The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-09-24 00:00:00

TO THE PEOPLE OF ENGLAND.

I beg leave very respectfully to lay before the public of
England some remark on an address lately presented to them
by Daniel O'Connell, Esq. M. P., and extensively circulated.
I think it deserves an answer. I know no more proper form
into which to throw one, than into that of a counter address
to the same people. Were it not for the character of the
document, I should feel that a very ample apology were de-
manded of me for presuming to take upon myself the liberty
of replying to it. But seems to me that when an Irish
lawyer, however distinguished, has ventured to address Eng-
lishmen on the subject of theolcgy, an Irish divine may fairly
expect to be excused in taking up the subject after him, in
an important point, with peculiar materials for so doing.
You agree with me, that it is very amusing to notice in
" the address" the self-complacency with which the learned
gentleman takes credit to himself for calm, cool, and deli-
berate investigation, into the nature of the tenets," He
calls upon the most thinking people in the world, to think—
to ponder—to reflect,—",You can be easily too little cautious,"
says he, " you cannot possibly be over cautious on such a
subject ;" implying, of course, that this thinking faculty
had been called into the most active exercise in his yarticu-
lar case, and yet immediately after he lays down a dogma
which nullifies his exhortations, or at least shews that reflec-
tion were utterly useless in his circumstances ; that however
forcible its suggestion, however weighty its conclusions, they
must be unavailing, inasmuch as his system demands—" an
entire submission, in spiritual matters, to the Church." I
know that you, in England, will laugh at the inconsistency,
and pronounce it an evidence of simple Hibernianism. Be-
lieve me, the blunder has a cause more serious than the ac-
cident of birth.
Mr. O'Connell a preacher of reflection to Englishmen !
Good—very good indeed. Would that Mr. O'Connell had
had the opportunity that I have had of going through the
cottages of a considerable portion of England, and of noting
for himself the energy of intellectual inquiry that every
where abounds—of noticing the fine common sense that is
almost universally prevalent—the accuracy of views on every
moral subject, and thence the spirit of wisdom and inde-
pendence, of knowledge and power, which has made your
country the foremost In the world, -" the head of the na-
tions, and not the tail," and that having obtained for himself
this experimental information, he had come back to Ireland,
our unhappy land, and marked, noted, and reflected on the
ignorance—the infatuation—the total prostration of the un-
derstanding—the darkness that may be felt which paralyses
the faculties of Irishmen—of Irishmen just as much educa-
ted, as far as letters are concerned, as the same class in Eng-
land is, but instead of the Bible we study " the Scapular"—
instead of the History of Christ and his Apostles, those of
St. Mary of Egypt, St. Bridget, St. Columkill, &c.—saints
" Who never yet had being, or being, ne'er were saints."
—these occupy our attention, and form our minds ; the result
is, that if you take our Irish upon any subject of interest in-
volving an acquaintance with :the relations of man to man,
or of men to society, you find a total blank,
" And wisdom at each entrance quite shut out."

