their flocks from crime, and society from the danger of disorganization."

The Pope has recommended to the Irish clergy, to refrain from any interference with political questions, except when the lives or the religion of the people are in danger; exceptions which will be approved by every true New Englander.

On the whole then we look upon the Roman Catholic religion as a curse to Ireland, because by keeping the people in spiritual bondage, and by imposing upon them heavy pecuniary burdens, it has disquali. fied them for any other state than that of vassalage and degradation in which they have been held since the conquest; and because with a power over even the temporal hopes and fears of men which few systems of religion possess, it has failed to elevate the people or even to prepare them for a higher social condition. The nation would breathe freer if this incubus were shaken off. And yet we say with all candor, that we do not regard this as the chief evil of Ireland, nor sum up our prescription for her woes, with the denunciation of the Roman Catholic church.

But a greater curse to Ireland, is the union of church and state. The established religion is the religion of a very small minority of the people. Recent inquiries on the part of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, show that deducting the Wesleyan Methodists, the Episcopalians in Ireland amount only to 752,000 persons. Their number is said to be decreasing not only relatively but actually; for according to the parliamentary returns (from the commissioners of public instruction) in 1834-5, there were of the established church in Ireland, 852,064, Catholics, 6,427,712, Presbyterians, 642,356, and other Protestant dissenters 21,808: i. e. out of every hundred souls, 11 are of the establishment, 81 Roman Catholics, and 8 Protestant dissent

ers. In some counties, the proportion of Protestants to Catholics is exceedingly small; while in no instance do the Protestants constitute a majority of the population. In Antrim, there are 59,730 Protestants to 89,754 Catholics; in Ar magh, 70,634 Protestants to 112,395 Catholics, in Dublin city 61,883 Prot. estants to 172,075 Catholics; and in Fermanagh 61,624 Protestants to 94,837 Catholics. These give the largest ratio of Protestants. But in Cork, there are only 55,187 Protestants to 751,682 Catholics; in Clare 4,971 Protestants to 251,066 Catholics; in Galway, 4,802 Protestants to 253,155 Catholics, and in Mayo, 11,493 Protestants to 360,977 Catholics. This is the proportion of Protestants to Catholics; that of the members of the establishment is still less.

But the Protestant Episcopal Church of Ireland, has a revenue of nearly one million sterling, or about £1 for every member; and in addi. tion to this, it has received at vari ous times donations from the state amounting to 1,749,8187. And it must be remembered that this is not only the church of the minority, but of the rich minority, who are abundantly able to furnish themselves with religious instruction; for nine-tenths of the property of Ireland has been estimated to belong to Protestants. Pluralities, non-residence and sinecurism have hitherto existed to a greater extent in Ireland, than in England; but these evils have of late been diminished. At the last census, from 151 parishes no Protestants whatever were returned; from 194 parishes less than 10 each; from 198 less than 20; from 133 less than 30; from 107 less than 40; from 77 less than 50; so that there are 860 parishes containing less than 50 Protestants each, yet having an aggregate income of 58,000l.

To maintain a religious establishment at this enormous rate, the whole country is taxed to the extent

virtually of one-tenth of its available resources. No tithes are now levied in Ireland, for in consequence of the difficulty of collecting them, "a fix ed payment of three-fourths their amount, to be made by the landlords or others having a perpetual interest in the land," has recently been substituted in their stead. But after all, the burden still falls in the end upon the immediate occupiers of the soil, the poor cottiers, the great bulk of whom are Catholics.

Not only was the tithe-system one of gross injustice, but great oppression and cruelty were often practiced in enforcing it. Seldom of late years were tithes collected in Ireland, without scenes of violence and bloodshed. Often was the last article of furniture in the cabin, the last heap of potatoes in the pit, or the solitary pig on which the tenant relied for the pay. ment of his rent and the support of his family, seized by the tithe collector in the name of a Protestant clergy. man, having the care of from ten to fifty souls. To render this injustice the more flagrant, about the middle of the last century an act was passed by the Irish Parliament, exempting grass lands from tithe; so that while the tenth part of every little potato patch was exacted from the starving tenants, the vast tracts upon which the herds of the nobility were fed were left unmolested.

We have not space even to recount the acts of oppression which have been multiplied against the Catholics of Ireland. The following brief summary of them from the pen of the late Sidney Smith,* will show us that a Catholic Irishman has good reason for his cordial hatred of Protestantism.

Not twenty days elapsed from the signing of the treaty of Limerick, (Oct. 3, 1691,) guaranteeing to the Catholics the restoration of estates, privileges and immunities, as they

Works, Art. "Catholics;" (Edinburgh Review, 1808.)

had enjoyed them in the time of Charles II. and entire security from any disturbance or molestation on account of their religion,—not twen ty days had elapsed after the signing of these articles by the English general in behalf of his sovereign, when "the English Parliament excluded Catholics from the Irish Houses of Lords and Commons, by compelling them to take the oaths of supremacy before admission.

