The Sun.
London, England, 1829-11-11 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF TIIE PUBLIC JOURNAL S.

It appears that Lord George Beresfotal and
Mr. Barron have fought, in consequence of the
publication oran address by his Lordship to the
electors of the county of Waterford. In this
address ihe noble Lord accuse.? Mr. Barron of
having offered to support him in the county, pro-
vided the Beresford interest should be given to
Mr. Barron for the city of Waterford,—now,
and long, and kiithfully represented by Sir Join!
Newport. This fact adds a new and interesting
though not more favourable, character to the
whole proceeding. If Sir John Newport has
not publicly made known his determination to
retire from Parliament, which at his age might
not be at all unnatural, we can imagine few
things more likely to provoke and disgust the
freemen of Waterford, than an attempt to su-
persede the Right Hon. Baronet, come from
what quarter it might. If Sir John Newport be
not a man of the very first-rate ability, his ta-
lents, and still more, his industry and informa-
tion, are such as to command respect. He un-
derstands the interests of his country well, and
has struggled to promote them manfully and
skilfully from the period of the union to the
present hour. There never was an Irish ques-
tio», during the last twenty-eight years, on which
the member for Waterford did not distinguish
himself by a fearless and uncompromising
devotion to his country's welfare. There
was no sacrifice of personal or official advan-
tage, which this honest representative did not
make, to what he deemed his political con-
sistency and duty ; the last instance of which,
we are, told, was his refusal to accept office with
the Grenvilles when they joined Lord Liverpool,
assigning as a reason for thus rejectins, the re-.
commendation of his earliest friend, Lord-'
Gren-
ville, that the principle of the Government was
adverse to any measure of Catholic relief. That
so indefatigable and efficient a representative of
the liberal interest throughout Ireland as Sir
John Newport, should at this time of day be
exposed to any serious opposition on the part of
Mr. Barron,—a gentleman who has no political
merits that we are aware of to refer to, except
that of being a Catholic, and of having Mr.
O'Connell's support,—would seem to argue the
grossest ingratitude in those of the electors of
Waterford who might vote for him, and without
meaning to disparage Mr. Barron's pretensions,
a very singular defect in the powers of compari-
son with which that Honourable Gentleman's
adviserswere gilled when they urged him to
such a contest. If, however, Sir John Newport,
as may have been the case for aught we know,
has announced or intimated an intention to re-
sign his seat fox, the city of Waterford, Mr.
Barron must be acquitted on the preceding
ground, and has only to stand his trial on the
other,—of having bartered (as Lord George
Beresford affirms) the Barron interest in the
county for that of the Beresfords (which
is not very formidable) in the city, and
thus endeavoured to make a job of both.
It is stated in the accounts from Ireland, that
Mr. Barron did not deny the charge, but chose
rather to call out Lord George Beresford. We
are at a loss to see how this duel, even had he,
unfortunately, shot the Noble Lord, or been shot
by him, would have mended Mr. Barron's case
in the eyes of the people generally, who require
some better vindication of such an accusation
than that which the muzzle of a loaded pistol
would supply. We regretted, when it was first
announced, the retirement of Mr. Villiers Stuart,
from the county of 'Waterford ; and our concern
is not diminished by this prospect of the scenes
which are likely to follow his resianatior. For
Lord George Beresford's politics, if he has any,
they are, we take for granted, those prescribed to
him by his family, and therefore not much to
our taste. His Lordship has reached the rank
of a General Officer in the Army, and bar, we
believe, a regiment, which must be taken as
prima facie proof of services of some sort or
other ; but it is said that his first service in the
field has been his campaign with Mr. Barron.
If the latter gentleman should, in consequence of
these disclosures, which it was rather an Irish
expedient to prevent from circulating by making
them the subject of a duel—if, we say, he
should, in consequence, be compelled to forego
his hopes of a successful canvass, we trust that
the independence of the county will not suffer,
but that the constitutional interest will still show
fight, aed bring to their good behaviour the
members of an oligarchy who have never once,
during the last century or the present, betrayed
the least. sympathy with the people of Ireland,
or given a vote but as some Tory Minister di-
rected ; or employed one pennywmth of an over-
grown patronage but for the ends of selfish
wicgrandizement.— Times.

