recollect what this
means. What would you call professions of penitence
which is not felt, and of desires for holiness which are
not cherished?  What else but a mockery —a lie?
And this is presented to the Holy One, before whom
angels veil their faces-and as Rome's best service!
So that unless He who denounced the Pharisees for
such guilty homage has since changed his mindunless He who abhors hypocrisy everywhere, accepts
it at his altar-unless the august Sovereign of worlds
takes pleasure in mummeries with which any mortal
would feel insulted-the worship of Rome must be
an abomination in his eyes. If it were either pleasing to God or profitable to man, would you not at
least see some signs thereof in the priests themselves? You say they;" fast oft;" well, to judge by
their portly forms, the exercise seems to agree with
them.  You assert they keep Lent most scrupulously; be it so, they seem to thrive as well on salt fish
as the three Hebrew children on pulse and lentiles.
You say their prayers are manifold-we deny it not;
we see their Breviaries in their hands, even on the
tops of the coaches. But are they indeed God-fecring-nmen?-do their souls melt with the love of Jesus?
Let our previous pages answer. There is only too
much reason to fear that many of them are infidels
in heart.  "Do you know,' asked a Kerry priest of
a gentleman well known to the author-" Do you




220           THE GRAND CAUSE.
know what religioni I am of? —you think me a Catholic priest, but in reality I am a Mohammedan.  I
believe Mohammed was as good a teacher of morals
as Christ, and far more successful; when other
means failed, he employed the sword, and beyond a
doubt it is the best means of propagating morals and
religion!!"  Oh! the judgment-day will reveal the
fearful process through which the mind of many an
intelligent priest has passed, commencing with superstition, and ending in skepticism.  When he emerges
from Maynooth, we have little doubt of his fanatical
sincerity; but once clear of its gloomy cloisters, it
would be strange indeed if some of the light which
surrounds him would not in course of time reach
his mind.  We will admit that he believes much of
Rome's worst mummeries, for we know the " strong
delusions" under which some are left. We will say
he sincerely thinks Rome can reverse the divine
aphorism, " To obey is better than sacrifice," and can
even make right wrong.  We will allow that he is
convinced God is at certain times offended with
flesh meat, and propitiated by fish, and that the food
which is good on Thursday is pernicious on Friday.
We will grant that in all this and more, he may be
a devout believer.  But hark!-he is just telling
that trembling mother on whose brow sits distress,
that he has prayed her darling child a certain length
out of purgatory, but that it will need so many more
masses, which in Rome's vocabulary means so much
more money, to pray him wholly out. The poor




ROME BLIGHTS MAN'S ETERNAL PROSPECTS. 221
creature believes him-but can he believe himself?
And will you call us uncharitable for suspecting that
man's honesty?-a man whom one such act leaves
no choice between the character of a fanatical maniac
and that of a foul impostor-whose intellect superstition must have shattered, or else who must know
he is deceiving that poor woman, and driving a villanous trade on all that is tender and sacred in her
soul.
Fellow-Christians, what can you say to all this?
Behold our degraded countrymen, with many of
whom  the best hopes of heaven are the priest, and
the loftiest views of happiness, a drunkenfit.  Can,
you say such creatures are meet for the angelic
throngs?  Then unless there is a purgatory, where
else must they go? View that hoary wretch bending beneath the weight of crimes and years-his
hands perhaps stained with blood, and his priest the
keeper of the horrid secret.  He will soon enter
eternity-as he is.  What place is he fit for?heaven?  One starts at the thought.  Is it a little
oil rubbed on the body of that dying and now unconscious sinner, that can purify his soul? or even
if there wyer'e a purgatory, what more virtue could its
sufferings possess than those earthly penances, in
spite of which he lived a wretch? And if he were
admitted to heaven, what would it serve him? If
the whole Church of Rome were translated thither
bodily, as she is or ever was in her palmiest days,
what could this avail her, unless you suppose that




222            THE GRAND CAUSE.
place to be the heaven of the poets of Greece or the
prophet of Mecca?  But if you grant it is a place
of transcendent holiness, whose employments, and
ENJOYMENTS too, consist in serving' God; then, what
happiness could it bring to a church which regards
virtue as a bore-absolution from it a blessing-the
Sabbath a weariness- -and prayer a penance?  Why,
such a heaven would be utterly insupportable to her
genuinze votaries.  Its bloom would be dismal, and
its purity hateful to them.  The holier its throngs,
they would be to them  the more revolting; the
sweeter its strains, they would grate the more harshly
on their ears; and though to minister to their happiness you could drain every cup, and rifle every
flower of paradise, you would still find them wandering in misery through its bowers, sighing to escape
from its holy restraints, and regarding such a deliverance as their highest heaven.
Can the reader ask farther proof that Rome
blights man's eternal prospects?  What then, he
may inquire, is there no salvation in that church?
Adored be the living God, we believe there is.  By
various arrangements, truly wonderful, IHe makes
some rays of heaven to struggle even through its
bars and gratings.  That btruth which Satan's cunning has mingled with this system, the better to seduce therewith, God's infinite grace often makes the
means of saving; and while many receive only the
error and perish, some receive along with it enough
of the truth to neutralize its deadly power.  Yes,




iROME BLIGHTS MAN S ETERNAL PROSPECTS. 223
many Roman Catholics are saved, but, think you,
does Rome deserve the credit?-let her own conduct answer.  Is it on her best or her worst men
that she has usually conferred her favors?-which
class has she thus proved to be most after her heart? 
-has she not almost as uniformly persecuted her
good men, as she has canonized her bad?  You tell
us of Fenelon-we reply, that she banished him.
You speak of the Port-Royalists-do you know their
sad history?  You quote the name of Pascal —his
godly sister was hunted to death, and he died a
heretic, if papal bulls be true, and would have certainly died a martyr had he not slept in his tomb
ere the authorship of his " Letters" had transpired.
And you call these her children? —her step-children
you mean.  Yet it is with their good name she
would ofttimes fain perfume her foulness; and it is
with their mantle that even " Protestant" pseudoliberals would sometimes seek to hide her deformity!
Why do they not rather quote the men whom she
has delighted to honor?  Why won't they go to her
own authentic catalogue of canonized saints-of
those who in her judgment best deserved heaven —
such butchers, for instance, as Simon de Montfort,
who figures in the list as the holy St. Dominic.
THES.E are the men whom Rome lauds on earth and
sends to heaven! Oh! could they enter that blessed
place, retaining the character, and free to perpetrate
the crimes which procured their canonization, they
L_____________   _____~____   ____




224             THE GRAND CAUSE.
would soon wreck it of every vestige of its loveliness, and convert it into a pandemonium.
And now, in conclusion, when we speak of Popery
as a Satanic conspiracy against the human soul, we
surely do not mean that its priests are in the plot —
they who are likely to be its worst victims —or that
they even know the work they are doing, and the
master they serve? We are convinced that, in this
respect, they " know not what they do," that they as
little dream as their flocks of the master-mind which
presides over their system, and that, in this sense, at
least, "they be blind leaders of the blind."  No;
the plot is too deep even for Jesuitism to contrive;
a greater than Loyola is here; and it is this conspiracy against the soul that proves at once its paternity and iniquity. If it only cursed our countrymen
for time, it were bad enough; yet this is the mere
underplot of this "master-piece of Satan."  It is its
fearful distinction, that it traffics in "the souls of
men;" that, not content with blasting them in time,
it pursues them through eternity; not satisfied with
destroying them  on earth, it shuts heaven against
thelm, follows them beyond that grave where wickedness usually ceases from  troubling, and reserves
its most tremendous curse for that other world
whither ordinary hatred refuses to pursue!
And now, fellow-Christians, we must not, cannot
leave this awful subject, without a word to you. Is
it really so that we nightly sleep calm on our pillow, while souls all around us are passing before the




ROME BLIGHTS MAN'S ETERNAL PROSPECTS. 225
throne-their best preparation the unction of a
priest, and their fairest plea the merits of the Virgin  Have we lived for years amongst them, and
though often told of their danger, folded our arms
and shut our eyes, content with that specious plea
of indifference disguised in the robes of charity" God is merciful?"  Or, if we have felt some Protestant zeal, has it been kindled by the strange fire
of party strife full as much as by the holy flame of
jealousy for God and love to souls?  We implore
you to ponder this chapter on your knees. Others
may deny its truth, but you, at least, admit it; indifference on your part, then, is left without excuse.
You know the unregenerate soul could not be happy
in heaven, cannot be truly happy anywhere;-that,
could it roam creation in quest of felicity, it would
find the words emblazoned on every star it approached —" There is no peace to the wicked."
But, even could it be happy in heaven, you know it
were impious to suppose its admittance there. Satan
was hurled thence the moment he sinned: and could
one sinner enter its gates, his presence would hush, in
an instant, its myriad harps, and darken the brows
of its radiant throngs. Then, what insensibility holds
us back from greater exertion on behalf of Rome's
victims?  How many of them may, on that awful
day, plead our guilt in palliation of theirs own, and
cry, " Refuge failed us; for these Christians would
not care for our souls!"  Then, by the love of Him
who SAVED Us, and commands us to make known
15




226            THE GRAND CAUSE.
his salvation to others; by our own tremendous
responsibility as the keepers of our brethren's souls;
and by the inestimable worth and unutterable danger of perishing millions, let us awake from  our
stupor and fly to their rescue.  Imagine, if you can,
the obsequies of one lost soul! What, in comparison, is earth's most dreadful catastrophe?  The
waves of Time's vast ocean, how soon they will
close over the world's most fearful shipwreck! and
the historian will scarcely mark, by one passing sentence, the spot where it occurred.  But, oh, ONE
LOST SOUL! Well might the infidel thus rebuke the
Christian, and exclaim, "If I believed the half of
what you say you believe, I would fly through the
world with the awful news; —I would force my way
with it into every dwelling; —I would make it ring
from every steeple, and float on every breeze — till
my tongue would cleave to my jaws, and exhausted
nature sink down and expire."




PART IV.
THE CURE.
Tgus have we traced the causes of Ireland's
wretchedness through their manifold complications;
shown how they are like wheels within wheels; and
while estimating the share which various subordinate
causes have had in creating it, traced it to Popery
as the Grand Primary Source.  That there are
other causes than Popery, we have therefore freely
acknowledged; but we have proved that these are
either produced or aggravated by it.  That there
may be others still, which the brevity of this work
has forbidden us to notice, we as freely allow: but
after making the most liberal discount on the score
of all these which can with the least reason be
demanded, still Popery stands out in such fearful
prominence, that they seem in comparison as the
drop of the bucket, or the chaff on the summer
thrashing-floor.
And to prevent the remotest possibility of a
fallacy in our argument, we have conducted it
through the twofold process of induction and deduction-of analysis and synthesis. Like some great




2028               THE CURE.
river, we have in our Second Part ascended the
dark stream  of Ireland's woes to its source, and
found that to be her Religious state, marking as
we passed the principal tributaries. And then, to
put the case beyond cavil forever, we have in our
Third Part turned and sailed down the turbid
stream, and demnonstrated not only that Popery is
its main channel, but that to it these tributaries
chiefly owe their existence, course, and power; that;
to carry out the figure, it is the enormous valley
which it has in the course of ages scooped out, which
has of necessity reflected them towards it, and increased their foree, however distant their rise or
different for a time their direction.
And, that Rome might have nothing to complain
of, we have traced her through every age and land,
and still found her true to her own motto, Idemi
semnper tubique;-that her whole course through the
moral heavens has been that of some blood-red
comet, wild and fearful. And we have drawn our
proofs of this, not from her old musty records, those
" relics of a barbarous age,' as she would fain have
us regard them; but from Rome herself, and especially as she Now lives and moves in the full costume of those newest fashions with which she has
bedizened her haggard form, in hope to enamor
modern Christendom.
Nay, we have done more still.  Our manifold
facts and arguments we have based on eternal laws.
We have shown that there are certain lawvs, which,




THE MYSTERY SOLVED.'           029
being complied with, man MUST BE HAPPY: and being
disregarded, he MUST BE WRETCHED in both worlds;
that by nature we violate these, hence all the miseries of earth and hell; that true religion, by r'estor'ing' us to their dominion, blesses, and that false
religion, by dcisr}egaradi ng them, curses in a thousand
ways.  Now, we have seen that Romanism crosses
all those laws, and therefore MIUST be a country's
curse and poison.  Our argument is thus based on
eternal laws; therefore to oppose it were as preposterous as to oppose those sciences which rest on the
same foundation.  And all the anathemas which
Rome can hurl against it, prove not its weakness
but her own, and resemble at best the impotent
attempt of the fabled Titans to storm the heavens
and dethrone the God of gods.
And thus every part of Ireland's great puzzle we
have solved. The mystery of her state we have laid
bare to the light of heaven; and that so distinctly,
that the blindest eye can scarce help seeing every
chamber of its dark labyrinth, illumined by that
single word-POPERY; and the deafest ear can
scarce help hearing the doleful sound echoing from
every hill and valley, rock and stream,-ROME IS
THE GRAND CURSE OF IRELAND.
WVe now proceed to our last part-the Cure. But
as this has been already so clearly foreshadowed, it
will need neither elaborate nor lengthened examination. We shall sum up all we shall deem it needful
to say under the two heads of the Mec/icize and the




230                THE CURE.
Trqeatnent.  And for the sake of greater clearness
and conclusiveness, we shall here also pursue the
double process of induction and deduction.  And as
we have seen how clearly the cure has been foreshadowed in the cause, we beg the reader to notice,
as he proceeds, how remarkably every part of the
argument on the cause is confirmed and illumined
by each successive step in the cure; and how, like
two reflectors, they thus shed on each other such a
flood of light as gives the entire demonstration the
radiant clearness of noonday.
CHAPTER I.
THE MEDICINE-THE POPULAR REMEDIES.
OF the numberless panccecas prescribed for Ireland, we think it necessary to notice only the following. One class of men, full of her civil grievances,
propose legislation; another, chiefly impressed with
her ignorance, preach education; a third, looking
mainly at her natural richness and actual poverty,
cry, develop her industrial resources; a fourth, in
view of her moral and religious degradation, declare
that the gospel is her only true remedy; while a fifth
class, believing that each of these remedies is more
or less needed, say, let us have them all.  We shall
briefly attend to the claims of each.




THE MEDICINE-THE POPULAR REMEDIES.  231
THE CIVIL.-We have already proved that legislation can do little for us, and that almost the only
ground which remains for it to occupy is the Icand
question. We need some more sweeping measure for
the transfer of land than even the Enculmbered Estates'
Bill; a thorough reform of those ruinous Chancery
laws by which so many proprietors have doubtless
been beggared;  and, above all, a new and equitable
adjustment of the relation of landlord and tenant.
No one can doubt that the want of such an adjustment has been fraught with evil, and it has, in a secondary sense, been the cause of many of our agrarian
crimes. It has done much to train our peasantry to
insubordination, and beget that chronic discontent
which now glooms on the brows of thousands of them.
It has caused many of our bloodiest murders. It has
furnished priests and demagogues with their best
text against the "Sassenach;" proved a screen for
Rome to hide her own desolations behind; and thus
served to break the force of the demonstration that
she is Ireland's grand curse. It is desolating the
only fair, because the only Protestant, province in
Ireland; provoking even its peaceful inhabitants to
outrage; and thus destroying that moral tone which
its gospel ministers have so carefully cultivated: and
how m-nuch more serious those outrages would now be
but for these gospel ministers, on whom some are disposed to father them all, is pretty evident from the
fact that they are almost exclusively the work of
Ribbonmen.




232                THE CURE.
And what has this ruinous delay of a measure so
obviously just, gained for the landlord himself?
Whereas he might now have been beloved and prosperous, at least in Ulster, amidst a grateful and
flourishing tenantry, he has done mIuch to ruin both
himself and them.  And those concessions which he
might once have easily made, and which thern would
have saved all parties, he can now scarcely make
without beggaring himself.  A  fearful position!
but how is it to be avoided?  We are passing
through a social revolution; and the landlord who
has clone so much to cause it, must just take his share
of its trials.  It can save neither party, but must
eventually ruin 6ot/h to continue to stave off this
question.  It is idle to decry the tenant-right agitation, or denounce its advocates as incendiaries and
communists. Woere they all that is charged on them
-and some of them  are far fromn fiaultless-this
would not affect the question an iota; for it is not
with " Reverend Agitators," but great laws, you
have to contend. To Protectionl the country canngzot
return.  There-fore to Free Trade principles eve-ry
interest MIUST be adjusted.  To apply them to produce and not to land, to some things and not to
others, is the only course which cannot he long per-.
severed inl.  There is no help for it then  the landlord must, like all other mortals, bow to great laws;
and, as we have said, the longer the delay, the reckoning will be the more terrible.




THE MEDICINE-THE POPULAR REMEDIES.  233
But beyond a few such measures as the above,
civil remedies are perfectly useless, and many of
them in our present state positively injurious. There
is a nzonage in nations as well as individuals, during
which to invest them with political immunities were
like giving the child all the rights of a man; and a
corr'uption, too, which perverts into a curse the best
civil blessings, and during the continuance of which,
to confer them on a people is just to increase their
powers of mischief. And is not this the state of
multitudes in Ireland? Instance the basis of all
society-Truth.'"As to finding out the truth,"
says Mr. Inglis, "by the mere evidence of witnesses,
it is generally impossible.  To save a relation fromn
punishment, or to punish one who has injured a relation, an Irish witness will swear anything." And
lest this should be deemed the language of Protestant " bigotry," hearken to their own champion, Dr.
Doyle:-" The witnesses as often labor to conceal, as
to manifest the truth; —one class of them anxious to
defeat the law, the other only intent on procuring
conviction; both regardless of the obligation of an
oath, and perfectly indifferent about contributing to
the ends of justice."* Yet this is the man who, in
the very same letters from which this sentence is extracted, declares, that " when it pleased God to have
an island of saints upon earth, He prepared Ireland
from  afar for this high destiny.  The Irish are,
* Letters of J. K. L. (Dr. Doyle), p. 22.




234                 TIE CURE.
morally speaking, not only religious like other nations, but entirely devoted to religion!"'
Does not this demonstrate, as we have already
shown, that in the minds of both priest and people,
piety and crime, prayer and perjury, are perfect
compatibles, and that Rome's religion is a system of
magic, and never aims to improve the heart?  How
often have we ourselves seen justice paralyzed on
the bench, guilt escaping, innocence martyred, and
the entire trial made a mere farce by perjured villany! Nay, how often is the priest himself the
guiltiest; and, to quote the confession of counsel regarding his reverend client, who had been detected
in the very act, how often is he a'" common perjurer,"
and obliged "1 to leave the court a degraded man!"'t
Talk of political immunities to such beings!-in
whom are destroyed those moral obligations on
which all the value of such rights depends. And
would THIS be your cure for Ireland's evils?  You
couldr not inflict a greater curse on a corrupt nation
than to give them a code adapted only for a virtuous one; for this were just tbo hold out a premium
to their profligacy, and increase their powers of mischief. Political rights, to be blessings at all, must
be in hands which won't abuse them; and however
their sounad may catch the thoughtless crowd, and
suit the designing demagogue, slavery is better than
outraged freedom.  France might ere now have
* Letters of J. K. L. (Dr. Doyle), p. 58.
t Report, Sligo Assizes, March 13, 1837.




