The Sun.
London, England, 1833-01-11 00:00:00

...ergy of the Established Church in Ireland, are
llagistrates, the duties of which office are peculiarly
obnoxious to the peasantry. In some counties the
whole of the resident clergy are in the commission
of the peace. Were there no other cause, this
alone would render them unpopular amongst a peo-
ple whose repeated oppressions have led them to
believe that laws were only intended for their

punishment. As the great mass of the people differ
from the clergy in religious sentiments, they have
seldom opportunities of seeing them, except when
compelled to appear before them, when seated in
a► judicial capacity ; and the impression left on the
mind by such meetings is seldom such as to induce
the culprit to desire an acquaintance with his
Judge. Besides, as men's notions of mortl
rectitude are not very strict in Ireland, to
decide in every case according to law would be
to earn tle reputation of a tyrant. Now this he
cannot be aware of who has never associated with the

people. It must also frequently happen from defects
in evidence, from want of ability on the part of de.
fendents to explain their cases, or causes of a like
nature, that many of the decisions of the Magistracy
will be oppressive, that some will be illegal, and
others cruelly unjust, and all without the Bench
intending the infliction of one or other of these evils,
To friends of the victim of injustice, the feelings

and the reasons by which the Court has been guided
to a wrong decision, are neither felt nor understood.
No consideration but that of the wrong finds place

in their minds, no images but those of revenge
haunt their imagination. The sufferer may have
been a poor, honest, industrious man, the father of a
number of helpless children, whose only crime was
the shooting of a hare in his own field. Three
months' imprisonment within gloomy walls, wit!:-
out air, or exercise, bring on consumptions, fevers,
death; and perhaps the first opening of the doors of
the receptacle of misery is to let the hearers of
lifeless humanity go forth with an additional trophy
of the triumph of the King of Terrors ! Con-
jecture, if you can, what would be the feelings of
the populace as, in such a case, they would contem•
plate the wailing widow, the weeping orphans bend-
ing over the bier and kissing the cold forehead of
the deceased. Think what would be their sen-
timents as they beheld the denunciation of blood
for blood—the life of a fellow-being sacrificed
for the life of a hare! thus realized in their presence.
After such a scene, would yen be prepared to ex-
pect to see the widow and her orphaned offspring
fly to the rector's mansion, to have her arid bosom
moistened with the dew of heaven—her wounded
spirit embalmed with the unction of divine resigna-
tion—and the manna of healing holy hope spread
before her ? No, no ! With a knowledge of man-
kind—of the human heart—of the springs of human
action, you could not be prepared to witness mi-
racles of this description. The poor widow would
not seek the threshold of one whom ignorance
would lead her to regard as the murderer of her hus-
band—as the destroyer of her children—as the
means of throwing her out of house and home, poor,
naked, and shelterless, on a cold, comfortless, and
wicked world ! The picture of the last scene, to
be a likeness, must be reversed ; and, alas ! its his-
tory has nothing fictitious in it. What further need
to dwell on the evils of a clerical Magistracy !
Were it necessary, I could bring forward other
reasons and opinions, to show that no sympathy
exists between the mass of the Irish people and the
Irish Church ; and, therefore, that the toleration of
the former in its present state is an insult to the
feelings of the latter, and a warrantable cause of
excitement and agitation. Let not Ministers de-
ceive themselves, and, above all, let not the repre-
sentatives of the people, the Members of the first
Reformed House of Commons, be deceived by the
clamour that the cry of repeal is to be stifled by
coercion, or that its rise is owing to the machina-
tions of Mr. O'Connell, and its continuance to the
ignorance of the people—far from it. The chief
repealists are themselves, and more is to be dreaded
from their obstinacy—their Stanleyism—than from
the united efforts of all the" Agitators," " Trades,"
" Volunteers," and" Conservatives" in the City of
Dublin. Let them only direct their attention to
the late prosecutions for tithe in Waterford—no less
than 850 at the suit of one clergyman ! and say is
there in such a state of things no cause for the
senseless shout " Repeal ?" Wherefore then is the
remedy not applied ? The sheep have denounced
the pretended hireling shepherds, and why are
their crooks not broken forthwith ?
Over the minds of the great body of their
countrymen the Catholic clergy possess unbounded
religious, moral, and political influence. Being
themselves of the people, the sons of humble farmers
and in many cases sent to school, and supported at
college by the gratuitous beun'y of a few benevo-
lent persons in their native villages, they are en-
deared to those over whose care they are appointed
to preside, by a thousand tender associations, and
early recollections. Again, the sacredness with which
the church of Rome, assumes to clothe her clergy is
creative of filial feelings to which the ignorant set no
bounds. The offices too which they are daily in the
habit of performing for the people, and even fheir very
dependence are sources of influence. This is the body
with which I would oppose O'Cannell's schemes of
self-aggrandizement, supposing the people likely to
follow his suggessions. Ido not recommend to the
Government to count on clerical co-operation ;—I do
not wish to be understood as desirous that Ministers
should disgrace themselves by entering hue factious
agreements with any portion of the people under any
' distinct denomination ;—I do not think, or wish
others to understand me as thinking, that any favour
should be conferred on any body of ecclesiastics to
,ecure their efforts in any course—all I would re-
commend for such a purpose is the removal of those
abuses that harass and oppress the PEOPLE. This
will enlist in the cause of the Government every
wise, and every good man, and all those whose sup-
port depends on the peaceable state of the country,
as is the case with the Catholic clergy.
In my next letter, which I intend shall follow this
in a day or two, I shall take notice of some of the
principal agitators that are now figuring in Dublin ;
and add my opinion of their movements and inten.
dons. The probable consequences of the repeal are
also yet to be discussed, so that if honoured with
space in your valuable columns a month may elapse
before I shall be prepared to take leave of the pub-
lic. To you, Sir, only shall my communications
on this subject be addressed.-1 have the honour
o remain, Sir, your obliged obedient servant,
DALETH.
London, Jan. 10.

THE REPEALERS.— A friend in Ireland
says ' I have lately dined in company with some of the
new Repeal' members, whom we are sending over to you
trona here. I am not myself a repealer ; perhaps princi-
pally because the question has been apparently so much
the peculium of O'ComsELL, whom I find myself irresitibly
inclined to dislike. I was therefore the more struck with
the good sense, and calmness, and perfectly gentleman-like
character of some whom I am now alluding to, and who,
without being the creatures of a CON X JELL in the most
distant respect, seem resolved to support that question in
Parliament, if Lord GREY do not very much, and very
speedily too, alter his hand in Ireland. His suffering Mr.
STANLEY to insult us by his councils in this country, will
farm no small item in the number of deductions to be made
Run the merits which would have otherwise distinguished
the name of Lord GREY in the history of his memorable
times. And yet what can be done with him ? England,
I fancy, will not take him off our hands ; and equally
impossible is it that be should remain with us. Do try
and hit off something for him ; something to take him out
of our way ; an Indian presidency perhaps : in the case
of tame elephants' he might be useful, but among wild
Irishmen' he has made sad work of it."—Kent Herald.
THE COLDSTREAM GUARDS.—We are re-
quested to state that " Colonel Mackinnon's History of the
Coldstream Guards" will be published in a few days by
Mr. BENTLEY, New Bulington•street. This work will
be beautifully embellished with engravings of the numerous
cedals conferred at various periods on this gallant corps.
To secure early impressions of the plates, orders should ty_i
given immediately. Agents for Scotland, Messrs. BELL
and BRADFUTE, Edinburgh; for Ireland, Mr. JOHN
Cumstisrc, Dublin; to be bad also of all respectable 130A:-
sellers in the United Kingdom.