Dr. Doyle has published an 'address to the
inhabitants of a part of his diocese, on the sub-
ject of Secret Societies, and the Administration
of Unlawful Oaths. The feeling which per-
vades it is excellent ; and as Dr. Doyle possesses
great influence among the Catholics, this mani-
festation of a hearty zeal to forward the views of
the Administration will, we should hope, be
productive of benefit. We are willing to believe
that Dr. Doyle has not narrowed his ambition to
the mere furtherance of the views of his own
order—the besetting sin, not merely of priests,
but of all separate castes—and that he is fired
by the noble ambition of availing himself of the
great influence his talents, learning, and know-
, i ledge of the world give him, to labour in the
sacred cause of the regeneration of his country-
men. A few master-minds, untainted by die
sordid aims of vulgar politicians, may work won-
ders at a moment like the present. The Irish
have now, for the first time, Representatives in
the Councils of the nation. The Anglo-Irish
who have hitherto alone represented Ireland,
must become Irish or nothing. Men like Dr.
Doyle in the closet, and Mr. O'Connell in the
Legislature, dedicating their whole energies to
the improvement of their countrymen, may work
wonders, notwithstanding the strength of the inte-
rests opposed to them. Let us never despair.
Dr. Doyle does not, like the Reverend Edward
Irving, deem a state of torture on earth a de-
sirable advantage for those committed to his
spiritual care, with a view to their being, "nearer
to Christ hereafter;" but seems to think Christi-
anity does not imply a renunciation on the part
of any men of their right to as much temporal
happiness as they can obtain:without injuring
others. Ile recommends obedience to the law,
because he perceives an honest intention on the
'..part of those in power to promote the general
welfare ; but he at the same time fearlessly de-
clares that he would not have taken up the arms
of the Gospel against any combination created
by " the oppression of guilt in power." What
he says on this subject is deserving of remark :
" The Penal Code has been repealed, the road
to improvement in Ireland is now open, nay, the
work itself of improvement is already:commenced ;
the minds of all men are engaged in devis-
ing means whereby the condition ofthe people may

be bettered ; and the King's Government, which
has made -all his subjects equal • before the law,
is now anxiously intent on providing us with.
Else means ofliving as becomes the members (f a
free State. In other times, beloved brethren,• if
I saw you distressed sand in want, or driven by
oppression to combine, I might hesitate befure I
~vould take up the arms of the Gospel, lest in
the employment yfthem I should seem to range
myself on the side of guilt in power against
guilt in digress. But now no such 'feeling
damps my zeal, or makes my heart faulter, whilst
my tongue would speak. No ; this is the pe-
liod of the resurrection of our country. We may
now, as heretofore, feel pressure and distress;
but our pressure and distress are no longer the
forerunners of despair."—Morning Chronicle.
Our Contemporary (the Standard) in an
article on the subject of the Memoirs and Let-
ters of Mr. Jefferson, has some excellent remarks
on an advice given by that great and good
Statesman :

" We would say that Jay, as described by Mr.
Jefferson, was the American prototype of Neck:lr.
Ls Fayette, with his ' canine appetite for popularity,'
will suggest at once predecessors and imitators
with-
out end, for there have been fools and Revolution-
makers, and ever will be, in all ages and countries.
A third, but a very different class, however, remajns,
without whom indeed Revolutions might be made,
but made only to perpetuate anarchy—the Wash-
ingtons and Franklins in America, who were never
known to speak more than ten minutes at a time ;
the Napoleons and Talleyrartds of the Freech Reve-
bition. Here, it will be said, the analogy ends ;
but the reason of the separation is not overlooked
by our author, who, perhaps, by the very advice
which we are about to quote, averted from his
country the calamity of a military despotism : this
is advice which we would wish to engrave deeply
upon the heart of every Englishman :
"' Cherish the spirit of our people, and keep alive
their attention ; do not be too severe upon their er-
rors, but reclaim by enlightening them. If once
they become innattentive to the public affair,t, you
and I, and Congress, and Assemblies, and Judges,
and Governors, shall all become wolves. It seems
to be the general law of our nature.'
" This is true—eternally and universally true. It
is the close attention of the people, and that only,
which can controul the wolfish propensities of these
who administer any form of Government—however
free it may be in theory, makes not the least differ.
ence on this point. Mr. Jefferson's authority is the
very highest; he, the Minister of a Democracy,
fairly in the road to the office of Chief Ma is rate, at
which Lc afterwards arrived, acknowledgts, as a
general law of nature, the wolfish instinct of int n in
power, whether as executive officers or legislators ;
and prescribes as the sole preventive of its f dal as-
cendancy, a -jealous attention to their affairs by the
people.
" How does this doctrine agree with the advice
of those who, even with the apparatus of close bo•
roughs, civil list, standing army, gendarmerie, &c.,
already in the hands of Ministers, tell us that we
are to dismiss public affairs from our minds altoge-
ther, and rely implicitly upon the wisdom of Par-
liament,' and, we suppose, upon the honesty of the
Ministers who have ordered that Parliament to
the right about face' at their pleasure ? How does
the doctrine of Mr. Jefferson agree with the prac-
tice of the Ministers, who claim the confidence of
the country at the very moment in which they use
their utmost efforts to stifle every organ by which
public attention
?tt,lntion can be drawn fairly to the public
interests