THE MEDICINE-THE POPULAR REMEDIES.  235
taught us this much. Twice has she tried a republic; and by the votes of three fourths of the nation,
she has not only confessed that she is unfit for freedom, but that military despotism is to her a blessing
in comparison.  Nations can only be governed by
m~oral or pAysical power.  And if men's consciences
will not prevent themin from robbing or murdering,
what else can you do but chain and fetter them?
And when, as in our wretched land, iRome has so
debauched the moral sense as to leave moral izflutence
nothing to lay hold on, it is the most mischievous
folly that ever was heard of to propose as her cure
an increase of those ilnmunities which her corruption
has already so fearfully abused.  Hence despotism
always does, and always MUST, prevail in Popish
lands.  There, there is no moral principle for moral
power to operate on; and were our most ardent
champions of freedom made rulers there, they would
soon find their visions of liberty dispelled; and that
in a corrupt community there is not a foot of standing-ground between despotism and anarchy, between
the chains of Loyola and the arms of Robespierre.
And is it not amazing that men have not long since
learned this'?  Seventy-six years ago, Protestant
America became a free nation, and has ever since
enjoyed unexampled prosperity; while, within the
same period, Popish France has twice passed through
the various phases of freedom, anarchy, and iron
despotism.  Two goodly vessels! The one,-her
chart, the Bible; her ballast, virtue; her compass,




236                THE CURE.
true to the pole-star of heaven,-has been ploughing
her glorious way over Time's mighty waters, freighted with blessings to all mankind.  The other, without compass, or ballast, or chart, with mutiny on
board and storms around, has been driven about
amongst shoals and breakers, a spectacle and terror
to the world! Would that the exclamation of her
dying statesman rung in our own rulers' ears" France cannot do without a religion!"
But why argue the question thus?  Have we not
proved that, by the devices of Popery, the immunities which Protestant simplicity would extend to the
Papist, in hope to break his chains, are transformed
into means of binding'them more firmly around
him? —that to " extend the suffrage," for instance, to
the people, is just to increase the power of the
priests? —and that while  there  are a thousand
Father Walshes to threaten all with "'everlasting
punishment" who will. not vote for the candidates of
their choice, our champions of' equal rights" are
only forging new chains for our countrymen, and
playing into the hands of the worst tyrants the world
ever saw!* Talk of civil rights beneath a system
whose head thus sneers at man's chief bir'th-right!
"-' From this polluted fountain of indifference flows
that absurd and erroneous doctrine, or rather raving,
in favor and defence of liberty of conscience;"I and
which raves, too, against that " ever-to-be-detested
* Report of Select Committee on Bribery and Intimnidation.'   Encyclical Letter of Gregory XVAI., 1832.




THE MEPDICINE-THE POPULAR REMEDIES.  237
liberty of the press," and would, if it dare, give the
world's best literature the doom of the Alexandrian
Library! A free Papist! Have you, then, forgotten the confessional? Other tyrants take cognizance
of your words and actions; but Popery penetrates
your bosom.  Others have policemen at your door;
but it keeps a priest in your heart. The Pope, with
his myriad confessors dispersed over the globe, is
both omnipresent and omniscient, and millions of
bosoms lie open to his gaze. Talk of political rights
beneath such an ubiquitous EYE! which watches
every government; and wherever it can, makes kings
mere puppets, and premiers the wires to work them
by;-which looks in at every door, and so completely
murders family, and even conjugal confidence, that
no man can breathe freely by his own hearth, or
confide his secrets to the wife of his bosom;-and
beneath whose dreadful glare the father sees the
brow of his innocent child growing darker each time
shie has been to the confessional! We protest, then,
against the folly of looking to Parliament for what
it canznot do; of applying civil remedies to a mioral
disorder; of increasing the liberty of the people,
while their priests only turn it to an engine of slaver'y; of curing our disturbances by enlarging the
powers of our surpliced disturbers; or of causing
the olive-tree to flourish by strengthening the arms
that would pluck it up by the roots 
THE EDUCATIONAL.-On this subject there prevail




238                THE CURE.
in Ireland, as elsewhere, very conflicting opinions,one party opposing all education from which religion
is severed, and another resisting all with which it is
united-the National Board being the symbol of the
latter, and hostility to it the characteristic of thie
former.  In both parties we have something to approve, but more to condemn.  We object to the violent ultraism of the former.  Forgetting that the
Board, if an evil, has at least displaced a greater
evil, the "hedge-school;" —that if a "'curse," it is
chiefly of their own procuring-for had their system
wrought well, it had never existed; there is a certain
class who seem to regard it as the Gnostics viewed
matter, and denounce it as fiercely as though it, not
Popery, were the grand apostasy, and Marlborough
Street, not Rome, were the seat of the Beast!
Well, the impression somehow prevails, that this enmity does not wholly spring from heavenly motives,
but is as much prompted by the spirit of Diotrephes
as that of Jesus. We ourselves cannot forget how
pertinaciously these men continue to assert, in the
face of all fact, that in Protestant schools connected
with the Board the use of the Bible is more restricted than in those of their own Church Education Society.
To the national system we know there is much to
object; but while men like Mr. Trench patronize its
schools, we cannot regard it as the root of all evil;
and when men like Dr. M'Neile eulogize its efficiency, we cannot but regard it as the source of




THE MEDICINE-THE POPULAR REMEDIES. 239
some good.  Thousands of IRoman Catholics, who
but for it would now be sunk in hopeless darkness,
are rejoicing in a substantial education.  And why
should these brethren seek to destroy a system
which, though not all they could wish, confers such
important benefits?  If our countrymen won't have
call the knowledge we desire, shall we therefore give
them none?  If they won't use the Bible at first
sig'ht, shall we prevent them from ever being able to
use it?  If they won't instantly emerge from Roman
bondage, shall we therefore put it out of their power
eveqr to emerge?  On the plea of not violating cuzr
consciences, shall we thus act a part which requires
the immolation -of theirs, and, in the name of Protestantism, seek their conversion by such Popish
compulsion?  And since wve cannot conscientiously
aid the Board in enlightening a country whose darkness is a disgrace to Christendom, must we not only
hinder those who can, but impugn their motives and
denounce their conduct?
Besides, what is meant by this cry of "godless
knowledge?"  The sum of all knowledge is God and
his works-is it this they call godless?-and under
the plea of piety, are they guilty of profanity?  "All
his works praise" and reflect Him; and if we do not
see Him in every star and stream, the fault is not in
the book but the student.  On call are marked the
footprints of the Creator; and if learned men have
been infidels, it is not because, but in spite of their
pursuits.  We protest, then, against this narrow



240                THE CURE.
minded attempt to set the God of grace against the
God of nature. It has been the fruitful source of
the infidelity which is complained of: shunning secular learning as an object of suspicion, we have left
her in the hands of wicked men, and if they have
sometimes perverted her testimony to their own bad
ends, the fault has been ours for leaving her with
them.  Then we say-Flood Ireland with secular
knowledge; better this than none. All kinds of
light are sisters, prismatic rays from the great Sun
of truth, and, though differing in their hues, yet constituent parts of the same celestial element. Rome
hates all kinds of knowledge; and this alone might
teach those Pirotestants that all kinds are useful.
She knows well that secular and religious light are
as closely allied as civil and religious liberty, and
that all these conspire to elevate and bless; and it is
deplorable that what Rome sees so clearly, Protestant imbecility cannot see, or Protestant bigotry will
not.  They say they dread infidelity! Should they
not, therefore, dread Popery more than the Board —
for what is infidelity but "an excrescence on the
back of the Beast?"  What produced the entire
school of Voltaire but this grand insult to the human understanding?  And why dread  Infidelity
sno're than Popery?  Is not the former often the
inquirer's first resting-place on his journey from
Rome to Jerusalem?  Infidels think —but Papists
can only believe; which state, suppose you, is the
more hopeful one?  And whether is Infidel France




THE MEDICINE-THE POPULAR REMEDIES.  241
or Popish Spain this instant more accessible to the
gospel missionary?  But where is the monster brood
of infidels which it was predicted this Board should
bring forth?  Are not all wise men now beginning
to admit that it is going to be a grand engine for
the overthrow of Irish Popery? —-and the very best
proof is Rome's anxiety to get rid of it.  It has
penetrated into her inmost camp, where the gospel
missionary could not have followed.  It has dived
into her deepest dungeons; and, as it brings out her
victims to the light, should not we stand at the door
with the gospel to receive them?  It is teaching
them to read —let us be ready, when it has done so,
to give them a Bible.  It is springing the mine —
let us stand prepared, when all is ready, to lay the
train and put to the match.  It is thus being overruled as a pioneer of the gospel, by Him who makes
even the most imperfect plans of sinful men to subserve his glorious designs; and let not us, the ministers of that gospel, wrangle and split hairs, refusing to avail ourselves of the good it may do, because
not done in the mode we would approve: so shall
we best prevent the infidelity we dread, and most
effectually promote the Christianity we desire.
But still more are we opposed to the sentiments
of thle opposite party, who would preach imere secular knowledge as Ireland's gospel.  It is a strange
and ominous sign of these times, that from so many
of our seminaries where all other good books are admitted, the best of books alone is excluded; and that
16




242                THE CURE.
in the circle of what is termed "useful knowledge,"'eligious knowledge is never embraced.  In the
name of that Christianity which is man's best friend
for both worlds, we solemnly protest against this.
And is it thus you would propose to heal the complicated maladies of Ireland?  Have not learning
and philosophy been already tried in various lands
and in all ages, and what have they done to purify
the social mass?  Their utmost achievement has
been to throw an external decency —or sp2lendor, if
you will-over the corruption, like the phosphorescence of decay; but what have they ever done to
arrest the putrefaction itself?  Look, ye idolaters
of mere education, to Greece and Rome, and was it
not when their learning had attained the loftiest
point that their virtue had fallen the lowest? Corruption was sapping Rome amid the glories of the
Augustan age; and troops of philosophers filled the
academy, while the degraded Athenians were selling
their countryto Philip. Or look, if you will, to modern
France-France, which in knowledge stands next to
England, and lacks nothing but virtue to steady and
direct it.  But, wanting this ballast, it is the abundance of her sails which is ever threatening to swamp
her.  Was it not her pthilosol2hers who brought on
the first revolution; and what was the "Reign of
Terror," but the monster progeny of this unnatural
wedlock of learning and wickedness?
We ask you then to enlighten our country, but
we ask you still more to make her virtuous-to




THE MEDICINE —THE POPULAR REMEDIES.  243
give her that knowledge which is power, but to give
her also a conscience to guide it withal —to endow
her with a " giant's strength" if you can, but also
with such principles that she will not " use it like a
giant."  Is it by mere education you can do this?
You propose to elevate Ireland —what, then, is the
task before you?  To give honesty to thieves, and
truth to liars, and diligence to idlers, and energy to
all —to banish perjury from our courts, robbery from
our dwellings, and murder from  our highways-to
extinguish the fires of discontent, lay the demon of
rebellion and set up the reign of peace-and thus
to empty our jails and poorhouses, disband our
soldiers and police, and bring back to our shores the
tides of prosperity! And are you serious in proposing to do this by an alphabet and spelling-books?
Can you thus think to transform the schoolmaster's
rod into an enchanter's wand? No; we want knowledge, it is true, but we want virtue mnore; and till
we get this, even your boasted knowledge can confer
but half its benefits. Without this, you may enlarge
your jails, they will continue to fill them; and multiply your police, they will elude or defy them; and
increase your tribunals, they will outswear or outface
them; and enact new laws, they will break or evade
them.  Their chief disease is in the heart.  It is
ivain to confine your treatment to the head.  Hence
it is not literature but "righteousness which will
exalt our nation," —not the Pierian spring, but the




244                 THE CUJRE.
"fountain of living'waters," that can remove those
corruptions which cause its decay.
But even suppose our whole reasoning false, and
that schools could do more than their fondest admirers
ever fancied in tleir dreams, can you educate Ireland so long as Rome reigns over it? Will a church
whose empire is darkness thus give you peaceable
possession of one of her best-guarded provinces-a
church whose history is light read backwards-which
wherever it has the power, either arrests all knowledge or perverts it to her own worst purposes; and
which has been lately teaching the most obtuse
amongst ourselves, that the real fault of our colleges
is not their "godlessness," but their existence, and
that all her struggles for liberty to teach in her own
way, mean liberty not to teach at all? It is the
veriest folly, then, to talk even of educating the Irish
Papist, unless you can destroy Irish Popery; of illumining Ireland unless you dissipate the Lethean
fog with which it has enveloped her; or of enlightening her people while immured in the vast cavern
of Popery, —with sentinel priests so blocking up its
mouth as to hinder either the escape of a prisoner or
the entrance of a ray?
TimF  INDUSTRIJAL.-Industrial training is fast becoming the favorite remedy.  The rush of our empirics has of late been from the parliament to the
plough; and even from the school-book to the sewed
muslin manufacture.  Addressing our people thus,




THE MEDICINE-THE POPULAR REMEDIES. 245
they say,-You are the cause of your own miseries,
your existence is artificial, and your lives are a fiction-your tradesmen's sons are gentlemen, and your
farmers' daughters lacdies;-there must be an end to
this: your young gentlemen must doff the sporting
jacket, and don the farmer's frieze, and turn aside
fromn their hounds to follow the plough; your young
ladies must lay down their embroidery and take up
the keys, and transfer themselves with all speed from
the parlor to the kitchen. In short, you must alter
your entire mode of life-you must go down into the
bowels of the earth, and bring up its mineralsspread yourselves over your bogs, and form peat
comlpanies-go out upon the seas, and catch the cod
and herrings-build ships, and circumnavigate the
globe; —in a word, turn Ireland into a workshop as
we have turned Britain, and then your country's millennium shall have dawned! Here is their proposal;
and to show that they are no visionaries, they would
have schools in every parish for agriculture, industry,
and trades of all kinds; aided, of course, by adequate grants, and superintended by competent managers.
An exquisite dream this!-we have dreamed it ourselves.  Yet we do not mean that it is all a dream.
Doubtless by enormous cost, prodigious trouble, and
ceaseless care, much could in this way be done for
Ireland; and we therefore rejoice in every such
movement.  We are thankful to those who would
dress one ulcer of our diseased country, even though




246               THE CURE.
they leave untouched the Malady which has caused.
it. But, alas! such external applications can give
little relief  And while you are healing one eruption, the rankling disease within is throwing out
others around it. We are so far agreed, that if you
would reclaim Ireland, you must first reclaim the
Irish; that if you would develop the country's resources, you must develop the people's energies;and that any scheme which aims not at this, inverts
the order of things, and begins at the wrong end.
But you make no provision in your plan for what
we have proved to be Ireland's chieffwant. You have
given her the head and the hands, it is true, but you
have not given her the hzeat and conscience.  Her
people want honesty, energy, steadiness,' perseverance.  Is it by lessbns on embroidery and farming you propose to implant these principles?  Yet
WITHOUT them, of what ultimate avail is anything
you can do?  You may build factories-perhaps
your own workmen will burn them; and establish
trades —your own journeymen may coyn6bine against
you; and nmake what improvements you may-it is
too likely your clerks will deceive you, your customers rob you, your servants take advantage of you
whenever they can: and after years of the most
anxious toil, you will too probably find that your
best plans have been frustrated, and your money put
into a 1" bag with holes," and be compelled to retire
in disgust from  the scene! You think this too
gloomy a prediction? Alas! it is not prophecy at




THE MEDICINE-THE POPULAR RtEMEDIES.  247
all-it is well-known history.  What else has been
the fate of most of the philanthropic schemes of which
Ireland has already been the scene? Who does not
know that in our -present state, the best men come
here only to peril their fortunes, and their most generous efforts are often turned into evils?  Those
who give are forgotten-those who lend are not always repaid-those who trust are imposed on-and
those who confide their capital to Irish hands, often
find it squandered in rash speculation or fraudulent
jobs.  And why?-because Popery and prosperity
are elements as incompatible as fire and water. For
apart altogether froin the direct intermeddling of the
priest, whose favor you cannot expect but at the price
of truckling subserviency, and whose endless annoyances you cannot prevent, so long as the people you
operate on are his slaves, and know of no other criminality but that of displeasing him-apart, we say,
from this altogether, you will find yourselves in the
midst of a cluefge of celeprarvty, contending against
the most hopeless odds; and even when you think
you have found some standing ground, it will most
probably turn out to be a shaking bog or a trembling
quicksand.
We say, then, to our industrial economists, yo'z'r
scheme, too, is radically defective. You may tecach
the people industry, will they practise it?  You may
invoke its spirit, will it come at your call?  You
may bring  railways to every town, and  canals
through every parish, and reclaim  our bogs, and




248               THE CURE.
deepen our rivers, and drain our whole country to
its mountain tops, will this implant those great
moral principles onwhich the value and permanence
of all'such improvements depend?  You have given
the machinery, it is true, but where is the moving
power? And you have your choice either to continue working it yourselves, or see it stop and go to
ruin as soon as you withdraw.  And at the very utmost you can only by such means make Ireland like
one of your large Asylums, with its grounds beautifully laid out, and its inmates working here and
there; but all superintended by other hands, and
supported by general charity.  No; Ireland wants
something that mere industry cannot supply, ay, and
without which it cannot exist.  We are thankful for
your well-meant exertions, but - they can only palliate, they cannot cure. And oh! how often have we
looked with sorrowful interest on those schemes of
mere worldly benevolence which are now going forward here and there through our country, and
mourned to think that, for want of that niIOrAL element which alone can give themn permanence, they
must sooner or later come to naught! And we
have been reminded the while of the child's frail
embankments on the sandy shore, which are doomed
to vanish before the flowing tide!
THE SCRIPTUR AL.-It is truly mournful to be
obliged to prove that God's remedy for Ireland is
the best: —in this nineteenth century, the brightest




THE MEDICINE —THE POPULAR  IEAIEDIES. 249
era of the gospel's triumphs-and in this Unrited
Kingzdo,~n the richest storehouse of its trophies-to
have to go over the argument anew, as if Paul were
only setting out on his first journey.  Nor can we
imagine a more humiliating fact, than that Britain
owns not a few statesmen, and pitilctnthroLoists, too,
who, while they call themselves Christians, seem to
think a people's religion has as little to do with their
prosperity as the color of their hair; nay, who speak
of the gospel as though it were some superior kind
of superstition, fitted for weak but not for manly
minds, or at best some mystic thing designed for
the dying rather than for the living, and suited to
the cloister, but unfitted for the world; and who
even smile at the " bigot" who would assert that
God knows best what " exalts a nation," and retail
with baptized lips those sneers at the "foolishness
of preaching,' which used to be confined to heathen
cynics!
At a late meeting of poor-law guardians in Connaught, a Roman Catholic member of the board
boldly declared his belief-of course, amid cries of
"order" from the priests and their minions-that
the Bible was the secret of Ulster's prosperity, and
that nothing else would elevate the other provinces.
What an affecting circumstance!  Was the poor
man led to make this remark by some such instinct
as guides other- creatures to select the aliment which
suits them best; or merely by the feeling which
prompts the blind man wishfully to turn his dark




250                   THE CURE.
eyeballs to the sun when he hears all nature around
him rejoicing in his morning beams?
We have already demonstrated that to nothing
else than the Bible can Ulster owe its vast superiority.   The subjoined tables show  that nearly five
sixths of all Ireland's Bible and Sunday-school instruction are confined to that single province.~  According, therefore, to those priestly blasphemers who
pronounce the Bible the " gospel of the devil,"t Connaught should be a paradise and Ulster a pandemonium;  and what must be the effrontery, to say nothing of the wickedness, of the men who, though perfectly aware that the ereverse is nearer the truth, rave
on against this volume as they have never raved
against " The Age of Reason 2"  We are told, it is
true, with an air of triumph, that many Protestants
are as bad as Roman Catholics.  We admit the fact,
X SUNDAY-SCHOOL SOCIETY FOR IRELAND, 1851.
Number        Number  Number of gratuitous
Provinces.  of schools.    of scholars.   teachers.
Ulster,.. 1931... 164635... 14151
Leinster,     457'..    32314...  3006
Munster,.  400...  17160...  1774
Connaught,.  216...  12403...   822
HIBERNIAN BIBLE SOCIETY, 1851.
Bibles, Testaments, and Portions.
Sales.         Grants.         Total.
Ulster,. 1424...  15408... 16832
Leinster,.  224...   2911...  3135
Munster, )    160...    930...  1090
Connaught,.  186...   3667...  3853
t Encyclical Letter of Leo XII., 1824.




