Obrázky na stránke
PDF
ePub

of the kingdom have been less perceptible, they have been every where real and considerable. The evil is one which, under the present system of government in Ireland, must not only exist, but must necessarily increase; and who shall say whether it will terminate before the whole of England be consigned to the same dreadful condition of miserable poverty, to which she has so woefully contributed to reduce that unhappy country? It is now nearly a month, since the distressed and imporished state of Ireland has rendered her condition alarming; and though this has been officially announced for the same period, it does not yet appear to have attracted the notice of the legislature, or even of the English journals. Really to judge from the contents of our public press, the details of a fashionable party, the birth of some unnatural monster among the animal creation, or even the flowering of a primrose in January, is of more importance to the people of England, than are the most vital interests of the sister island, the possession of which has alone elevated us above the rank of secondary nations, by furnishing us with almost unlimited resources-by supplying half our navy, and more than half our army.

I hope a few words may be permitted me (and I speak them with all due respect) to the Right Rev. Bench of Bishops-Gratitude alone should induce them to act differently from what they do; for they have certainly never yet repaid the obligation

under which they were placed by the votes of the 26 Catholic Peers, who in 1661, united in restoring them to their seats in the Legislature (from which the persecuted sectaries had driven them,) nor requited the good offices they had previously received from the Catholic Peerage in 1641. No greater proof than these facts present, can be given of the sincerity of those professions which we make, in case of justice being done us, to rank ourselves amongst the constitutional supporters of the established church; and yet, she opposes emancipation, to secure her temporalities! One while, she argues that Catholics will thrive so fast on freedom, that they will overrun the whole empire. If so, Protestantism, deep-rooted as it is, must indeed be a meagre plant, to be expelled the soil by a new half-starved comer. Others say, the Catholics thrive well enough as it is. True: they do so they gain in wealth, in numbers, in importance daily; and, in proportion as they thrive, so do they become more discontented with their political situation. Every day, their condemnation weighs more heavily upon them; the object which they seek becomes of more value, in proportion to their increasing capacity to enjoy it; and every day their exertions will be redoubled, with the power they possess, towards obtaining the redress of their grievances, and the objects of their lawful ambition. In any case, emancipation must and will be achieved, and better in peace and quiet, than in war and

tumult-better in the day of prosperity, than in the hour of distress. Thank heaven! the time is past when the system of persecution by which we are oppressed, was pursued to its full extent; but though its power is broken and enfeebled, its spirit is not yet fled. We still suffer directly in our privileges and our rights, and even in our fortunes; while our reputation, both as subjects and as Christians, is still loaded with the defamation of nearly three centuries. If the state seeks for defence in such measures, it cannot find it: it is only erecting a barrier against its best friends. If the Church looks for support from such weapons, she only combats against herself, by alienating the good opinion of those who would otherwise be sincere in protecting her.

The Protestant is now the Established Church. Let her rest satisfied with this advantage. It gives her all the splendour, and power, and influence of worldly state, with the largest ecclesiastical revenues in Christendom to support them; thus insuring her as complete an ascendancy over every other religion as can with justice be desired. But

() Witness the double land-tax.-I am most happy in this opportunity of publicly testifying the sense which the Catholics of England must ever entertain of the very handsome manner in which Mr. Bankes has come forward to relieve his fellow-countrymen from this very oppressive and unjust grievance.

if her prelates and ministers provoke the exposure of her errors—of the false principles on which she separated from the Church of Rome-and of the iniquity in which she was cradled, by calumniating the religion of those whom they have dispossessed, and by continuing against them a system of unmerited condemnation, as well as against all who dissent from them; they themselves are answerable for the consequences. The firebrand with which they are still desolating the victims of their bigotry and their fears, may be hurled back into their own quarters, and the golden harvest which they are now reaping in such plenty, may be blasted and destroyed for ever!

The Church of England should ever recollect, that she has already once fallen in conflict with her enemies; and perhaps it would be well for the Sovereign to remember, that the monarch fell too: she has seen her hierarchy destroyed, her benefices usurped, and her religion reduced in its turn to the melancholy condition of a persecuted sect." And is she not fearful of a second contest?

(4)❝I went to London," says Evelyn, in his Memoirs, "to receive the blessed Sacrament, the first time the Church of England was reduced to a chamber and conventicle, so sharp was the persecution. The parish Churches were filled with sectaries of all sorts, blasphemous and ignorant mechanics usurping the pulpits every where.

Can she hear that one half of her followers have deserted, and not tremble lest they should raise the standard against her? Is it not folly-is it not madness, to learn these tidings, and not cease to irritate and offend? While she has yet the power to give before she loses the ability to refuse, let her shew herself worthy of her cause, by her generosity, her justice, and her wisdom: let her doff the blood-stained armour of persecution, and clothe herself in the spotless garments of clemency and moderation, and, like a meek and humble disciple of Christ, let her meet her enemies with the kiss of peace, and inscribe on her standards, GOOD WILL TO ALL MEN. Clemency and moderation will attach a large and zealous body to her interests. We should support her, not as a church possessing purity of doctrine, but as a teacher of good morals, and as a member of the great edifice of the constitution. Conciliation is her best and only resource: let her desist from her miserable and petty persecution of the dissenters, and her vigorous and determined warfare against the Catholics. on a proud pre-eminence, and be unto her a

This would place her

Dr. Wilde preached in a private house in Fleet-street, where we had a great meeting of zealous Christians, who were generally much more devout and religious, than in our greatest prosperity."

d

« PredošláPokračovať »