The Press. — London, England, 1854-02-25 00:00:00

'lB4 Bagot still kept his own seat a little while, but he could not long endure his position. He fancied every one was looking at him, though when, with this impression strong On him, he glared defiance around, every eye was averted. Ho wished—he only wished—that some one would offer him some gross tangible in sult, that he might relieve him self by an outburst — that he mi g ht hurl his scorn and defiance at them and the whole world. No one, however, seemed likely to oblige him with an opportunity of this kind, and, after a minute or two, Begot rose, and, with as much composure as he could command, quitted the room and the house. As he walked—in no ' happy frame of mind with himself, with the world, or with Seager, whose advice had entailed upon him this mortifica tion—towards his lodgings along one of the small streets near St. James's, he saw some one wave his hand to him, in a friendly manner, from the opposite side of the way. Bagot was too shortsighted to recognise this acquaintance; but, seeing him prepare to cross the road to him, and reflecting that he could not afford to drop any acquaint ances just then, when all seemed desertmghim, he stopped to see who it was. the person who now drew near, had '`'arch, but happening to be fast in progress in the different branches a which he was particularly slow, dignity of orders. He had formerly as Bagot, but had lost his footing strong suspicions of dishonourable These seemed the more likely to be sought to rebut the charge against 'ured that, since the occurrence, he flung, at the same time, no great secrecy—with a certain swindling con- Bagot had, when last in town, in all of conscious integrity, avoided Mr. 'gelled all his attempts to renew returned his greetings, when they the most chilling and formal bows. think that late circumstances had ietween them, for he not only saluted familiarity, but took his hand. The and, intrenching himself behind his dto pass on. Jack Sharpe, nothing ieerfully beside him. It to notice that the illustra ane are from the author's unequal in merit, but highly Amateur's performances. A !ry, who can write brilliantly is a new character in cordially welcome his ap- Ature, and we hope to meet and again. We can perceive ley has talents that will not dry; and, as grave necessi now compel him to lay aside , we have no doubt that he also in a still more exciting letters. We get occasional thinks as one of our most Inservatives ; and the foe may can fight like the sturdiest 'er wishes, for a couple of the blue devils put to the once equip themselves with . this most versatile of the gal- Mars, and, with such an ally, lefiance to the worst invasion of AND THE COALITION. in Ireland in 1853. London Reformation in lar Connaught. By the eoredy. Dublin : P. D. Printed) to the House of Lords of rational Schools, presented by .rord the House of Lords Feu. !te on the Earl of Eglinton's Committee on Irish Education. .overnent towards scriptural Ireland be thwarted by insidious I the ground lost by the Pope through the arts of Jesuitry of officials of high station ? tcation of the people of Ire to the ascendancy of the the National Board to be un- le Protestant opinion of the blic money to be given from ~Achequer to a system from Archbishop of Dublin, the ea u. of Ireland, and Mr. Baron been compelled to withdraw Ice? Are the representations Catholics to bo implicitly are the remonstrances of be ignominiously ignored?" Mr. Jack Sharpe, the p been intended for the Chi everything except in his p i of university learning, in be never arrived at the dil moved in the same circle there, in consequence of a conduct on the turf. TI just, as he had never sc him ; and it was rumou had allied himself—taki precautions for secrecy— ..- federacy. Therefore 13ai the might and majesty of Jack Sharpe, sternly re; their acquaintance, and i Chanced to meet, with th Sharpe appeared to thin i bridged over the gulf bets Begot with unwonted fan colonel disengaged it, an dignity, endeavoured to daunted, walked cheerful We must not omit tions in the volun pencil. They are-u creditable as an ai captain of artillery and sketch cleverl:, authorship. We c pearance in literat with him again an i that Captain Hamle i be easily pumped c # r ties will probably n his pleasant pen, will gain laurels a] field than that of k," r glimpses that he 1 sensible Conserval learn that he also of them. Whoeve evenings, to have rout, let them at o the volumes of thi lant sons of Mars they may bid defiai the spleen. THE CHURCH 4. The Protestant ii Seeleys. 