turmoil and concussion of thy resources, which once made thee great. Behold the difficulties of a government, which emancipates Popery, and-be the two things always mentioned together, for together they ought always to be viewed-which emancipates Popery, and tolerates Blasphemy. Be it always remembered, in connection with the present state of the Catholic question, that WE LIVE UNDER A GOVERNMENT BY WHICH PUBLIC BLASPHEMY, OF THE MOST ATROCIOUS KIND, IS NOT PUT DOWN. And, wherever this is so, we live in constant and imminent danger of great concussions, affecting all the institutions of the country, and the throne itself. For though the powers that be are ordained of God, yet, upholding them, does he require that they should uphold his honour: and, upon their failing to do this, it is a small thing with him to shake them-yea, if the shaking be disregarded, it is a small thing with him to overturn them.-Meanwhile, heavy calamities are already resting upon our land. The Catholic question, so far from being settled, is every day coming out more clearly in its true character; as a question between the King of heaven and the rulers of this realm. The nation is now under Divine judgments. To conceal the effects of these judgments, there is a general conspiracy. Yet each knows that he is conspiring to aid a lie and the people of the Lord, while in private they deeply bewail their own sinfulness, and humble themselves in secret for that participation in the national guilt from which few individuals composing a nation are entirely clear, ought loudly to proclaim these judgments, and denounce their causes. But by dwelling on external and visible calamities, we should only shew our ignorance of that which is worst in our present state. View rather the moral ills of this land. The offensive truth, six months ago proclaimed by us, which pronounced the supporters of Catholicism Catholics, is now daily receiving more and more development. Meanwhile, the national character is sinking rapidly and even the resources of the country are not dwindling away so fast, as public principle. But while these dangers press, we are cut off even from a remedy. The obvious course, under national afflictions, is to proclaim a day of humiliation and of public fasting. But this our rulers cannot do: for to do it would be to make a public acknowledgment. They must acknowledge two things; that they have done wrong, and that they are punished. This they would acknowledge, by proclaiming a fast. But never! They deny any evil consequences, they deny the having done wrong. Hence, no public humiliation by authority. Or even if the fast were to be proclaimed on the ground of public distress, still the guilt would be concealed; and therefore the whole proceeding would be hypocritical, and tend only to bring down greater judgments.-But, as far as we can perceive, this is not to be apprehended. It seems the intention, rather, to the last possible point, to the last possible moment, to deny guilt, to deny suffering, altogether. There is a desperate determination, apparently, to try how far this can be carried to howl " Prosperity," Prosperity," with the very yells extorted by the scourge of judgments now upon us to go lying on, beneath the very beams and brightness of terrible truth, that pierces like lightning, and scorches like fire.-What peculiar, what sanguinary atrocity, in that part of this lying system, which embraces unhappy Ireland! There also, aided by the full cooperation of the tyrannical and slavish press, we have the same plan of denial and concealment. In concealing the effects of the weather, in concealing the amount of national suffering, but above all, in concealing the true state of the sister Island, what abominable iniquities are now daily perpetrated! Consider. Here is rapine, violence, murder, going on from day to day, and the facts garbled or suppressed, to save the honour of a political measure! Nay, worse. These horrors are suffered; from the same base motive permitted, suffered, tolerated! because to interfere effectually for their suppression would be to admit their existence. What! was it a thing to be prevented by making every concession, was it a thought too shocking to be endured, that Ireland should suffer the horrors of bloodshed even for a single day? And yet how many days of bloodshed have you left her to suffer since, without moving a finger for her relief! Oh, there is no hypocrisy like the hypocrisy of mock humanity. But it succeeds, it gains its end; and then drops deceit, merely because it has no longer an end to gain! Thus bloodshed is hushed up, and permitted to proceed, and to be now going on; thus suffering is concealed and audaciously denied in the face of facts; thus there is to be no departure from error in the sight of men, no public humiliation before God; that a disgraceful measure may not appear in its true character, that compromise and concession may not be seen in their proper colours of iniquity and baseness, that dupes and traitors may not be put to shame! But can there be no humiliation before God, except on public authority? Are we restricted as individuals? Assuredly not. Individual ministers may of course raise the voice of warning, and exhort their respective flocks to such measures of humiliation as the condition of our beloved and suffering Country requires. And though this will not be the same thing as a day of National Humiliation, yet even national humiliations