remarkable and horrible particulars. (We shall soon notice some of them). Now shall we give a larger proportion of power, to those who make so bad a use of any the smallest? Pray, Mr. 'Canning, let us at least continue where we are; or, rather, let us withdraw our feet from the brink of that precipice, whither we have been led. To cast our eyes below is dreadful-to" topple down headlong" were destruction. *

Here we must lay aside our pen for the present. We shall resume it again, Deo volente, next month.-We consign Mr. Canning, touching part of his speech, to the animadversion of one who honours the pages of the PROTESTANT ADVOCATE, under the signature of SOMERS. See acknowledgments to Correspondents

on the cover of our last.

Observations on Part of the Speech of Mr. Canning, delivered in the House of Commons, 20th June, in favour of Catholic Emancipation. MR. Canning in 'his speech made in parliament on the 22d of June last, in favour of the Catholic Claims, condemned with the most marked disapprobation, with the utmost severity of censure, the publication of a small tract, containing the History of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew; though that dreadful event has been recorded in the annals of 'every y'nation in Europe, and though a'minute and interesting account of it appears in the splendid and luminous history of the candid and enlightened Thuahus, President of the Parliament of Paris, who was a Papist, and an eye-witness of it. Mr. Canning objected to the re-publication of this work, 'on the ground that it may offend the Catholies; and 'inflame them against their Protestant fellow subjects. But I think it right to inform him that every Popish priest is bound, before he enters into the discharge of his sacerdotal functions, to take a canonical oath, by which he is required to infuse into Whatever Bock he shall have, the doctrines of the general councils, and particularly those of the council of Tfent, which comprehend all the san guinary and intolerant tenets of the preceding councils; and they, as the Bishop of Lincoln observes, in his elegant and instructive charge," enjoin

Mr. Canning's clients have been at work again; on the fifth of November, (a day well chosen !) an aggregate 'meeting' of 'the "soi-disant Catholics, took place at Kilmainham. Many Resolutions were adopted expressive of the determination of those who were present, to obtain, what they choose to call, their Right. It was however resolved not to receive it, except UNCONDITIONALLY. We hope that Parliament will, notwithstanding, demand, and exact of these hot-headed Bigots, some competent SECURITY for the Protestant Constitution of this Realm.

Entituled An Awful Warning."-Stockdale.

the utter extirpation of heretics (that is of all Christians differing from the Church of Rome) and the dethronement of heretical sovereigns; and declare that all engagements entered into with heretics, though sanctioned by an oath, are nullities in themselves." The Popish clergy, not content with striving secretly, in the confession-box, to inspire their flocks with a furious and fanatical hatred against what they style an heretical government, and their Protestant fellow subjects, constantly disseminate among them, books and pamphlets, for the more effectual accomplishment of this object. I shall select a few of these, to shew the British public, how vain and futile the endeavours of a Protestant state must be, to conciliate and attach it to the members of the Romish Church, particularly in Ireland.

A small duodecimo volume, entitled, "Fifty Reasons why the Holy Roman Catholic Religion ought to be preferred, to all the Sects in Christendom," is constantly circulated among the Popish multitude, by their clergy, with increasing sedulity. In short, it is to be found in the cottage of every labourer and mechanic; by whom it is considered as a manual, to guide their conscience, and regulate their conduct. A few extracts from it will shew the reader its tendency. "Protestants cannot name so much as one person of sanctity that was of their religion.” "Our adversaries will confess, that during the first five ages, there was no other religion (meaning the Popish) to which nations were converted." "There is little or no instruction to be found among them (Protestants) upon points of morality, or the observance of God's commandments, but every thing is allowed to the desires and concupiscence of depraved nature." "Their parsons varnish over the dangerous maxims of their own religion, and every thing that tends to the perdition of those souls that are guided by them." They (Protestant Ministers) are not priests, since they have not power to consecrate in the Eucharist, nor to forgive sins, which is yet the main office of priestly dignily." "Heretics themselves confess, that Roman Catholics may be saved, whereas these maintain there is no salvation for those that are out of the Roman Catholic Church; what madness then were it for any man, not to go over to the Roman Catholics, who may be saved in the judgment of their adversaries." This wretched volume consists of 140 pages in small print, and it would require at least fifty pages to expose its treasonable tendency, and the Popish venom which it contains.

