4. A Peep into Purgatory; exhibiting the present Views of the Roman Catholics of Ireland. By the Rev. W. GREGORY. Nisbet and Co. London, 1837. WHEN the prime minister of England was pleased to affirm, in his place in Parliament, that "the Roman Catholics, in all the fundamentals of Christianity, agree with Protestants,"* he must have been guilty either of wilful deceit, or gross ignorance. Which is the fact, rests with his Lordship, and is no concern of ours. Few of our readers but must be well aware of the vast and irreconcilable difference which exists between the doctrines and discipline of the Anglican and Roman churches. In a previous article we compared them together, placing in juxtaposition the acknowledged tenets of each. It has at length become as clear as the sun at noon-day-a fact palpable to the most obtuse understanding, to which none but the wilfully blind can close their eyes, that while the members of the one church are doing all in their power to preserve Protestantism, as delivered to us by our ancestors, the members of the other are counteracting all their efforts, by means hitherto unparalleled for treachery and corruption. They loudly avow their determination to spoil its beauty, and to wrench the pure religious doctrines of England from the firm and steady grasp of her truest sons. We purpose in this article to show, beyond the possibility of cavil, that the members of the Roman-catholic communion who, by the Act of the year 1829, for the relief of His Majesty's Roman-catholic subjects, have taken their seats in Parliament under the security of an oath, have violated the condition of their admittance; and secondly, that a continuance of the Roman Catholics in the legislature is directly at variance with the Protestant principles and character of the British constitution. Now let us, in the first place, confine ourselves to the authorized pledges of the Roman-catholic body previous to the Act of Emancipation in 1829,—documents which Dr. Croly introduced in his soul-stirring speech, at the anniversary of the City of London Conservative Association, in June last. We will contrast, by laying, side by side, the professions of the Roman Catholics anterior to the passing of the Bill for the relief of their civil disabilities, and their acts after it had come into operation. We will place before our readers, facts calculated to startle the honest heart of Britain, and then demand, whether it be for the weal of the country, that our church, our state, and our constitution, should remain at the mercy of men who have (according to Protestant ideas) basely sacrificed their honour,-violated their oath in the presence of God and man,—and, by a species of unexampled perjury, inducted themselves into the British Parliament, mainly for the undisguised purpose of destroying that * An assertion attributed to Lord Viscount Melbourne, in the Report of his Lordship's Specch, of August 20th, 1835. 66 church which, in the face of Heaven, they had sworn to defend. But let us, without further preamble, come to facts. In the year 1757 Dr. Croly informs us that a Declaration of the Catholics of Ireland," framed by one of their bishops, Dr. O'Keefe, and their principal layman, was put forth as from authority. PROFESSIONS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLICS BEFORE THE EMANCIPATION BILL PASSED. "In the face of our country, of all Europe, and before God, we make this, our deliberate and solemn declaration. It has been objected to us, that we wish to subvert the present church establishment, for the purpose of substituting a Catholic establishment in its stead. Now we do hereby disclaim, disavow, and solemnly abjure any such intention. And further, if we shall be admitted into any share of the Constitution, by our being restored to the rights of the elective franchise, we are ready in the most solemn manner to declare, that we will not exercise that privilege to disturb and weaken the establishment of the Protestant religion, or Protestant government, in this country.' "In 1792, the Roman Catholics presented a petition to the Irish Parliament, containing these words: 'We solemnly and conscientiously declare, that we are satisfied with the present condition of our ecclesiastical polity. With satisfaction we acquiesce in the establishment of the national church. We neither repine at its possessions, nor envy its dignities. We are ready, on this point, to give every assurance that is binding upon man.' "In 1793, the oath taken by the Roman Catholics, in conformity to the Act of Parliament, contained the following words: 'I do hereby disclaim, disavow, and solemnly abjure any intention to subvert the present church establishment, for the purpose of substituting a Catholic establishment in its stead. ACTS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLICS AFTER THE EMANCIPATION BILL PASSED. The following Resolutions