While, instead thereof, you hear of the supernatural power
of the priest—how he can lay the devil—and how he could
fasten you to the ground—how he never marries—and how
he brings down God upon the altar before your eyes ;—you
hear of amulets, and charms, and holy rings ; of gospel re-
lics, and other marvels, until the heart bleeds for the wretched
dupe of apostacy and priestcratt ; and you feel yourself com-
pelled to exclaim—Adieu to happiness for Ireland until this
system be eradicated from it !
And now allow me to tell you what it is which Mr. O'Con-
nell means by " calm, cool, and deliberate investigation into
the nature of the tenets in which the Roman Catholics really
believe; and into the arguments and the authority upon which
these tenets are received by them, as of faith." He means
by this that you should shut your eyes to the plain practical
results of this sys em ; and that, instead of looking at these,
you should sit down and read the augmentations of priests,
to prove that these practical results have no existence in life
—or else that they are the most innocent peculiarities in the
world. You have heard perhaps of the complaint made by
the Irish Whiteboy, when he could not prevail on an ac-
quaintance to go out with him and shoot a land agent—" The
fool," said he, "he wont listen to reason." Mr. O'Connell
wants you to " listen to reason." He wants you, instead of
instantly deciding according to the dictates of Scripture. to
stop short, and sit down with him, and " listen to reason ;"
—for instance, in almost every Roman Catholic book of de-
votion you will find ten prapers to the Virgin Mary and the
saints, for one to God. Prayers conceived in this spirit :
" Queen of heaven and earth ! mother of God ! my sove-
r ign mistress ! I present myself before you, as a poor men-
dicant before a mighty Queen. From the height of your
throne deign to cast your eyes on a miserable sinner, and
lose not sight of him, till you render him truly holy."—Glo-
ries of Mary, by St. Alphonsus Liguori.
The mind of the Christian at once revolts—he sees that the
thing is gross idolatry—that it makes a Goddess of the per-
son addressed. None of the Gentiles went further in their
paganism, for none of them conjectured that their ordinary
gods and goddesses were equal in dignity to the Great Su-
preme. I say Christian sense at once revolts from it, and
pronounces it idolatry. " Hold your tongue," Mr. O'Con-
nell will say, " come now and listen to reason, attend to my
theory on the subject—let me explain to you my views."—
and he will then begin, and talk of Latria and Didia ; he will
argue, syllogyze, and sophistoc.ate ; he will involve you in a
maze of words, terms and distinctions, until, unless you be
gifted with considerable strength of mind, you will begin to
think that it is midnight at noon day, or that dead and lifeless
matter is invested with life, power, and intelligence—and all
this just by beginning to " listen to reason." The man who
in the business of common life would act as Mr. O'Connell
and the Roman Catholic priests would wish you to act on
the subject of religion, would soon become the prey of rogues
and swindlers, and have nothing for his family but destitution
and misery. Beware then of abandoning the bright efful-
gence of Scriptural sense, for the mist of captious logic.
This learned gentleman seems very anxious to persuade you
to take your ideas of what Roman Catholics " really believe"
from his own statements, and from those of the speakers at
the " great meeting" in London, of which he has published
an account. And he talks in a strain of high' indignation
against persons, "deluders or 'deluded," who attribute to
Roman Catholics errors and abominations which they "really
abjure." Now we mulct not hesitate to tell Mr. O'Connell
plainly that this request on his part is perfectly unreasonable.
No, we will continue to learn what Popery is, not from the
Protestantized statements of eloquent and learned gentlemen,
but from documents—mind that, from documents—littera
Scripta monet—we do not care for their speeches—our judg-
ment will be formed from documents certainly, the true cha-
racter of which, we are just as capable of understanding as
they are themselves. Mr. O'Connell may say, " I abhor
idolatry—the man that makes the Virgin Mary a Goddess let
him be anathema." He may talk thus as much as he likes,
but we tell him that notwithstanding) he is, with his church,
guilty of the charge. We sit as jurymen in judgment on the
case. The subject matter in evidence is certain prayers,
praises, and thanksgivings ; from these we form our judg-
ment, on these we decide and bring in our verdict of guilty.
The prisoner at the bar may attempt to explain matters—
may talk of his motives, his intentions and views, and all that
sort of thing. But I would beg to ask Mr. O'Connell him-
self, would not the attempt to arrest judgment by such ex-
planations be pronounced in any court of judicature just tri-
fling and absurdity? What criminal would be punished if
the law had to wait for a confession of guilt ? What heretic
be denounced as such, if the church were compelled to rest
its decision on an admission of heterodoxy ? No, Mr. O'Con-
nell, notwithstanding all their reclamations, Roman Catho-
lics are just, as our Church declares, truly idolaters.
I feel convinced that you will be very much built up in the
faith when you seriously reflect upon Mr. O'Connell's
method of endeavouring to shake you in it. " Professor
Philips" says he " late of Berlin, has become a Roman Ca-
tholic, and so has Professor Stolberg, and so has Professor
Schlegel, and so has the celebrated Adam Miller,' and so
have a great number of Dutch, Germans, and Americans;
then look at England, every where [Roman] Catholic
churches are rising around us—look to Scotland and similar
scenes will crowd upon your eye. Austin was a saint,
Henry the. Eighth was a tyrant—and Cranmer, a flagrant
criminal' " reflect upon these matters, exclaims the learned
gentleman. Alas, how I do feel for him, under the scorn
that he will be visited with by free-born Englishmen—En-
glishmen, who, in the concerns of their immortal souls, call
no man master upon earth—Englishmen who set their foot
on the Rock of the Word of the Almighty, derive their creed
from thence, and would stand for that creed each of them
alone, if need were, against the world. Professor Schlegel
thinks this, and Professor Stolberg thinks the other—and
Dutchmen, Germans, and Americans, are becoming Papists.
Well, what is that to Englishmen? What is that to Chris-
tian Protestants ? Do Englishmen form the train of Pro-
fessor Stolberg and the Americans ?—can their proceedings
alter the doctrines of God's Holy Word ?—or have Protes-