We will here lay before our readers the whole
of the passage from which our Contemporary
has made the above short quotation. It is a re-
markable proof of sagacity in Jefferson, that at
a time when the English Newspapers were day
after day filled with accounts of the anarchy m
the United States, when the law could not be
enforced from a general insolvency, and when
insurrections in I'vlassachusets, the most influen-
tial State of the Union, had afforded a handle
to alarmists, he should have estimated all these
circumstances at their proper value, and even
chosen the moment for recommending to States-
men to allow more and more scope to the ex-
pression of popular feeling; nay, even for laying
down the maxim, that a little rebellion now and
then was a positive good. Writing to Colonel
Edward Carrington, 16th January, 1787, he
says," The tumults in America, I expected,
would have produced in Europe an unfavourable
opinion of our political state. But it has not.
On the contrary, the small effect of these tu-
mults seems to have given more confidence in the
firmness of our Governments. The interposition
of the people themselves on the side of Covent,
ment has had a great effect on the opinion
here. I am persuaded myself, that the good
sense of the people will always be found to be thrl
best army. They may be led astray for a moment,
brit will soon correct themselves. The people
are the only censers of their governors, and even
their errors will tend to keep them to the true
principles of their institution. To punish these
errors too severely would be to suppres the only
safeguard of the public liberty. The way to
prevent these irregular interpositions of the
people, is to give them full information e4l' their
affairs through the channel of the public papers,
and to contrive that those papers should pene-
trate the whole mass of the people. The basis
of our Governments being the opinion of the
people, the very first object should be to keep
that right ; and were it left to me to decide whe-
ther we should have a Government without news-
papers, or newspapers without a Government, I
should not hesitate a moment to prefer the lat.
ter. But I should mean that every man should
receive those papers, and be capable of reeding
them. I am convinced that those societies (as
the Indians) which live without Government,
enjoy in their general mass an infinitely greater
degree of happiness than those who live under
the European Governments. Among the far-
mer public opinion is in the place of law, and
restrains morals as powerfully as laws a,Vet did
any where. Among the latter, un'',er pre-
tence of governing, they have klivided their
nations into classes, wolves, an sheep. I do
not exaggerate. This is a true picture of Eu-
rope. Cherish, therefore, the spirit of our peo-
ple, and keep alive theit attention. Do not be
too severe upon their errors, but reclaim theta
by enlightening them. If once they become
inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and
Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Go-
vernors, shall all become wolves. It seems to
be the law of' our general nature, in spite of in-
dividual exceptions ; and experience declares
that man is the only animal which devours his
own kind ; for I can apply no milder term to the
Governments of Europe, and to the general
prey of the rich on the' poor." In a letter to
Mr. Maddison, his successor in the President-
ship, dated 30th January, 1787, he says, " So.
eieties exist under three forms, sufficiently dia,
tinguishable-1. Without Government, as aluonp
cur Indians. 2. Under Governments, wherein
the will of every one has a just influence ; as is
the case in England, in a sli ht degree, and iii
our States in a great one. 3. Under Govern-
ments of force ; as is the ease in all other Mo-
narchies, and in most of the otter
To have an idea of the curse ef existeeee under
these last, they must b seen. It is a Govern-