were adopted at a meeting of the Romancatholic clergy of the archdiocese of Tuam, held at Westport, on the 23d of May, to consider the provisions of the new ministerial Church Bill. The Roman-catholic bishop, Dr. M'Hale, presided :— "Resolved, That we deeply sympathize with our faithful flocks, in the grief and mortification they have experienced, at the utter prostration of the hopes which they entertained of the abolition of the tithe system; and that we should be undeserving of the confidence which they have uniformly reposed in us, if we did not participate in their feelings. "Resolved, That as it was not by vague complaints, but by loud remonstrances, as well as by active exertions, the Catholics of Ireland wrung tardy justice from their enemies; they ought still to persevere in this legitimate and constitutional line of conduct, which has been already so successful. "Resolved, That in no country of ancient or modern times, does history offer to our contemplation grievances more unparalleled than those which are embraced in the words, The Protestant Establishment of Ireland. “Resolved, That to clear the ground of all the encumbrance that retards the growth of justice in this country, we shall petition the legislature to appropriate the tithes and church lands to national purposes.' "On Dr. M'Hale's resolutions was And I do solemnly swear, that I will not exercise any privilege to which I am, or may become, entitled, to disturb or weaken the Protestant religion and Protestant government in this kingdom.' By this oath they obtained the elective franchise. "In 1805, their petition to the Parliament of the United Kingdom contained these words: 'Your petitioners most humbly state, that they have solemnly and publicly taken the oaths by law prescribed to his Majesty's Roman-catholic subjects, as tests of political and moral principles. Your petitioners beg leave to represent, that, by those awful tests, they bind themselves, in the presence of the Allseeing Deity, whom all classes of Christians adore, to be faithful, and bear true allegiance to their most gracious sovereign, &c. That they have disclaimed, disavowed, and solemnly abjured every intention to subvert the present church establishment, for the purpose of substituting a Catholic establishment in its stead; and that they have, also, solemnly sworn that they will not exercise any privilege to which they are, or may become, entitled, to disturb or weaken the Protestant religion or Protestant government of Ireland.' This was a petition for seats in Parliament. "In 1808, the petition of the Roman Catholics to the British Parliament still more in detail pledged them to the original declaration: Your petitioners most solemnly declare that they do not seek, or wish, in any way to injure, or encroach upon, the rights, privileges, possessions, or revenues, appertaining to the bishops and clergy of the Protestant religion, as by law established, or to the churches committed to their charge, or any of them.' founded, 'A petition of the Romancatholic archbishop and clergy of the archdiocese of Tuam, at visitation assembled,' thus beginning: Your petitioners beg leave to impress upon your honourable house, that the Catholics of Ireland have loudly, repeatedly, and unanimously, proclaimed their detestation of the tithe system, as fraught with injustice in principle, and cruelty; and that they should not be content until they achieve its utter annihilation.' The following are the Resolutions of the Irish Association, passed on the 24th of November, 1836 "Resolved, That it is incompatible with the principles of religious liberty, that any man should be compelled to pay for the ordinances of a church with which he is not joined in communion. 66 6 Thirdly-Resolved, That, in our opinion, no settlement of the tithe question can give satisfaction to the people of Ireland, which is not founded on the foregoing principles.' "Those resolutions," observes Dr. Croly," are palpably in direct defiance of the Roman-catholic oath; yet they were moved by Mr. O'Connell, declaring that he never rose with greater pleasure in his life than for the purpose !" Now with respect to the Romancatholic oath, how flagrantly was it broken, when the Roman-catholic members came forward in a "Their petition of 1812 again renewed the pledge: We have solemnly sworn that we will not exercise any privilege to which we are, or may become, entitled, to disturb and weaken the Protestant religion, or Protestant government in Ireland. We can, with perfect truth, assure this honourable house, that the political and moral principles, asserted by these solemn and special tests, are not merely in union with our fixed principles, but expressly inculcated by the religion which we profess. We can affirm, with perfect sincerity, that we have no latent views to realize, no secret or sinister objects to attain.' - "The petition of 1826, to Parliament, thus expressed itself:Your petitioners seek not the destruction, but the enjoyment of the constitution; and, in the pursuit of that desire, they do not, by any means' solicit,' or 'expect' or wish,' that a single individual of their Protestant fellow-subjects should be deprived of any right, privilege, liberty, or immunity, of which he is at present possessed.' 