"In 1695, the Catholics were deprived of all means of educating their children, at home or abroad, and of the privilege of being guar dians to their own or to other per sons' children. Then all the Cath olics were disarmed—and then all the priests banished.

"On the 4th of March, 1704, it was enacted, that any son of a Cath olic who would turn Protestant, should succeed to the family estate, which from that moment could no longer be sold, or charged with debt and legacy. On the same day, Popish fathers were debarred, by a pen alty of 5001. from being guardians to their own children. If the child, however young, declared himself a Protestant, he was to be delivered immediately to some Protestant relation. No Protestant to marry a Papist. No Papist to purchase land, or take a lease of land for more than thirty-one years. If the profits of the lands so leased by the Catholics amounted to above a certain rate settled by the act-farm to belong to the first Protestant who made the discovery. No Papist to be in a line of entail; but the estate to pass on to the next Protestant heir, as if the Papist were dead. If a Papist dies intestate, and no Prot estant heir can be found, property to be equally divided among all the sons, or, if he has none, among all the daughters. By the 16th clause of this bill, no Papist to hold any office, civil or military. Not to dwell in Limerick or Galway, except on certain conditions. Not to

vote at elections. Not to hold ad

vowsons.

"In 1709, Papists were prevented from holding an annuity for life. . . . Papists keeping schools to be prosecuted as convicts. Popish priests who are converted, to receive 301. per annum. . . . Nobody to hold property in trust for a Catholic. Juries, in all trials growing out of these stat utes to be Protestants. Catholics not to serve on grand juries. In any trial upon statutes for strengthening the Protestant interest, a Papist juror may be peremptorily challenged. No Papist to take more than two apprentices, except in the linen trade. Rewards are given by the same act for the discovery of the Popish clergy; 501. for discovering a Popish bishop; 201. for a common Popish clergyman; 107. for a Popish usher! "In the next reign, Papists were prohibited from being either high or petty constables, and from voting at elections.

"In the reign of George II. it was decreed that no Papist should marry a Protestant; any priest celebrating such a marriage to be hanged."

This cruel legislation is at an end. A more wise and liberal policy toward the Catholics, bgan to prevail in the reign of George III; yet it was not till within twenty years past, "that the Roman Catholics were fully emancipated from all civil disabilities on account of religion, and were placed as respects their political rights and franchises, nearly on the same footing as Protestants."

But justice will not be done to the Catholics of Ireland, until the connection of the church and the state is wholly abolished, or until the Catholic clergy are admitted to an equitable participation in the reve nues of which they were originally deprived by ejectment, and to which, on the only plausible principle of a state-church-that- it shall be the church of the majority-they have a rightful claim. Did we not be lieve that the final dissolution of the

union of church and state is at hand, and that the days of the establishment in England itself are numbered, we should contend for the estab lishment of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland, as a measure of simple justice. But the immediate abolition of the present establishment in Ireland, is demanded by every principle of equity, and by every consideration of policy. We say immediate, but not unconditional. To sever the union of church and state, leaving the church in posses. sion of the revenues which have accumulated under that union, would be hardly less unjust to the body of of the people, and hardly less prejudicial to the interests of spiritual religion, than to perpetuate the union itself. On the other hand, to eject from their livings the present incumbents in the established church, would be a breach of good faith, and therefore an act of gross injustice. But if as livings in turn become vacant, they should revert to the state, and their revenues should be appropriated to the support of common schools, the liquidation of the national debt, or to some other object of public benefit, while the people of each parish should be left to the voluntary support of their religious institutions, the present system would soon die out without detriment to the rights or the interests of any party, and the removal of a monster evil would be effected almost without a shock. We use the term immediate, to denote, that the dissolution of the union of church and state should be at once deter. mined upon, to be effected as soon as in the nature of things, it can be wisely and safely done.

What a continual cause of irritation, to say nothing of the injustice of it, must be the exaction of "church cess," and of "minister's money" from the dissenters; and the levy. ing of a parochial rate from a community, nine-tenths of whom are Roman Catholics, to wash the sur

plice of a minister of the establish ment, and to furnish some twenty wealthy churchmen with bread and wine for their communion. What an outrageous imposition, is the tax on each house in a city like Cork, where the Catholics are to the Protestants as twelve to one, in lieu of tithes, for the support of the Protestant Episcopal incumbents of the city parishes.

Unfortunately the Presbyterians in Ireland, are also in the receipt of government bounty; the regium donum, originally bestowed by William III. as an expression of gratitude for service rendered, having been confirmed by an annual grant of Parliament. This stipend amounts on an average, to 751. for every Presbyterian pastor in Ireland, whether Unitarian or Orthodox. It remains to be seen, whether, if the project of endowing the Catholic clergy should receive the sanction of the ministry and of Parliament, the Presbyteri ans, notwithstanding their hereditary animosity toward the Catholics, will be content to share with them the patronage of government, or will renounce that patronage for themselves, and unite with their independent brethren upon the voluntary principle.