THE MEDICINE-THE POPULAR REMEDIES. 251
but are they Bible-loviqng Protestants?  This is the
point, for Rome's quarrel is with the Bible, and
64 THE BIBLE IS THE RELIGION OF PROTESTANTS."  If
these godless Protestants are Bible recader's, and our
godly ones Bible haters, then will we admit the force
of the objection; for the grand point in dispute is,
Does the free circulation of the Scriptures do good
or harm?  But if, as is pe.fectly notorious, our godless Protestants are as innocent of the crime of Bible
reading as any priest could wish them; if their religion is that mere formalism which is essentical Polpery
beneath whatever name; if the virtue of every person is just as his love to the Bible; and finally, if
that parish is always the most virtuous which has
been longest blessed with a Bible-loving ministry,
and that always the least so which has been longest
cursed with Bible-neglecting hirelings — then is this
objection the strongest corroboration of our whole
argument.  For it proves that such godlessness is
owing, not to the Bible, but to the want of it, and
therefore not to the presence but to the absence of
TRUE Protestantism.  And it effectually confirms
our position, that where Popery is most intense there
is the deepest degradation, and where Protestantism
is most pure there is the highest elevation; and,
therefore, that when Papists are bad, it is because of
their system, and when Protestants are badc it is in
spite of theigrs.  We will now add, that the godless
Protestantism which is complained of is owing much
to the corrupting atmosphere of Popery, and the




'252               THaE CURE.' virtuous Popery" which is gloried in, to the antiseptic power of Protestantism;  for is it not notorious that our worst Protestants are generally found
in the most Popish districts, and our best Roman
Catholics in the most Protestant?  ~What different
things are the Roman Catholics, ay, and the Protestants, too, of Ulster and of Connaught respectively! For in the one province grows a moral upastree, and even Protestants suffer by its deadly emanations; in the other grows the tree of life, and even
Roman Catholics, who will not taste its fruit, are
the better for dwelling beneath its shade.  Here is
the solution, and there can be no other.  You have
in our country two atmospheres, a pestilent and a
pure one, generated by the Breviary and the Bible
respectively, and comulingled in different proportions
in our various provinces.  The pestilent predominates as you go south and west, and the pazre as you
come north; and the moral health of all denominations is affected in exact proportion to the quantity
they breathe of each.
Yet ignorant depravity asks to this hour, What
has the Bible to do with Ireland's elevation? How
can any man read it, and doubt that the only thing
necessary to make the whole earth a paradise is just
to follow its instructions?  How  could men, for
example, obey the golden rule, and " do to others as
they would have others do to them;" or the two
great commandments, and "'love God supremely,
and their neighbors as themselves," without bring



THE MEDICINE —THE POPULAR REMIEDIES.  253
ing back the innocence of Eden?  Will any man
hazard his character for sanity by venturing to deny
this? Why, our most florid conceptions of the change
which would follow the universal reign of such principles, are meagreness itself.  Is it not perfectly
obvious, that beneath their sway every demon of
vice and crime must fly back to the pit whence he
came; and that in the atmosphere they would create,
man would attain his loftiest moral stature, his stunted mind its largest growth, his shrivelled heart its
divinest expansion, and therefore his earthly habitation its highest pitch of improvement?  Yet the
[Bible has nothing to do with a nation's greatness I!
Had it ever once fcailed to elevate, or had mere
worldly expedients ever succeeded without it, then
might there be some excuse for this stolid skepticism.  But what have the best schemes of mzere
philosophy, philanthropy, or political economy ever
yet done to stay the crimes or tears of mankind?
Why, human wickedness has laughed to scorn, and
human woe has only been mocked by such paltry
expedients.  While men have been wrangling about
their measures, whose only good provisions, if any
such they contained, were borrowed or pilfered from
the Bible, that book has in reality been maintaining
the chief struggle with the world's corruptions, and
diffusing those principles which, just as they prevail, supersede the necessity of laws, and without
which mere statutes could no more control the




254                THE CURE.
agents of crime, than fetters and chains would bind
the demoniac!
We make our proud appeal to facts.  A  few
illiterate fishermrlen go forth frolm the banks of Jordan on an errand so seemingly wild, that men knew
not whether most to pity their'"insanity," or punish
their " presumption."  Yet somehow, by their story
of " one Jesus," the most colossal fabrics of idolatry
were strewn in fragments, the thrones of monarchs
trembled, and the world was revolutionized!
A solitary monk once disentombed a Bible from
the sepulchre to which Rome had so long consigned
it; and, as at the resurrection of its divine Author,
its "keepers became as dead men;" the' Triple
Tyrant" trembled on the banks of the distant
Tiber; his mighty fabric of superstition was cracked and riven as though struck by the bolts which
shattered Babel; and Europe looked out as from a
new creation! Or look, ye moral reformers, to that
uproarious village, remarkable for nothing but its
vice and misery! You have exhausted your nostrums on it, and how much have you done?  Stand
aside, then, and make way for that unlettered itinerant, whom  some call an enthusiast, and others a
fanatic, —a man who knows no language but his own,
nor scheme of reform but that of salvation, in whom
the love of Christ and souls supplies the learning
of Greece and IRome, and England too! Observe
how he goes to work, for it is worth your notice.
His sole weapon, a Bible; his chief agency, schools




TIHE MEDICINE —TIHE POPULAR REMEDIES. 255
and prayer-meetings; his church, a barn; his auditors, rude villagers; perhaps his only orders, " the
love of Christ constraineth me " and his manner,
possibly such as to shock the slave of frigid canonical decorum.  Yet that man in time transforms
that village! —the tavern is exchanged for the house
of God, the bacchanal song for the evening hymn;
and should you pass through its quiet streets, as the
summer evening sunbeams linger on the neighboring
hills, you could scarce help exclaiming, What enchanter has been here?  Do you still hesitate to
believe that the Bible did all this, and give most
of the glory to your civilized institutions? Then
behold that band of missionaries ploughing their
trackless way to some distant cannibal island,
and see how in time one and another of those
wild savages, whom nothing else could tame, undergoes the most complete transformation!  But
why need we proceed? What has any land ever
been but a field of blood and crime till the Bible
has dispelled the sulphurous clouds with which hell
had shrouded it, roused its people from the Lethean
slumbers in which Satan had bound them, cleared
its moral soil of a thousand poisonous weeds, and
sowed instead the seeds of numberless improvenients'? And hence, where but in Bible lands will
vou find arts flourishing in fullest bloom, science
shedding its purest rays, or benevolence dispensing
its divinest blessings?.  Or what else has made
Britain the queen of nations, and the theatre of




256                THE CURE.
wonders, with her thousand trees of life and liberty
waving in the breeze and spreading to the sun?
Yes, compared with the Bible as a mere civilizer,
how contemptible the best schemes of statesmanship I for they can only repress the crimes which it
eradicates, and punish the atrocities it wholly prevents.  And what proves its marvellous power is,
that even where it does not convert, it at least
moralizes and restrains; where it does not give
life to the dead mass, it at least retards its putrefaction; where it does not clothe the moral waste
with verdure, it at least warms, its atmosphere, and
lessens its dreariness; —insomluch that each sanctuary it rears has ever proved like the light-house on
the ocean's verge, which not only gives light to its
own attendants, but sends its struggling rays far out
over the gloomy wave!
Such is the FACT; and here we might rest and leave
our Christicnz philosophers to sneer on in their pitiable blindness at God's glorious plan " for the hcaling of the nations."  But we shall now meet them on
their own ground, and demonstrate the matchless wisdom and power of the gospel as an engine of social
elevation; and prove that before it all other remedies for Ireland, or any other land, must hide their
diminished heads in despicable insignificance, and
fade as the stars before the rising sun; and that in
reality it were as rational to commence a new
search for the philosopher's stone, or the elixir of life,
as to expect any other cure for our country's maladies.




THE MEDICINE —— THE GRAND SPECIFIC.   257
CHAPTER  II.
THE MEDICINE —THE GRAND SPECIFIC.
DOUBTLESS one cause of the unbelief above referred to is, that men do not see the reasons of the
Cross, or never think it has reasons; but deem it
some sort of magical thing which saves because God
has appointed it to save, but in which there is no
more connection between the disease and the remedy,
than between the Rod and the Red Sea.  What
amazing ignorance! to suppose that God, whose
matchless contrivances and adaptations pervade everything else, excludes them here, where they are
most perfect!  Dear reader, it is impossible, in a
few brief pages, to give full drawings of a plan so
glorious-to conduct you through all the chambers
of a structure so magnificent. We can only introduce you to the porch of this glorious temple, give
you a mere glimpse of the interior, and then leave
you to pursue your discoveries for yourself.  Be
good enough, then, to refer to our first principles, in
page 109; and as we have found how Popery sets
them all at defiance, let us now see how perfectly
the gospel embodies and develops them.  We have
found that love to God and our neighbor is the sum
of the decalogue, and therefore of all virtue.  We
shall now briefly prove that every forln of personal
and social happiness springs from this twofold comn17




258                THE CURE.
mtand, just as branches issue from their stem,-that
on this simple and glorious pedestal, the moral universe stands, and that it CAN rest upon no other.
THE PHILOSOPHy.-I. Love to God and each
other is the sure source, and the only one of endlessly
increasing virtue and happiness amongst ALL rational
creatures. There are but two kinds of government
under which God could have placed the universethe reign of fear and the reign of love, and it is only
the latter which can secure these results.
1. Love alone can secure virtue-and it does so
most perfectly.  What without it may be done froml
a cold sense of duty, and is therefore some day but
too likely to be neglected, we are in no danger of
overlooking, so long as love strongly impels us.
Could I wrong a beloved brother, or disobey a parent
dear as my own soul?  Therefore, if God would
have every duty to himself and to our neighbor observed, be has only to inspire love to himself and
our neighbor,-acnd it is dlone.
2. Love alone can secure hacppiness-and it does
so most perfectly.  What even in this cold world is
our source of purest enjoyment?  Is it the acquisition of earth's richest spoils, or the bliss of loving
and being loved-our " house full of silver and gold,"
or full of domestic affection-our hearts throbbing
to the voice even of flattering fame, or the far sweeter
tones of one too fond and faithful to flatter?  So
freely does the heart resign itself to the potent spell




THE MEDICINE —— THE GRAND SPECIFIC.   259
of this delightful affection, that not only have poets
sung, and even sages felt its charms, but the deepest
depravity seems scarce able wholly to dispel them;
and men have smiled over their infant's cradle, and
wept over their mother's grave, long after they have
ceased to weep or smile over any other spot on earth.
Therefore, if God would make his universe  ilappJy,
He has only to fill it with love,-and it is done.
3. Love alone provides for the endless increase of
virtue and happiness, and it does so most perfectly.
Mark, first, the necessary effect of love to God.
That blessed Being centres in himself infinitely more
goodness than is distributed to all his creatures. It
is therefore most obvious, that the more they know
and experience his goodness, the more they must
love Him, and the more must their virtue and hapriness increase, of course.  Observe, next, the effect
of love to each other; it would naturally exhibit
itself in a thousand acts of?nutual kindness-these,
qreciprocated, would call forth renewed acts of a5ection, until it would become a conflict with all which
could do the other most good.  Now, you have only
to imagine myriads of creatures the subjects of such
constant and increasing love, and employed in all
those schemes of amelioration, which, as their endlessly growing knowledge would cnable, so their
endlessly growing love would proamjpt them to devise;
and you have at once set agoing a train of influences
which in their manifold forms and combinations
MUST produce an amount of bliss and advancement




260                THE CURE.
which baffles all conception.  Such, then, is the
glorious platform on which God has reared his universe. And such was man's condition before the
fall.  His soul the seat of angelic love, was the seat
also of angelic virtue and happiness, and contained
the germn of angelic izpvrovenment.
II. Love to God and each other is pecutliarly necessary to the virtue and happiness of the HUMAN
race.. We have hearts-and to be happy, must love
some object.  We have msinds-and that object
must be capable of engaging them.  We are spirits;
and immortal-that object must therefore be immortal and spiritual.  Our minds and hearts are
formed for endless growthe —that object must be
capable of satisfying these endlessly increasing demands upon it. While it must be able to supply all
our wants, as well as suit all our capacities. We
are weak —it must be able to impart strength; and
changing —it must never change; in short, it must
be an object independent of all vicissitudes, and
adapted to all times, places, and circumstances.
Finally, as we'are many, dwelling together, and required to love each other, it must be such an object
that each can have enough without diminishing the
supplies of the rest, else you introduce a fatal element of discord amongst us: and if, instead of thus
endangering, you would ensure our mutual concord,
it must be such an object, that in giving of it enriches even the giver himself. Now, all these requisites are found in GoD ALONE.  He is a spirit —




THE MEDICINE-THE GRAND SPECIFIC.   261
immortal, immutable,  almighty, all-wise, containing
in himself such boundless excellence as must enrapture the mind and rivet the heart, no matter how
inconceivably expanded they may become. And our
possessions of love to Him-that truest wealth, instead of diminishing, increase the stores of others.
We have only to tell them of His goodness in order
to increase their love, and by a blessed reaction to
increase our own!
III. The violation of this law of love must CONSEQUENTLY entail on the human race endlessly increasing sin and Ch isery.  Alas! man has made
the fearful experiment, and what have been the
results?  Formed to find happiness only in God,
we have, by transferring our affections to earthly
objects, crossed the laws of our being at a thousand
points; and the necessary consequence has been
INDIVIDUAL misery and SOCIAL disorder.   Being
spirits, no amount of earthly things can satisfy us.
With minds and hearts craving after endless expansion, these cravings are disappointed, and we are
thrown back upon ourselves. And setting our affections on objects, which even, if otherwise satisfying,
change and decay, we ensure our wretchedness beyond the possibility of escape.  Our laurels wither
on our brow-our friends die in our embrace-our
sweetest pleasures pall the soonest-our costliest
treasures are often the first to perish; and as a fit
conclusion to a conflict so unequal with the laws of
God and of our own being, at length comes death to




262                THE CURE.
strip us of whatever may have yet escaped the wreck
of changing life.  Then the inordinate love of such
objects ensures social disorder; for the more wealth
and power one enjoys, the less remains for others.
There could scarce be a dozen of Napoleons, nor a
hundred Rothschilds on earth; and even if there
could, the dozen would enslave, and the hundred
would beggar the world.  Now, does not this shed
a sunbeam of light on the cause of every nation's
miseries?  It is just the inordinate love of such
objects as riches, honors, and pleasures, with the
violence and wrong it produces, which has drenched
the world with tears and blood.  And you have
only to recollect that this is the exact condition of
our wretched country, to explain in an instant its
crimes and miseries.
IV. It follows unavoiaclbly from  the foregoing
propositions, that THE ONLY POSSIBLE WAY efectually to restore virtue and happiness to any country,
is therein to restore love to its ancient sway. Now,
this is simply the object of the glorious gospel.  We
have demonstrated that the law of love nmust secure
individual and social virtue, happiness, and prosperity; and that its violation muvust entail equally
extensive crime, misery, and desolation.  It follows,
therefore, that until it is restored to the hearts of
men, these evils MIUST continue; and all the efforts
of statesmen and philanthropists can vithout this,
But "skin and film the ulcerous part,
While rank corruption, mining all within,
Infects unseen."




THE MEDICINE —THE GRAND SPECIFIC.    263
Now, it is this restoration which the gospel effects,
and HENCE ITS MATCHLESS POWER AS A REMEDY FOR
NATIONAL MIALADIES. But in order to this restoration,
two things are indispensable.
1. God's laws being infinitely perfect, their violation must be an infinite crine, and therefore demanding aii infinite punishzmemt.  Of course, for God to
let such crime pass unpunished, were not only to
invite rebellion and overturn his throne, but to forfeit all claim to the character of j istice and truth.
Not even an earthly sovereign could permit his laws
to be trampled on without bringing contempt on
himself and anarchy on the country; and for God
to do so, were to destroy his character, and with it
the corfidezce, and therefore the love, and hence the
virtute and halwpiness of his entire creation. So that
the pardon of the rebellious part of his dominions
(perhaps a very small part), could only be effected
by destroying the whole and blasting his own perfections.  But how could a sinner bear such a punishment?  It is clearly impossible.  God must provide some one who can bear it, or we are UNDONE.*
Indeed, so utterly unable are we to make any reparation for our sins, that if God could accept one
hour's obedience as atonement for a whole life's disobedience, we have it not to give —not only because
our supreme love to God being due every hour upon
its own account, one hour's intermission of it can
X Acts iv. 12; Rom. iii. 23-28; Gal. iii. 10-14.
L, _- Ls-~.-. —- ---- - --- -— ~ —-1-1 1~  ____________________ —— ~




264                THE CURE.
never be overtaken, but because no mere sinner
loves God at all even for ac sizngle momgnent.*
2. Suppose such an atonement made, then our
hearts must by some divine agency be restored to
the dominion of that law of love in which virtue
and happiness alone are found.  WIithout this, even
AN ATONEMENT would be VAIN. While our hearts
are placed on earthly things, mere pacdon could not
make us either virtuous or happy. But let heavenly affections only displace the earthly-let the heart,
from being torn with restless passions, become the
serene seat of ethereal purity and angelic love, and
you sow ONCE lVMORE the seeds of endlessly increasing
individuval and social virtue, happiness, and improvement.
Now, is it not self-evident, that did the above
principle of love universally prevail, the earth would
return to its Eden innocence, and therefore resume
its Eden loveliness? —and that the degree in which
it does prevail in any country, must inclicate the degree of that country's happiness and prosperity?
It MUST be so, if we can trust our reason. It Is so,
if we can trust our experience.  For thousands can
testify that this love to God and man is no mere
dream  of enthusiasm; and millions who think so
still must own, that to such enthusiasm the world
owes its best blessings.  To be plain-this is CHRISTIANITY if the Bible is true, and nmust be if God is
perfect. That blessed religion tells us, that love is
* Rom. viii. 7; James iv. 4.




THE MEDICINE-THE GRAND SPECIFIC.   265
the grand law of the moral universe, whose obedience secures perfect virtue and happiness; that man
has violated this law, and hence the crimes and miseries which desolate his abode; and that the grand
object of the gospel is to restore in his heart the dominion of this law as the ONLY way to restore virtue
and happiness.  That in order to this, the blessed
Saviour died to atone for his sins,* and the Divine
Spirit is sent to turn him froml his sins it and that
through the wvork of both, and that alone, we are delivered from sin's pyunishznent and power,$ if we only'repent and believe on Jesus;~ and that by this divine agency that grecat inwvarcl change commences,
which, just as it goes on, restores more perfectly the
sway of that law of love, whose observance or breach
insures all good or evil.
Such, then, is a very meagre sketch of this matchless plan, and 0 that we had space left to show the
equal wisdom  of the mode of its application!-to
show that in all respects there is as perfect an adaptation between the cross of Jesus and the heart of
man, as between the light of heaven and the eye it
enters.  But we have only time to state the fact,
Like some medicine which is so compounded as to
act on every organ at once, He who has made the
heart of man has made his blessed gospel to touch
every chord of it, wake an echo through every chamnRoie. iii. 24; iv. 25.  t John iii. 5; 1 Thess. v. 23.
t Eph. ii. 8, 9; Titus iii. 5, 6.
t Mark i. 15; Acts iii. 19; xxii. 31:




266                THE CURE.
ber of it, grasp every power and rouse every feeling
of it;-and this so universally, that Chalmers in Scotland, and Walker in England, and the Moravians in
Greenland, all declare that whereas other schemes
of amelioration they tried but in vain, they no sooner preached salvation to the sinner through Jesus'
blood, than this waked emotions which hlad slept till
then, and one and another was melted and changed.
And this has been the experience of all Christian
men-that the gospel is the true and only catholicon;
that as the magnet attracts every particle of iron,
however different its shape, or size, or place of concealment, so is there a something in Jesus which,
when he is lifted up, draws all men unto him; and
that as the breeze of heaven wakes the melody of a
thousand Eolian harps, how different soever their
form and tone, whose music sleeps until swept by it,
so the story of Christ's amazing love wakes, in
breasts of the most diverse eharacters, responses
which nothing else could stir!
And thus appears clear as heaven's sunshine the
secret of the gospel's amnazing power on the nations.
Love is just to the moral universe what Attraction
is to the material; and were that great law suspended which preserves the planets in their orbits, it
were not more absurd to propose to remedy the consequent disorder without restorin its dominion,  than
to talk of re-establishing true happiness on earth
without restoring the love which alone can produce
it. Now, is it not surprising that in days when such




THE MEDICINE-THE GRAND SPECIFIC.   267
homage is done to physiccal science there should be
such forgetfulness of mnor'al science; that men who
can eloquently describe how the mote in the sunb]eam is governed in its wanderings by unchanging
laws, seem as if they thought the immortal spirit
subject to no laws whatever; and that while in obedience to theformner men plough the ocean, rear the
engine, and make the elements their ministering servants, they act as though the Iatter^ could be disregarded with perfect impunity! Propose to endow the
Ptolemaic system of astronomy, because 80,000,000
of our heathen fellow-subjects believe it; and the idea
would be pronounced insane, and the man who would
entertain it fit only for a bedlam, for thus attempting to turn back the world on its onward march.
But a Ptolemnaic system of religion prevails amongst
us, yet it is smiled on and pensioned; its disasters
begin to be felt, and, by way of cure, the smiles are
multiplied and the pension is increased; tens of thousands are voted to a college to teach it, and then
hundreds of thousands for a force to keep down the
evils it creates; and thus the ruin goes on, till the
country's dissolution draws nigh, and statesmen are
at their wit's end; and all because, despite every
warning, they will continue to set at defiance eternal
laws, as fixed and immutable as those which guide
the stars in their courses.  Nay, some of them will
tell you that a country's religion is its merest accident, and not worth a statesman's thoughts, unless
when it becomes necessary to humor the people's




268                THIE CURE.
prejudices!  Ancd hence the ignorant cant to which
we are so often doomed to listen, which pronounces
it true liberality to regard all religions alike, and
weak-minded bigotry to recommend heaven's own
statute-book as Ireland's remedy!  Bigotry, forsooth! to say that those laws by which the universe
is governed shonld form the basis of earthly legislation! And enlightenment, forsooth! to scout those
eternal principles with which even the supreme Governor could not dispense without turning his fair
dominions into chaos!
THE FRUITS.-Such is the philosophy of the glorious gospel, and we can now only take a mere glimpse
of its frJits.  And, for the sake of more perfect
conclusiveness, we shall follow the order observed
while tracing the baleful influence of Popery, —and
show the benign effects of the gospel in awakening
the mind, purifying the conscience, warming the
heart, elevating the whole nature, and so blessing
for time, and fitting for eternity.
1. The gospel awakens the mind.-If superstition,
its unhealthy state, paralyzes it, true religion, its
healthy state, must proportionally invigorate it.
Besides, the Christian's mind is constantly exercised on themes inconceivably grand, and above all
others calculated to promote its growth and vitality.
Hence his usually intelligent countenance, so remlarkably contrasting with the superstitious devotee's contracted brow.  Who  can daily study a




THE MEDICINE —THE GRAND SPECIFIC.   269
book which contains all that most concerns the
Creator and creation, and is the very synopsis of
the laws and principles of the universe, without
finding in it the most nourishing food and powerful
stimulus to the mind? Talk of your philosophy in
comparison! Your men of science dabble in the
streamlets of knowledge, —this leads you to the
great Fountainhead.  Now, only contrast the mere
effect on the immortal mind during a long lifetime
of such ambrosial food, with that of the senseless
trash of Popish legends; and if even the insect
takes the hue of the leaf it feeds on, what must be
the influence of such mental diet on the Protestant
and the Papist respectively? Just what you see in
Ireland.  If the mind of the Clare peasant had
been nourished on the Bible, would he have fled in
terror at the priest's threat to turn him "into a
goose or a turkey-cock?" and were it universally
read amongst us, where would be our holy wells,
and the thousand other schemes of priestcraft to
filch the cash from the pocket of credulity?  The
effect would be just the reverse of what we have
found that of Popery to be. The Papist's mind
mzesmnerized, and the Protestant's stinzulated at the
altar on the Sabbath, each feels the effect throughout the week.  The one pacralyzed and the other
quickened, in reference to their eternal concerns, you
see the respective influences on all their temporal.
In the one case, the whole process cramps and
deadens; in the other, it quickens and expands.