A Poem, in four Cantos, and in Hudibrastic verse, entitled "England's Reformation, from the time of Henry VIII." was reprinted by Peter Kacy, a Popish Bookseller, in Dublin, in the year 1791. It was written and published in London, by one Thomas Ward, a Popish fanatic, in the beginning of the 17th century, being a Satire on the Reformation; and it abounds with ridicule or bitter invective against the illustrious characters,

who by their piety and learning were anywise instrumental in its accomplishment. A small pocket edition of this pestilent libel against the established church, was published by one Coghlan, a bookseller, in London, in the year 1806.

A pamphlet entitled, "Causes of Popular Discontent in Ireland, by an Irish Country Gentleman, published in London in 1804, was reprinted in Dublin in the year 1805, by Hugh Fitzpatrick, Printer and Bookseller to the Royal College of Maynooth." This virulent libel, evidently calculated to rouse the Irish Papists into rebellion, represents the Irish government, and the Protestant nobility and gentry, as exercising the most wanton tyranny and cruelty, on the Irish Roman Catholics, and the magistrates as their willing tools and instruments for that purpose. It contains the following notorious untruth, "that in the reign of George I. an act passed in the Irish Parliament, to castrate every priest found in Ireland." The author states, "that the government ventures to insult the sect, [meaning Papists] and thereby makes rebellion, not only generous, but sacred." He says, that the property of Papists is not secured by the law i "and wherever men are found without laws to secure the rights of property, they are certain to exist in a savage state, deprived of the necessaries, as well as the comforts of life." * Не says, it has not been unusual in Ireland, for the great landed proprietors to have regular prisons in their houses for the summary punishment of the lower orders. Indictments preferred against gentlemen, for a similar exercise of power beyond the law, are always thrown out by the Grand Juries. + The reader may learn, from the following incident, how vain and futile any endeavour on the part of government to conciliate the Irish Catholics will be, while their priests are bound to infuse into them the doctrines contained in the general councils and canon law of their church.

No Viceroy ever went such lengths to conciliate the Irish Roman Catholics, and to attach them to the State, as Lord Hardwicke; and, when Julled into a state of indolent security, by a thorough conviction of having succeeded, a sudden insurrection burst forth in Dublin, on the 23d of July,

* The Life, Liberty, and Property of the Irish Papists are protected by the same Laws as those of Protestants; and under the fostering influence of our excellent Constitution, Popish Merchants, Farmers and Manufacturers have made Nabob fortunes within a few years.

+ It is a matter of general notoriety, that some of the Protestant nobility and gentry have been fined and imprisoned by the Court of King's Bench, within the last two years, for having strained their authority as magistrates, beyond the legal limits, towards cominon labourers; and large sums of money have been recovered by others, in civil actions, against persons of rank and fortune.

VOL. I. [Prot. Adv. Dec. 1812.] U

1803, in the course of which, many loyal subjects were massacred, and among them the venerable and humane Lord Kilwarden. *

