But the folly of those men is already but too manifest to those who heedfully attend to the signs of the times. Every concession that has been made to Popery, has been received with a sullen scorn, expressive only of a deepening detestation of those who could hope, for a moment, by such means to win them from the prosecution of na. tional objects. Never was there, within the memory of man, a more wide-spread feeling of disaffection to the British government than at the present moment, when every effort is being made to give a permanent ascendancy to the Romish religion. Witness the publication of The United Irishman, a manifesto of treason far more bold than was ventured upon by the body whose name it revives, be fore the standard of rebellion was actually flying in Ireland. Witness the language of the Moderates, who affect to deprecate the incautious intemperance of their associates, but do not hesitate to avow, to the full extent, all their principles, only, they say, the time is not just yet. Is this a state of things to be remedied by such miserable paltering in a double sense with the zealots of Popery and the partisans of democracy in this distracted land? Is political sanity to be restored to a people, and public tranquillity to be maintained, by concessions made, from fear or from po licy, to the church of Rome? For well its wily ecclesiastics know it is not for love any favour is shewn them. No; full advantage will be taken of them to resist the encroachment of what they call heresy-to extend and to fortify the positions they occupy, so as to render them most available against "the enemy." But that enemy will not be the less hated or despised, because of the insult conveyed in the attempt to seduce them from the cause of nationality, or the want of principle exhibited in aiding a religion, which yet those who so aid it pronounce to be a foul and idolatrous corruption of the word of God.

And now we must say a word or two respecting the much-bruited subject of altar denunciations. These are manifestations of priestly violence, by which the good and pious Roman Catholics of England have been very grievously scandalized. Lord Shrewsbury has been much shocked-Lord Arundel and Surrey has been greatly

offended by acts which have provoked the strong indignation of the people of England, and which bring a reproach upon their common faith. These noblemen have, accordingly, expressed themselves in no measured terms respecting the conduct of those by whom such scandals have been occasioned; and called upon the Romish bishops to interpose their ecclesiastical authority, and bring to a strict account the clerical offenders: -with what result, the public are already aware. bishops have stoutly defended the priests, and maintained either that the offence with which they were charged was never committed; or that if, in any instance, some colour was afforded for such an imputation, it was amply justified by the conduct of the landlords, whose systematic oppressions were sufficient to drive any people to acts of madness.

The

The noble lords have not, therefore, taken much by their motions; nor, in truth, could any effect be produced by them, but that clerical incendiaries should be rendered more cautious, while they still continued to do, in a less public manner, the very thing for which they were so gravely reprehended. A hint, a wink of the eye, a word said in secret, a name spoken upon the altar without comment, could just as effectually convey their wishes, if they really desire to abet the evil spirit that is abroad, as any altar de

nunciation. It is not the rattle in his tail that envenoms the rattlesnake, and it may even serve as a warning to the intended victim. We by no means pronounce that the Romish priesthood are desirous of directing the vengeance of the peasantry against individuals who may have incurred their high displeasure, whether as uncompromising Protestants, or friends of spiritual education, or assertors of the rights of property against over-holding tenants, who will neither pay for, cultivate, nor surrender their land. But this we maintain, that if they were, the matter could not be rendered worse by altar denunciations; and we would ourselves infinitely prefer the open manifestation of such a spirit, to its covert influence, which, like the pestilence that walketh in noon day, must be felt in its effects before it can be foreseen or avoided.

Of one thing we are quite convinced, namely, that whatever the priests may

have said or done, the landlords have not been sufficiently provident in taking care of themselves. They have been, not only by agitators, lay and clerical, but by the English press, held up to scorn as tyrant oppressors, who have ground the faces of the poor; and they may be said almost to have suffered judgment against them to go by default; so negligent have they been of the proper means of repelling the calumnies of their enemies. This

in itself gives a strong colouring of justification to the case that has been got up against them. Such have been the torrents of eloquent vituperation by which they have been assailed, that, like Warren Hastings, who, when he listened to the thunders and the lightnings of the eloquence of Burke and Sheridan, could scarcely persuade himself that he was not the most guilty of criminals, all unconscious as lie was of any justifying grounds for the high crimes and misdemeanours which formed the burden of his impeachment, so it has been with them. And they have stood, as it were, astounded by the grievous accusations which have been laid to their charge, more like men who had nothing to say in their own defence, than individuals unjustly accused, and who were desirous of exposing the falsehood and the malice of their ac

cusers.