2. The Reformation Rev. James Mi Hardy. IL Petition ( Printed Patrons of Natiol Fitzwilliam to tlu 4. Report of Debat i Motion for a Co Times (Feb. 18). I " SHALL the mov i " religion in Irelan I " foes, and shall tb " be recovered thi " and the apathy ( " Ought the educe " land be left to " priests, and is th " controlled by the " empire ? Is put " the imperial ex( " which the Arch . it " Lord Chancellor " Greene, have b " their confidence " of the Roman " accepted, and " Protestants to bi THE PRESS. Such are the questions asked, with more or less warmth, by influential parties interested in the promulgation of scriptural religion and ardent in the cause of Christian truth. They derive additional gravity from the notoriety of certain facts in the administration of the present Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. The Viceregal patronage of such politicians as Mr. William Keogh and Mr. John Sadleir, the scandalous impunity given to the reverend rioters at Six-mile-bridge of sanguinary fame, the promotions given to Coalitionist Roman ists, the very peculiar tone of the St. Germans press, the scoffing derision offered to the opinions of Archbishop Whately and Mr. Blackburne, furnish ample topics for the angry invectives of those who would insinua te that between the Castles at Dublin and St. Angelo there exists a telegraphic communica tion, by means of which the understanding of " His Excellency " is often mesmerised with some spiritual whispers from " His Holiness." For our part, we desire to draw the attention of our readers to the question of education iu Ireland, without encompassing its discussion with the inflammatory topics common to Irish affairs, and in the very first place we have to observe that the subject is in every sense, direct as well as collateral, an English and imperial, as much as an Irish or a local, one. The rules laid down at Dublin by a constituted "Board of Education," supported by 192,0001. per annum from the English exchequer, are of imperial importance. " What's fact to-day will be precedent to " morrow," and the experiments tried in Ire land may possibly be repeated nearer home. Our systems of police and local courts are but copies from similar machinery in Ireland, and we have imported also from the sister isle that systematic clamour and organised agitation under which free opinion in this realm has been considerably endangered. But even on the highest moral grounds, apart from any technical regard for administrative politics, the whole question of the National Board, in its relation to Protestantism and the Church of England, is essentially a subject to which the public opinion of England must be energetically applied. Upon the whole ques tion we could wish to say a few plain words, setting forth the fulness of its importance. The very gravest part of the subject is that arising from the prodigious increase in the number of Protestants in Ireland. It has been doubted whether the positive addition to the Protestants by means of conversions has been so great as has been asserted. The point can be settled at once by reference to the files of the Roman Catholic journals. The author of the first work at the head of this article writes : Of the extent of the movement it must be understood there is no question on either side ; it is the character of it which isin question. Even in 18.51, when it was much more limited than at present, the Tablet, the great organ of the Roman Catholic party, the powerful exponent of Ultramontanisrn, wrote m the Bth of November, 1851 "We repeat that it is not Tuam nor Cashel, nor Armagh, that are the chief seats of successful proselytism, but this very city in which we live," i.e. Dublin. Another Roman Catholic organ, the Dublin Evening Post, thus wrote on the 11th of November, 1851: " We learn from unquestionable Catholic authority that the suc cess of proselytism in almost every part of the country, and we are told in the metropolis, is beyond all that the worst misgivings could have dreamt of. There is not only no use in denying these statements, but itwould be an act of treachery to the best interests of the Catholic Church to conceal them, or to pass the matter over as a thing of no great moment. There is no Catholic who does not regard the movement—if he be a sensible and sincere one, and not a brawler and a mountebank—with, we were going to say, dismay, but we shall substitute for the word, indigna tion and shame." Nation Newspaper, November 20, 1852, writes: " There can no longer be any question that proselytism has met with an immense success in Connaught and Kerry. It is true that the altars of the Catholic Church have been de serted by thousands born and baptised in the ancient faith of Ireland." " The Irish nation is fast dissolving, as the Jewish na• tion dissolved before the curse of (sod lr eland is ceasing to be a Roman Catholic nation."