6 "The Irish Roman Catholic Association addressed the people of England in the same year in these words: Far from meditating the overthrow or destruction of the Protestant government, and Protestant establishment of the empire, we are ready to swear, as we already do swear, to support,' &c. &c. (Here follows the oath.) We are accused of intending to overthrow the church establishment, whilst we contribute to uphold its splendour and its power.' body for the purpose of suppressing ten Protestant bishoprics in Ireland-when they voted for the appropriation clause in the Irish Church Temporalities Bill—when they constituted the exact majority of twenty-five, in one of the divisions on the Church-rate Bill. Again, hear the language of Mr. O'Connell himself :— "I heartily supported the ministry of Lord Melbourne in their measure of tithe-relief, not as giving all I wanted for the people of Ireland, but as giving us a part, and establishing an appropriation principle which would necessarily produce much more; nothing, however, can be so absurd as the allegation of its finality. That Bill, had it passed into a law, was equally capable of being altered, not only next year, but by an express clause in the Bill, it could be altered or repealed that session, that is, in the session in which it should have passed. I, therefore, who am for the total abolition of tithes, voted for the abolition, in the first instance, of part only.'" Once more: the following Resolutions were submitted by Mr. O'Connell to the General Association in Dublin, on the 19th of January last: "That it is the opinion of this Association, that it is the first duty of the representatives of the Irish people, to realize, if possible, entire religious freedom for the Irish nation, in the next session, by obtaining, if that be practicable, the total abolition of the blood-stained impost of tithes.'-' That, if it shall prove impracticable to obtain the entire abolition of tithes in the next session, then it is the bounden and sacred duty of our representatives to fall back upon the next best measure, the abolition of part, The provided the same be accompanied "In the same year, the pastoral address of the Roman-catholic archbishops and bishops of Ireland thus reinforced the declaration, on the part of the clergy: Catholics of Ireland disclaim, disavow, and solemnly abjure, any intention to subvert the present church establishment, for the purpose of substituting a Catholic establishment in its stead: and, further, they swear that they will not exercise any privilege to which they are, or may be, entitled, 'to disturb and weaken the Protestant religion and Protestant government in Ireland.' The archbishops and bishops add, emphatically, this full and authentic declaration, we approve, subscribe, and publish,' &c. "The British Roman-catholic bishops published a declaration, in the same year, containing these words: He who takes an oath is bound to observe it in the obvious meaning of the words, or in the known meaning of the person to whom it is sworn. British Catholics are charged with entertaining a pretended right to the property of the established church in Ireland. We consider such a charge to be totally without foundation we declare that we entertain no pretension to such a claim. We regard all the revenues and temporalities of the church establishment as the property of those on whom they are settled by the laws of the land. We disclaim any right, title, or pretension, with regard to the same.'" by the appropriation clause.'That in thus supporting the ministerial plan of last session, or a more enlarged one, if practicable to enlarge it, the Irish members do assert and maintain the principle, that the entire should be abolished upon the first practicable occasion." " We So much for the professions and acts of the Roman Catholics. What we have instanced, however, would seem amply sufficient to demonstrate the violation of the Roman-catholic oath. will next examine what the Emancipation Bill has effected for the tranquillity of Ireland. Mr. O'Connell, indeed, affirms, with characteristic confidence, and would fain have us take him at his word, that Ireland was never so tranquil as at present. Facts, however, are stubborn things, and cannot well be set aside, even by the assurance of Mr. O'Connell; and to facts we shall appeal from his compendious assertion. In the printed reports we find it stated that, in the county of Tipperary alone, one hundred and seventy-nine murders were committed in a single |