:ants derived their faith from, or set the seal of their appro-
bation to, the opinions or practices of Henry the Eighth or
Cranmer ?—or because " the celebrated Adam Miller" has
become a Papist, must I fall down and worship the Roman
mendicant who was so very self-denying, that he would not,
while living, free himself from the " bites of disagreeable
insects, and whose dead body wrought innumerable miracles,"
in the sight of Popes and Cardinals ?—( see the Life of Be-
nedict Joseph Labre)—or offer up my prayers to the Romish
saint who made an exhibition of himself for so many years
on the top of a pillar, with a chain round his middle; or
believe that St. Francis walked three miles, more or less,
with his head under his arm—l say am Ito believe all this,
or have respect unto it, because certain " philosophers "
have turned Roman Catholics ?—for this is just the true gist
of Mr. O'Connell's statement—the true bearing of his
" facts."
But, then, Roman Catholic chapels are rising up in Eng-
land and Scotland. Well, and who are the worshippers in
them ? Why, just immigrant Irish; whose temporal condi-
tion, whether considered physically or morally, will be pro-
nounced by all Englishmen the best possible antidote to the
sy.;tem preached up in their places of worship. Therewill be
found in every town in England in which there is a Roman
Catholic chapel, a Roman Catholic district also, that is to
say, an Irish district, such as New-treet and Ship-yard, in
Sheffield ; the Bank, I think they call it, in Leeds ; and so
on in the other great towns. These districts are inhabited
by Irish papists, and they constitute universally, sinks of
wretchedness, filth, and demoralization. Herein rogues and
blacklegs find their resting place and harbourage—cursing,
swearing, and ribaldry—fighting, drinking, and card-playing,
occupy the inhabitants during their leisure hours, but espe-
cially en the Sabbath days; except the short time they spend
in " hearing Mass ;" while the region itself, just as the plague
or the pestilence would be, is shunned by decent people. In
effect these popish districts constitute the St. Giles's of
English provincial towns—there is a St. Giles in every such
great town—and are infamous for all the attributes of that
well known locality. I speak from diligent pastoral ex-
ertions in one of these places, and from extensive inquiry in
respect to most of them. Now, is the misery of the popish
Irish-in England to be attributed to distress ? No ; perhaps
they almost always find constant employment and liberal
wages. Their misery is to be attributed to the system that
degrades them as intelligent beings, and which, if it prevailed
over England, would very soon produce an assimilation be-
tween it and Ireland—similar principles ever producing
analogous statistical results. An interesting illustration of
this is found in the condition of the North of Ireland, which
is almost altogether protestant, and in the unquestionable
fact, that when the poor Irish cease to be papists, they cease
also to be chargeable with the habits that I speak of—they
become the most admirable of men and of citizens—protes-
tantism invariably raising them in the scale of humanity.
Observe then, Englishmen, how plain a tale puts down Mr.
O'Connell's vaunts, with respect to the increase of Roman
Catholic chapels in England. When they have worshippers,
the generality of them are Irish, while no few of them, as is
notorious, have been bat for the mere purpose of attracting
congregations.*
Englishmen ! reflect upon these facts ; reflect upon the
mental degradation that is in general nationally connected
with Popery—upon the source of the liberty and civilization
that exalt your country—upon the total variance that exists
between the spirit of Popery and of God's holy word, and
you will be convneed that it is your first duty, not merely to
exert all your power, to prevent the spread of falsehood and
error within your own borders, but to diminish their amount
within ours.

I can scarce help pronouncing it a piece of dishonesty on
the part of Mr. O'Connell, his calling the church of which he
is a member all through his address, the Catholic church."
He must know very well, that according to the laws of the
land, as to truth also, our Church is designated by that title.
He must know well that when in the creed we profess to be-
lieve the Catholic church, we do not mean the Church of
Rome, but quite the contrary. That we mean thereby the

* Since I wrote this letter I have seen the very excellent
remarks of the Morning Chronicle on the same subject.
Surely, however, Mr. O'Connell mat well exclaim of that
journal, et to Brute!—as also those of the Watchman,
Morning Herald, Bcc.