270                THE CURE.
And this at once explains how art, and science, and
every improvement are as comnmon in gospel lands
as they are rare in Popish. Nor must we forget the
enormous contributions which the Bible has clirectly
given to learning anA philosophy.  For how many
of the worshippers of science have adorned their
idol with laurels stolen from  it; how many of our
poets have gathered their richest gems in its llines;
how many of our infidels have taken their only good
thoughts from its pages; and thus resembled the
pirate who would rob the ship of her treasures, and
then try to scuttle and sink her! And hence it was
that the immortal Newton could step from the study
of the stars to that of his Bible, and feel no change
except from high to higher pursuits.
2. The gospel pzuJifes the conscience.-Yes; and
it alone can do so.  if vice could have ever been
charmed out of its propensities by the magic spell
of eloquence, or crime arrested by the lightning of
genius, or the sinner induced by witching persuasion
to go and sin no more, it would surely have been by
-the enchanting powers of the illustrious Chalmers.
Yet, as we have found. even he could not n2oralize
until he had first evang'gelized.  And is there any
miracle in this?  How can that iman wrong his
neighbor who eveir sees the eye of God above him,
and a yawning hell beneath him; who knows that
every sin deserves eternal wrath, and is impelled to
every duty by all the sanctions which can be drawn
from time and eternity? Is it not perfectly obvious,




THE MEDICINE —— TI-HE GRAND SPECIFIC    271
that beneath the sway of such] a religion no treachery
could wear the mask of friendship, nor heartless stoicism personate humanity, nor midnight assassin lurk
behind the hedge, nor villain-escape under forms of
law?  Is it not manifest, that beneath its breath
party influence must expire, that before its glance
corruption must flee appalled, that at its voice neglected worth would emerge from  the shade, and
merit become the only road to honor, and that under its sway " nothing would be found to hurt or destroy?"  Oh! did such a religion only sit by the
monar-ch on his throne, and the merchant at his desk,
and become the presiding genius of every family, the
companion of every closet, and the inmate of every
heart, how soon would the earth look out from her
mantle of woe, with her pristine smile of paradisaie
joy! In view of a system so divine, the prophet's
most glowing pictures of the millennium are stripped
of their poetry and transformed into sober prose.
If it only prevailed in Ireland, where would be her
crime and criminals?  Yet men, who have tried all
other remedies upon her, and only to have their failure recorded in the already copious records of their
blundering and shame, will scarce listen gravely
when we suggest this divine specific for her maladies,
but will pension and smile on that aztacgonist system which has ruined her 
3. Thle gosqpel gives a heart; and here is its chief
glory. Before its benign smiles, chains and fetters,
racks and thumlbscrews vanish.  It has penetrated




272                THE CURE.
the criminal's cell, relaxed his chains and washed his
stripes; it has reared its asylums, and filled them
with the poor and the maimed, the halt and the
blind; it has rolled the tides of eloquence on behalf
of distress, until the heart of stoicism has melted,
the hand of avarice has relaxed, luxury has dealt its
bread to the hungry, and vanity cast its jewels to the
poor.  See that good Samaritan pouring oil into the
stranger's wounds, that amiable Dorcas clothing
some beggar-boy, that angel of mercy in human form
standing by the dying bed! See that retreat for the
destitute, that infirmary for the dying, that refuge for
the fallen, that hospital for orphan childhood, that
almshouse for infirla old age, and far above all, that
divine array of institutions for causing the waters of
life to circulate over the world! Say ye these are
the fruits of civilization 2  Deny ye the glory to the
despised Nazarene?   Then look to your favorite
Greece and Rome I Do our bards surpass their poets,
our builders their architects, our sculptors their
Phidiases, our orators their Ciceros? They have
left behind them monuments of pride and cruelty in
abundance; where are their monuments of mercy
and love?  Pass through Imperial Rome at the
zenith of her power; or survey at this instant her
ruins of proud magnificence, glowing in the spleendors of an Italian sunset.  You gaze on that amphitheatre of monumental wonders-the Capitol-the
Pantheon —the Portico-the Forum- the Arch of
Titus-the Coliseum, where men were butchered for




THE MEDICINE-THE GRAND SPECIFIC.   273
amusement.  And is there amongst tlhem  all not
one monument of mercy? —no hospital for the sick
-no asylum for the helpless-no school for the poor?
No, NOT ONE! And it would be difficult to findcl in
their purest classic writers a word answering to our
idea of infi'nary; they never possessed the institution, and did not wanu the name I
4. Tlhe gospel elevates the whole natture.-Indeed,
Christianity cannot but make great and noble characters. Infusing the loftiest principles of virtue, and
enforcing these by motives drawn from the skies, it
inspires the Chbristian with that heroism  which others
too often simulate, and gives the substance while
they have but the shadow.  With him, Divine principle takes the place of the hectic stimulants of
earthly honor and applause.   Being " God's offspring," he is of course " a partaker of the Divine
nature," and as such is incapable of grovelling meanness.  The man who communes with the skies, cau
he lick the dust in crouching servility?-or the man
who fears his God, is he likely to tremble before a
worm of the dust?  No: such a religion mztst impart the loftiest dignity to the whole character.
Hence it has numbered thousands of mnen, and a vomzcm
too, in the ranks of dauntless martyrdom; and given
birth to a heroism  far more sublime than was ever
felt by mere worldly bravery -;instance Paul before
Agrippa, or the wife of AWelsh before James! And
thus is at once explained the fact, that Protestant
nations are as great and free as Popish ones are
18




274                THE CURE.
mean and degraded.  The one is subjected to a process which indefinitely elevates, and the other to a
process which as indefinitely degrades; and hence
the prodigious superiority in the tone of the former.
There, woman is found in her true place, by the side
of man; there, man indignantly spurns every chain
which cruelty would forge, or cupidity fasten; and
there alone is realized that liberty which Paganism
knows only in its poetry, and Popery only in its
dreams. In truth, without the gospel r'eal elevation
is impossible.  Would you ever think of looking to
other than to Bible lands for all that gives true
moral dignity to man? No; while beneath its divine sway serfdom and barbarism are simple impossibilities, without it you have virtual degradation even
amid the splendor of arts, like ancient Greece, and
arms like ancient Rome, and both like imperial France.
5. Tze goslpel blesses imacn? for tin e: —and how
simple the means by which it does so; and how well
worth your study, ye statesmen and philosophers!
It approaches the thief and the robber, and how does
it act?  Does it philosop2hize on the rights of property, &c., and by these conjure him to reform   If
it did, then we own ye might indeed sneer.  No;
taking far loftier ground, it pours out the denunciations of the Almighty, and pictures the horrors of
the damned, until he turns pale and stands aghast:
and then telling him of a Saviour who has purchased
mercy even for him, and assuring him of pardon if he
will repent and believe on Him, and Divine aid to




THE MEDICINE-THE GRAND SPECIFIC.   275
enable him to do so if he will sincerely seek it, it
conjures him to turn to God, and walk in his ways;
and in thousands of cases succeeds. Now, must
not such a religion perfectly annihilate the worst
causes of social misery? How can that people be
restless, who are thus taught "to be content;" or
disloyal, who "fear God and honor the king;" or
dishonest, who " render unto all their due;" or idle,
who dread the sin of being "slothful in business;'
or turbulent, who "follow  peace with all men?"
What child does not see that a parish of real Christians must be one of loyal subjects, industrious
people, united families, honest masters, and faithful
servants?  Here is the whole secret.  You begin at
the wrong end when you address yourselves first to
men's temporal interests: —we teach them to " seek
first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,"
and this necessarily involving every subordinate object, " all other things are" of consequence "added."
Securing their duty to God, we secure, of course
their duty to mann; and by this simple means of
prevailing on them to seek their eternal salvation,
we bind them' c fortiori to observe all those virtues
which enhance their temporal state.
Here, then, ye statesmen, is the source of true national greatness.  If you would bring back the
golden age, it is not by turning everything into gold,
but by the nobler alchemy of the heart.  If you
would improve a people's social condition, improve
their religious tone; and the effect of this will go




2(6                 TI-i:THE CURE.
out in directions of which you never thought.  As
the morning sun enables the shepherd to guide his
flocks to pasture, but is by the same beams waking
a thousand forms of life around him. so would the
Sun of Righteousness enable you to guide this great
nation, and at the same time shed on it a thousaind
blessings of which you never dreamed.  Here too,
ye patriots, is the true parent of liber'ty.  The Saviour was one of the people; and it were impossible
to half obey his precepts without banishing all despotism from the earth.  Here is the true friend of
eqTual r^ights; forbidding alike the tyranny of the
sovereign and the treason of the subject.  Here is
the inspirer of that genuine p-atr'iotisnm to which so
many only pretend, and the parent of that peace of
which your 1" peace societies" idly dream. Attempting to take out of the hands of the Prince of peace
his own proper work, these utopian visionaries lately
assembled in the Crystal Palace as their temple of
concord; but their schemes of peace proved as
fragile as the building they met in.  There "all nations" shook hands, it is true; but thence they departed, and rumors of wars immediately sprung up!
Alas Ithey knew  not the true talisman of peace,
which alone can make men "beat their swords into
ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks."
Here too is the grand source of individual wealth.
True, many believers have little; they would have
less but for believing.  For no mnan can be a Christian without possessing those qualities, and earning




THE MEDICINE —THE GRAND SPECIFIC.   277
that character, which tend to advancement.  And to
see this, you need only contrast the career of the
followers of Paine, or Pio Nono, with that of the
disciples of Jesus.  And while the gospel thus leads
to wealth, it not less wonderfully sustains in poverty.
It is emphatically the pFoor gnagb's regligions;-and,
oh! what a counterpoise he feels in its promises to
all the ills that flesh is heir to! Taught to walk by
faith in his heavenly father, he can maintain a placid
brow amid the gathering storms of life; for he sees
his Parent's love in the dark skies of adversity, as
well as in the bright beams of prosperity, and hears
it in the loud howlings of life's storms, alike with
the gentle breathing of its zephyrs.  Oh, the treble
wrong of Popery! first to reduce our countrymen to
misery; next to rob them of a religion so consoling;
and then to inflict instead a superstition so baleful!
Yet Newman says that religion has nothing to do
with a nation's greatness!!  Another proof that his
religion, accorcding' to his own, confession, lacks that
4'righteousness" which does and qtzst " exalt it."
The Sun of Righteousness cannot but bless for both
worlds;- for as the light of the natural sun, his
type, not only reveals the azure depths froml  which
it came, but spreads a mantle of beauty over the
earth it falls on; so does He not only reveal our relations to God, but spreads over all the mutual relations of man that moral verdure, without which society would be a waste.'
" Williams.




278                 THE CURE.
6. But the g'ospel maint y r'esects a ette)1' vworld/.-!
True, it is like the lajestic river, which, while urging its course to the mlain, clothes with verdure the
countries it flows through;-but this is only its
slcondclay object.  True, this angel sent to bring
God's people home, smooths anld cheers the path
they travel on; but its grand colmmission respects
the pe)fc/olflance, not the conmfort of the journey.
And it were an insult, not an honor, to view it as a
mere system  of police, and forget its glory as a
schemlle ofr salvation; and as absurd too as to suppose that Christ its author, because he restored tlle
sick, came -to heal men's bodies, and not to save their
souls.  Its grand concern is with eternity.  And as
our whole line of argument has already demonstrated that it, and it alone, can fit for heaven, additional proof is perfectly useless.  Since then it is needless to address the juclgnment further on thle subjecet,
we eagerly seize the opportunity thus afforded of
making our solemn  appeal to the heart.  Then, dear
reader, whoever you are, bear with one rema-rFk.
The subject of this work is almost too general to
impress the individual conscience.  Speaking of an
entire nation, one is apt to get lost in the crowd;
but our national connection, how brief it is   Soon
mrust we retire from the scene, and leave our country in other hands; then how prodigious our folly,
if, while concerned about its salvation, we should be
found to have neglected our own! How is it with
YOU?  If heaven at all differs from earth, you would




THE MEDICINE-TIE GRAND SPECIFIC.   279
gain nothing by being removed thither without undergoing such a change as would fit you for that difference.  Hence as it is a place of HIOLINESS "'yOZIU
must be born cgacin" and undergo the meetening
process of progressive sanctificatio.  Is your grace
then rip7enzing into gl'ory, your path shining MORE
AND 2MORE?  It is thus you may read your destiny
in your charcacter and life; and this is the only infallible test. Then, by the worth of your souls we
implore you to apply it.  Indifference here is the
worst kind of insanity. Indifference!-in a case in
which enthusiasm is sobriety, and exaggeration is
impossible!-the wildest fanaticism were rational in
comparison, and the gloomiest skepticism not half so
perilous.
Such is a mere outline of the fruits of the gospel
of Christ! No wonder, indeed, that angels sung his
first advent, and the earth herself will become vocal
at his second.  Yet "these are but a part of his
ways;" and in drawing this brief sketch, we have felt
like one who surveys the placid ocean from  the
masthead, and can but descry a few miles around,
while a boundless expanse of waters stretches away
undiscovered beyond.  Yet this is the system  of
which some exclaim, " What has religion to do with
national greatness?" and men who will sit at the
feet of Smith or Blackstone, to learn the secret of a
nation's government, will scorn to sit at the feet of
Jesus! If his minister presents his great statutebook at the senate house, he is told that its sphere




280                THE CURE.
is the nursery or the sick chamber. If he brings it
to the college, he is derisively asked, What has religion to do with learning?  And if he would introduce it to the school-house, he is informed that it is
too holy a book to put into the hands of children!
Are the men fit to rule this great empire who do not
yet know what has mgade it great; or to govern
Ireland, who will not learn the lesson its northern
province would teach them? Ye godless statesmen,
go to Ulster, the only part of Ireland which saves
your credit; and say, is it the ministers of the
Crown, or those of the Cross, who deserve this
credit? While the turbulent priest has been sowing
the fair south thick with disorder, visit that northern
congregation. Mark their intelligence, their decorum,
their quietness so profound, that the thought of disturbance has never crossed them in their dreams.
Where are your police, your soldiers, your miagistrates?  They are not there; for they are not
wanted.  Then, who has done all this?  A single
gospel m'initister.  That mnan's voice it is which has
hushed that parish to stillness.  That man's hand it
is which has sown it so thick with industry, that no
beggar is seen there; with light, that superstition is
unknown there; and with peace, that were an agitator to come there,-the only breach of the peace at all
likely to ensue would be one committed on himself;
and his secret iS-TIHE GLOrFIOUS GOSPEL.  Or, if
you are yet so obtuse as not to learn this lesson from
Ulster, then cross the channel, and say, what has




THE MEDICINE-THEE G.RAND SPECIFIC.   281
subdued the rugged Scot, once as wild as his mountains, and spread peace and gladness over all his
borders?  What else but the everlasting gospel?
And if you will not receive this at our humble lips,
surely you will hearken to Scotland's own deathless
orator-Chalmers-when he tells you that, but for
tllis, " the ferocity of their ancestors would have
come dclown, unsoftened and unsubdued, to the existing generation.  The darkening spirit of hostility
would still have lowered upon us from the north;
and these plains, now so peaceful and so happy,
would have lain open to the fury of merciless invaders.  Oh, ye soft and sentimental travellers, who
wander so securely over this romantic land, you are
right to choose the season when the angry elements
of nature are asleep! But what is it that has
charmed to their long repose the more dreadful
elements of human passion and human injustice?
What is it that has quelled the boisterous spirit of
her natives?-and while her torrents roar as fiercely,
and her mountain brows look as grim as ever, what
is that which has thrown so softening an influence
over the minds and manners of her living population?"
" What would they have been at this moment, had
schools, and Bibles, and ministers been kept back
from them?"




282               THE CURE.
(HAPTER  III.
TREATMENT-INFORMATION.'WE have thus got distinctly before us the CURSE
and the CURE-the poison and the medicine.  And
the question remains, What are the best means of
removing the one and dispensing the other?  Our
first obvious dutyis to inform the public as to what
is the curse and the cure. Rome has long flourished
on Protestant ignorance.  In these happy realms,
we see but the skirts of her foul garments; hence
that good old horror of Popery which our godly
fathers felt, has grown unpopular; and there has
sprung up a class of Protestants who, while revelling in the blessings those fathers wrung froml her
with their blood, denounce them as narrow-minded
bigots; —men whose own creed is their condemnation-who betray the principles they profess to uphold-who are the inquiring Roomanist's worst stumnbling-block, and furnish iRome with her best argument-who even presume to read us lectures on
Christian charity-and whom  we are chiefly to
thank for the vast growth of Popish power amongst
uS, and that suicidal pro-Popery legislation, under
which the kingdom begins to reel. Some good menl,
too, have followed their example; and forgetting
that Ronle is a "beast," they have thought, in their
ignorance, to coax and conciliate her, and discounte



TREATMENT-INFORMATION.           283
nance, as imnpro2cr, those terms which God himself
applies to her.  " The Man of Sin" is, in their parlance, the sovereign pontiff, and the "Mystery of
Iniquity," the Catholic Church; " Popery," is Catholicismn, and the "priests," the Catholic clergy! By
this course, they have thought to conciliate Rome,
as if Satan could be vanquished by smiles and compliments! and to convert her people, as if the best
way to alarm their souls was to half conceal their
danger!  Alas, such are neither the men nor the
means God usually honors! We stop not to ask
on what grounds our country's great Destroyer is
entitled to such courtesy; we would only say, that
those who would encounter the Popish "Antichrist,"
can still less afford to "wear soft raiment" than
either Elijah or the Baptist.  We ourselves once
thought that blandness was better than boldness;
but experience has taught us God's infinite wisdom
in giving so much sternness to his best reformers,
and amply explained why Luther and Knox were so
much more successful than Cranmer and Melancthon.
Now, we must get done with this misplaced suavity,
and in order thereto, strip off the drapery in which
Protestant pseudo-liberalism has decked out Rome,
and uncover her nakedness to universal gaze.  We
must takle means that the whole nation shall make
their pe;fect  acqzacintance with her; and then they
will instantly see that the robber is entitled to as
much courtesy as Romne, and that gentleness to her
is cruelty to her victims.




