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Majesty to the legislature, to consider the civil disabilities which attach to his RomanCatholic subjects. This announcement was followed up by the declaration of Go vernment, that the cabinet had become unanimous in their conviction of the necessity of removing those disabilities, and of admitting Roman Catholics in common with their fellow-countrymen to offices of trust and power, with only some few exceptions, which the circumstances of the case rendered necessary. They added, however, that this proposition was to be accompanied with some other arrangements which they considered adviseable to guarantee the safety of the Protestant interest, and the existing order of things in church and state. As a preliminary to both these measures, and in accordance with the recommendation in the King's Speech, they had determined to bring in a Bill for the suppression of the Catholic Association, which had usurped a most dangerous power and accordingly a Bill is rapidly passing both houses to effect this object; the provisions of which, in fact, apply equally to Brunswick clubs, or any other association, which the Lord Lieutenant may consider dangerous to the public peace. This formidable authority is however granted only for a year; being intended, it would seem, merely to prevent temporary collisions dangerous to the public peace, and to allow an interval for the adjustment of the feelings and circumstances of Ireland, in accordance with the new relations which may arise out of the projected measures.

With regard to the measures themselves no light has yet been thrown upon the details: neither the provisions of the enactment of grace, nor those of guarantee or restriction, are as yet disclosed to the public. Writing therefore in the dark upon both these points, we are unable at present to lay before our readers our views of the case with that explicitness which so important a question demands; otherwise it would have been our wish, with all Christian frankness, to state some considerations which appear to us of importance in coming to a right decision on a subject of such moment to the interests, both temporal and spiritual, of our beloved country, of millions now living, and of hundreds of millions yet unborn.

The intended measures we have stated consist of concessions and of safeguards. With regard to the latter, we are not sanguine in believing that it will be possible to propose any specific arrangements of much practical efficiency; the only real guarantee for the loyal and peaceable behaviour of any large body of men is, their feeling that they have an interest in the common weal which cuts off the sources of temptation to discontent and opposition. Among a variety of specific safeguards have been mentioned-abridging the right of suffrage in Ireland; a concordat with CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 326.

the pope; a veto on Catholic Episcopal appointments; restricting Catholic members of parliament from voting on matters which affect the welfare of religion or the Protestant church; but, above all, paying the Roman-Catholic clergy from the public purse, in order to bind them to the interests of our church and state. Looking at these matters, not as secular politicians, but as Christians and Protestants, we shall pass over the first of these recommendations, abridging the right of suffrage, which is purely a concern of civil arrange ment, in no way involving any point of religion. Restrictions on voting within the walls of parliament would, we fear, be found nearly impracticable in operation; for what legislative question is there which does not in some way affect the interests of religion? and how could parliament itself be able to decide at every turn upon the matter; at least without endless debate and loss of time? With regard to vetos and concordats, we should object to them on the ground of our thus recogniz ing, we might say truckling to, a power which has not and ought not to have any authority in this Protestant country. But infinitely more still should we object to paying the Catholic priesthood. To treat our Catholic neighbours as fellow-subjects, to give them every civil privilege, is not to be compared for a moment with the guilt of actively supporting a corrupt churcha church prophetically denounced of God, and historically proved most baneful to man. We would keep no measures with the papal superstition, as such: no, let it be opposed and reprobated as it deserves ;with temper indeed, and Christian charity, with enlightened wisdom and hallowed weapons;-but still, with firmness, with scriptural zeal, and with an earnest desire to rescue from its snare, those who are oppressed by its spiritual thraldom. We, trust, therefore, that should any measure be brought forward for paying the Roman - Catholic priesthood from the public purse, a measure which so many mere political Protestants have urged as a master-piece of policy, and which would greatly abate their opposition to the removal of civil disabilities; it will be opposed by all religious Protestants, as a direct violation of Christian duty, an unhallowed union with a communion with which we ought to hold no intercourse but that of kindly social offices as men, or of active zeal for the spiritual reformation of its members. What are called the evangelical clergy in our church, as well as those dissenting ministers and laymen who symbolize with them in their leading views of Christian doctrine and piety, are, as is well known, divided in opinion, respecting the propriety of removing civil disabilities; but we doubt not they would be, found united to a man to oppose that miserable system of alleged political expediency which would seek to secure the