are always partial in point of fact: and if a day of fasting were now kept by all true Christians and Protestants in this realm, it might count as many real penitents as some that are ordered by proclamation; and more mourners-for the whole country is now mourning under its sufferings, though many are not humbled before God. Meanwhile we must still keep it before the attention of our readers, that nothing has yet been done by the religious world, as a body, towards separating itself from the guilt of the late fatal measure. Nor ought we to forget, that, in all national crimes, each of the individuals composing the nation has generally a share so that we have all something to do: and the religious exertions of religious persons are now particularly needed in every thing connected with Popery; for if we had a wholesome tone of religious feeling on this subject, we might soon see a political feeling of the right kind. : As all our hope in this conflict must be religious, we wish to give warning of a great delusion which is now likely to arise, from hopes of another kind—we mean, the delusion of placing confidence in the merely political opponents of Popery. To this error we have more than once referred on former occasions; but it threatens just now to be revived with greater force than ever, by the reported prospect or possibility of their returning to political power. Some leading persons of this class, not only are without any religious regard for Protestantism, being totally ignorant of its very principles; but are known as opponents of the truth, and persecutors. In a word, the party is not to be trusted they have gone on fulfilling what we long since predicted of them; and the best way is to have nothing to do with them. But, of late, their exposure has been complete. Our conjecture, indeed, that the present era is ordained from on high, to be an era of general exposure, is now gradually receiving a complete confirmation. The first exposure was that of the Liberal party. Political changes, following one another in rapid succession, have within the last few years thrown them into a variety of new positions; and this so suddenly, as repeatedly to put them off their guard, and to exhibit their political system in every possible light and aspect: so that its utter vileness and worthlessness is now made manifest before the sun. But next has come the turn of the high party, or Tories, whose exposure sinks them lower still. Upon our looking about on all sides for the vilest object on which we can fix our eyes, they naturally settle on modern Liberalism, which indeed is very vile. Yet, on straining our sight, we discover something viler still: namely, modern Apostasy; the transition of those who have passed over to the ranks of Liberalism during the late political changes. But one more effort, and our eyes discern a third degree of vileness, vilest among the vile, in modern Consistency: in the consistency of those who within the last few weeks have suffered it to transpire, that after all their raving they are willing to accept power for their party (upon the sacrifice of a single victim), with the worst of their political opponents. Possibly the opening was appointed, only to exhibit them in their true character, to expose them to public contempt; and, that end having been answered, they will still be kept out. But if they are really to be admitted once more to power, then this, we say, is the time for every true Protestant to beware of delusion. They are to unite, it seems, with some of the least discreditable amongst those by whom the treachery of Emancipation was perpetrated: there is to be the sacrifice of a dead rat, to be flung without the circle, a victim to their outraged Protestantism: this is to pass as a kind of tacit confession of error, which is to satisfy them; and the whole is to be, hailed as a triumph of the Protestant cause! We, on the contrary, assert, that whenever such a union takes place, that moment the party of merely political Anti-catholics, already so near its end, BECOMES EXTINCT. Let no such delusion, then, deceive us. It is needful that we should reiterate these warnings: for the Christian Protestant has been often deluded by political Anti-catholics before. Often have we made them our idols, often have we thought that they were to uphold the Protestant cause, and often have we discovered our error by fatal experience; yet there cannot be the least doubt, that, if this same delusion were to be again renewed, many of us would be deceived by it again: and the effect must ever be the same; namely, that of turning true Protestants from the true remedies. That, that, is the danger. We place our confidence in political leaders, enemies of the truth, or men committed against it; and neglect our own weapons, which are not carnal, but mighty through God. -True it is,that in order to restore Protestantism to that national ascendancy which it justly claims, much must be done; and done in the world, as well as in the church. It must be done, however, not by help of the world, but by higher influences acting upon the world. We err as often as we trust in ordinary We commit an equal error as often as we trust in more distinguished characters." "It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man:" but not only this: "it is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in PRINCES." men. END OF VOLUME III. Ellerton and Henderson, Printers, Gough Square, London. |