hope which, indeed, unless through the mercy of God, some change be made in the plan pursued, seems very likely to be realized that the island will become exclusively Roman Catholic again. The influence of the clergy over the people is immense. Indeed you have only to remember the peculiar doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church, to form yourselves a tolerably adequate notion of its extent. They look up to the priest as one whom they constantly see to create his God, and one to whom they must reveal every secret thought of their heart-but this is not all, for he has the power of life or death, and at their departure from this world, has the power of insuring them eternal happiness, or, by denying them the rites of the church, consigning them to everlasting perdition. A Roman Catholic of the lower order in Ireland, looks upon his damnation as certain, if he should happen to die without partaking of the ceremonies prescribed by the rules of his church. And the priests exercise an arbitrary power of withholding at their discretion, these rites; by which means they have established in Ireland, a tyranny for themselves unexampled in the annals either of ecclesiastical or civil despotism. In political matters they use this engine of power with terrible effect-for they say, and certainly not without reason, that the exercise of the franchise is a part of the moral duty of its possessor-and, as by the tenets of their religion-they allow to the laity no liberty of determining for themselves but constitute the church or the clergy, as the judges of all that relates to mat ters of conscience-they naturally enough, upon their principles, claim the regulation of the political conduct of their flocks-and it is a common thing for them to refuse the rites of their church to those that vote at an election contrary to their directions; a sentence which I have already explained, the superstitious people regard as one of eternal damnation. Such is the influence which they derive from the superstitions of the people. But this is backed and perpetuated by another species of tyranny, which, though it be the child and offspring of the other ministers dutifully enough to its support-I need not tell you that the genius of popery has been in all ages and countries of a persecuting character and in Ireland it has not proved itself unworthy of the Church of the inquisition. If a member of his flock, by any means or other-gives of fence to his priest-if, for instance, he is known to possess a Bible, or to dare to think upon religious matters for himself-the priest denounces him to his congregation from the altar, and the effect of this instantly is, that all the Roman Catholics of his district, refuse to hold any communication with him as a man visibly under the displeasure of God; by which, if he be a man in business it is ten to one but he is utterly ruined. And this is not allif he continue obstinate, in most parts of Ireland, he is almost certain of having his house burned over his head, or being himself stoned to death, or otherwise savagely destroyed. Such things as I tell you of happen in Ireland very frequently-as frequently as there are persons of hardihood enough to provoke the vengeance of so terrible a power. And it is by these means that Popery has maintained itself in Ireland. The first symptoms of heresy which a man shews, he is avoided by all his neighbours, and persecuted by every species of annoyance; and if he is firm enough not to yield to this, the matter is very soon ended by his being knocked on the head-which, indeed, is a very light matter among us-for I believe that there never were a people among whom there was such utter recklessness of human life as among the peasantry of the Popish districts of Ireland. These are the means by which the power of the priests is kept up-and by which they enjoy a dominion over the people as absolute as the human mind can well conceive. In Popish districts, no man can set himself to resist their tyranny, except at the peril of his life-and they wield at their pleasure, the consciences, and direct the conduct of the great mass of the Roman Catholic population of Ireland. It is of course to be expected that the priesthood will use a their power to establish a Roman Catholic ascendancy in Ireland; and to this point all their exertions are directed. And you may be perfectly assured of this, that under whatever disguise they may ay cloak their pretext, and by whatever fine words they may attempt to impose upon you, the real and the only end at which they are aiming, is to restore their church to that supremacy from which the glorious exertions of your fathers and our fathers dashed it down. I promised that my letter should be a short one, and perhaps it is time for me to bring it to a close. I pray you, however, as you love your religion, to weigh the little that I have said, and perhaps in that little there may be much that is new to you-but which may yet deserve your serious consideration. I have but entered on the subject of the enormous power of the popish priesthood; and I have not touched at all upon the question of the enormous