—The Nation newspaper. " In many parishes at present the priest gazes on his empty chapel The Roman Catholic Church of Ireland will need a defence association of guardian angels to save it from extinction."—Nation newspaper. But the very extent of this movement—this late blossoming of the goodly tree of the Re formation—is a reason why Rome is now put ting forth her old resources for blighting the SATURDAY, precious promise. Unable to bully the British Parliament with an " appropriation clause," and foiled in its attempt to violate the Act of Union, Romish generalship artfully retreats from the parliamentary encounter, and adopts an ingenious system of covert policy. Here is what the Romanist leaders say in their con claves ;—" English opinion has abided with " Lord Derby on the appropriation question' " raised in 1834. Even Lord John Russell, "as Mr. F. Lucas, M P., says, laughs in our " face' when we talk of the Irish Church " question. Even our dear ally Sir James " Graham repeats that the Irish Church " property must be held sacred from spoliation, " and the friends of the writer of the Durham " letter ' will not join in any cry against the " Establishment. It is hopeless to fight an " open battle against the Church of England. " Shall we then despair ? No ! let us get hold " of the education of the Irish and we will yet turn " the tide of victory." Divested of its Jesuitry and its sacerdotal style of rhetoric, such is the political logic of those wily persons who suc ceeded in driving on the Romanist members of the Board of Education into courses which eventuated in the withdrawal of the Arch bishop of Dublin, Mr. Blackburne, and Baron Greene. Nor let it be thought that there is shallowness or want of craft in this masked policy so dextrofisly adopted. The priests have already their Maynooth with thirty thou sand pounds per annum for the special educa tion of their clerical recruits ; they have also the Queen's Colleges, a costly experiment, in which all creeds are placed upon a level ; and at the University of Dublin the degrees are open to Roman Catholics. Let our readers mark the pregnant fact that the Roman Catho lics of Ireland have far more educational ad vantages than their fellow-subjects, the Pro testant Dissenters of England. We will not pause to inquire into the mode in which they obtained these great advantages, but the fact is patent that their Sheila, Moores, Wyses, Woulfes, and Pigots can freely graduate in the university of Usher, Swift, Berkeley, and Grat tan ; whilst upon the other hand the Baineses, Martineaus, W. J. Foxes, and Howitts cannot take degrees at Oxford and Cambridge. Yet, so far from softening Roman Catholic big otr, or appeasing its insatiate appetite for do mination, it is announced that Rome if sh e be allowed) will never pause until she can clutch with tenacious grasp the entire manage ment of the revenue of the Board of Educa tion. Her ample repast at Maynooth, along with the favours given to her at Trinity Col lege (a university established by Queen Eliza beth for advancing the Reformation) and in the Queen's Colleges, have only whetted tho serpent's appetite. Its scaly folds glittering through its ambush show it writhing in its sinuous course, and collecting itself fora spring at its too unsuspicious foe. Not the least curious and interesting fact in relation to the question of the Education Board is the circumstance of education proving such a powerful element in assisting the pro gress towards Protestantism. Unquestionably popular education has advanced considerably in Ireland since Lord Derby first founded the "National" system. The reading of the Bible in the vernacular was one of the means by which the doctrines of the Reformed Faith rapidly spread in the days of Luther (and sub sequently) ; and the power of perusing the Scriptures has done wonders in sapping the sway of Rome in Ireland. Her dilemma in Ire land is that she must stop the circulation of the Scriptures, or the Scriptures will stop her! Give her the power of leavening them with her own man-made wisdom, and she fears them not; and grant her the whole control of education, and she will not quail before the printing press. Yes ! yield everything to her—listen to her whine for toleration (while she triumphs in greater privileges than are accorded to our English sectaries) —allow her to banish from your Board of Education such calm and con scientious Protestants as the Whig Archbishop of Dublin, the Conservative ex-Chancellor Blackburne, and the neutral Baron Greene— be deaf to their remonstrances and hearken to her requests—scoff at the appeals from friends to your own faith, and adopt the arguments of its deadliest foes, and it will not be your fault if, before another decade of years shall have - :; 11 1 I