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civil adhesion of the Catholic body by offering a bonus upon their corrupt faith. Their rights, real or supposed, as men and citizens, is one thing; but it is quite another to afford pecuniary aid for the maintenance of their religion. Many religious persons feel disposed to think that we ought to cease legally to recognize Papists, in order to persecute them, who would be still more averse to recognize them in order to embrace them. They would employ neither rewards nor punishments: what they wish is oblivion. We tolerate Hindoos and Mohammedans in India, but we do not pay their Brahmins and Muftis. But we cannot persuade ourselves that Government will consent to view Protestantism so much as the creature of state policy, and so little as connected with religious sanctions, as to propose any such measure; and in truth, as we have before said, there is little real guarantee for the good conduct of any large body of men, except their interest in the public weal; and the feeling that if they are unreasonable in their wishes, they are sure rather to lose than to gain, from the vast majority of their countrymen who would be arrayed against them. From safeguards we pass on to conces-, sions; where, as we have before said, public feeling, even among pious and well-judging men, is greatly divided. The avowed argument in parliament, that which has swayed the duke of Wellington, and even Mr. Peel himself, is, that the adjustment of the question has become absolutely necessary for the public welfare; that Ireland is in a most lamentable state of faction, and that the government at home is constantly embarrased by a difference of opinion on this vital subject; that a divided cabinet ought no longer to be allowed, and that one united in opposition to the removal of Catholic disabilities cannot be formed; or, if it could, would be unable to govern either Ireland or England. It is said also, though not on authority, that some of the members of the government have seriously doubted whether they could legally disprove Mr. O'Connell's right to sit in parliament; and that thus, in fact, one chief point in dispute was conceded, whether by accident or otherwise, at the Union. These representations, grounded upon alleged expediency amounting to necessity, have induced great numbers of persons, both in public and private life, to withdraw their opposition to the proposed concessions; and even some of the most zealous friends of religion, who still doubt the propriety of the projected measure, have thought it, upon the whole, their duty to confide in the information and integrity of the constituted authorities of the country.

Such, however, has not been the more general feeling among the great body of the friends of piety and Protestantism;

who, alarmed at the fear of papal ascendency, and considering the wrath of God as denounced upon the Church of Rome and her abettors, maintain that no considerations of alleged public necessity, or deference to the opinions of " the powers that be," ought to induce them to withdraw their opposition to every species of concession. This is certainly the feeling most likely first to arise in the mind of a truly religious Protestant: (we lay great stress on these words:) yet we think that there are many counter considerations which ought not to be overlooked; nay, which ought to have very considerable weight in the minds of such persons, towards reconciling them to the proposed healing measures. For ourselves, though we can by no means divest our minds of all anxiety, our preponderating feeling, we frankly admit, is one of hope. We have looked with much pain at the civil and religious distractions of Ireland; we have seen how little good effects, in a religious view, has attended measures of exclusion; we have doubted how far penal statutes are legitimate instruments for promoting the Gospel of Christ; we have been concerned to see individuals of notoriously evil lives, fondly hailed, yea, even by truly Christian men, as the champions of Protestantism, to the great injury of Protestantism in the public eye as a religious system, and to its identification with mere party and political ascendency; we have mourned over the frustration of the hopes of so many zealous friends to the spiritual welfare of Ireland, in consequence of that opposition to every scheme of improvement which has been generated by political feuds; we have lamented to see some political Protestants breathing out the threatenings and slaughters of the Church of Rome, and even some religious Protestants carried away by the same fierce and exterminating spirit; we have lamented to think how little prospect there was of civilizing, educating, and seripturally instructing the populace of Ireland, while civil feuds rendered suspected every agent of Protestant benevolence; we have seriously feared that the disabling statutes far from thinning the ranks of Romanism, have, by a natural re-action, replenished them, and have greatly tended to prevent Catholics of rank and influence from opening their eyes to the errors of their church, lest they should thereby seem to desert their party while in disgrace; we have lamented also to witness the injurious anomaly by which Popery has found allies in the ranks of liberalism,-thus banding scepticism and superstition in strange alliance; enlisting tolerance in defence of an intolerant church, causing many of our public men to soften down its baneful features, who would have been the first to pourtray them in their hideousness, if the subject had come before them in its proper aspect, apart from the question of

penal disabilities; we have been dejected at viewing the hostilities, so injurious to religion, which for years have rent the country, which have alienated friends and sown discord among brethren ;- but where should we stop if we went on to state all the evils which have arisen and were perpetuated by our penal statutes in Ireland? Can we then regret that something is at length to be done to allay these perturbations; and, above all, that a more free course is now likely to be opened for the promotion of the pure religion of the Gospel, for Scriptural education and Protestant instruction, in that distracted country? The Protestant clergy will now have no excuse for not endeavouring to benefit and enlighten their Catholic parishioners; nor will the latter have the same cause to be jealous of their interference. Our Education societies, Bible societies, and Reformation societies, we would hope, will stand on new and vantage ground. Worldly weapons have been tried long, and tried in vain: let us now come to our misguided fellow-subjects, not with sword and spear and shield,

but in the name of the Lord of Host and with the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

In these opinions we may differ from many valued friends; but we have stated them honestly, and if we are wrong we are wrong upon principle and from conviction. We have no fears for the extension of Popery in our beloved country. That religion is as contrary to the spirit and temper of the age, as it is to the word of God. It has of late risen into publicity by an outcry-certainly in the main a very senseless one-of persecution; let it alone or rather oppose to it the word of God, and it must fall to the ground.