284                THE CURE.
This information should be practical and scientific
as well as theological. Perhaps we have made the
whole question of Popery too much aLn ecclesiastical
one; and this may be the reason why many feel no
interest in it, and deem it, for the most part, a sectarian squabble of little social importance.  Now,
we must deal more with the p2racctical of iRome;
show that it concerns the politician as well as the
theologian; the citizen of this world as well as the
expectant of the next; and convict it as man's great
foe, not merely from revelation, but from science and
fact.  It has a prodigious advantage of us while we
treat it on merely religious grounds; for that is a
province so repulsive to some, and so mysterious to
others, that they will not follow us into it. We
must, then, for their sakes, come down from  the
mount; and, as the great apostle met the philosophic Greek on Mars Hill, as well as the superstitious
Jew in the temple, and with arguments admirably
adapted to each, so must we show 2parctical men the
fctcts, and scie ntific men the pltilosop2hy, as well as'elig'ious  men the theology, of this question.  Had
Popery thus long ago been treated; had its falseness
been demonstrated by an appeal to fact and philosophy, as well as to Scripture;  had it been shown to
be a violation of the gr'eat Icaws of the u2niverse, as
much as the incantations of witchcraft, what could
have hindered it' from sharing the same fate?  At
least surely we would not now hear the cry of practical infidelity, What has religion to do with science?




TREATMENT —INFORMATION.         285
-nor that of sickly pietism, What has science to do
with religion?-nor would we have appeals against
Popery characterized as the effusions of bigotry;
nor a college endowed for teaching transubstantiation, any more than schools for propagating the
Hindoo notion that the earth rests on an elephant's
back, or the Peruvian belief that eclipses are attempts of a dragon to devour the sun.
Moreover, Popery is not enough felt to be Satan's
GRAND CONTRIVANCE TO COUNTERWORK THE GOSPEL.
We have not been at sufficient pains to trace the career of this great agent of evil, and show that as he
had ruder snares for earlier ages, he has more elaborate devices for modern ones; —that as all truth
is ONE7 so in reality is all error; and that as God
has gradually developed the  zuth to suit the gradual developments of our race, from the patriarchal to
the Christian age, so has Satan as gradually developed the error, from the rudest forms of early idolatry to Popery his masterpiece; —that as in the various systems of light, you have the same great features of salvation by grace thr/tozzgh a divine Saviour,
and by a divine Spirit, reproduced with inzcreasizng
clearness till we reach Christianity, the MYSTERY OF
GODLINESS. SO in the various systems of darkness we
have the same counterfeit features of salvation by
works through priests and mummeries, till we reach
Popery, the MYSTERY OF INIQUITY;-and that as the
gospel is the last and most perfect development of
the one, so is Popery of the other.  Yet it is thus




286                THE CURE.
we ought to handle Popery, and prove that it is the
elaborate result of ages of Satan's experience in the
art of ruining souls  and that in order to its consummate perfection, that evil one has laid all his
other systems under contribution, anid not only
rifled Judaism, but culled from Gnosticism and plagiarized Paganism.   Here, for instance, you have
Pharisaism contributing its outward puri-fications and
"traditions of the elders."  Here you Ilave celibacy,
self-inflictions, and monastic austerities, borrowed
from the Gnostic, who thought matter the source of
evil, and the flesh the seat of sin.  And here, above
all, you have Paganism baptized in the name of
Jesus; with Peter for Jupiter —Mary, the Papist's
queen of heaven, for Juno, the Pagan's-and saints
and angels for gods and demi-gods.  Ay, and so
shameless has been the plagiarism, that purgatory is
accurately described in Virgil's 3neid; the present statue of Peter at Rome is the identical statue
of Jupiter Capitolinus; even the Pope's chair is
said to have been pilfered from the Mussulman; and
Romulus and Remus are worshipped as two holy
bishops, under the names of Romulo and Remigio!'
Such is the ground we should take-exposing the
Satacinic philosolphy of Popery, and showing that it
is an eclectic system of evil, contrived with fearful
skill to thwart every law of God and of our nature.
and to poison the springs of salvation; and all under the most ingenious guise of Christianity.  In a
* Seymnour's Pilgrimage to Rome.




TERATMENT —INFORMATION.            287
word, it should be our labor to show that Popery
was born at tile fall, and came of age when the triple
crown  irwas rmounted; and that as light was God's
first creation, but was diffused through the firmament till centered in the sun on the fourth day, so
in reality Popery was Satan's first offspring, whose
diffused spirit you can distinctly trace through all
false systems, but which only attained a fixed and
visible centre when enthroned on the seven hills.
It is also of immense importance  that Rome's
tactics in thecse  3.':dg'coi2s should be thoroughly understoosd.  They are embraced in two words, cuzn-,zin, and 6balseri','g-admirally adapted to the infirmities of the English character.  The Englishma,1n honest himself! is disposed to think all others
so, and to forget that it is the greatest deceivers who
smilde most sweetly, aud the greatest cowards who
bluster most vociferously; and so he who rules the
mlain  and gives laws to the nations, has been alternately cajoled and frightened by a few priests.  And
to what terrible account they have turned this great
error   Just as England has yielded, they have enelcoached; and she has never stood firm but they
Ila.ve at once knocked under.  The more sops she
lhas thrown to these Irish Cerberuses they have only
groledl the louder, and she has never chastised them
hut they have cowered into their dens.  In 1641,
the tampering of Charles brought on a rebellion;
Cromwell came, and in six months made the country
that honest men could live in it for half-a-century




288                THE CURE.
after.  In the latter end of last century, the volcano
began once more to smoke and rumble.  Pitt, to
quiet it, founded a college, and promised emancipation.  The rebellion of 1'798 was the gratitude he
received; and coercion again quelled the storm which
false conciliation had occasioned.  A brief interval
only elapsed, when the priests returned to their old
trade of hatching rebellion; concession was again
tried; and when, in 18297 emancipation was granted,
they pledged themselves that they would henceforth
be quiet.  Did they keep their pledge a day?  No;
agitation only increased; and our rulers, to quiet it.
increased the Maynooth grant, proposed to endow
the priest, ay, and app~roached the den of the beast to
beg he would keep "his Irish cubs," as they have
been termed, in order; —so that even a Connaught
peasant was heard to exclaim, "They would pension
the devil, sir, if he would promise to keep the priests
quiet."  Well, this petting' ended as before, in another rebellion; troops once more came, and peace
was restored.  Last of all, Wiseman arrived-England arose-and the Pope trembled; but her splendid
Protestant demonstrations ended in a ridiculous Aggression Bill; and instantly the c" Catholic Defence
Association" was formed, which proposes to change
even the "Protestant succession."'  Now, we must
get done with this absurd and ruinous policy, and
restore the true difference between the righteous and
the wicked.  What claim have these men to this excessive dandling?   Is it their usefulness?   Yes;




TR EATMENT —INFORMATION.         289
and Ireland is its monument! whose every town is
polluted by their intrigues, and pestered by their
outrages. Is it their loyalty?  Yes; and our rebellions are the proofs! And shall we continue extending them  privileges which  we see uniformly
turned against the givers, and only employed to
effect our own overthrow?  Is not hatred of England
the feeling they are constantly instilling into their
credulous people's minds?-and with such fearful
success, that thousands of emigrants are yearly leaving us with scalding curses on their lips against her,
and even from  their new transatlantic home the
western breeze wafts many a deep malediction; insomuch that were another American war to break out,
England's deadliest foes would be those of her own
householdcl, and their very children would rush as to
a sacred duty to revenge their fathers' "wrongs."
Indeed, Irish priests take no pains to disguise their
malignant hate, or conceal their joy at England's
most trifling embarrassments — who can forget their
delight, for example, when the first reverses of the
Punjaub were announced?  Yes; and this hatred
no kindness has been able to mitigate.  If ever one
transient glow of gratitude could have been kindled
in their breasts, it would have surely been by England's kindness during the famine; when, from the
Queen to the cottager, from the church to the theatre, all ranks and classes poured in their munificent
offerings. Well, scarce had that famine abated, when
the convulsions of Europe occurred; the priests could
19




290                THE CURE.
not conceal their ecstasy at the prospect of England's being involved in a continental war; and in
hope of this they fomented the rebellion of 1848!
Thus, while Britain's meat was in their mouths did
they attempt to stab to the heart -the benefactress
which had saved them alive, and give too just ground
for the remark, "'That Rome was like the hyena,
which hunger could not tame, nor kindness conciliate!"
Finally, it needs to be proclaimed with trumpettongue that the priests have for years been playing a
deep game for the reconquest of "perfidious Albion;"
for there are thousands of our people whose eyes
no amount of evidence on this point has yet been
able to open.  Forgetting that Rome is " all a lie,"
and therefore more dangerous in her smiles than her
fury-forgetting that unerring Scripture has assigned
her the twofold character of beast and serpent, and
that when she dare not be the one, she is sure to be
the other-forgetting that while in Naples she is
strewing her noisome lair with dead and dying captives, in England the language of meekness drops
from her lips soft as the dews of Hernion,-forgetting all this, multitudes still listen unsuspecting to
her brazen protestations of innocence and truth.
And skilfully has she traded on this incomprehensible stupidity! If we say she is m'ild because she
dare not be fierce, in tones of injured innocence she
complains of our bigotry; and adjusting the mask
of virgin loveliness over her haggard face, and the




TREATMENT —INFORMATION.         291
robe of angel purity over her hideous form, she
walks through Westminster, looking up to heaven
with eyes of meek resignation! AND MANY BELIEVE
iEti! Scarlet, they say, may once have been her
dress, but now it is virgin white! Infatuated men!
Will no amount of treachery open your eyes?-and
will you really adduce in proof of her dove-like innocence, that simulated smile which most clearly
proves her the child of him whose
" —-- Gentle dumb expression, turned at length
The eye of Eve-"?
Will you not at least believe herself-for she makes
no secret that England is the dazzling prize she
struggles for?  Were you not told by Father Ignatius, of " praying societies" for her conversion, and
of the 300 days' indulgence lately granted to all
who would say a "Hail, Mary," for this object?
Were you not told by Gavazzi of "1 Jesuit servant
societies," for enabling these pests of mankind to
creep into Protestant families in the guise of domestics?  Is not the bull " In coeno Domzini" read
from every chapel each holy Thursday, thus proving
to all who are not willing dupes, that Rome has
never abandoned her demands on England's fealty?
An(l if she claims to ride over us now when she
canzzot, will she not do so the first moment she
ca.t? And think you the man who for this object
keeps his fanatics praying, and his Jesuits prowling
over the land, would not hurl our Queen from her




292               TI-IE CU'RE.
throne if he could, and put a Mary or a James in
her room?  Then let all Englishmen know assuredly, that Rome's deadly eye is on " their faith and
their firesides; and that wherever they meet her
clouds of priests, whether heading a mob, horsewhip
in hand, or at vice-regal levees in silken hose;
whether putting down a school in Connaught, or
getting upl one in Edinburgh; all-ALL are patiently performing their several parts in this gigantic
conspiracy against Protestant England.  The serpent's great design is on that Eden of Protestantism,
and he has for years been stealing steadily towards
it; and whether he has been now taking a circuitous
route to beguile the simple, or again hiding amongst
the flowers to elude the suspicious, or, as in the late
caggression, making a visible SPRING-be assured of
this one thing, that ON HE COMES. And even granting that Rome has for ONCE made a blunder, and
having missed her spring, may now slink into the
thicket and wait a better opportunity-even granting that she has found the breach not yet practicable, and may suspend the assault, in order the
more noiselessly to expedite the mine —what doom
do we deserve if we ever forget the lesson she has
taught us?  SHE will profit by her blunder-and if
WE do not, the stolid infatuation of Samson, while
fondling with another harlot, was sagacious vigilance in comparison; and, resembling him in his
folly we will assuredly be like him in his fate!




TREATMENT-LEGISLATION.          293
CHAPTER IV.
TREATMENT-LEGISLATION.
SOME have a prejudice against legislative interference with Rome, as though it were an encroachment of the temporal power on the spiritual.  They
forget that Rome is a power, both temporal and spiritual-that the Pope is God's viceroy as well as his
vicar, and wears a crown as well as a cross; that
" all power is Christ's in heaven and on earth," and
must therefore be his, as Christ's representative;
and that those principles which they guard with such
praiseworthy jealousy are therefore inapplicable to
Rome.  Of course, she denies this also; and in
Britain, notwithstanding Wiseman's offce and acts,
claims to be merely spir'itual.  But has she not ever
proved the most intolerable temporal tyrant that
ever trampled down the nations?  Is not the Pope
"doiqznUs t'otius or6bis"- and not content to be a
king camzong kings, has he not ever claimed to be
king of kings?  How many monarchs has he dethroned, and kingdoms absolved from their oaths of
allegiance?  How often has he made sovereigns hold
his stirrup, and their prostrate necks the steps from
which lie mounted it?  And if such things occur not
now, think you is want of power or of will the reason?  Yet, in the face of her history, her decrees,
and all her acts this moment, many have somehow




294                THE CURE.
been cajoled into the notion, that we ought to deal
with Rome as a mere spi'itqtal power.  So boots
and thumlbscrews are spiritual weapons — stakes and
fagots spiritual arguments!-and the annual declaration above noticed, that our Queen is a heretic
usurper, who must lose her crown if not her head on
the first opportunity, a spiritual announcement! In
truth, it is this very masking of the temporal beneath the spiritual power, on the ground of which
she would claim i1dclgl,'eazce, that forfeits all her
claims to it; just as the skulking robber deserves
less mercy than the open manly one.  It is therefore
no wonder that many good men are at this moment
asking, Is it a right use of liberty to extend it to a
system which denies it to all others: or of tolecration, to grant it to a church which tolerates none
who dare think for themselves?  But we would not
be intolerant even to Rome, though we thus speak.
We would have the world see that there is in Europe one glorious country which can afford to tolerate even her; and the legislation we would now propose in no wise interferes with the sacred principles
of religious liberty.  We would only demand, that
beneath the name of freedom we shall not have favoritisnz, nor continue to enCdow what at most we
should only endure.  And therefore two measures,
at least, we claim at the hands of the legislature:that Rome's "religious" prisons shall not be the only
ones on our soil exempt from public inspection; and
that if she will be allowed to diffuse her poison
__________________________________  _____ ___  _________________   I




TREATMENT-LEGISLATION.          295
through the realm, she shall at least support its chief
manufactory herself.
THIE CONVENT. —" Retreats of piety" -how sweet
the sound!  None knows better than Rome "how
much is in a name" —Rome, that mistress of the
arts of nomenclature; which calls her most villanous
order " the Society of.esus," and her most infernal
tribunal 4"the holy office!"  She is like other serpents, generally most dangerous in her gayest fascinations; throws the most imposing drapery round
her most iniquitous scenes, and baptizes her foulest
deeds with the fairest titles. And oh! how exemplified in the convent! We have traced the young
female thither, and found her leaving her happiness
at the gate, and commencing a struggle with the
laws of her being compared to which crucifixion
were mercy. We have seen that unless the laws
of nature are a delusion, that young creature must
there stifle all the fond throbbings of a woman's
soul, commit suicide without the relief of dying, and
bury herself alive without finding that rest which the
grave usually brings to the weary. And this is Rome's
best oblation to heaven!-her mIost transcendental
type of piety!-to pluck the young heart out of the
gentle bosom, and attempt to replace it with a lump
of marble-to inflict upon its victim the feeling of
wretchedness, from which she can only escape by getting rid of all feeling! We now add, that it is the
nature of this gloomy prison-house to decoy those




296                THE CURE.
young females whose hearts are least capable of
such petrifaction. It is the artless girl of pious
tendencies-the child of romance and sentimentwhose glowing young fancy throws a halo round
everything, who is most easily ensnared by visions
of conventual bliss.  And thus this dreadful old
sorceress not only drags the young female from life,
just when its vernal flowers are all bursting around
her-; but selects for the sacrifice the most precious
victim, and makes her very excellence and piety the
means of her decoy! Ah! fancy that girl's feelings
when the spell at length breaks-when she awakes,
and behold it was a dream-when the nsircage melts
away, and she finds a dreary desert where she looked
for living waters  Perhaps some simple Protestant
replies, " But I have been to convents, and the nuns
who showed us through them said they were all
so happy." And was there nothing suspicious in
the great pains they took to convince you of their
felicity? Then what mean those high walls and
iron gratings?  And why does a church so sagacious needlessly provoke suspicion, by giving such
paradises the air of prisons?  Ah! think you there
is no occasion?  Then read the honest narrative of
one, who in England seemed favorable to Popery,
but went to Rome and was effectually cured. The
scenes Mr. Seymour describes as being at this
moment enacted in Italian nunneries are absolutely
heart-rending.  One friend, in particular, who knew
several nuns, and was well acquainted with "the




TREATMENT —LEGISLATION.          297
secrets of their prison-house," assured him that'the
broken-hearted looks, the shades of deep and indelible sorrow, the lines of settled and unalterable sadness, the expression of resentment or despair that
characterized many of these young creatures; used
to affect his heart, sadden all his best feelings, and
trouble his very dreams.  He could not think or
speak of the subject without such feelings, but that
the tears would come into his eyes, saying, that it
was inconceivable the number of nuns that went to
an early grave under this system."  He assured
him that numbers of them, when the religious hectic
which brought them thither had subsided, and they
awoke to all the dreary realities of their state, c" soon
pined and saddened, and, sinking into despair, DIED
OF MIADNESS " that this was " the melancholy destiny
of the greater portion, and that nothing on earth
could induce him, with the knowledge he possessed,
to allow one of his daughters to take the veil, for
that the majority of nuns at Rome died of mnzctdzess
before they were five-cznd-twenty years of cac!!"*
Now think of htmdreds in our own land annually
offered on this dreadful altar, flowers that might
have shed beauty and fragrance on their entire circle,
ruthlessly plucked in their first vernal buddings, and
consigned to those cells to droop and perish! In
Ireland alone there are A HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN
* Seymour's Pilgrimage to Rome, p. 182.  For a distressing account of the order of nuns called the Sepldte vive,
or " the buried alive," see p. 188.




298                THE CURE.
CONVENTS!"  Throughout the entire United Kingdom they are rising on every hand; and if Rome
had her will, these living sepulchres would cover the
empire.  And for aught we can tell, those which already exist may be scenes of fearful vice and ruffian
violence.  Maria Monk has revealed, the abominations of the Montreal convent, and the Rev. Mr.
Slocum has proved the full truth of her disclosures.
The French soldiery found sixty-two young women
corrupted and ruined in  the apartments of the
Inquisitors of Spain; and both French and English discovered manifold proofs of guilt on the premises of Peninsular convents.  When Mr. Seymour
was at Rome, an abbess rushed forth in a frenzy
from one of the nunneries of that city, and sought
relief from remorse beneath the waves of the Tiber.
And what proof can you have that those crimes
which are rife in other convents have no existence in
ours-that their walls witness no villany, and hear
no cries of outraged innocence? If we suspect them
wrongfully, the fault is their own; for if all is Beight,
why is not all open?  It is vice, not virtue, that
hates the light, and suffers from  exposure; antd
piety, above all things, detests concealment, and
avoids even the "appearance of evil."   0, but religion must not be interfered with!"  RELIGION!
that heavenly angel in whose outraged name Rome
does her darkest deeds, beneath whose skirt she always hides her guiltiest acts, burying them the deep~- Catholic Directory, 1852.