ment of wolves over sheep. It is a problem not
clear in my mind that the first condition is not
the best. But I believe it to be inconsistent
with any great degree of population. The se-
cond state has a great deal of good in it.—
The mass of mankind under that enjoys a pre-
cious degree of liberty and happiness. It has
its evils too ; the principal of which is the tur-
bulence to which it is subject. But weigh this
against the oppressions of Monarchy, and it be-
comes nothing. Male periculosain libertatem
quam quietanz servitutezn. Even this evil is
productive of good. It prevents the degeneracy
of government, and nourishes a general attention
to the public affairs. I hold it, that a little re-
bellion now and then is a very good thing, and
as necessary in the political world as storms in
the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed,
generally establish the encroachments on the
rights of the people which have produced them.
An observation of this truth should render ho-
nest Republican Governors so mild in their pu-
nishment of rebellions, as not to discourage them
too much. It is a medicine necessary for the
sound health of government." Mr. Jefferson
was not one who preached to others what he did
not practise himself. Mr. Adams, his predeces-
sor, a man whose honour and purity no one has
ever disputed, was unfortunately of an irritable
temperament, and rather too warm an admirer both
of the high measures of the English Government,
and the petty, peevish, and useless, for any other
purpose than provoking warfare, which till lately
all the Administrations of this country, down to
within about five years of the death of Lord
Liverpool, have incessantly waged against the
Press. Mr. Jefferson never once, during his
whole Presidentship, interfered with the Press,
farther than to set time public right when false-
hoods were stated or misconceptions entertained.
He bore all attacks with the most imperturbable
good temper ; and, as party ran high, lie was
often bitterly attacked. He had, however, no
cause to repent of his-confidence in the people.
His example has since been the law in America;
and prosecutions for libels against the Govern-
ment or public functionaries, are of the number
of British habits which have been wisely laid
aside. We cordially, therefore, agree with our
contemporary (the Standard) in disapproving
of the policy of Ministers prosecuting for libel,
and lament that the Duke of Wellington, of
whose intentions to administer the affairs of the
country as fairly and uprightly as is compatible
with the circumstances in which a Minister is
placed in England, should have thought it ne-
cessary to correct the Press through the insti u-
mentality of the law. The law will always se-
cond as readily the views of a bad man as those
of a good man ; and to have recourse to an
instrument which may be as readily used for
bad as for good purpo;es, is a dangerous
experiment. Were the law good, it might be
less discreditable to have recourse to it. The man
who hires an assassin in Italy may only after all
inflict on the victim the punishment he has me-
rited ; but as the good may be cut off by the
knife as well as the bad, the use of it is justly
reprobated. Time law of England, in matters
of libel, being founded on gross and palpable
injustice, to fee a lawyer for time purpose of giving
vindictive effect to it is, to our mind, not a great
deal better than having recourse to time Italian
practice. Jefferson's way of viewing these mat-
ters is much more manly and rational, as well as
politic. Lawyers alone would salvise differently ;
but they, like every other class of men, are blind,
when their power is in question. But our Con-
temporary, while he has drawn our attention to
the liberal sentiments of Jefferson regarding the
Press, is silent on the subject of the strenuous
exhortations in the context to enlighten the peo-
ple. " Mr. Jefferson," he observes, "it is well
known, was a Democrat, and Anti-Anglicist
among the most perverse of his country ;" and
he then, in characterising him, alludes to his
having been " a principal actor in the over-
throw of the Established Church in America."
lie forgets to add, and " the author of the este-
bliehment of religion in America." We have
often heard Englishmen complain of too strict an
observance of religious duties in America, but
never of there being too little religion. Jefferson,
cud the oilier American Statesmen, saw that
there was no danger of religion suffering from
trsasit of an establishment ; but they saw also
that religion, like every other good, becomes a
fertile essurce of evil among an uninstructed po-
pulation, and that therefore the great object of a
good man ought to be to provide for the foi,na-
lion of minds capable of judging soundly with
regard to religion, politics, and all that most in-
terests mankind. Flan is religiously disposed;
and though there is danger of his having per-
verted views of religion, there is little danger of
his having none. He may be safely left to
biinself in religious mattxs, if lie is duly pre-
ptitota for instruction--if his mind has been duly
developd. The Americans, like wise men, have
established ,schools, and left religion unestab-
ilslissi• We, p the contrary, have established a
Church, constituted in such a manner as to up-
Plaid the corruptions in time State, and enable the
Aristocracy to keep together masses of property,
dangerous to time liberties of the country, and
(langeseaus to its morals from example; but we
have left the people without public instruction,
and we have evkij thrown every impediment- in
the way of their baying any access to News-
;ewers, which are only within time reach of the
isielo, Such is the differenpse of a Government
&moo:soled by the people, and a government
which cuntrouls the people.—/bid.