Intelligence has arrived of the death of the Pope. We have no space for particulars. Dr. James, the much respected Bishop of Calcutta, has followed Middleton and Heber as a victim to the labours and anxieties of a diocese that ought to be divided into four at the least. He is to be succeeded by a clergyman of exemplary piety and aptitude for the office, the Rev. T. M. Turner, Examining Chaplain to the Bishop of Chester.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

D.; J. B.M.; П515; R. B. S.; and A. R. C.; will appear.

THEOPHILUS; THEOGNIS; HUMANITAS; E. P. R; ONE OF YOUR FIRST SUBSCRIBERS: Epopos; IRENEUS; N.; and E. M. B.; are under consideration.

CLERICUS asks, "However apposite may be the language of Mr. Norris, quoted in your last Number, to other articles in the British Critic and Theological Review,' is it not inapplicable to that to which you allude, relative to the Anti-Slavery Society's Reporter?"-Clericus will be able to answer his own question, if we quote for him only one single remark of the British Critic, in which he entitles the "Reporter's " exposition relative to the Slave-Conversion Society, "impudent, stupid, and most disgraceful: " he had already called it "disgusting." The British Critic must rely upon his readers possessing more of an unflinching party-spirit, than of a love of candour or justice, before he can presume that such language as the above affords the best vehicle for conveying his arguments. But, whatever may be the language of the British Critic, the real friends of our Church Societies, connected with the West Indies, will feel that abuse is not argument; and that there are but two ways of settling the question, either by disproving the charges, or by reforming the practice. Hard words are of no value in the matter.--Clericus does not appear to have seen the able and convincing reply to the British Critic, circulated with our Appendix, which his bookseller has perhaps failed to forward to him. If any other of our readers have not received their copies of the Appendix, we should be obliged to them to order them to complete their sets for the year. We may take the opportunity of stating, that some particular Numbers of our last volume having been in peculiar demand, our publisher can make up only a comparatively small number of complete copies, without re-printing those Numbers. Those subscribers, therefore, who have recently begun taking in the work, or who wish to commence with the last volume, so as to have the supplemental papers complete from the beginning, should order them immediately through their bookseller. With our Appendix is given a title-page for binding up the supplemental papers. Our subscribers might very easily extend the circulation of our work among their friends; and if they think it calculated to do good, we are sure they will feel it right to do so. We are sorry we cannot reply to at least half a score correspondents, who request the names of the treasurers, secretaries, or bankers of various religious and charitable societies. A letter addressed directly to the Secretary of these Societies, London, would find its way as correctly as one addressed to the Editor of the Christian Observer; and save us much unnecessary trouble. Where the inquirers have sent us their address, we have returned an answer by post; but it is not fair to our general

readers to encumber our pages with such details for private information. Several of these Societies insert occasional advertisements on our cover, to which the inquirers may refer.

T. J., after stating the same facts as DEFENSOR and N. L., p. 91, adds, that the anecdote of Mr. Robinson, mentioned by SP-N in our last Number, related to the hymn "Come, thou Fount of every blessing," which was his, and not to "Jesus, lover [refuge] of my soul," which was not.

A CONSTANT READER mistakes in saying that it has been our uniform practice to insert a preface to each volume. Had we, however, been aware that our prefaces were in such good estimation, we should not perhaps have omitted one to our last volume; though what topics we had to urge we intended to introduce as occasion served in other places.

SUPPLEMENT TO RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY.

Among the interesting facts in this month's extracts, we notice with much pleasure the purchase of 300 Bibles, Testaments, and Biblical selections by the Portuguese emigrants at Plymouth; the circulation and intelligent perusal of English Bibles in the native schools of Madagascar; and the distribution by sale within the year of 4661 copies in the precincts of the Turkish empire itself.

the case.

ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY.