It is singular and unaccountable that his lordship, and his brother-in-law, the Bishop of Kildare, should ever since have uniformly supported, in Parliament, the Catholic Claims, without any restriction or qualification whatsoever. There is not a doubt, but that the massacre of St. Bartholomew at Paris, those in Ireland in 1641, 1798, and 1809, could not have been brought about, had not the Popish clergy succeeded in infusing the sanguinary doctrines of their church into the multitude, by which they were prepared to rise suddenly and simultaneously (having first blinded the constituted authorities), and to butcher their fellow creatures, as heretics. In the month of January, 1806, Fitzpatrick published a pamphlet entitled "the Address of a Christian Philosopher to the Hibernian Society, in London, for the Diffusion of Religious Knowledge in Ireland." This writer spurns with contempt, mingled with indignation, the hopes and wishes of this society, to meliorate the morals of the multitude, by circulating bibles and good books of instruction amongst them. He says— "Gentlemen, I shall, in general, say of this plan, that its direct tendency seems to be, to extirpate Popery; † in this respect, it admirably coincides with the views of the faction, from whom you have received the representations of the necessitous state of Ireland. With them, extirpation is a favourite object; to extirpate Papists or Popery is their great study, and the ultimate end of their most favoured plans. Not many years ago, they talked deliberately of extirpating Papists with fire and sword; but the task, on a nearer view, appeared more difficult than was at first imagined. Such, gentlemen, was the spirit that was fostered during Mr. Pitt's administration, besides the daily outrages on the feelings of men, to which it gave rise, it often led to acts of great injustice, and great cruelty. How it could remove the supposed disaffection of Papists, I cannot conceive; nor can I see how it could put down Popery, or extirpate Papists; but it went to increase the tyranny and insolence of their oppressors: it went to nourish and stimulate the worst passions of men, and to tear asunder the bonds of social order. The faction was gratified, they considered the liberty of calumniating, of insulting, of mortifying the Papists as an invaluable privilege; and they very fully

* Many respectable persons informed Lord Hardwicke and the leading members of his government, that such an insurrection was in contemplation, and would soon take place; but the feigned loyalty, and delusive assurances of the Roman Catholics made them incredulous, notwithstanding those seasonable admonitions.

On the contrary, a Protestant Parliament endowed Maynooth College for the. ducation of Popish Priests.

"Ca

exercised it. But all things here below must have an end. Mr. Pitt closed his earthly career, and a persecuting administration was succeeded by one of a different cast." * He says of the Hibernian Society. tholics will persist in rejecting their religious tracts, and their books of devotion. They have many excellent tracts of that kind from Catholic writers, and in them the pure morality of the gospel is delivered, and explained, in the style and language of the day. It is equally averse to Sunday schools, and acknowledges that all Popish children have been withdrawn from them, lest their principles should be perverted."

He says "I have no hesitation in saying, and I say it without partiality, that the bulk of the vulgar Irish are better instructed in the Christian doctrine, than the bulk of the vulgar English; and that in no country was the knowledge of the scriptures more diffused than in France, for very far did it surpass England in that respect "+

Such are the tracts published by Hugh Fitzpatrick, Printer and Bookseller of the Royal College of Maynooth, which was founded by a Protestant legislature, and which is now supported by an annual grant from Parliament. How are the mass of the Irish Papists likely to be disposed towards the government and their Protestant fellow subjects when they are told, that they have their total extirpation in contemplation, that it is their favourite object, their great study, and the ultimate end of their most favoured plans. Fitzpatrick, it is well known, would not presume to publish a single paragraph on religion or politics, without the consent and approbation of the heads of that College, and of the dignitaries of the Romish Church. Whatever then is printed by him, is credited and respected by the multitude, as coming from the highest authority.

This practice, for many years, of publishing inflammatory books and pamphlets, made Fitzpatrick obnoxious to the loyal subjects of Ireland, and occasioned many severe animadversions on his conduct. The Ecclesiastical leaders of the Catholic body, determined to persevere; and wishing to skreen Fitzpatrick from the odium which he had incurred, set up as a stalking-horse in his place, one Coyne, a Tailor, whom they

* The Irish Roman Catholics obtained very important civil privileges, and a considerable share of political power, under Mr. Pitt's administration, in the year 1793; and the very great sacrifice which he made in the year 1801, because he could not do more for them, is universally well known. But nothing less than a complete surrender of the Constitution will satisfy them.

+ This pamphlet was very ably reviewed, and all its falsehoods and calumnies were exposel and refuted in that excellent work, the Antijacobin Review, Vol. II. Page 325.