Although #ie disbelieved the predictions of
those sapient public instructors who declared,
with all ;he solemnity of prophetic assurance,
that the concession of the Catholic claims would
tranquilize Irelaral, yet now that the question
has been carried, we sincerely wish that we had
been mistaken in our recorded opinion of the
inefficiency of that measure, It is no gratifica-
tion to us to have, day after day, 4) place before
the public eye the melancholy, the reiolting evi-
dence of the utter failure of the grand protawq
for the evils of Ireland, We could with Lord
Falkland, in the Civil Wars, cry to both par-
ties " Peace, peace !" but, i( we represented
that as peace which is a state of furious and de-
solating hostility, we should deserve to J
reckoned among the Wilful and shameless de-
ceivers of the public. Anzicus Plato sad niagis
(mica veritas. To withhold a true knowledge
a the condition of the distracted country, which
citemplifies the miserable fatuity of that patch-
work statemanship that sacrifices principle to
expediency, would only have the effect of perpe-
tuating the evils by which it is afflicted. A Go,
vernment that has not the courage to look in the
face the difficulties which its own mistaken po-
licy has caused or aggravated, acts about as
wisely as a merchant who, conscious of a break-
ing down of his circumstances, dreads to ascer-
tain exactly his own situation, by investiat-
int/ his embarrassed accounts. We cannot go
along with those who conceal the truth for the

purpose either of flattery or faction. The state
of Ireland is such as demands the application of
more wisdom and energy than Government seem
capable of bestoxing upon it. The fact is, that
the spirit of party rancour and ferocious outrage
is greater at the present era than it ever has been
since the rebellion of 1798. The sanguinary
conflicts which have taken place in the North of
Ireland, and the dreadful atrocities which are of
daily occurrence i❑ the South, form a striking
practical commentary on the consequences of
concession—concession admitted by its authors
to have been made, not in compliance with the
dictates of reason and the demands of justice,
but under the servile influence of terror, and as
a propitiatory offering to the spirit of popular
intimidation. When Mr. Peel surrendered all
that he had obtained of fame and political im•
portance by descending, he stated that his opi-
nions were unchanged, but thud he abandoned
the cause of which he had been heretofore the
uncompromising champion to avert civil war.
A similar sentiment was avowed by the Duke of

Wellington and others of the new Ministerial
proselytes to " liberality." The consequence of
making concessions to demagogues and their
cabals—not because justice enlightened, but be-
cause fear presided over the public councils—
was foreseen and foretold. Such concessions,
instead of commanding gratitude, have, as
might be naturally expected, operated as a stimu-
lus to more audacious demands. They have
not suppressed agitation, but somewhat changed
its direction and greatly enlarged its sphere. Mr.
O'Connell now fancies himself competent to the
task of dissolving the Union between the two
countries, and for that purpose is organizing an
Anti-Union confederacy or association. Thus
a successful agitator is never at a loss for the
material of a turbulent ambition. The " liberal"
.Journals, having predicted that the settlement of
the " Catholic Claims" would be followed by a
golden age of prosperous tranquillity in Ireland,
endeavour to suppress facts, because they refute
their own visionary speculations. They are con-
tinually denying the disturbed state of Ireland,
but, in eulogising the exertions of the Roman
Catholic priests to preserve the peace, they show
that society is distracted and convulsed. The
following is an extract of an Address to the
members of Secret Societies in the Queen's
County, by Dr. Doyle ; and it will be seen, on
an authority which our opponents will not dare
to dispute, that the state of Ireland is frightful
in the extreme :

