nearest neighbours with whom they had long upheld a continued intercourse of kindness and good offices." *

It was two years after this that the King (Charles I.), from the extreme necessity to which the English army was reduced in Ireland, found it necessary to give orders to the Marquis of Ormond to conclude, for a year, a cessation of arms with the council of Kilkenny, by whom the Irish were governed.

He met the deputies in Dublin on the 6th of September, 1644. At this interview the cessation was prolonged: but the conditions of peace proposed by the Irish, being an echo of those proposed in the former year at Oxford, could not be conceded to by Ormond. The treaty was adjourned until April, 1644; during which interval Ormond promised to communicate with his sovereign on the proposed conditions of the Irish confederacy. Those who have doubted the wisdom of that policy which desires Ireland to estimate her hopes of prosperity by the depression of England; those who refuse to take advantage of the difficulties of the English government, or who will not measure their chances of redress by the multiplication of English embarrassment, let them read with attention the letter of Charles to the Marquis of Ormond, in 1645.'

In that letter, Charles says, "Whatever it cost, you are to make me the best bargain you can, and not discover your enlargement of power till needs must." This passage gives Mr. Lawless great offence; and whatever of insincerity was in it meets our reprobation as strongly as it does his but we do object to the frequent, emphatic, and very significant passages scattered throughout his pages, implying, as it seems to us, the utter incompatibility of Irish and English interests, by which notion he seems led to the conclusion, that Ireland should take the first opportunity of separating herself from us.

Mr. Lawless is very fervent in his zeal for Catholicism, and loses not the opportunity which a chapter on the reign of Henry VIII. affords of pouring out the vials of his sorrow, wrath, and indignation on an event upon which we shall not now touch, namely, the Reformation, an event involving consequences far too momentous to be discussed in a parenthesis. (See passim, but particularly vol. i. pp. 203. et seq.) He may well be horrified at the name of a monarch who opened the flood-gates of error, letting in an inundation of opinions, as mutable as they were wild, and fleeting as they were uncertain:" but it is impossible not to smile, or weep, at the inconsistency of that advocate for the liberty of conscience, who, while he

* Mr. Hume draws his narrative of this event from Temple, Rushworth, and Whitelock. See Hume, vol. vi. p. 436.

deplores

deplores the bondage in which the members of his own church are kept, deplores equally and simultaneously the loss of that despotic authority always exerted by that same church when she had it, to hold in bondage the members of all others:

'The Irish abhorred the plundering and schismatic schemes of the rapacious Henry VIII. because they foresaw the decline of Christianity, in the abolition of that unity and universality which is the grand principle of the Catholic church, and the certain preservative of the Christian doctrine. They foresaw that the church of England, torn from the main body of the faithful, would, like a branch torn from a tree, wither and produce insects; and that a schismatical limb of the Catholic church, severed from the communion of the faithful, would decay, and be overrun with innumerable heresies. They foresaw that reform, effected by the vilest and most infamous instruments, by substituting reason for authority, sapped the foundation of revealed religion, and let loose the most destructive and desolating passions of the human heart. Irish, therefore, holding firmly by the anchor of their old and venerated faith, buffeted the storms of reformation, and to this hour exhibit a nation professing sober and rational religion; while the neighbouring country (England) is distracted with conflicting sectaries, like the waves of the ocean, each burying the other in eternal oblivion.

The

• Three hundred years have now elapsed since this great and extraordinary revolution of the human mind took place; and those who have the volume of history before them, can best discover the advantages or the evils which have flowed to mankind from the destruction of that unity and universality of religious doctrine which preserved the peace of nations for so many centuries. In 1536, Henry VIII. summoned a convocation in England, to deliberate on the necessity of making a new translation of the Scriptures. Tindal had formerly given to the world a translation, which the clergy complained of as very inaccurate and unfaithful. It was therefore proposed, in the convocation summoned by Henry, that a new translation be made, which could not be liable to any objection. The arguments made use of, at this period, in defence of the principles and views of the reformers, and of the consequences of the reformation of the human mind, as well as the arguments made use of by the advocates of the old religion, in opposition to the innovation recommended by the reformers, are worthy of the serious and deliberate consideration of every man, who, seduced by the specious sentiment of liberal and enlightened toleration, encourages the principle of leaving to each individual the formation of his own religious tenets, or the profession of his own religious doctrines.

The arguments of the reformers of 1536 have been the prolific source of the innumerable sects which now cover the face of England: which have divided, and subdivided, and distracted the Protestant congregations, and have at length exposed the divine

C 3

religion

religion of Christ to the scoffs, and sneers, and sarcasms of the Deist and the Atheist.'

'

Like a true Catholic, Mr. L. deplores the Reformation because it has been the parent of a thousand sects, each, to use his own phrase, more absurd than the other, which distract the reason and corrupt the heart.' How inconsistent is all this with the doctrine held in another place, (vol. ii. p. 94.) where Mr. L. seems, for a moment, to lose sight of his own creed; and, like a man of sense, urges the modern historian. todiscourage that insolent pride which would dictate on subjects incomprehensible by man.' He there also tells us, truly, that

Toleration is the great secret which promises to harmonize mankind, for under its government the fanatic loses all his importance, and bigotry all its malignity. The human mind ranges at large in search of truth, and no longer adheres to a doctrine which cannot bear the crucible of examination.'

Now was it not, we ask, the very Reformation which he vilifies that set free the human mind, and allowed it to 'range at large in search of truth?'