revenues which they draw from the people. But in all your calculations and reasonings about the state of this unhappy country, bear in mind both the extent of that power and the means by which it is maintained and above all things, regard the man who talks of the mass of the Roman Catholics of Ireland as free agents, either as an arrant impostor, or as utterly ignorant of the real state of things; for most of them are so bound by superstition that they regard it as incurring certain damnation to question any thing that their priest directs them, and those who have understanding suficient to rise above this terror, are kept in check by one more unquestionable and substantial; for as soon as an unhappy Roman Catholic becomes the object of the terrible denunciation from the altar, he is cut off from all the benefits of society, and is an object of aversion to those with whom he has been brought up; and if he holds out against this tremendous pressure he may think himself happy indeed if even a few months pass over his head without his falling in with some one who will think he does God service in putting him quietly out of the way. The members of parliament who are returned on the popish interest in Ireland, are returned by the influence of the priests; and it needs no great sagacity to infer that they are sent there to serve the designs of those who send them. Now it is an admitted fact, that the ministry yield to the wishes of those members in the mode of governing Ireland; and the result is just such as we might expect, that Ireland is now governed in the very way most adapted for the establishment of a popish ascendancy. This, with the blessing of God, I will show you clearly in my subsequent letters; and if I succeed in making plain to you, that the course of the present policy of our rulers tends directly to the establishment of a popish ascendancy; and if you do not rouse yourselves throughout the length and breadth of your country to insist upon that policy being changed, then all I can say is, that you are as degenerate a race of poltroons as ever cast disgrace upon the memory of illustrious ancestors-you are no more like the countrymen of Knox than the Pope is like St. Peter; and if you look on with indifference while popery is reared into a hideous supremacy over your brethren in Ireland, I could almost find in my heart to wish for you that it might be your own turn next to know the galling bitterness of its chain. But I believe in my soul that you will acquit yourselves like Protestants and like Scotchmen; and that when the whole case between us the Protestants of Ireland and our oppressors is laid before you, neither pope, or priest, or devil will be able to turn you from siding with the cause of Protestantism and truth, And may "God defend the right." I have the honour to be, gentlemen, your very obedient servant, AN IRISH PROTESTANT. Youghal, August 17th, 1856. THE excellent nobleman, whose life we now propose to present to our readers, has very peculiar claims upon the biographer of Irish worthies. He was more distinguished by his worth than by his talents, by his taste, than by his genius; and was placed by circumstances in a position in which, with abilities of no very uncommon kind, he was enabled to act a very distinguished part upon the stage of public affairs in Ireland. James, Earl of Charlemont, was descended from the ancient family of Caulfield, which appears, Mr. Hardy observes, to have been settled in Oxfordshire many centuries previously to the reign of Élizabeth. Sir Toby distinguished himself, towards the close of that reign, by deeds of arms in the low countries; and, in the succeeding reign, came to Ireland, where, for his notable services, he was created Baron of Charlemont, on the 22nd of December, 1620. The settlements and the confiscations which took place about that period, enabled him to acquire ample grants of land in Armagh and elsewhere; and the new Baron must be considered one of the numerous English proprietors, whose possessions were conferred upon them for the purpose of carrying into effect the wise policy of the sagacious Monarch whose reign was chiefly signalized by his measures for the pacification of Ireland. That these measures were, in many instances, arbitrary and tyrannical, to a degree that would now provoke loud and indignant reclamation, must be VOL. VIII. admitted even by those who may fairly contend that they were not, by any means, uncongenial with the spirit of an age when prerogative notions ran very high, nor altogether without a justification in the peculiar circumstances of this country. But, that they were admirably calculated, in the long run, to settle and tranquillize it; and that they actually have, on more occasions than one, served to maintain British influence, when it must have been otherwise overthrown, will scarcely be denied by any who bestow a calm attention upon the state of Ulster, as compared with the other provinces, and the various instances in which the British colonists constituted the only body upon whom the British government could securely rely for defeating the machinations of rebellion, and