" But what are the consequences likely to arise

from your present line of conduct, if persevered in ?
This is the third point which I promised to discuss
with you. I have already touched upon some of
those consequences, when I said that, while your
combinations co►►tinued, no improvement, whether
of a public or private nature, could be effected in the
country; and this is so manifest as not to require
proof. No man sows seed in a whirlwind, or places
his goods for security in a den of thieves; neither
does any man expend his money in a disturbed cou►►-
try, or seek to improve his lands or houses, where
his property is not secure. The gaols may grow
up about us, Courts of Justice may rise in our vil-
lages, police stations may be built at all our cross-
roads, but the mansion of the Nobleman will decay,
the farm-house will be unroofed and untenanted, the
manufactory w;11 be silent, the shop will be closed,
and the shepherd's song, or the hum of industry,
will be heard no more. Barrenness will come upon

the land, ruin upon the villages, the towns will be
deserted, the rich will fly away from us; the poor
will wither, will pine away and die of want ; reli-
gion herself will desert for she cannot inhabit
with crime, and Ireland will become, as she often
was before, a. bleak wilderness, inhabited only by
the remnants of power on the one side, and the
dregs of wretchednes, on the other, who will seem
to live as they do in hell, only to hate and curse
each other. But before those things come to pass,
you who are engaged in the,e societies will have been
punished as your crimes deserve. Even this moment
you are, as it were, in the hands of the executioner.

Be not deceived, you are • all known, and though
hitherto you have in many instances evaded the law,
be assured you will not evade it much longer. Every
thing has its times ; the operations of the law are
slow, but they are certain as the return of the spring
or winter. They will come upon you as a thief in
the night, and overtake you when you least expect
it ; for be not so foolish as to imagine that your
combination can maintain itself against justice, re-
ligion, and law—against the public indignation and
the power of Government—or that it can escape
the disgrace and punishment which from the most
remote period attended every such combination in
Ireland."

..,.......
In the .sentiments of the above extract we heartily
concur, and if we could read the advice which
the light Rev. Pastor gives to his flock, with-
out recollecting the exasperating language which

he addressed to them on former occasions, we
would give him unqualified praise ; but let it
not be forgotten that the Doctor made himself
a popular reputation by attacking not the preju-
dices, but the religion of the Members of the
Reformed Faith, and holding up Protestantism
itself to execratiou.—Morning Herald.
It is pretended, we see, that the attempt of
O'Connell to continue the agitation of Ireland,
by putting forward the question of a repeal of
the Union, is worthy of attention, because there

is no probability of any considerable party in
England, or in the Imperial Parliament, adopt-
ing his professed sentiments upon that particular
subject. This, we own, appears to us to be a
blind or wilful misapprehension of the danger
against which we ought to be upon our guard.
What remains to be ascertained is not whether

agitation will be successful in obtaining a repeal
of the Union, as it has been in producing a
much more important change in the Constitution,
but whether O'Connell and his associates will be

successful in agitating Ireland by means of this
project. It is evident that the demagogue,
whose knowledge of Ireland and experience in
agitation entitle him to some deference upon such
a subject, is of opinion that this may become the
effectual means of agitating the country. He is de-
termined at all events to try ; and we see no wis-
dom, after all that is past, in pronouncing before-
hand that he must necessarily fail. If there be
collusion between O'Connell and the Roman Ca-
tholic Priesthood upon this, as we know there
was upon the former important occasion, it is clear
that he will npt fail. But no matt knows better
than himself that upon this circumstance his success
or failure wholly depends ; and no mar. knows half
so well how far he may safely rely upon the co-
' operation of the Priesthood. The confidence with
which hp tumounces his project, and anticipates its
success, is but hole calculated then to dissipate the
apprehensions of those who already know him for
an enemy, whom, When thus reinforced, it is by no
means prudent to despise. Of the hopelessness of
their avowed project, O'Connell probably, as well
as those to whose purposes he is devoted, and upon
whose aid he must depend, are as fully rmare as
others, But they do not think, neither do we, that
this must necessarily be fatal to its success as an in-
strument of agitutiuu, Nor are we driven to the
absurdity of imputing to them the love of agitation
merely for its own sake. It may be thought good
policy to prevent the perturbed spirit of the Irish
people from subsiding into calm repose, and habits
of trangnillity and good order fiom acquiring a set-
tled dominion over them, with i view to designs