It is only upon that principle that the thorough evangelization of Ireland can be accomplished. The curse of an ecclesiastical establishment, as it exists in that country, must be removed, before the full power of the Gospel as a remedial system can be exerted there. For the honor of Protestantism, for the name of Christianity itself, we trust that the day is not distant, when the ecclesiastical system of Ireland shall cease to be among her most griev ous oppressions; and when a church, which is dignified with the name and

There are a few Presbyterian Covenanters and Seceders in Ulster, who magnanimously refuse the "regium donum," and who contend manfully for the voluntary principle.

the spirit of Whately, shall be no longer a reproach for its intolerance.

We have now completed our sur vey of the social, the political, the economical, and the religious condi tion of Ireland. Our readers have doubtless kept pace with events in that country since our last article ;the renewed horrors of famine in the south and west; the increased turbulence of the people; the active measures of the government to keep down insurrection; the violence of the repeal agitation-no longer a merely moral movement, and the threatened appeal to arms; the ar rest of popular leaders for sedition; the pompous state trials resulting in the transportation of patriots who were panting for martyrdom; and in short all the indications of an approaching civil war. The events of the past few months, have increased both the urgency and the embarrassment of the question, What shall be done for Ireland?

To that question we now direct our thoughts. It will be more easy to reply to it, by showing what ought not to be done in Ireland,-what measures will not suffice for her relief-than by prescribing any defin ite and feasible plan of social and political reform.

One of the most prominent meas ures proposed for the relief of Ireland, is the application of the Eng lish poor-laws to that country. This measure has provoked much acri monious discussion, both in Parlia ment and through the press, and has met in general with the uncompro mising hostility of the Irish landlords. In February, 1847, an act was passed, (10 Vic. cap. vii,) "for the temporary relief of destitute per sons in Ireland," the fundamental principle of which was, the granting of out-door relieft to the able-bodied

The term out-door relief,' is applied to relief administered to the poor at their own homes, or at some public depot, in distinction from the relief afforded in the work-house.

poor," when destitute and unable to support themselves by their own industry, or by other lawful means." This act recognizes the right of the able-bodied poor, when destitute of employment, to support from the government and the question is, whether that right shall be conceded, in future legislation for Ireland.

A grave question this, truly; not only for the British ministry, but for governments every where;-whether the support of the poor, is one of the functions of government. That it belongs to society to provide for the support of the poor, none can dispute; but whether it belongs to government to make such provision, is a question for the tax-payers of New York and Boston to consider, with their alms-houses crowded with the paupers of Europe. The operation of this principle in Ireland can easily be foreseen. According to the Earl of Shrewsbury,-whose sensible, straight-forward discussion of Irish affairs, is in striking contrast with his puerile conceits about "the virgins of the Tyrol"—there are at least 4,000,000 persons, or "a little more than fifty per cent. of the whole population of Ireland, living, or rather struggling through a miserable existence, upon the result of a precarious employment, (averaging about twenty-two weeks of the whole year, as given in evidence by the poor-law commissioners,) and the accident of a potato crop, or the alms of those but one degree less afflicted than themselves." Add to these the destitute of the civic population, and of the more favored agricultural districts, and "the list of possible claimants upon the poorlaw is swelled to the enormous amount of some six millions of human beings, or seventy per cent. of the entire population requiring food and maintenance during thirty or thirty-one weeks of the year."

The burden of this enormous pauper population, by the provisions of the act, is to fall upon the land VOL. VI. 59

holders-the owners of estates, and the farming tenants: and if funds are advanced by the general government to meet an exigency, they are to be charged as a loan to the district thus relieved. Now what will be the operation of this system? We have already remarked, that estates in Ireland are very generally mortgaged for from one half to twothirds their value, or are encumbered with life-interests and other liabilities. In fact, it is said by those who are most competent to form an opinion on the subject, that the great majority of landlords are bankrupt, in the sense of being unable to pay their debts from the net income of their estates. That income has been greatly diminished for two or three years past by arrears of rent, and by the increase of poor-rates under the old system. The adoption therefore of a system of permanent outdoor relief, chargeable upon landed estates, as Lord Lansdowne, one of the most munificent proprietors in Ireland, said in his place in Parlia ment, "must lead to the complete confiscation of the property of Ireland."

As the pecuniary burdens of landlords are increased, rents will be raised, till tenants who are now barely able to eke out a support for themselves and their families, will be reduced to the level of paupers. The poor cottier, whose diet is far inferior to that of the work-house which he is taxed so heavily to support, will ask himself whether the pride of earning his own living is worth what it costs; and when pauperism, like insolvency under a general bankrupt law, is no longer a disgrace, pride will no longer be a restraint. Any material increase of the poor-rate, by depressing still more the landed proprietors and the tenant farmers, would inevitably swell the list of claimants upon the public bounty.

Under the act referred to, soup kitchens were established in the