enacted in Ireland, under the parental protection of the "immortal William," might have appeased the vengeance of monopoly, during the reign of that illustrious monarch; but succeeding tyrants of Ireland wanted some new wound with which they might feast their eyes, and the "good Queen Anne" most kindly consented to their gratification. The Irish monopolists imagined new danger to the constitution in church and state, and called for new powers to avert them. The catholic priest, though exiled from his country, still appeared formidable, Even the memory of his religious and moral example should be provided against, and the last mind which remained in the country, that might perhaps have retained a single principle which the catholic priest had planted, must be banished, before the constitution in church and state could be considered secure against its enemies. Were the catholics, or, in other words, were the people of Ireland guilty of any acts which could have exasperated the hand of power? Were they inclined to rebel against this tyranny? No; history says they were not; and the observation of mankind attests, that the sanguinary code of Anne would never have been enacted that no government would have so dared to violate the rights of human nature, if a spirit had existed in the people or their leaders, which would have had the courage to resist the oppression.

England found Ireland prostrate, and she trampled on her. Had even a breathing of indignation been perceived, that same England would not have

dared to make the experiment. Let it be a lesson to the future men of our country; let them meet the approaches of tyranny with a steady and determined tone, or the same scenes may again be acted, which disgrace the pages of our history at the commencement of the eighteenth century. The constitution has now armed the people of Ireland with the strong and irresistible power of public remonstrance. Let that remonstrance be as firm as the grievance of which it complains is severe; and though the retreat of intolerance may be slow, yet the light of reason and christianity will illuminate the progress of the petitioner.

It is painful to recall the human mind to the contemplation of those laws which were conceived by the malignant genius of monopoly ; for the interest of mankind it would perhaps be better to bury these examples of public infamy, the very mention of which must more or less contribute to the degradation of public morals; but the duties of the historian silence the voice of the philanthropist; and the loathing narration of every villany, as well as the record of every virtue, are equally the labours and the office of impartial history.

We have already detailed the splendid labours of King William " of immortal memory," against this country. It was he who gave the first grand and master-stroke,—it was he who first plundered the mind of Ireland,—it was he who legalized national ignorance and national immorality. He banished the instructor of youth, and the preacher of religion, he exposed the people to the arms of the

midnight robber,-he forbade the Irish catholic the possession or the use of arms, he established a never-failing source of perpetual discord and suspicion among the different sects of Christians,-he prevented intermarriage between the protestant and catholic, and threw up a perpetual bar to the concord or happiness of the nation. But that law which the "immortal king" thought proper, in his affection for Ireland, to give his consent to, and which was the natural prelude to all the oppression which followed, was that with which he commenced his reign, namely, the act which excluded the

Among the many productions which the genius and spirit of the 19th century has produced, on the melancholy subject of the sufferings of the Irish catholics, there is none perhaps which merits so high a place in the estimation of every honest and enlightened mind, as that work which its distinguished author has styled, "A Statement of the Penal Laws which aggrieve the Catholics of Ireland," Were we in want of a measure of the value of this performance, we should immediately find it in the efforts of the enemies of public liberty, to diminish its effects by the combined struggles of power, corruption, and sophistry. It would indeed be a work of supererogation to panegyrize a performance which the splendid eloquence of Bushe has already immortalized. Extorting praises from its enemies, what must be the admiration of its friends? What must be the strength of that arm under which the whole embattled host of the British government in Ireland is obliged to crouch? What must be the strength of that reasoning, which makes even intolerance tremble? and when, in order to be heard with temper, before no very friendly tribunal, the prosecutor is obliged to acknowledge the great pretensions of the man whose book he would endeavour to stigmatize? Ireland smiles at all this theatrical tumbling in the court: she admires the brilliancy of those powers which dazzle, even on the side of falsehood, but retires from the exhibition with contempt for the

catholics of Ireland from seats in the legislature, by imposing on them the necessity of taking those oaths which amounted to a renunciation of their religion. King William, of immortal memory, did all this; yet the corporations and the aldermen of Ireland will wonder that the Irish catholic should be insulted by the annual celebration of his memory.

judgment which could waste its time in an idle struggle with reason, justice and truth. Public fame has attributed to Counsellor Scully, a distinguished member of the Catholic Board, the execution of this most useful and necessary work to his country. Malignity would not be content unless the wreath, which Ireland would weave round the brow of its author, was rendered doubly precious by its calumny. His enemies have exhausted their fancy and their folly. Sophistry lies wearied with its unprofitable struggles; and the able expositor of the indignities under which his country suffers in the beginning of the nineteenth century, is enthroned on the ruins of his enemies. This book, of course, is sought for by every mind: it is to be found in every library; and promises, by the clearness and candour of its reasoning, to be the leading light to our legislators in their progress to the temple of justice. We have thus gratified our feelings in bearing our homage to the labours of our celebrated countryman. We hope that into whatever hands this compendium may fall, the observations we have made will induce them to read a work, which should be admired by the friends, because it has been persecuted by the enemies of Irish liberty.

Having said so much of the author, and of the great value of the production, we shall now take from his pages that passage which induced us to call the reader's attention to him. Speaking of the injuries which must flow to the catholic body, by their exclusion from the legislature, the author of the "Statement" makes the following unanswerable observations:

"On the other hand, were catholics eligible to seats in the legislature; were there only ten catholics in the upper house,

The "good Queen Anne” endeavoured to exceed his majesty in her affection for her Irish subjects. She therefore commenced her administration of Ireland with a perfidious violation of every law, divine and human. Having had the unprincipled

and twenty in the lower house, (which is a profitable estimate for the first ten years), how many mischiefs and errors might be avoided, how many useful projects framed and accomplished. No protestant member, however upright and enlightened, can be expected by the catholics to be constantly prepared to protect their property from unequal impost in parliament, their rights from aggression, their fame from calumny, or their religion from gross misrepresentation. Catholic members, and they alone, would prove competent to those tasks. A member of this description, duly qualified, speaking upon the affairs, complaints and interests of his own community, could readily falsify the fabricated tale, refute the sophistical objection, unravel the apparent difficulty, state the true extent of what is desired, what is practicable. Such a catholic, actually knowing the condition of his fellow-sufferers, could put down a calumny in the instant of its utterance, and this not merely by contradicting, but by referring with promptitude to existing documents, facts, and authorities; by quoting time, place, and circumstance, and bringing within the immediate view of the house and the public, the necessary materials of refutation."

"Finally," says this enlightened writer, "the statesman may truly observe of this exclusion of the catholics from both houses of the legislature, Continue this exclusion of the catholics, and the removal of all the other grievances will be of little value, and of no permanent security to the catholics, or to the empire. Remove the exclusion, and other grievances cannot long survive.""

Such, no doubt, is the importance of a seat in the legisla tive assembly: and King William, "of immortal memory," was so sensible of this, that he commenced his war against the Irish catholic, by plundering him of this great and paramount privilege.