We declare, solemnly, that if we lived in another country, where we could only know the state of Ireland from the reports in the public papers, we could scarcely resist the belief that the Irish landlords were justly condemned; seeing the very little they have done to counteract the representations which have been made against them. And it requires all our knowledge of its real condition, derived from no little personal acquaintance with it in all directions, to regard them as the objects of a foul conpiracy; and to be convinced that they are denounced as exterminators only by those who desire their extermina

tion.

Years have now elapsed since we called their attention to the storm that threatened them, although it was then in size no bigger than a man's hand. We conjured them to combine in selfdefence. We implored them to take up and examine every case of alleged oppression; and, if truly alleged, to

separate themselves from the criminals; and if falsely alleged, to put to shame the traducers. Had our advice been followed, how different would be their position from what it is at present. In such a case, as a body, they would have stood aloof from the offences of individuals. Now, the of fences of individuals are imputed to them as a body; and a class of proprietors, of whom, from much personal knowledge, we are bold to say, the empire contains no better, as kind, humane, considerate landlords, are confounded with the very worst speci mens of their order, whose neglect or oppression of their tenantry may be deserving of the severest reprobation. The following, from the pen of Mr. De Vere, is a just and happy description of the difficulties of the Irish landlord:

"You will perhaps be surprised that an Irish proprietor's position should be a troublesome one in the midst of a people such as I have described. The reason is this, that he has not only to deal with their good qualities, which God made, but with their circumstances, which have been made by man; and with their worst qualities exaggerated at times by well-meant but blundering legislation. How does it

happen that those who so clearly see that the State cannot perform the functions of proprietors, shut their eyes to as plain a truth, namely, that proprietors cannot assume the duties of farmers? A proprietor may, indeed, ride down to a hundred farms, and request a hundred farmers to cultivate their land in a manner exactly the opposite of that which they are used to, and twice as expensive; but his enterprise will probably be attended by much the same results as if he had admonished every tradesman in the neighbouring town to engage another apprentice. The land held in their own hands they may often improve, and are improving, urged not only by public duty, but also by the consideration that in many cases that small proportion of their estate constitutes the chief part of their present support; but I will not promise you that our landlords can quite at once change themselves into landmanufacturers, or get ten per cent. instead of four per cent. annually on the present value of their domains. In the meantime, the land refusing to bring forth its increase, the lord of the soil is set up as the most conspicuous mark for malignant shafts; and, stirred up by interested reports, those of his own order in England turn on him not seldom,

as the stags in their own parks turn on a wounded brother. This is but a small

part of his trial. He is obliged daily to witness the misery which he did not cause, and cannot relieve. He is reproached by the patience of thousands to whom he can offer no aid, and by the impatience of hundreds who will not let him aid them. If he sinks into apathy or recklessness, he becomes an insignificant in a crisis when everything has its significance. If he rouses himself to the exercise of those rights without which the duties of property are abstractions, he is proclaimed a tyrant and an exterminator. De jure he has a right to his patrimony: de facto not quite to his life."

Of the measures for the repression of crime adopted by the government, we hold that clause in the late penal enactment, by which individuals harbouring criminals guilty of agrarian offences are made liable, upon conviction to transportation, by far the most important. Its operation has been, even already, felt to be most salutary; and we feel very little doubt that, no matter how popular a murderer may be, he will, from henceforth, by no means find the same facilities for concealment or the same amount of hospitality upon which, until very lately, he could confidently calculate, in the south and west of Ireland.

There is another clause, by the introduction of which, we are strongly of opinion, the Coercion Act would be rendered most powerful for good-one by which it might be provided, that, in addition to the present penalties in force against agrarian offences, all concerned in them should, upon conviction, be deprived of the right to hold land in Ireland. Let such a clause be felt to be operative, and we entertain no doubt whatever that it would effectually meet the present evil.