With much pain, yet with an imperative feeling of duty, we lay before our readers this month's Reporter, which relates chiefly to the slave estates of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. We have ourselves urged the subject in vain for several years; it has now received a more full and public discussion, and must command the attention of the Society, of parliament, and of the country at large. We scruple not again to repeat our full conviction, that whether we consider the feelings of the British public, or the duties of the Society as a Christian and charitable institution, nothingshort of making their labourers free villagers, working, not under the lash, or from fear of the stocks and imprisonment, but for just wages, will satisfy the exigencies of So long as they are slave holders, their most benevolent intentions must continue to be frustrated, as they have been for nearly a century and a quarter. The scene is too distant for their supervision; nor can they make West-Indian agents think, feel, and act, as the Society do at home. We are prepared to return again and again to this afflicting subject.--But we are asked again and again, what can the Society do? The end to be attained is obvious enough. Look, for example, at our volume for 1823, p. 685. Many benevolent individuals have been honest in doing their duty, by breaking the yoke from off the necks of their slaves; and the result has corresponded to the intention, even at a time when the state of civilization among the slaves must have been much more backward than now in Barbadoes. In the small island of Antigua alone, 956 manumissions have taken place in six years. Has any inconvenience resulted to Antigua from the 956 manumissions? Or if the proportionate number of 2550 had been manumitted in Barbadoes, and the Society's slaves had been of that number, where would have been the possible evil? There are now in Barbadoes itself, about 5,000 free Blacks, or Persons of Colour; and in Trinidad, a neighbouring island, 18,000 such persons.--If the Society's 381 slaves formed a part of either of these bodies, where, we again ask, would be the evil or the inconvenience? It has been a greater sacrifice in many individuals to free half a dozen slaves, than it would be for this Society to manumit its 381. It is vain to talk of giving examples of progressive amelioration and emancipation. Such a society never can find agents for such a work. They have but one plain path to take, and one Christian example to give. All short of this is a compromise with conscience. And yet, even with this compromise, there are many things to be done, which they have not done or even attempted. Every child may in future be born free. The women may be delivered from the labour of tilling the ground like cattle. All the slaves may be encouraged to effect their own redemption, by having wages, instead of the whip to stimulate them, and time to labour for themselves-but there is no end to such suggestions. If the Society are in earnest, they will find no difficulty in filling up the details.

REFORMATION SOCIETY.

We looked with some caution at the early proceedings of this Society; but it has honestly gained upon our confidence, and the present most interesting Number of the Quarterly Extracts proves its full claim to the zealous and confident suffrages of every friend of Religion and Protestantism. The Society has most wisely avoided political allusions; and we will follow their example in noticing its proceedings: yet we may be allowed to hope that the fears of some of its most excellent members are unfounded, and that new and unexpected facilities will be opened for its exertions and It has calmly urged its way amidst political heats: may it, in the mercy of God, find in future a soil better prepared for its holy labours!

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RELIGIOUS COMMUNICATIONS.

ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION.

(Continued from page 71.)

STATED in my last paper my belief that the various phenomena of superstition, and especially alleged supernatural appearances, depend upon a morbid condition of the brain, in consequence of which it has escaped the due controul of the presiding mind. In order to apply this proposition to the several forms of superstitious manifestation, it is necessary to describe the functions of the brain in a state of health and of disease.

I. The brain is a material organ, and is liable to be acted upon by many physical causes.

This is almost a self-evident proposition, since we see that it is possessed of extension, figure, solidity, and of a certain degree of invariable structural arrangement. It is true that we are unacquainted with the ultimate cerebral fibre, or with the reason why these fibres are assembled according to their present form; and it is also true, that we are unacquainted with the mode of their function: but we conclude, from very close analogy, that the brain is most perfectly adapted to its peculiarity of function, because we know that this is the case with other organs and functions of the body; and because we find, from observation, that this office is more or less CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 327.

perfectly performed, according to varying circumstances of original character, and physiological manifestation, as well as according to the phenomena of health or disposition. Now, as such, the brain will require a due and regular supply of fine and healthy blood, exactly in proportion to the extent and importance of its agency in the animal economy; and its functions will be feebly and irritably carried on if that supply be defective in quantity, or less highly animalized than in its most perfect state. On the contrary, it will be oppressed, if the supply should exceed the demand for ordinary expenditure: and it will be variously irritated and disturbed, if that blood shall not have undergone its purifying change; and, more especially, if it shall have been charged with any noxious qualities; accord. ing to the extent of its deterioration, the intensity of the consequent morbid impression, and the disordered changes with which it is associated.

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But, since the brain also forms the centre of nervous sympathy, it is intimately connected with many other viscera, whose functions cannot be carried on without the assistance derived from this organ, and whose infinitely varied disturbances are all propagated by a reflex action to this common centre. Thus, disorder of stomach will interfere with the integrity of brainular action ; T

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