TREATMENT —-LEGISLATION.         299
er in its folds the mnore truculent they are I  Religion! which never yet concealed anything, because
it has nothing to conceal!  Religion! which is used
as the decoy to these prisoners, is forsooth made the
plea for preventing their escc2pe and concealing the
cirzes of which they may be the victims! Say,
shall that be taken as a valid plea, which is in truth
the darkest feature of the case; and shall Romne be
permitted to transform religion into a jailer of female
innocence, and station her at every convent-door, to
prevent the entrance of justice, or the escape of woe?
Then, fellow-Christians! approach the feet of your
Queen, and pray that no convent shall be permitted
in her dominions without being open to inspection.
And if Rome shall be allowed to prowl through your
families, kidnap your daughters, and bear them off
to her fastnesses, there to be robbed of liberty, property, and perhaps virtue too-to be tortured, it
may be, under the sweet name of 1" sister," and possibly ruined under the hallowed title of 1" saint"-to
endure actual misery beneath the mockery of pretended bliss, and be compelled to smile while anguish
is eating their hearts; —at least insist that these
dens shall be examined, and those who are injured
protected, and those who have " come to themselves"
allowed to go free. Shall Britain, which hunts the
mlan-stealer through every sea-whose fair soil no
slave can touch, but his chains burst from  around
him —which breaks open the private dwelling to deliver the victim of wrong, punished the advocate




300                 THE CURE.
Sloane for abusing his little maid-servant —and will
not permit one act of " cruelty" even to the lower
creation; shall Britain show favor only to this moral
monster, and refuse relief to the helpless young females who shriek from its dens? Shall Britain,
whose humanity sought for Stoddart amid the sands
of the East. and still seeks for Franklin amongst the
icebergs of the North -;Britain, the asylum of the
earth's remotest exiles, permit her worst foe, on
pretences "false as hell," so far to abuse her hospitality, and impose on her credulity, as to decoy and
incarcerate her own fair daughters, on her own fair
soil, without a chance of escape —and for no other
crime than their artless innocence and religious enthusiasm?
THE COLLEGE. —After all we have said of Irish
priests, the OFFSPRING, we need not surely say mnuch
of Maynooth, the PARENT;  nor enter its gloomy
walls to discover its genuine character. Every effect
has its adequate cause; and to judge correctly of a
fountain, it is enough to examine its streams.  We
care very little what interested witnesses may testify,
or official visitors see; while our reason remains
we must judige of the tree by its FRUITS) and if, on
visitinzg days, all looks lovely and charming within
Maynooth College, it is only another proof, not of
Rome's innocence, but her serpent cunning.
And why should we look for any thing else? Could
we expect a seminary for heralds of darkness to be




TREATMENT-LEGISLATION.           301
radiant with light9 or a school for patrons of pollution to be redolent of purity?  Would the father of
this system take such pains to mould the )eop)le to his
will, and be careless only about those by wJhom he
chiefly moulds them? Would he who is so watchful
of his prisoners, be neglectful only of his turnkeys?
No; as sure as Rome is Satan's masterpiece, it is in
the training of her priesthood you would naturally
look for his deepest strokes of policy, and expect to
see the art of blasting souls practised in its highest
branches. Let us see how far these expectations
are realized in the present case.  Imagine the great
adversary devising such a college as would best suit
his dreadful purpose; and his aim would clearly be
to contrive such an one as would most thoroughly
subjugate the minds of the priests, and, at the sac?'e
time,; best fit them  for subjugating those of the
people. It is clear that to accomplish this difficult
task he would give the former enough instruction to
raise them just so fer above the latter as to enable
them thoroughly to enslave them, but nYo fcatherenough to make them fiery zealots, but not enough
to liberalize their minds; in a word, such an education as would qualify them for?mischief, but not such
as would fit them  for usefulness.  Now, you have
only to bear this single fact in mind, in order to have
the most perfect key to the entire history, instructions, and character of 3Maynooth College.
First look to its history.  Rome long sighed for
such a college in Ireland, for France being a much




302                 TIE CURE.
more enlightened country, its colleges were lecessarily TOO GooD for her purposes in Irelandch; hence
those Irish priests who had been broughlt up in
France returned home far too li lerlZ cazncZ en/izAttelneZ
for her objects!    doimestic college, therefore, became indispensable; and one enjoying the smiles of
Government was most desirable.  Now, mnark her
consummate policy. In 1 793, Drs. Troy and O'Reilly
assured Mr. Pitt that if their priests continued to be
educated in France, they would all return revolutionists; but if he endowed a college for them at homer
such a college would prevent their exposure to the
political corruption of foreign governments, and such
an endowment would ensure their loyalty to their
own! Such was their argument at the v;ey tize
when they were members of a secret society which
was hatching the rebellion of 1798!! Pitt seized
the idea, vainly thinking that whatever contributed
to make the priests independent of their flocks
wo-uld weaken by so much their moral influence
among them! It was thus a plot and a counterplot;
but priest-craft proved an overmatch for state-craft.
7Forgetting that iRome's influence was nzot moral, but
sunerstitious; that her slaves were chained to her,
not by respect for her character, but dread of her
ghostly power; and that the way to emancipate them
was, not to endow her, but to enlighten theml; —forgetting this, if he ever knew it, the premicer was outwitted by the priest, and that ill-omened child of Goddishonoring expediency was born in 1795. It is now,




TREATMENT-LEGISLATION.            303
therefore, 57 years old; and if its days have not
been "few," they have verily been "evil."  Never
was that retributive decree more terribly fulfilled" Be sure your sin will find you out." With this college was to comlnmence the reign of Peace in Ireland;
the Olive-tree was to bloom  on every hill, and that
worse brood of serpents than any St. Patrick expelled was to be charmed into perfect innocence by
the incantations of the Treasury. Maynooth, in short,
was to be a spring of healing waters amongst us; but
instead of this, it has proved " a cauldron of seething
horrors, around which are squatted the old hags of
treason, disaffection, and agrarian outrage; and this
has been the chorus of their song" Double, double, toil and trouble." *
Look next to its course of instruction, and you
will find Satan pursuing with singular exactness the
same plan of debasement with the priest that we
have seen him pursue with the people, only, of course,
on a more refined and subtle scale; and that the entire system of Maynooth training is manifestly contrived to cramp the mnind, destroy the conscience,
shrivel the hea~rt, degrade the wvhole natur'e, and
hence to send forth just such an ignorant, depraved,
turbulent, and vulgar priesthood as now infest the
land.
If you look to its zental training, to judge by its
progra'amme, it would seem most respectable; but we
~ Rev. Mr. Goold, at Edinburgh Anti-Maynooth Meeting.




304                 THE CURE.
need only apply the infallible test of actual attainment to find its real character.  For example, its
professor of natural philosophy confessed before the
committee of inquiry, that he was not certain if
more than two thirds of his students could at the
end of the session demonstrate the 47th proposition
of the first book of Euclid!-that he thought the
majority of them could tell the cause of an eclipse!
-and that he himself "s did not know the subjectmatter of Euclid's sixth book!!!"*  Should this
not satisfy you, kind reader, you need only examine
our priests themselves, and you will find them, of all
professional men, the most ignorant as a class.
Nothing can be more extraordinary than many of
their effisions, both oral and wriitten.  The following specimen is, we assure you, little in comparison
to what we might adduce.  It is a reply to a note
sent by a Protestant missionary to a Popish priest
-whom the author had not long ago to summon for
flogging one of his scholars-ilvitig himn to attend
a controversial lecture:-" The Rev. Mr. Harrington presents his compliments to Rev. D. Foley, and
begs to return his circular.  The Rev. Mr. Harringtoll objects to the lecture for two reasons: first, he
Acas not time to do so, for twelve o'clock is the hour
appointed for him by the holy Roman Catholic
Church to celebrate the holy sacrifice of the mass,
and preach a nzordal discourse to his Christian hear- Evidence of Rev. Nicholas Callen, D.D., Irish Education
Report, viii., App. pp. 146-148.




TREATMENT-LEGISLATION.             305
ers, secondly, Rev. Mr. Harrington, finding from
the orthograp-hy in the circular that the lecture cannzot be orthodox, lacks inclination to be present at
any lecture coming from that quarter.-Castletown,
January 27th, 1849!!"~
Look next to Maynooth's vorcal training.  Its
principal class-books are those depositories of vileness-Delahogue and Bailly.  The former, for instance) telling us under what circumstances stealinzg
is nzo sin,; and the latter teaching that the church
has full power to absolve froim oaths "' whenez the honor
of God, the goood of the chursch, or the good of society
requires it," and that "the szperiors of the church
are to be the judges in all cases!"t  Indeed, if you
look into the Eighth Report of the Education Comnmission of Inquiry, you will find the witnesses
obliged to acknowledge, despite all the shuffling they
could resort to, that in Maynooth everything is foully
taCught which is dishonoring to God, subversive of
morality, and ruinous to society, in the Popish system; and how could it be otherwise in a Popish
college?  Yes; and while, according to one of the
professors, there were a few years ago only TEN Bibles among 400 students, each is required to purchase Bailly and Delahogue, and every week to give
9 hours to them in class, and 48 hours in prepara* Missionary Tour through South and West of Ireland.
By Rev. D. Foley.
f Delahogue Tract. de Praecept. Decalogi, pp. 232-236;
Baillv's Moral Theology, vol. ii. p. 140.
20




306'THE CURE.
tion.  They are, therefore, the constant companions
of the student, and over their foul images he is
compelled for hours to pore, at that age when his
passions are strongest.  No wonder an emabncipgated
student declared, that 6" such an effect had they on
his mind, as nearly to drive him into a species of
delirium! and that in order to save hinmself from the
effects of his own feelings, he has gone down on a
cold winter's morning into the chapel of the institution, and there remained till nearly chilled to death
reading them on his knees, and praying the while
that he might be kept fronm the evil emotions they
suggested to his mind."" Is it strange that when
the gnental and the mnoral of the Irish priest are so
blasted, the ANIMAL of his nature should have such
complete ascendency?
Observe, again, the influence of -IMaynooth on his
heart.  He must now learn to become an isolated
being, to whom domestic joys are a sinful thought;
and that vow of celibacy is here taken which nips in
the bud the best feelings of his nature, and sends its
blight through his whole soul.  Everything is contrived to dry up the springs of affection to God and
man.  Witness those morose austerities; witness
that Breviary, of which he must daily read 30 to 40
pages, and whose endless repetition qmzust create formality, and hypocrisy, if not utter disgust at devotion.  Witness the silence which is strictly enforced,
sometimes for weeks together; and, during most of
* Ireland in 1846, p. 34.




TREATMENT —LEGISLATION.          307
the year, for 21~ hours out of the 24.X  WTitness the
suspicious surveillance which never allows fewer than
th]ree students together, that the third may be a spy
on the other two; and to evade which, one student
often stands inside a door, and the other outside, in
order to whisper through the pannels!
Observe, finally, the system of subjuzgatiovn here
pursued. Inmplicit obedience is the first commandment.  The grand maxim of the college is, that each.
student must 1" think as his superior thinks."  And
to this great centre-point, brdeaking down the mind
to the will of others, all is made to converge.  Only
think of such a system pursued for seven years of
that youthful period when the mind is most plastic,
with but the annual interruption of six weeks' vacation! And so colnstant is its influence, that the students are seldom allowed outside the gates, save for
a walk on Wednesdays, and even then they are
watched by tutors lest the fearful process should be
suspended for an hour.
Now, if so much of this evil system is thus revealed to public gaze, despite the profound secrecy which
Rome in all t/I ings observes, what might you expect
to find if admitted to the inmost 2enetralica of Maynooth?  And considering this fact in the light of
the above details, can any sane man doubt that the
satme plan by which Rome destroys the people, is
here pursued with more malignant subtlety; until,
by the time the victim is made a priest, he has ceas* Tract on Maynooth by Eugene Francis O'Beirne.




308                THE CURE.
ed to be a macni and by this spiritual Medusa is
turned into stone?  You think this picture colored?
It mzust be the reverse. Unless Maynooth is a very
den of corruption, will you inform us how its priests
are usually so bad? or where they learn their wickedness?  How else can you explain that they so
generally go in raw youths, and cone out social firebrands?  We care not what annual reports of Maynooth may say: THEY are its reports-its "living
epistles;" and if you would know assar'edly what its
TEACHINGS are, you need only look to their PRACTICE.
Behold their very countenances!-what specimens
commonly of the "human face divine!"  And if you
pronounce the scowl that sits on a villain's brow to
be just the mirror of his bosom-the collective
daguerreotype of the thousand dark thoughts of his
soul-say, is this "index of the mind" to be read
backwards in the priest's case only? Is lie the only
exception to the laws of physiognomy?  And think
you was the artless face of the boy transformed into
the " DOWN LOOIK" of the priest by nothing but seven
years' converse with his God?-or that deep scowl
from which infant innocence would instinctively flee,
acquired by naught but scenes of heavenly rapture?
And what shall we call it? —credulity? fatuity? or
that sheer depravity which has so strong an affinity
for whatever is depraved? which to this hour defends or palliates the monstrous sin of the world's
most Protestant nation endowing sa/ch a college?
And this, when ignorance of Rome's iniquitous de



TREATAMENT —LEGISLATION.         3 09
signs can no longer be pleaded,-when, from its recent agitations, the cesspool of Popery is now sending up its stench over Europe —when, by our late
premier's own confession, the ranks of darkness, led
on by Rome, are now preparing to close in around
Protestant England! This, too, when not only have
the blessings Maynooth was to yield us not been
realized, but we have had instead unmitigated curse,
-when, in place of rearing doves, as was promised
us, it has only been hatching cockatrices, —and when
even the cowardly plea of fear of the priests can no
longer be urged, since they are fast growing utterly
powerless, and will in a few years have completely
lost their sting!
Nor is Maynooth merely aided by the nation-it
enjoys an amount of favor which is denied our very
best universities.  There you see an extensive pile
of building, enclosed in a park of 100 acres, with
gardens, walks, and play-grounds; containing numlnlberless apartments for professors and students, besides dining-hall, chapel, and library of 10,000 volLunes; with a staff consisting of a president, vicepresident, bursar, two deans, librarian, Dunboyne
prefect, and ten professors; not to mention a train
of servants, including a butcher, baker, and brewerand ALL maintained at the public cost! And there
you find 500 students, generally of the lowest class;
their cabin costume exchanged for a black suit, with
long black gaiters; and themselves, from having in
their humble homes "cultivated letters on a little




310                THE CURiE.
oatmeal'; now amply supplied with smoking joints
and potations of ale, and receiving besides ~20 a-yearc
of pock'et-mnoney!   Why, if the strength and glory
of the British empire were bound up in those 500if they were destined to be her shield and stay, instead of her tormentors, they could not be the objects of more bountiful regard. And while these
embryo pests of society are thus dandled on the lap
of royal favor, how many of its futtre ornzamzents
are left to ply the trowel or the shuttle one half of
the year in order to support themselves at college
the remainder! Can the history of folly present
anything like this?  The world's most Protestant
nation supporting Popery; and the very worst kind
of it, Irish Popery; and in the very worst form, A
COLLEGE —not the hornets, but the nest to hatch
them  in!  This nation, continuing the grant despite the Zutter fcaiture of all the ends for which it was
given; increasing it, too, as the mischief increases;
and, in 1845,permcnanently endowizng it with ~30,000
a-year! Ay, and now hesitcting to wvithdcrawv this
endowment, despite the clearest proof that by its
continuance they are only fattening the tiger which
thirsts for their blood! In a word, the most free
and enlightened nation in Europe fostering the
worst form  of darkness and despotism; the great
patroness of all good, nursing Satan's masterpiece
of evil; and the most sagacious of nations contizuzing to rear the viper just acfter it has disclosed its
deadly designs by making a DART AT I-IER BOSOM! 




TREATMENT-LEGISLATION.            311
And what are the pleas we hear urged for this.
"'Pop2er'y is th/e lnrevailing r'eligion in  Irelcanz."
Yes, and so is Hinduism ili India! "But we ought
to show  som0e CkindnZess to ouZ' RomanT  Catholic
oretr-cn2." What! by cherishing the delusion which,
according to your own creed, is soul-destroying!
"Bu3t they ar'e poor, and need a college." They who
have thirteen colleges in Ireland, including Carlow
and Clongowes, need another!-and they who can
raise any sums for mischief, and have now factiously
commenced a Popish university, cannot szp2o'ort it!'0, but they conztr'ibute their' share of the r'eveznue,
anzd it is'ust they shozlcd get a shar'e liXke others."
Have we not shown that Protestantism gains, and
Popery costs the nation far more than the amount
of all our endowments together   And because the
former gets back a fraction of what it gains the
country, the latter, forsooth, must be endowed for
impoverishing it! "Bu't, then, the nationt is plcedged
to this grant."  And suppose it were so, if we pledge
ourselves to what dishonors God and destroys the
country, verily the sooner we break our pledge the
better; for such a pledge we had NO POWER to
make, and the sin is in the keep)ing, not the breaking' of it.  But the allegation is utterly false.  Till
5 845, this grant was ann7zcal-, abundant proof that
before that date there could have been no pledge;
since then, it rests on a mere Act of Parliament,
and a thousand better acts have been repealed!
And, as is well known, that act-hurried through




312                 THE CURE.
the legislature, our readers will guess why-was
passed, as Sir R. Peel aclnzitteld, in the face of a
reclaiming nation, only 17,000 individuals having
petitioned for it, while 1,284,000 petitioned against
it; so that if ever there was an act which the very
justice they talk of required to be repealed, it is
this offspring of our VIOLATED CONSTITUTION! But
what is that cry which conies from a very different
quarter?  "By wtvithldravwin  this g'rant,7t  say some
of our Protestants, "yoiu'll, endaanger all endowmnents."  Well, and suppose it were so, have you
really, in the dazzle of your endowment, lost sight
of the honor of your God?  But we assert it is just
the reverse.  The greatest danger to an endowment
that is right in principle, is to place alongside of it
one that is wro~ng.  And so, has not the Maynooth
grant given the Voluntary his best argument? Only
let all endowments be righteous, and the strongest
plea against them would cease; but it is this incliscritninate support of truth and error that has furnished the strongest handle to the adversary. Therefore, let Protestants beware  " The path of duty
is the path of safety;" and should any such motives
of God-dishonoring selfishness weaken their opposition to this grant, their wisdom  may prove their
folly, and their sin provoke the Most High to send
the evil it was designed to prevent.
Then let us arise and DEIIAND the repeal of this
suicidal act, regardless of the canting cry which
lRolae may raise of "' intolerance" and "' persecution."