The object of the perpetrators of such offences is, the possession of land. Land they desire to have, even though they should be able to plead no better title to it than that of Ahab to the vineyard of Naboth-namely, the blood of the former occupant. Now, if it were expressly provided, that, by such offences, the criminals would disqualify themselves from holding possession of any land-that they brought upon themselves, pro tanto, a sentence of outlawry, and could no longer, by any means, become the occupants of

the humblest farm in this country-we do believe that a stop would be put to agrarian murders.

Unless crime be perpetrated gratuitously, and for the mere pleasure it affords the perpetrators, we cannot imagine its continuance, when it must only frustrate the objects which they have in view. If to obtain an advantageous lease be a motive for murdering a rival occupant, or a landlordwhen it is known for a certainty, that, besides the usual penalties upon conviction for such a murder, or conspiracy to murder, a forfeiture of all right to hold land will be incurred-we cannot imagine that any reprobates, or any conspirators, would continue madly to risk their lives, and ruin their prospects, by acting blindly in defiance of such an enactment.

Knowing the Irish peasant as we do, it is painful to contemplate his present degradation. He wants but the light of the Holy Scripture, and the influence of a better and holier system of religion than that under which he has been born, to realize as much of human excellence as is to be found in any peasantry in the world. Mr. De Vere does not exaggerate one whit, in the following enumeration of the elements which go to compose his cha

racter:

"The Irish peasant has a patience under real sufferings quite as signal as his impatience under imaginary griev ances; and, in spite of a complexional conceit not uncommon, he has a moral humility that does not help him to make his way. He possesses a reverence that will not be repulsed; a gratitude that sometimes excites our remorse; a refinement of sensibility, and even of tact, which reminds you that many who toil for bread are the descendants of those who once sat in high places; aspirations that fly above the mark of national greatness; a faith and charity not common in the modern world; an acknowledged exemption from sensual habits, both those that pass by that name, and those that invent fine names for themselves; and an extraordinary fidelity to the ties of household and kindred, the more remarkable from being united with a versatile intellect, a temperament mercurial as well as ardent, and an ever salient imagination. These virtues are not inconsistent with grave faults, but they are virtues of the first order. I will only add, that if England has wit enough to make these virtues her friends,

she will have conciliated the affections of a people the least self-loving in the world, and the services of a people amongst whom, in the midst of much light folly, there is enough of indolent ability to direct the whole counsels of England, and of three or four kingdoms beside provided only that Ireland be not of the number."

Is it because we hate, or abhor, or undervalue this people, that we advise a recourse to the strong measures which we have recommended? Alas! no. It is not hatred of his patient which leads the physician to prescribe painful or disagreeable remedies for his complaint. It is because he desires to see him well, and can devise no better means of combating his distemper. So say we. It is because we love our fellow-countrymen-because we fain would see them in possession of every blessing which their condition admits-that we would exert the strong arm of the law for the repression of offences which, as long as they continue, must render life and property insecure, and thus place an insuperable bar to the prosperity of Ireland.

Without skill and capital, neither can manufactures be promoted, nor

agriculture improved, nor the people provided with remunerative employment. And unless life and property be protected, capital will not be employed in the country. What capitalist, with his eyes open, could think of settling down amongst hoards of blood-thirsty miscreants, by whom his life would not be respected a single day, if he were found to transgress any of the arbitrary regulations by which they would insist upon his being governed in the management of his affairs? And while such keep aloof from the country, how are its industrial resources to be developed? And if they be not developed, how is its material wealth to be augmented?

It is, therefore, undeniable, that the reign of law must supersede the reign of terror, before anything effectual can be done for the lasting wellbeing of our people. Let that be accomplished, and a secure foundation will have been laid, upon which great remedial measures may be built. Let it be neglected, and notwithstanding all that vaunting legislators, or gasconading demagogues may think or say, the country must continue, a curse to itself, a disgrace to England, and a by-word to the world.