Mr. Lawless is prodigiously shocked that matters of faith should be exposed to the crucible of examination; that people should think for themselves on the subject of religion; and not take their creed implicitly from their priests, as they did formerly; and he asks, triumphantly,

'What has been the real effect of this boasted Reformation, this contempt for all human authority-this appeal to the word of God, as the only standard of theological truth? The question will be answered by the hundred sects into which Lutheranism and Presbyterianism have branched; the innumerable theological opinions with which England now swarms. The empty churches, and the crowded meeting-houses of various denominations; the inspired tailors, and cobblers, and tinkers, and soldiers, whom we see travelling through the Protestant world, bear testimony to the light which the Reformation has shed upon the human mind. Mankind, tossed about on the tempestuous ocean of polemical: discussion, sink into the grave before their minds are able to find a resting-place; before their understandings are fixed on that belief which tranquillizes the feelings, gives confidence to the heart, and puts to flight all doubt and uncertainty on the subject most important and interesting to man. The reformer, ceasing to be credulous, becomes miserably sceptical, and perpetually oscillating between hope and fear, passes through life without a pilot, and in the last moments of his existence is still seeking that doctrine most likely to secure his salvation. Such are the effects of the Reformation upon a great majority of the Protestant minds of Europe at this moment."

Does

Does this sneer at the Reformation proceed from one who is earnest in discouraging that insolent pride which would dictate on subjects incomprehensible by man?" Mr. Lawless, however, to use the words of Wieland, needs not fear, for "the splendid prison in which Reason is still kept in confinement by the greatest part of Europe is the work of great skill and of many centuries: thousands of minds of no ordinary stamp, and millions of enterprizing hands, have labored at the structure, and it is so firmly founded on the rock of priestly authority and priestly profit, and so artificially connected by its numerous wings and contiguous erections with another enchanted castle, that it would nearly amount to an absurdity to deem the rescue of this captive princess possible; much more, to engage in the attempt." *

We differ from the church of Rome because it professes infallibility, and, as a consequence, requires implicit obedience and blind faith; because it is thus founded on the utter prostration of that understanding and of those powers of reason which are the ennobling and peculiar gifts of God to man; because it has ever been despotic and intolerant, and dreads that the great bulk and body of the people should become enlightened. We say this with the less reserve, having invariably and strongly advocated the civil claims of the Catholics. Ireland will never be free, nor prosperous, nor happy, nor can she ever be content until those claims are granted. Entertaining these sentiments, we have read with much satisfaction an Address, recently published, by the Catholic Association + to the people of Ireland, urging mildness and forbearance, with unanimity and perseverance. It states distinctly the objects which they are striving to obtain by constitutional and legal means only, and through constitutional and legal channels only. We are highly gratified with the emphatical and argumentative manner in which they condemn all secret societies and unlawful oaths;" all outrages, crimes, and disturbances of the public peace; and with their echo of the benevolent wish of his present Majesty, to see dissension cease, and cordial unanimity prevail throughout Ireland. In making the few remarks, therefore, which we have done on the work before us, we are

"Liberty of Reasoning on Matters of Belief." See " Varieties of Literature," vol. ii.

+ The Catholic Association, as a body, must not be deemed responsible for the violent speeches which are made by some of its members. We are concerned to see them: but hope that these intemperate individuals will imbibe moderation from the example of those around them.

desirous that Mr. Lawless should not misinterpret them into any hostile feeling against the cause of Catholic emancipation.

Had the Committee which prepared the excellent Address of the Catholic Association we have just read been intrusted with the revision of these pages, we are of opinion that they would have entirely suppressed some passages, and softened others which indicate a feeling towards this country very different from their own. We should not do Mr. Lawless justice, however, were we to withhold our assent to many of his general maxims; and have great pleasure in giving the passage which concludes his book.

We have endeavoured, in this brief chronicle of Ireland's story, to embrace all the great and leading facts which calumny and misrepresentation have so often and so successfully distorted; which have been the subject of so much reproach, and so much exasperation; which have been the natural offspring of bad government, and the natural resource of a persecuted nation. We have endeavoured to vindicate a brave people, in perpetual conflict for its civil and religious liberties, against the black and infamous charges which the hired libeller has elaborately brought against them. We have endeavoured to demonstrate to the English reader, that when Ireland drew the sword of rebellion she was but following the feelings of human nature, which prompted her to repel the violator of her rights: that her rebellions against England were the necessary result of her sufferings, and the feeble, though disastrous struggles of a people, who, under a mild and protecting government, would have contributed to its wealth, its power, and its greatness.

The sword of intolerance has at length been sheathed; the bigotry of the sectarian has at length been discouraged; the human mind can now give full rein to its powers with impunity. Uncontrolled by the dictation of a supposed infallibility, every man is suffered to adore his Creator as his conscience directs him; and the profession of a particular creed of Christianity has almost ceased to be a measure of Irish loyalty. The Protestant, the Presbyterian, and the Catholic, respect each other's conscientious attachment to the religion of their fathers. The legislator can now discover no cause for the loyalty of the subject so strong as the possession of civil and religious liberty. He reads the cruelties of intolerance, in order to avoid their repetition; and draws from the follies of his ancestors the wisest and most beneficial lessons of instruction.

We took up our pen with an ardent wish to avenge the insults offered to the character and honour of our country. If the reader shall be of opinion that we have performed the task with zeal and with firmness, we shall triumph in the contemplation of our labours, and congratulate our countrymen on the benefits which may possibly result from them. We have called the Irish reader to the consideration of those causes which were the fruitful 21

sources