TREATMENT —LEGISLATION.          313
Intolerance, forsooth! So, then, not to help is to
hinder, not to pension is to persecute! You detect
a man foully abusing your hospitality, and, while
eating your bread, forming a design against your
life; and instead of sending him  to prison, you
merely tell him he must no longer sit at your table
-and that is persecutionI!  This, too, from Rome
-who, while demanding toleration from  all men,
denies it to all men, —will not tolerate a Protestant
chapel within the gates of her capital,-lately refused
a Protestant stranger a grave to bury his wife in,and is even now banishing those of her subjects who
would dare read the Bible to the pestilent swamps
of Maremma!  Ay, and some of our Protestants
are found to echo the cry, and prove their fitness
for the office of <"guardians of toleration," by the
strangest partialities for its deadliest foe! If we
sent Wiseman back to the Flaminian Gate, and
required that till a Protestant chapel were allowed
in Rome, not a Popish one should stand in London;
and that till the Bible were free in Italy, the Breviary should be banished from  England; —if, in
short, we demanded measure for measure, would
Rome even then have any right to complain?  We
must, then, plainly teach her-and all her Protestant abettors, too-that she has good cause to be
thankful we now ask so little; and that should our
rulers continue to trifle with the feelings of a Christian nation, it is not with this humble measure of
defence they will be satisfied.  No; as sure as




314               TIE CURE.
delayed justice increases a people's demands, will
they require more sweeping legislation.  Men are
beginning already to ask whether it is right to tolerate a system which will tolerate none but itself; or
safe to endure a thing which will endure nothing
else.  And should the question come to be, not
whether Popery should be supported, but whether
it should be suffered, the responsibility of raising it
will rest with the men who shall now resist the
nation's moderate demands.
And should rulers continue to disregard the nation's voice, then, fellow-Christians, will another duty
devolve on you, which, we believe, you have long
most grievously neglected. You have, in times past,
allowed Satan to choose the rulers of these Czristian lands, and thus entailed incalculable mischief
on the Redeemer's cause. Had you always done
your duty, and chosen God-fearing men to represent
you, what might now have been the country's state?
How many a glorious cause have you won over the
land and lost in the Legislature  Was not this the
case with this very Maynooth endowment?  Yes,
here has been one fruitful source of all our calamities. As if we were not bound to serve God in the
State as well as in the Church, in our capacity of
citizens as well as of saints, we have let the governIent of this Christian country fall into the hands
of men whose highest rule of conduct is unprincipled
expediency, and who, for their own despicable ends,
continue to provoke Heaven's judgments by giving




TI-IE TREATMENT-EVANGELIZATION.    315
her power to the beast.  Then, fellow-Christians,
arise, and no longer commit the sin of allowing such
men to rule over us, nor the folly of taking such
trouble about meetings and petitions, to have botA
disregarded by your own representatives. But take
a lesson from Rome's election struggles; and take
warning by the Catholic Defence Association, who
seem fully resolved to fill the next Parliament with
their tools, at whatever cost to the country of blood
and violence.
CHAPTElR V.
THE TREATMENT-EVANGELIZATION.
HERE is the GRAND HOPE Of Ireland! It is little
after all which Parliament or even the public can
do. They can, at the best, but facilitate somewhat
the flow of the tides of salvation in our land, as the
wind sometimes increases the tides of our harbors;
but in botA cases the grand influence must come
from ABOVE. Popery, like its father the devil, can
only be foiled by "the sword of the Spirit," and destroyed by the "breath of God's mouth, and the
brightness of his coming."  But, as has been truly
said, Ireland has never yet had its Reformation.  If
history can be relied on, never was country more
neglected by clergymen and laymen. Many a parish is still strewn with the wrecks of ministerial un



316                TIE CURE,
faithfulness; and when "God maketh inquisition for
blood," dread will be the reckolning of many a hireling pastor and godless Protestant!  Oh! how
many a minister has given too much ground for the
charge of caring only for the fleece! How many a
layman has been more sinful, with less excuse than
Rome's worst votaries! And how often have both
exhibited religion, not in its own lovely aspect, but
the grim features of bigotry, or the marble coldness
of death! True, the priests have poisoned our countrymen, but we have starved them-they have
"shamefully handled" them, but we have "passed
them by on the other side." Yet you wonder the
Irish still remain unevangelized! But, blessed be
God, a better day has dawned, and now almost
every denomination has begun to do something for
Ireland.
THE  INSTRUMENTS.-For the reader's information, we shall notice the principal organizations.
ist, Tihe Independent Body, composed of the members of the Congregational Union and the Irish
Evangelical Society, and consisting of 24 ministers
and missionaries, actively employed in various parts
of the country.  2d, Lady Ituntingdon's Connection, employing a number of Scripture readers, under the direction of ministers of various denominations.  3d, The Ladies' Hibernian Female School
Society, which annually expends about ~2000 in the
religious and general instruction of female children.
4th, Thie Irish Society, for instructing the native




THE TREATMENT-EVANGELIZATION.    317
Irish through the medium  of their own tongue,
established in the year 1826, supported by members
of the Church of England, and at present employing
59 readers and 719 teachers. 5th, The Scripture
Rieaders' Society, established in 1822, and at present
employing 84 readers, and expending upwards of,2000 a year.  6th, The Irish Island Society, connected with the Established Church, which employs
about 25 readers and teachers on the islands and
coasts, and has brought the gospel within reach of
about 13,000 souls.  7th, Tlze Sunday School Society for Ireland, which, since its establishment in
1809, has disseminated 954,122 copies of the Scriptures, with 114,286 portions, and 1,400,935 Scripture reading-books, &c.  This admirable society
numbers at present about 3000 schools and 226,000
scholars.  8th, The Ibi1ernian Bible Society, which,
from its commencement in 1806, has issued 1,913,857
Bibles, Testaments, and portions. 9th, The Religious Tract Society for Ireland, which, since 1819,
has issued near 10,000 books and tracts,. and established 1,162 depositories  and  lending  libraries.
10th, The Primitive Wesleyan Connecti.on which
has at present near 50 circuit preachers, and 40
missionary agents in Ireland. I lth, The Ilibernian
IWesleyan Society, containing 158 preachers, 25 missionaries. and 62 schoolmasters.  With the labors
of both these societies, we are intimately acquainted;
and.find it impossible to speak of them in terms of
sufficient praise.  We have traced them  through




318                THE CURE.
almost every part of the country, and found them
penetrating its wildest regions, and holding up the
lamp of truth in its darkest corners, regardless alike
of persecution and privation.  12th, The Irish Baptist Society, containing at present about 24 ministers
and missionaries, who are actively laboring in various
parts of the country.  13th, Tzhe Chuarc/h Eclbcation Society for Irelacnd, which, in 1851, had 1882
schools, and 108,450 scholars on the roll, with an
average attendance of 64,647.  14th, The Ilonze
WMission of the Irish Presbyterianc  CAerch.  This
church at present consists of 5 synods, 36 presbyteries, 522 ministers, 483 congregations and mission
stations, and about 750,000 souls. Within the last
16 years, it has planted about 160 new churches in
destitute localities; established a number of mission
stations and out-stations in the south and west;
supported fronm 300 to 400 Irish and English mission schools, in which upwards of 20,000 Roman
Catholics have been taught to read the Scriptures;
and circulated large numbers of Bibles and tracts in
Popish districts. There are, besides, 25 Reformed
Presbyterian ministers in Ireland, and 15 or 20 distinguished by the name of Seceders.
Of course, it is impossible to give full details of
the operations of so many societies.  We must confine ourselves to those of the two chief Protestant
Churches of Ireland, and let these serve as samples
of the labors of the remainder.  One of the principal agencies of the Established Church is the Irish




THE TREATMENT-EVANGELIZATION.    319
Society.  Before the famine of 1846, there were
supposed to be 3,000,000 of Irish-speaking Roman
Catholics in the country. And this society, availing
itself of their proverbial attachment to their own
simple and beautiful language, has extended its
operations through many parts of the country, and
been blessed with much success.  The wonderful
power of the Irish tongue on the Irish heart, and
hence the influence of this agency, may be judged of
by the following anecdote. Some years ago, when
one of its most active members was preaching in the
courthouse of Athlone, four priests stationed themselves at the door, and commenced taking down the
names of those Roman Catholics who entered. This
kept the people back for a little.  But having collected in force, they made a rush to the door, and
the priests were not only borne down, but carried
before them into the building! The candles had
just been lighted, and one of the priests coolly resumed the task of noting the names of the people.
This being observed by one of them, he called out
-" Mr. Gregg, can you preach in the dark as well
as in the light?" "I can," was the reply. In a
moment every candle was puffed out, and the people
were enabled, in spite of the priest, to hear the glad
tidings of salvation. We can only now find space
for one instance of this society's success. Amongst
the leading persecutors of its teachers at Kingscourt, some years ago, was Mr. Nolan, the young
coadjutor of the parish priest. His inflammatory




320                THE CURE.
harangues having mainly led to the murder of one
or two agents, he was obliged to remove to a neighboring village;  and there he commenced to study
the Scriptures, the better to fit himself for the
defence of Rome.  The goodness of God arrested
the persecutor; he soon read himself out of the
errors of Popery, and that furious bigot became one
of the most devoted servants of God.
Two of the most interesting colonies in Ireland
are Dingle, in the county Kerry, and the island
of Achtill, in the county Mayo; both connected with
the Established Church.  In the year 1831, the
Rev. George Gubbins was appointed curate of
Dingle.  At this time there was in the district
neither church nor school-house; and this excellent
man lived in a cabin at one shilling per week, and
had stated services in the private dwellings around.
In about a year after, the district was visited and
fearfully ravaged by the cholera. There being no
physician to apply to, Mr. Gubbins became physician-general to the poor; and his kindness during
a crisis so awful won the people's affections, and prepared the way for the harvest which soon followed.
In 1833, the Rev. Charles Gayer arrived in the district; the following year several of the inhabitants,
including two Popish priests, renounced the Romish
faith; upwards of 150 families have since followed
their example. Some time ago, the colony consisted
of 800 converts; and notwithstanding the brutal
persecution to which its present excellent missionary,




THE TREATMENT-EVANGELIZATION.    321
Mr. Lewis, has been subjected, and the extensive
emigration of the people of that district, it now consists of 1200. Amongst the many cheering instances
of the Divine blessing on the labors of these missionaries, we may mention that of Mr. Moriarty, the
present curate of Ventry, who was once a bigoted
Romanist, and went on one occasion into a congregation on pui9pose to dist)'bh them in their" devotions;
and who, while waiting for the moment when he
should commence his interruptions, received such
impressions from the truth he heard, as ultimately
led to his conversion.
Achiil is the largest island on the coast of Ireland.
It stands on the extreme west of Mayo, is washed by
the billows of the Atlantic;, and consists of mountain
and bog, interspersed with small patches of cultivated land. Being visited with famine in 1831, the
Rev. Edward Nangle took charge of a cargo of potatoes sent to its relief.  Having found the people
willing to listen to the truth, he conceived the design of founding amongst them a colony on the Moravian plan; and, with the full countenance of the
principal proprietor of the island, and the cordial aid
of numerous Christian friends, he soon after founded
"the Colony of Achill."  A wild tract of moor has
now been reclaimed, and a number of cottages have
been erected upon it for the colonists; a neat church
and school-house stand in the interesting little village; several families and individuals have renounced
the errors of Popery; the young generation are
21




THE CURE.
growing up a different class of beings from what
their progenitors were; the sides of the once barren
mountain are now adorned with cultivated fields and
gardens; most of the island has lately been pumchased by the friends of the colony, at a cost of
~17,000; and thus the gospel will in future have
"free course and be glorified" in a spot which for
ages has slumbered in the midnight of Popery!
The Home Mission of the Irish Presbyterian
Church has two departments of operation-the one
is entirely devoted to the evangelization of Roman
Catholics; while the other aims to supply the spiritual wants of the Protestant population generally,
and the Presbyterian especially.  The mission to
Roman Catholics is again divided into two branches,
one to the English/-specakini g and the other to the
Irish-sjpecaking Romanist.  The Biar'r zmission is an
example of the former. It was commenced in 1840;
and owed its existence to the singular circumstance
of a congregation of Roman Catholics having, with
their pastor, spontaneously sought connection with
the Irish Presbyterian Church.
The Rev. Messrs. Crotty, the priests of Birr or
Parsonstown, King's County, had long entertained
doubts of the soundness of their system; and their
final renunciation of it was brought about by the
following circumstances:-The " holy oil" with which
extreme unction is performed, must always come
through the hands of the bishop.  But the Messrs.
Crotty having had some dispute with their diocesan,




THE TREATMENT-EVANGELIZATION.    323
in order to avoid the necessity of applying to him
for oil, began to study the Scriptures in quest of
some other channel through which to obtain it 
There they found that 6ishop and p1'esbyter were
terms to signify the same office. This discoveryled
themm to search the divine volume with redoubled
eagerness; and the result may be easily guessed.
They soon got rid of " holy oil" altogether-the
"holy water" shortly followed-the'"candles" by
and by disappeared-the confessional came next to
be closed-and the " mass" itself was finally abolished. Thus did these two cousins grope their way,
step by step, out of the delusions of Popery, with
the lamp of truth their only guide, until its last enclosure was passed.  But being unable to lead their
people out of error as fast as they themselves felt
bound to travel, every new reform caused a new secession; until, from a large congregation with which
they set out from  Rome, they could only muster
about a hundred followers when they arrived at the
end of their toilsome journey. In 1839, William
Crotty, with the congregation, joined the Presbyterian Church; and in the following year, Dr. Carlisle of Dublin, undertook the superintendence of the'Birr MZlission." It now consists of a congregation
of converts, with an average Sabbath attendance of
about 70 individuals, flourishing Sabbath schools of
about 127 children, with 136 scholars in the daily
schools.  About 500 Roman Catholic families are
visited by the readers; and so promising is this field




324                THE CURE.
of labor, that Dr. Wallace, a young Scotch physician, has for some time been laboring as medical
missionary in the neighborhood.
The principal agencies of our mission to the Irishspeaking Roman Catholics, are the Irish mnissionar'y, the Ir'ish S'crztu~re reader, and the Ir2ish schlool.
The latter consists, not of children assembled in a
school-house during certain fixed hours, but of persons of all ages and both sexes, assembled to learn
the Irish Scriptures in each other's houses, generally
after the toils of the day. And you might see these
little groups of mountain peasants during the long
winter nights around their blazing bogwood fires,
reading in " their own tongue the wonderful works
of God!"  A better proof of the blessed fruits of
these schools it is impossible to furnish, than what
is found in the following anecdote. About 14 years
ago, there dwelt a young zealous Romanist on the
mountains of Tyrone. Being a youth of talent, he
held frequent discussions with the Irish teachers of
the district; and that he might be thoroughly furnished for the controversy, he commenced to study
the Scriptures.  The more he studied, the more he
doubted; and such were his mental struggles, that
he would spend hours at a time on the solitary
mountains behind his father's house, in such agony
of thought and prayer, that the cold sweat would
break on his temples. At length he resolved to go
to Stewartstown to hear the Rev. Robert Allen
preach.  His text on that occasion was, "And the




THE TFIEATMENT-EVANGELIZATION.    325
Spirit and the bride say come,"' &c. and little did
he dream the results that were to follow that sermon.  He drew the bow at a venture —the Most
High directed the arrow-and the young man left
the church a Protestant, and we trust a Christian.
lHe was taken up by a few Christian ladies, educated,
and at length ordained.  And that young peasant is
now the Rev. Michael Brannigan, one of the most
honored instruments in the great missionary movenment at present going on in the province of Connaught, and of which we now proceed to give a brief
account.
Until the period of the late famine, our church's
mission to Irish Romanists was, like all its sister institutions, progressing steadily but slowly, and experiencing the peculiar difficulties of this field of labor. But while that fearful calamity was sweeping
thousands to the grave, a most remarkable change
began to take place in the minds and conduct of
many of the people; mainly owing, under God, to
the softening influence of affliction on their hearts,
and the kindness shown them by Protestants during
their trials.  Not only were our missionaries admitted to the cabins of those who before would have
shut their doors against them, but so anxious for instruction had they apparently become, that wherever
a new school or preaching station was opened, it was
crowded by young and old.  The result has been,
that, for the last six years, the mission has flourished so wonderfully, that, in the district of Mayo alone,




326                THE CURE.
embracing an extent of 50 squa-re miles, maly thousands of young and old have been gladly receiving
the Word; and, by the united testimony of all our
missionaries, the glorious work seeus to be capable
of an almost indefinite extension.  While almost all
our mission districts hliave been favored as the scenes
of more or less awakening, three have attracted peculiar attention.  The first and largest is in Mayo
and Sligo, the second in ioscommon, and the third
in Kerry, in the province of Munster.  And nothing
can be more interesting to the friends of Ireland
than a brief sketch of the plan of operation adopted
in these districts.  The old missionary system pursued in Ireland has long been felt to be beset with
difficulties.  It has been found that the minds of the
adult population are so stereotyped in ignorance and
vice, that little can be done to expand or elevate
them; that, besides, they are usually so poor as to
need relief, and that this often tempts them to
hypocrisy, and exposes us to the chlarge of bribery;
that the priests, by hindering our converts from getting employment? have often forced themll to apostatize or to emigrate, and thus have sometimes scattered to the winds our fairest missionary fruits; and,
moreover, that the people are usually so degraded as
not to see the advantages of a mere literary education, and so bigoted as to be hostile to a Scriptural
one.  It was therefore conceived, that our chief attention should be turned to the younzg, while yet
their minds were soft and plastic; especially young




THE TREATMENT-EVANGELIZATION.    327
ffencales7 on whomn, as the future mothers of the race,
its destinies, under God, so much depended; and
that if to the literary and Scriptural element, were
added such industrial training as would enable
them to earnz theiir own brecad, we could multiply our
schools to any extent amongst that starving people,
and not only defy the persecutions of the priest, but
obviate the necessity for gratuitous relief, wvith all
its evil consequences; and, finally, that we could
thus eradicate the worst habits of the Irish, as idleness, begging', cc., and implant instead the principles of independence, self-'eliacnce, and self-suzqplport.
Accordingly, in the above districts, nearly 100
Scriptu'al and indust'ical schools have, within the
last six years, been established. About one half of
these belong to the "Belfast Ladies' Committee,"
whose president is Dr. Edgar; and the remainder
are supported by congregations and individuals of
various denominations throughout the United Kingdom, and superintended by the Rev. Robert Allen,
iRev. T. Armstrong, Ballina, Rev. William Chestnut,
Tralee, and 12 other missionaries of the Irish Presbyterian Church.  They contain about 5,000 scholars in all, some of whom are boys engaged in farming operations, &c.; but the great majority are girls,
employed in knitting, netting, crochet, sewed muslin,
&c. And it is the unanimous testimony of numerous friends from England and Scotland, who have
visited them, that they are just such an agerncy as
suits the present condition of the Irish; meeting at




328                 THE CURE.
once their temporal and spiritual wants, and UNITING
the advantages of the educational, indcstrial and
$Sliritual schemes, which we have noticed in a previous chapter.  Indeed, the transformation they have
already wrought on these creatures is almost incredible; and all that seems necessary to renovate the
whole country in 20 years, is to bring its rising
generation under their benign influence.  Those children who, some time ago, were in rags, with their
faces often swollen from hunger, and their entire
condition little better than that of savages, are now
earning near ~5,000 a-year! Some of them receive
4s. and 5s. a-week; many are the sole support of
their parents and brothers; and Dr. Edgar's last report of the Belfast Ladies' schools in Connaught,
entitled,'Woman's Work and Woman's Worth,"
abounds with instances of the beneficial results of
the system.  In one of the Kerry schools, superintended by the author, three little girls are at present
earning more than their father and two brothers,
though these are in constant employment; and the
clearliness, diligence, and general improvement of
the scholars, is truly gratifying to behold. But if
the reader would see the full effects of this admirable system, let him pay a visit to Ballinglen, county
Mayo, under the able superintendence of Mr. Allen
and Mr. Brannigan.  On one side of the romantic
glen he will see a large model farmn  supported by
kind friends in Scotlandcl on which boys, who were
lately running wild through the mountains, are now




THE TREATMENT-EVANGELIZATION.    329
receiving the best Scriptural, literary, and agricultural education; on the other side stands a female
industrial school, in which girls who, some time ago,
were in a state of wretchedness scarce conceivable,
are producing the most elegant specimens of embroidery, &c.; in the centre stands a neat new church,
weekly filled by a congregation, who, six years since,
were degraded Papists, and had never seen a Bible;
the entire district, which was then a scene of utter
misery, has undergone the most marvellous transformation; and we are rejoiced to add, that means are
now being taken to purchase the whole glen and
found therein an extensive Model Industrial Institute for the province.*
THE REQUISITES.-Such, then, is Ireland's evangelistic machinery-sufficient, you would say, for
even her conversion.  Then what can be the cause
that perhaps in no country has the work of grace
until recently got on more slowly?  We have already given the principal cause.  We have had the
machinery, but have been deficient in the moving
power. And we are firmly persuaded that all that
is at present necessary to pentecostal success is silmply pentecostal devotedness. The order of heaven
* There is a deeply interesting and successful mission in
county Galway, conducted by Rev. Mr. Dallas, and other
ministers of the Established Church; but as its plan differs
in nothing from the other missions prosecuted by that church,
our brief space hinders us firom giving a detailed account
of its operations.