confounding the devices of foreign or domestic treason. Ireland was, in fact, regarded by foreign powers as the most vulnerable point of the British dominions, while it was harassed by the feuds of conflicting barbarians; and the hostility which the bulk of the people evinced to the principles of the reformation, which had never been presented to them but under an aspect calculated to provoke not merely a sectarian but a national antipathy, gave a foreign ecclesiastical potentate such a controlling influence over the religious feelings of the bulk of the population, as enabled him, at will, to disturb the repose of the empire. It was to guard against the dangers arising from these various causes that James adopted the prudent 2 c policy of garrisoning the country with a colony of English settlers, whose superior civilization might serve to improve the habits of the native inhabitants, while their interests, as well as their religious and political principles were an effectual guarantee for the maintenance of British connexion. And the family of the Caulfields, from whom the subject of the present sketch was descended, long continued to merit the approbation of the English government, by the steady fidelity with which, in the worst of times, they persevered in their allegiance. William, the fifth baron, was created a viscount in 1665. He was known by the venerable epithet of the good Lord Charlemont; a title of which he might well be more proud than of his augmented honours, as it was not conferred upon him because of any contrast between him and a predecessor, who might have been called the bad Lord Charlemont, but was the spontaneous tribute of a grateful people, who were desirous of thus affectionately marking their sense of the generous amiability of his nature. James, of whom we now write, was the second son of the third Viscount Charlemont, and Elizabeth, daughter of Francis Bernard, of Castle Bernard, in the county of Cork. He was born on the 18th of August, 1728; and, his eldest brother, William, having died young, he succeeded to the family honours, upon the death of his father, in 1734, at the early age of six years. It does not appear that he ever enjoyed the advantages of a public school; but he was liberally supplied with careful and competent preceptors. The Rev. Mr. Skelton, an able and a pious clergyman, who has left behind him sermons which entitle him to no mean place amongst the orthodox divines of the church of England, was his first instructor, and if the young nobleman was not by him, made minutely acquainted with the doctrines of Christianity, he was at least imbued with a respect for religion which never left him in after life. Skelton was succeeded in his office by others, who contributed their full share to the development of his youthful powers; but by far the most efficient of these was Mr. Murphy, the editor of that edition of Lucian which was in our day, and, we believe, still is, part of the entrance course for our University. We have a lively remembrance of the sly gravity of the editor, who enjoyed as well as understood his author well; and if the doctrine of a metempsychosis were generally received, could have readily believed that the soul of Lucian had passed into the body of the amiable humorist who presented this amusing edition of his dialogues to the world. He was induced to take up his residence in the family of Lord Charlemout, whose progress in classical learning was greatly aided by his assiduous attention, and who studied under him with an intensity which is said to have impaired his sight. Mr. Murphy, afterwards accompanied him upon his travels, where he was well qualified to appreciate the works of art, and the objects of classical interest which came in his way; and his noble pupil, who must have derived much advantage as well from his taste as from his knowledge, never ceased to speak of him, and to feel towards him, with unmixed generosity and affection. Lord Charlemont set out upon his travels in the autumn of 1746, and was a witness in Holland of the revolution which terminated in the establishment of the Prince of Orange as stadtholder. He then passed some time in the English camp, where he was received with much attention by William, Duke of Cumberland; but, as improvement, and not amusement, was his leading object, he had the good sense and firmness speedily to betake himself from this scene of military festivity and pomp, and to go directly to the academy at Turin, where he passed a whole year, occasionally making excursions into other parts of Italy. He here became acquainted with some distinguished political and literary characters, with whom he afterwards maintained a friendly correspondence. The Marquis St. Germain, afterwards ambassador to France, was his particular friend, as was also the Compe Perron; but the individual by whose notice he was most flattered, was David Hume, the celebrated historian. This distinguished man was greatly taken by the frankness and cordiality of the young nobleman, and the ardent thirst of knowledge which he displayed, while so many born to rank and affluence, were wasting time, and health, and |