The Statesman.
London, England, 1823-03-29 00:00:00

STAIESIW.

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the Ministers persevere much' lottgWeNie fbty torment
course, rho is, in uphnitting their qleacm.the Mar
twits of Wellesley it Ireland, the mirtjaeli Welt will be
broke't tip. What reply has Parliament Liven to this
alarming prophesy of Ale. CobbettS ?—That they tall
stand by the measures of the Matinees of Wellesley in fro
land, and that the King, and Cabinet; and Parliament,
are united in this determination. Mr. Cobbett, when
ta
attempted to prophecy, seemed to have forgotten the am-
meter of the King, and the materials of which hisCabinsit
is composed. Is the King that weak. and foolish wen-
thercock to he blown up 'by every gale—st one time fro
this side, and at another from that? We believe Mr. (a¢
Lett will admit, that' the experience of the reign of
Deorge the Fourth wilt convince every observer, that the
Royal mind is not made of site!' Mal Ittnff, and that his
determination, once-tukesi, are not ems easily shaken or
turned aside. Hence the humble and pliant.ohedieure of
the Royal servants ; even the most stittneated can now
bend to the Royal wishes. And what is time immediate
effect of the Kings's firmness on the people of England,
Ireland, and Scotland? Is it not at tliN moment one
' common sentiment of respect ? etas not that manly in-
trepidity which the Royal and has manifested in the
faithful fulfilment of its promise—has it not WOl moeo
hearts. and made more sincerely loyal subjects, lima
could be effected by centuries of violence and suspicion ?
The King has struck the waster chord of the Irish heart,l
and it responds with fidelity he leas set an example-elf
kindness to the Legislature, which the latter, with OF
Its corruptions, is following with a fair and honest spirit.
And is it with such a King, and under such a represent's-,
Jive as the Merit'. as Wellesley, that Mr. Cobbett is to lee
humbugging the mind of England whit' a recommenda-
tion of the maniac policy of Sir Harcourt Lres, or the
threats of a little, humiliated, Orange ascendancy. Mr.''
Cobbett endeavours to put forth the strength of Ohmage-.
ism in all its magnitude.
" Let any man look at the immense mass of property;
not less titan a good fourth part of the whole of the real'
property of the, kingdom. Let any ma! look at this
MASS of property, and consider that it mast all be shaken,
Ito say the very least of it, by putting an end to Protes-
taut predominance in Ireland.—Let any man look at this,
and then let him believe if be can, that the parties who
either posse,' or have the reversion of .this property,
will ever listen for a moment to any mewinge that shall
shake that predominance. The Orangemen have, there-
fore, for allies, these who are interested in this great
Mass of property, and then they have, beside', all the
unconquerable prejudices of ninety-nine hundredths of
the people of England. That part of the people; even
that part of them who never read a newspaper, and ne-
ver see a newspaper, get-at information open this subject,
and arc ell alive to it."
Again Mr. Cobbett mistakes the fact, and betrays an
ignorance of the state of the public mind iu Ireland we
email not have suspected. The men interested in the
giegit mass of property Mr. Cobbett describes, are not
the'allies of the Orangemen. The greatest Landed Pro-
prietor., with one or two exceptions, are not the allies of
the thangetaeo. Beginning with the Duke of Ltinster,
we could eninneeate•a long line of Nobility, in the t
Soeth, Best, and West ; large Proprietors, also Absen-
tees, not only not allies, but at title moment honest and
candid opponents of Orangeism in Ireland—the Earl
Fitzwilliarn and the Marquess of leetidown. 'Tie trite
that a few are to be found in the North; but, even in the
North, the Marquess of Downshire, Lord Stewart, Sir
Robert Hatesou, Mr. `!'Donnell, of lilenarni, Mr. Nar-
cissus Mitt, and many others in Down and Antrim, are
decidedly hostile to the system and its principles.* So
far Mr: Cobbett is mistaken with regard to the feeling
I and inclination of the Protestant property of Ireland on
the subjeet of Oran geistn.
Now for the people of England, the ninety nine hum-
Airedale of whom Mr. Cobbett says are decidedly in (a-
tom of Orangeism.. We big leave Io lek Mr.Golaktt,
mit not the English Reformers, who cOnstltulicthri Feat
masa of England, decidedly and unequivocally ha favour
of Civil and Religions Freedom in Ireland? Is this net
'always one of their favourite resolutions? We can an-
swer for Scotland. We know that the Scotch Reformers
would not be the allies of Orangemen in Ireland. Dees
Mr. Cobbett imagire that among such a people as the
Reformers of England or Scotian'', the cry of No Po-
try could be set up with any hope of success? Who
wilt commence the shout—Who? Will he be a Minis-
, ter ?--If se, out he goes, like Sir Charles Vernon, because
his master is a King who will not be the sport of the fa-
I static. Then, who will? Would Mr. Cobbett commence
the cry?—lf he did, we would republish Mr. Cobhettt
against himself, where he buried themnfortunate Vo Po-
pery men in a heap of ruins. No, no, these days are
gone by—the mind cannot unlearn what it has beet
taught—.it may go forward slowly, but it cannot be re-
plunged into darkness—not even theeprn of Mr. Cobbett
can revive the ashes of .Vo Popery either here or in Eng-
land.
Mr. Cohliett goes on and says, the Methodists are
against the Catholics. His words are:—
" The Methodists are a formidable body In this respect ;
and to a man they are against the Catholics ; and for this
reason ; that the Methodist Parsons are very well satisfied
that Catholic Priests would soon root theta out. Give these
latter fair play ; That is to say, let there be no law about
the matter; and they will have nineteen twentieth., of the
women with them 1., a short time; and then they hare all
the children After this they !teed care very little stool
the men."
We beg leave to ask, why are Catholic Priests so
foil
mirialaiga priesthood? Is not one of the leading cause
their eery depression and humiliation ? Mr. Cubing,
would continue—Give Catholics equal rights and equal eli
Ribility to power, and you take- away from the Catholid
Priesthood one of the most powerful weapons he now
whields-
over the human mind—namely,
the constant appeal ich
can he made to the .pride of the Catholic, who, no matt
er
what his conviction may be, will not be driven by an illibe-
r
ral law from the religion of his ancestors. This pride, if
no other sedtiroent existed, will make hint cling to it with a
desperate fidelity. • Put him on a level with his Protestiest
fellow-subject—then, and then only, he will be free to dis-
cuss the respective principles of all the different systems of
religion which come before him. An yet Mr. Cobbett
would preserve a system that gives the Catholic PM*
such a triumph over the Methodist, as well as every other
denomination.
Mr. Cobbett concludes by the alarming, and, we
must beg leave to say, most unwarrantable °pail),
that unless the Church Establishment is put down,
It is worse than fiireical to talk about Catholic Ewan-
cipstion. The Orangemen of Ireland put the same opi-
nion in a different shape ;—that, from Catholic
Emancipation must follow (he ruin of the Chtirch
Establishment in Ireland. Both Mr. Cobbett and the
Orangemen are egregiously in error: the reverse is the
fact. Has time Penal Code of Ireland multiplietl, the
members of the Established Church in Ireland? In
the time of Primate Nutter, the Protestants were a
third of the population. Seventy years of a ruth-
less, and furious, and desolating Penal Code inter
vetted between him and the first relaxation of the
Penal Laws, and the Catholics grew to a proportion
of four-fifths. Silapis ntartyrurn eat semen rehgiona,'
is a proverb most hilly illustrated by this marmite.—
The Clergy, some of the most zealous of the Catholic
Clergy, have expressed their fears that religious ia-
difference would he the elfeet of Emancipation.--
Certaio we are, it would be any thing rather than re-
ligious zeal. The Judge of the King's Bench Or, Com.
mon Pleas, if a Catholic ; or the Magistrate in Quarter'