330               THE CURE.
is, "I will bless thee, and make thee a blessing." It
is only those that have freely received, who can
freely give; and God has usually honored men according, not to their gifts, but their graces.  But, if
ever there was a work which pre-eminently required
the Spirit of Christ on the part both of churches
and ministers, it is ours. - Perhaps there is not beneath the sun a field of labor in which one is more
forcibly taught the utter impotence of human effort, and the special need of divine aid.'Tis here
we are made to feel the whole force of the sublime
but humbling sentiment, " Not by might, nor by
power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord," and persuaded we are that every requisite necessary to secure
triumphant success even in it is MonRE DEEP-TONED
APOSTOLIC PIETY. What we chiefly want is that unquenchable spirit of love to Jesus and to souls which
glowed in the breast of a Paul and a John. This
would give us mnen; and constrain our ablest ministers, instead of aspiring to the highest places in the
church, to envy the missionary his hard lot, and say,." Here am I, send me."  This would give us mteans
-then would our people, instead of giving a little
fromn much, give much from a little-then would
those drains of selfishness be cut off, but for which
the rich could give vast sums, and the poorest could
give something-ay, then would be heard from our
treasurers the words which once gladdened Moses'
ear, " The people give much more than enough for
the service of the work." This: too, would inspire




THE TREATMENT —EVANGELIZATION.    331
our churches with that spir'it of instanzt p2raycer for
our missions, which would conduce more to success
than all the wealth liberality could bestow.  And
oh! how painfully have we missionaries often felt
the need of this amid the wild bogs of Connaught
and the dreary solitudes of Kerry, shut out from
the counsel and intercourse of our brethren in Christ,
and obliged to face, single-handed, a thousand difficulties!
How much more successful we might have been,
had we always been sustained by the wrestling prayers of the whole church! And how many an appeal,
which only fell on our countrymen's hearts cold and
evanescent as snow in the sea, might have kindled in
their breasts the spark of heavenly love! FellowChristians! if Paul needed the church's prayers,
how much more do we! No field of labor more
forcibly reminds one of our Lord's striking words,
" This kind cometh forth by nothing but by prayer
and fasting;" and now the abundance of our toils
and success, instead of tempting you to intermit this
great duty, more urgently demands its observance;
for the greater sacrifice laid on the altar, the stronger
the fire which is required to consume it.  This, too,
would inspire that fibth so indispensable in a work
in which our best schemes have so often failed, and
our brightest hopes been blasted-that divine faith
which, amid all our disappointments, enables us to
endure as seeing Him who is invisible, and recollect
that His word cannot return void; which, even when




332               -THE CURE.
doomed to mourn the apostasy of some over whom
we had long travailed, enables us to remenlber, that
though Israel be not gathered, still He will be glorified, and thus the grand object secured; and
which, as the ark of our hopes floats restless and uneasy over the moral deluge which now submerges
our country, assures us that the waters will in due
time subside. Yes, and by faith would we not effect
as brilliant achievements as ever ancient'saints performed!  It is this glorious grace, which, when
other principles of benevolence are faint and languid, or half-quenched by vexing disappointments,
still keeps the heart fixed on Jesus as the author
and the end of all we do, and enables us to pursue
the same evenly course of hunmble devotedness,
whether we experience success or failure, thanks or
ingratitude. Let minor motives rise or fall as they
may, beneath the power of this heavenly faith, our
grand one remains the same: and we move on in
the path of duty to our Master, like the planets
which continue their course round the sun, and
scarce feel the disturbance of the thousand stars that
surround them.  This, moreover; would inspire us
with that wuisdom so peculiarly needed in a field so
arduous. The mismanaged Protestantism of bygone
days has left our missionaries a vast inheritance of
difficulties. And we have not only to contend with
the consequent prejudices of the Papist against the
Sassenach, so artfully embittered by an envenomed
priesthood, but the proverbial difficulties which al



THE TREATMENT-EVANGELIZATION.         333
ways attend the reoccupjation of an old field that has
been spoiled in the cultivation, and the evangelization of a race when the best time for enlightening
them has passed away, and the tides of opportunity
are at least half-run-a race, moreover, whose singular mental conformation requires so much careful
study and skilful treatment.
Thus might we proceed, at almost any length,
and show that every requisite we need is embraced
in, or flows from  a revival of religion.  But our
space will only permit us to notice one other grace,
which in no country is more required, yet perhaps
in none is less practised than in Ireland; and that
is, DIVINE CHARITY.  It is a distressing fact, that
our missionaries sometimes meet more hindrance
from  their own brother ministers, than from  the
Popish priests; and that there are some amongst us
who have not even the Puseyite's plea, but hold the
same evangelic views, and profess the same love to
Jesus and to souls, who yet act as if they would
rather let millions perish than be saved by other
hands than their own.  We are willing, in part, to
excuse them, on the ground of early prejudice. Some
of our dear brethren grow up in the belief that theirs
is the chmsch, and all others are schismatics; that they
are the clergy, and all others are intruders; and that
it were as reasonable to trespass on their farms as
their parishes. Their own sections of the church
bounds the horizon of their thoughts and affections,
To hear them at their public meetings, you would




334                THE CURE.
think there was neither church nor missions in the
world but their own; and while loudly disclaiming
the charge of Puseyism, they either positively consign the honored churches of Knox, of Owen, and
of Wesley, to God's " uncovenanted mercy," or speak
of them as, at best, mere excrescences on the " tree
of life!"' These men have long been a grievous
affliction to Ireland.  Their conduct has operated
as a perpetual blister to their brethren of other
churches; proved the grand hindrance to every
catholic movement amongst us; given priests and
Papists reason to laugh amongst themselves; and
done the Saviour's cause immeasurable mischief.
And never can we expect the Divine blessing on
our common  Protestantism  till this Protestant
Popery is put away from amongst us; till we get
wholly rid of a class of men who smell so strongly
of the Romish priest, and whose very look often
remiilds one of the monastic cell-men who substitute crotchets for conscience, bigotry for piety, and
ecclesiastical hauteur for the humble spirit of Jesus.
We speak thus freely, because we love their church;
we have ever been her warm  friend; and we have,
in this volume, proved our regard.  We know how
severely we will be censured for not giving';the
abuses of the Irish Establishment" a place amongst
the causes of our country's present darkness.  For
the sake of brotherly concord, we are willing to bear
the blame, and cheerfully make this sacrifice on the
great altar of Protestant harm'zony.  For we feel




THE TR E ATMENT-EVANGELIZATION.    335
that now, when the forces of darkness are combined,
and the forces of light are elsewhere combining —
when everywhere there is so much danger, and in
Ireland so much hope-our great motto ought to
be, "Quis seacacbit6z;" and that the man who, be his
plea what it may, would continue the strife which
has too long disgraced Irish Protestants, is, whatever his profession, the enemy of the cross of Christ.
We speak thus plainly, for the sake of our commnon
faith; for of none has Satan made more use against
it than such mlen, who will not see the difference
between co-operation and conipromise —wlho read
our Lord's prayer backwards, "That they all may
be one" —who "rebuke" and shunl all who "follow
not with them" —and who, while boasting of theirs
as the Catholic Church, act as if bigoted exclusiveness were its truest mark.
And now, fellow-Christians, a word ere we close.
Are you aware of the dangers that menace you?
The sudden revolutions of 1848 made some think
the millennium had dawned unawares; but we would
recommend the portentous change which has since
occurred, as a useful study to those who, regardless
of all history, are accustomed to despise the efforts
of IRomre.  I-Ier priests may be as stupid as they
think them to be; but is this the character of their
Great Adviser? How often have those acts of Rome,




336                THE CURE.
which Protestant simplicity has viewed as "blun.
ders," turned out to be mere feints! and it much
depends, indeed, on Protestants themselves whether
the late aggression may not prove one of these.
The man who knows the prodigious progress Rome
has made for the last fifty years, and the stupendous
efforts she is now putting forth, and yet would despise any move she mlakes in her deep and dreadful
game, must be given over to strange infatuation.
Have we not seen her seizing the chief seats of
learning in England, and from thence deluging the
land with disguised Popery? Has not her staff of
Popish priests in that country increased, during the
last 60 years, from  scarce 50 till now there are
EIGHT HUNDRED AND FORTY-EIGHTI with their full
complement of schools, colleges, convents, and
chapels?*  Has not the Popish population of Great
Britain, in the same time, grown in proportion?
Has not Popish influence for years virtually controlled the legislature, and ruled the empire? Have
we not seen Popery, during the last three years,
rolling back, by its own single arm, the tides of
progress over broad Europe; shrouding the bright
sun of the nineteenth century with a deep eclipse;
and causing her creatures of night to creep forth in
the gloom, as though it were really the midnight
of the twelfth   And is it amid such warnings of
Providence, enforced as they are by those of proplhecy, that any Christian can sit careless and secure?
* Catholic Directory, 1852.




TiEl TREATBIENT —EVANGELIZATION.    337
Is it when a drama of awful grandeur is being
enacted around us, when the elements of society are
in a fermentation perhaps unparalleled, and when,
on a due infusion of the gospel into thne seething
mass, it must mainly depend whether the issue will
be putrefaction or purification,- is it at such a time,
fellow-Christians, that any of us shall be found sleeping whlose special duty it is to preside over the process, and direct its course?
Christians of Great Britain! you owe our countryman much for your past neglect, and something, too,
for his past services.  Side by side with his British
comrade has he pressed forward in the ranks of death,
with that daring courage which is peculiarly his own.
And when you have employed him in work less honorable, has he served you with less fidelity?  Are not
those canals and railways which are the monuments
of your greatness, memorials, too, of his humble toil?
Then will you aid in sending him that gospel which
has so exalted you, aild the lack of which has kept
him so degraded?  Extend our franchise till every
babe has a vote; drain our country to its mountain
tops; increase your grants till we live on your
bounty?,-and all must be vain while the poisonous
vapors of error and vice are steaming up over the
whole land, and blasting every seed of improvement
you sow.  And think you that youb have but little
interest in the issue?  See how Irish Popery is pervading your senate, drenclling your country, flooding
your colonies, and threatening terrible retribution
22




338                THE CURE.
for your past neglect. How few of your large towns
have not now an " Irish quarter?"  Are not Irish
Papists covering your fair land like locusts? and
these, too, the very worst class, who call neither
cross the ocean nor exist at home.  Are they not
at this momnent the chief drains on your taxes, contributors to your crimes, and corrupters of your
moral atmosphere?  You have tried every means
to get rid of the nuisance, but in vain.  In Liverpool you established a qua'-ayztize,~ in hope to keep
them back; but found that as reasonably did Canute
command the waves to retire.  From London you
sent them home in droves, to return in greater force
by the very next tide.  Then finding it hopeless to
get quit of them, you have next tried to enlighten
themn, and been driven by the stern requirements of
self-preservation to establish Ir'ish Townn  1Iissions
in various cities; but you have found it utterly impossible to overtake by any such agency the swarms
that are fast gathering around you.
Yet vast as their influx now is, it threatens daily
to increase; so long as Ireland continues to sink,
will they continue to fly from her-and Britain is
their nearest asylum.  Do you not see,new hordes
daily encamping amid your civilization, like Bedouins amongst the columns of Palmyra, or Goths
amid the gardens of Italy?  And do you not by
this time perceive that either you must do something to save Ireland, or she will do much to destroy
you?  Once it was a question of mere benevolence




TIE TREATMENT-EVANGELIZATION.    339
-it has now assumed a much graver form.  If the
pauper statistics of Manchester be a fair sample of
those of your other large towns, then is the one half
of your paupers Irish; and while, since 1846, English pauperism has, in that town, increased but 7 per
cent., Irish pauperism has, in the same time, grown
above 300 per cent i! Yet, what is the mere financial curse to those more deadly mnoral ones which
these wretched beings are  inflicting upon you!
Therefore, we repeat, you mnzst for your' own sakes
take up this question as you have never yet done.
It is sheer folly to cry, C'  We are sick of Ireland cl;
-if you take not our advice, you will assuredly
have cause to be still more sick of her.  There
stands this great moral marsh  by your side; and
you have your choice to help us to drain its putrid
waters, or take the consequences in the pestilence
and death which must follow its poisonous exhalations.  British fellow-Christians! we implore you,
shake off that security which, amid all those perils,
perzmits your rulers to foster Popery; ay, and shelter those Jesuits whom even Popish countries have
expelled.  Else the star of Britain's glory, which
rose with the Reformation,. may have reached its
zenith, and be destined ere long to go down.  May
God avert the day! But should Britain continue
to favor the " whore," we are persuaded it is not remote; for never yet did country partake of " her
crimes" without also receiving of " her plagues."
And truly mournful it would be if the future histo



340                THE CURE.
rian should have to trace to Irish Popery the decline
and fall of the greatest empire on -which the sun
ever shone is the circuit of his glorious way-if he
should have to tell how Britain permitted the viper
to grow unmolested by her side, and even coming to
think its nature changed, began to fondle and caress
the dangerous creature, till soon as it found itself
strong enough, then true to its venomous instincts,
it turned and stung to death the too unsuspecting
bosom  which had nourished it into vigor by its
warmth i!
Nor is it the inhabitants of Great Britain only
who are interested in Ireland's fate-it concerns a
large portion of the civilized world-for what has it
long been but a nest and nursery of Popery sending
forth its annual swarms of wretched beings to infest
the remotest regions of the globe?  Along the
rivers of America, by the lakes of Canada, on the
plains of Australia, you meet them in droves.  It is
said that 20 years ago there was, in the latter country, but one solitary priest; and that now, with Van
Diemen's Land, it contains 200 priests, 18 bishops,
and 1 archbishop! But especially is America concerned in this matter.  Our deliverance is emphatically her danz'ger.  To us there is little to dread from
the present Popish/ 1 exodcus," but the risk of its cessation; but what is to us a ground of hope, is to her
one of deep solicitude.
Emigration, which is withering the arm of Popery
in Ireland, is strengthening that of Popery in Amer



THE TREAT!M~ENT —EVANGELIZATION.    341
ica; and the priests are consoling themselves with
the belief that what is lost to themn /ere, is Zoare than
gained tere —that here their flocks are beggars, but
they will there become wealthy citizens-and, above
all, that the free institutions of that country will enlarge their powers of mischief. Americans, beware 
You are yet confident, but you know not Popery as
well as we do, and God grant you never may! How
can you overlook the alarming fact, that the hordes
of Irish Papists who are landing daily amongst you,
must needs corrupt your moral atmosphere, and that
from the nature of your constitution, your country's
only bulwark is the virtue of its people? Then learn
in time from Ireland's RUIN what is AASErICA'S GRAND
DANGEr!  Do you not know that Rome has her
deadly eye on your young colossal republic? That,
next to England, yozt have the largest place in the
thoughts and councils of her Propaganda?  And,
above all, that she cannot endure a republican government? Has she not in France contrived to make
the name of a republic a terror to the friends of order, and in every Popish land a satire and burlesque
on the name? Yet think of the audacity of Hughes,
who chooses the hour of Rome's most dreadful crusade against Europe's freedom, to tell you that she
is the parent of liberty and the nurse of republicanism!! 0! liberty shrinks at the touch of this monster, and bursts enraged from its embrace as from a.
ruthless violator.  Then, Americans, beware! The
serpent which has so long sought to nestle in the




342                 THE CURE.
mane of the British lion, in hope to sting it to death,
is stealthily creeping towards your Eagle's eyrie;
and she that lately closed your chapel in Rome, now
clamors the loudest amongst you for the rights of
citizenship-the bettae to enable he?' to r'ol?/yo of t?/ten
all!  Long may your banner float side by side with
England's flag! Long may both nations continue
together their glorious onward march, dispensing
blessings to all mankind, —rivals only in the race of
honor and benevolence, and divided by nothing but
the ocean that rolls between ] But this, be assured,
can only be so long as both shall hold fast those
Reformation principles which are the source of all
their greatness, and be prepared to defend, if need
be, with their blood that divine legacy left to the
one by her martyred " worthies," and to the other by
her " pilgrim fathers."
Protestant countrymen! had we done half our
duty, our country had long since been evangelized;
and instead of reaping the bitter fruits of our sin in
a polluted atmosphere, a ruinous taxation, and miseries manifold, we would now have been blessed in
our country's blessedness. But we have lived to
witness a gracious revival, and can now point to
thousands of as lovely samples of grace in Ireland as
may ever be seen on this side glory; who possess
the faith without the fame of martyrs, and will stand
very near the throne above, and take rank amongst
the highest aristocracy of heaven.  To such we now
appeal.  Beloved friends! never did the sun of hope
___ ~  ___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   __ _   _ _ __   __ _ _ ____.9__




THE TREATIMENT —EVANGELIZATION.    343
beam on us more brightly than now. What wonders
has God of late wrought amongst us! How have
his recent judgments broken priestly power, disarmed
Romish prejudice, hushed the agitator's voice, and
turned upon us the eyes of Christendom!
The dense clouds of Popery are rising off our
land, and the beams of heaven begin to gild her
mountains.  Our heroic missionaries are bearding
the beast in his stronghold; that gospel, which elevates the most degraded, is beginning to take away
the Irish Celt's reproach among men, and waking his
mind from the sleep of ages; and those noble germs
of Irish character whose growth Popery has for centuries hindered, like seeds in the mummny's cold
hand, how wonderfully they are now springing to
life so soon as touched by the quickening rays of
the Sun of Righteousness! Nor is this all.  God
has pleased, by means of the famine, to commence
a social revolution amongst us, which promises to
effect the country's renovation.  Irish Popery has
ever relied on its nznmbers-and, to increase these,
has encouraged early marriages, and availed itself
of the potato's productiveness.  But how vain its
craftiest devices, when God chooses to ilar them!
IHe smites the potato, and its strength becomes its,iweakcess-its people, who had multiplied like sumnuer insects. vanish like them too-its supplies are
cut off-its priests are starving —its chapels are being emnptied-and its arm is withered! And it is a
matter of easy enough calculation that, if things go




344                THE CURE.
on for some years, as, to all appearance, they now
mzust do, Popery in Ireland is inevitably doomed.
It would seem as if God had resolved to clear out
the country in order to replenish it anew.  The
land is rapidly passing into British hands.  With
the emigration of the Irish, there has commenced an
immigration of the Scotch- and English; and numbers
are only waiting the adjustment of the land question
in order to come and settle amongst us.  Thus God
is renovating the country by the double process of
driving Popery beyond the ocean, and bringing Protestantismi from across the channel. We grieve to
see our countrymen leaving us; but who that wishes
them well for either world, would bid them stay?
By remaining, they starve-perhaps eternally perish
-and certainly perpetuate the miseries of their
race.  By going, they better both themselves and
their country; for they go from bondage to liberty
-from hunger to plenty-from horsewhipping priests
to where they may read the Bible, and no priest dare
frown.  Therefore, we say to them —" Go, in the
name of the Lord! If you conduct yourselves
well, we shall some day hear of you-and how
changed you will be! Quickened to life by surrounding Protestantism you will be seen felling the
forests, cutting canals, building railways, rising to
comfort, and, best of all, perhaps walking with God.
Then go, AND THIE LOPRD BE WITH YOU!"  Yes, to
Ireland there ariseth light in the darkness.  Providence Himself is at work-breaking up our present




THE TREATMENT-EVANGELIZATION.    345
wretched social framework to construct out of the
ruins a fairer fabric.  TWe cannot arrest the process.
nor should we if we could.  It is just the self-righting laws of the universe at work —God's wisdom
and goodness rectifying man's guilt and folly.  And
it requires, we are persuadedl, no seer's eye to behold
through the vista of coming years, when this revolution is past, Ireland looking out as from a new creation, like the young vegetation on the moors, that is
quickened by the very fires which late have swept
over them!
Roman Catholic countrymen! we have been plain
with your worst enemy, the best proof of our love to
yoz. You cannot suspect us of any sordid end-for it
is too late to enter a field which the most artful delagogue has had to quit in despair.  Oh I we come not
to strip but to r'elieve the dying; and surely the messenger of peace may approach unsuspected when
even the spoiler is seen to retire.  Cctn you think
those priests your true friends, who so uniformly
turn your ignorance to their own advantage, and
have never benighted where they have not enslaved?
And, will you trust your souls to men with whom
you would seldom trust your substance?-and refuse even to inquir'e till it is too late to amnened?
Then, by that brilliant mind too long enslaved, and
that generous heart too long imposed on, exert the
birthright God has given you, and judge for yourselves, as you must answer for yourselves.  Nor
think your priest alone will be accountable if you




346                THIE CURE.
continue to follow him blindfolded to ruin, any more
than would your guide alone be the sufferer if you
allowed him to lead you over some fatal cliff.  And
you, their blind guides! —you must soon meet themat that judgment-seat, where your very best apology
shall be, —' We did it ignorantly in unbelief."  If
we admit your honesty, it must be by denying your
intelligence-fearful alternative this, between ignorance and imposture! 0, behold the fruits of your
dreadful diligence in the wreck of the finest people
the great Creator ever formed! And think you,
shall that mockery of justice, which so often sullies
our earthly tribunals, that punishes them, and pensions you, tarnish the purity of the Great White
Throne? No, he who robs men of the key of knowledge, shall there at least be held accountable for all
the consequences; that ignorance which will be their
palliation, shall constitute the main count in your indictment; and whatever punishment may on this
ground be deducted from their sentences, must necessarily be added to yours.  And are you prepared for
a reckoning so awful?  If not, even for you there is
hope-and this is the crowning proof of God's boundless love. The grace which arrested Saul of Tarsus,
was designed as encouragement in cases so desperate;
and that miracle of grace may again be performed,
which made " a great company of the priests obedient to the faith."
THE END.




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