whichit isnot yet prudent or convenient to avow,and
in the prosecution of which, when the fit season to
proclaim them shall arrive, popular agitation may be
the most effective auxiliary. If the purpose noNy pro-
fessed be so utterly hopeless as to be the object of
just derision, there is the greater reason to suspect
that the Agitators have some other and more fea-
sible purpose in view, to which they believe the
effervescence they are now striving to keep up in
the minds of the people may be subservient. 'Map),
intelligent men, who have had the best opportunity
of observing the condition of Ireland, and who have
maturely weighed the character and tenets of the
Romish Church, entertain a very confident belief
that the Roman Catholic Priesthood will never, if
they can prevent it, suffer the Irish people to be-
come tranquil, contented, prosperous, and happy, so
long as the endowments for the support of religion
remain in the possession of Protestants. Such men
will see in the continued agitation of Ireland, if pro-
moted, or not diligently and zealously repressed, by
the Popish Priesthood, whatever may be its imme-
diate occasion or pretext, the final purpose of the
Romish Church to invade the prerogatives and re-
venue of the Church established by law. Nor will
they see this the less clearly, that the immediate
occasion or professed object of agitation is ridiculous,.
chimerical, or hopeless. The purpose of further en-
croachment it would net be quite safe at present
for the Popish party to avow. The last encroach-
ment of Popery is yet too recent, and the advan-
tages just acquired might be endangered, if further
concessions were now demanded with insolent bold-
ness or rash precipitation. But in the meanwhile
it is necessary that the arms of the party should be
kept in a condition fit for service, or in other words,
that agitation should not be permitted to expire.
And what project could so well serve the purpose
of keeping it sufficiently alive without exciting too
much alarm, as one which is sure to interest the
mass of the Irish people, and which, at the same
time, the politicians of England may describe, and
the Protestants of England believe, chimerical and
hopeless. These apprehensions are not unnatural
or extravagant, and it will be matter equally of sur-
prise and congratulation if they should not be
realized. But the general refusal of the Roman
Catholic Clergy to co-operate with O'Connell in his
design can alone effectually remove them. If in-
deed this essential aid should be withheld, the de-
magogue will hasten, no doubt, to abandon a scheme
of the prosperity of which he can no longer enter-
tain the least hope.—Morning Post.

It could scarcely have been anticipated, even
by the most vehement sticklers for Catholic
emancipation, that that important measure would
have conciliated, within so short a period of ,
time, the good will of the Catholic priesthood ;
for they, of all other classes, have rather lost
than gained by it, and up to the present mo-
ment, no hope has been held out that their
situation will at any time be bettered by it. Yet,
if we may be allowed to form an opinion upon
the subject, from a letter which has just been
addressed by one of the body to the disturbers of
the peace of Ireland, such happy and unexpected
result has alt early been realized ; and considering
the great influence possessed by the Irish priest-
hood over their flocks, we know not that any
thing more truly to be desired, more necessary
to the peace, or more conducive to the prosperity
of Ireland, could well have occurred. The ad-
dress to which we allude, is one from the pen of
Dr. Doyle, to the inhabitants of the district of
Maryborough, in Queen's County, but particularly
to those engaged in secret societies ; and fain would
we hope that it would not only make a due impres-
sion on those to v hom it more immediately points,
but upon the whole population of Ireland, to trhieb,
with slight exceptions, it is but too applicable. The
Catholic Bishop writes as every Bishop and true sou
of the Church ought to write—ia a spirit of peace
and good will, free from political and religious ran-
cour, and anxious for the temporal, as well as the
spiritual, welfare of those whom he addresses. Ile
declares, in plain terms, the existence of secret as-
sociations, both of Protestants and Catholics, for
objects at variance with the peace and welfare of the
country, and cautions them against harbouring the
idea that they can long escape the vigilance and ven-
geance of the law.
" To be plain wilf you," says he, "beloved brethren,
I have been told, and I am forced to believe, that through-
out the division of your county, which extends from
Castlecomer to Mountratb, including seven or tight pa-
rishes of these dioceses, and some others of the adjoining
diocese of Ossory, there exists a secret association, drawn
together for purposes scarcely known to those who com-
pose it, and having no specific object that I can ascert tin
unless it be to prevent tile reduction of wages, and the
ejection of tenants from their holdings. This association,
as I am informed, consists of considerable numbers, chiefly
of the labouting class, and includes within it, besides the
ignorant and undesigning, every person heretofore noted
in his neighbourhood for the corruption of his morals or
the general depravity of his character. In this associa-
tion, Catholics and Protestants are, I am told, united.—
They assemble in considerable numbers at night, in re-
mote or unfrequented places, to issue or receive orders.—
The plunder of arms is with them a favourite object, anti
in carrying it into effect they guard against detection by
employing individuals of their body, unknown to those
whose houses or property are destined for attack."
The Bishop, after this declaration, next proceeds
to exhort and dissuade his countrymen by every
possible argument, and every possible motive, and
with a degree of ardour highly creditable to his
head and heart, against the prosecution of courses
so utterly at variance with the prosperity of the
country.
" The Penal Code," says he, " has been repealed, the
road to improvement in Ireland is now open, nay the work
itself of improvement is already commenced ; the minds
of all men are engaged in devising means whereby the con-
dition of the people may be bettered ; and the K;ng's
Government, which has made all his subjects equal befitre
law, is now anxiously intent with providing us with the
means of living as becomes the members of a free state."
What a contrast does these few words—words of