-- -
• Tile population of Belfast amounts to near 4u,ooo—oy
this number we defy any mau to produce tire individuals
of the smallest preteuvions to consideration either station,
or circumstances, or intelligence, w are members of an
Orange Lodge.

Sessions, if a Catholic, would. if we know any thing of
the htiman mind, he more inclined to be occupied in the
performance of 'their Judicial and Magisterial dudes,
than in propagatiog the do.urines of their religiop. This
religious zeal no longer exists. Common sense, the
ex-
perience of mankind. their knowledge of therrauds which
have been practised on their credulity, have opened the
eyes of manieihtl. Man now most have a reason for the
belief be entertains, or else all preaching goes to the nind.
Ile will ever be the ardent supporter at the system of Go-
Cernment which gives him equal protection.' The Catho-
lic, under 'lt parental Protestant tioverninent, and the
Protestan4 under a parental Catholic Uovertinient, will
be eqnalljuloyalseil sincere in their attachment. There-
fore, Mr. Vobbett, argues unfairly against human nature,
.when he asserts that it ir a farce to talk of Catholic
Emancipation, uhlelis the Established Church be put
down. It isms uttfosnded as it is unjitst.
IVe.distniss these opinions of Mr. Cobham with great
regret, that a mind so able to see the truth and lay it be-
fore the world, could have been so benighted on a ques-
tion vital to-the people of Ireland. Sure we are, that one
of those days, Mr. Cobbett, if satisfied of his errors, will
not be ashamed to retrace his steps, and make the best
atonement he can, namely, by defending the claims of the
Irish nation to equal and impartial justic e.
Ton iRISIIMAN.