truth and peace—present to the vulgar brillying, and
almost treasonous agitation, of some of the Irish
Agitators ! A few such men as Dr. Doyle in Ire-
land, and in less than a quarter of a century Ireland
would be as different from what it now is, as, un-

fortunately, it is now different in almost every re-
spect from England. Agriculture would flourish,
trade and manufactures be established—the morals
of the people be improved, and crime as unfrequent
as it is now painfully common and disgraceful. But
to return to the address of Dr. Doyle, which, if we
had space, is every way worthy of being transfer, el
to our columns. Addressing the members of secret
societies, he says,
" But what are the consequences likely to arise from
Jour present line of conduct, if persevered in? This is
the third point which I promised to discuss with you. I
have already touched upon some of those consequences,
when I said that while your combinations continued no
improvement, whether of a public or private nature, could
be effected in the country ; and this is so manifest as not
to require proof. No man sows seed in a whirlwind, or
places his goods for security in a den of thieves ; neither
does any man expend his money in a disturbed country, or
seek to improve his lands or houses where his property is
not secure. The gaols may grow up about us, courts of
justice may rise in our villages, police stations may be
built at all our cross-roads, but
.the mansion of the noble-
nun will decay, the farm-house will he unroofed and un-
tenanted, the manuractory will b silent, the shop will
he closed, and the shepherd's song, or the hum of in-
dustry will be heard no more. Barrenness will come
• upon the land, ruin upon the villages, the towns will be
'deserted, the rich will fly away from us; the poor will
wither, will pine away and die of want; Religion her-
self will dtsert us, for she cannot inhabit with crime,
and Ireland will become, as she o ten was before, a
bleak wilderness, inhabited only by the remnants of power
on the one side, and the dregs of wretchedness on the
other, who will seem to live as they do in hell, only to
hate and curse each other. But before those things come
to pass, you who are engaged in these societies will have
been punished as your crimes deserve. Even this moment
you are, as it were, in the hands of the executioner. Be
not deceived, ou ate all known, and though hitherto, you
have in many instances evaded the law, be assured you
will not evade it much longer. Every thing has its times;

the operations of the law are slow, but they are certain as
the return of the spring or winter. They will come upon
you as a thief in the night, and overtake you when you
least expect it; for be not so foolish as to imagine that
your combination can maintain itself a;ainst justice, re-
ligion, and law—against the public indignation and the
power of Government—or that it can escape the disgrace
and punishment which from the most remote period at-
, tended every such combination in Ireland."
Nothing can be more feeling or more true than
what the Doctor has asserted in these few lines.
Peace and security must first be established in every
country, before the social edifice can be built of suit
able and durable materials—combinations must cease
—party strifes be laid asiie for the more generous
emulation of national enterprise—union prevail
throughout the country, and obedience to the laws
be considered indispensable to the welfare of the
country. And let us not despair that such will be
the case with Ireland. The retrospect is, indeed,
gloomy and disheartening ; but time and perse-
verance cure all evils—and the past, it is to be
hoped, may, after all, only serve to enhance the
brightness of the future.—Morning Advertiser.