The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1875-10-10

Wv
ference to which circumstance Mr.. Carroll has
one of his characteristic criticisms. "One can
not bot say" he writes, that, however mis-.
placed these attributes may be when applied
to Dr. OBrien Individually, yet if he saw lit to
go halves with fanatics, to ally himself with q
roughtongued mob, to minister to faction
fends, and to supply an echoiBg cohort with
nick-names and with slaug he should not have
taken it i'll thata high.c class Journal should
rank him amongst the rowdies. Nothing, we
bishop character than rowdy ism; but, at the
sa me time, nothing could be more natural to
English modes of judging than the reviewers
interpretation. And a more ingenious way of
indorsing the reviewers Interpretation
could hardly be conceived. am forced to say
ing to Mr. Carroll, DR.. o'Brien did not reserve
his vituperatlon for Romanists," but, after
the manner of many other Protestant ecclesias.
tics, applied it without stint to such members
of his own communion rs from time to time
came in his way as opponents of his policy.
As the Protestant "Bishop" Daily of Waterford
'is reported to have rebuked a clergyman, at
Whateleys death, spoke of him as saved
soul; SO DR.. o'Brien declared that certain
words in "tA1rchbishop" a Treneh's primary charge,
and could not possibly be true" But the
Bishop" had the ambition to be ranked
amongst the great writer's of his day; and, &C
volumes OF charges, speeches, letters and SER
! mons. He mingled in trays where giants were
the combatants, and endeavored to raise dust
tilt, now against the Tractarians, now against
the Ritualsts, now against the Romanists, now
| against the secularists and the advocates of
the national aystem of education; and the pro-
| nounoement had scarcely escaped "the barrier
| of his teetb," when 1t was seized, dressed up
in all the 6nery Of elegantly brough book
history of Thucyddes, to be an eternal pos
session. The result however, was sorely dis
aGPpolnnting: It is is true that, according to MI
TALLY formed and fixed the evangelical preach
ing of Ireland. But outside the body of Irish
evangelical clergymen, the book seems to have
been treated only with contempt DR.. Now
man dismissed it, in the preface to one of his
volumes of sermons, with a notice of five or
six lines, in which tho great leader merely
| said that it a should be mentioned, from the
station of the author" Dr. Ward, too, it ap-
pears, failed to appreciate this master piece at
its true value; for, although he spoke of the
and most precise language" he charged him at
the same time with extraordinary confusion
of IDEAS" The "Bishop," in reply, only ao-
Dn him bs
daughtere, bade him go help his mother make
the gooseberry pe!' DR.. Newman's reference
to his titanic production he never forgot and
never forgave. 1t kept forever ranking in his
bosom, ard made him pursue it's author " with
the steadfness of instinct and with the spring
of q cuddled resentment, from the first episco-
pal charge in 1S42 to the last in 1866. Such a
tiger-itke attitude of mind is not, to be sure,
characteristic of the true Christian but then
the fact was that poor DIR. O'Brien could only
avenge himself in the way indicated. He
really knew nothing-and he was not obliged
to know nything-whatever about the subject
with which he had the temerity to deal. He
had, perhaps, very fair acquaintance with
pure and mixed mathematics but he was not
even !erissimc im6utns in the science of theology.
He could, perhaps, solve, as easily as most men
of his time, question in comic sections or hy-
drostaties-though even in that region he has
left no monumentum are perennius: but in all
other fields of intellectual effort he was com
pletely Eat sea-" and no Trinity College man of
his time was bound to be in any other condi
tion. When, therefore, he engaged in theoo-
gical controversy, he was peculiarly liable to
fall into the mistake of considering assertion
the equivalent of argument and violence of in
vectlVe. lie even contradicted 6imsoy. In his
first book he severely commented, we told,
on the celebrated Edward Irving's doctrine
that onr LORD was not born sinless,' though
kept free from all actual sin," while thirty
| years later "he went beyond Irving and Celenso
in deny ing to our Lord not only native sip less
divine attributes" On the doctrines of the
Real Presence and Baptismal Regenerations
his views appear to have been peculiarly
hazy and to have undergone more mex
plicable development with the advance of
time than that which characterized his belief
in regard to the attributes of the Saviour. But
hGctenu8 hGSc; let me sum mp in the words of
DR.. OBrien's bographer: " He shattered old
faiths without compu notion" says Mr.. Carroll,
adopted new beliefs without apology. and
drove through creeds and articles without
scruple and conjoined 'froward oppostes
without effort"
Such is the portrait presented to us, in this |
book, of the late Protestant Bishop" of
Ossory, Ferns and Leighlin; and if it be a true !
portrait-which | do not think there is any
reason for disbelieviug-many events now oc |
curing in Ireland which it is difficult, ordna- !
rily, to account for or explain, seem perfectly |
natural and inevitable. When Irish Pro- |
testant bishop so eminent as DR.. O'Brien |
changed his creed as we have seen, materi
ally and so frequently, can we any longer won
der that the lrlsh Protestant church is at the
present moment engaged in revising" cutting
out, utterly demolishing, and branding un-
christian, false and idolatrous many things in
its dictionary, prayer-book, catechism and lit
urgy which heretofore it has held as precious
truths and prosecuted others for not belicvingR
Remembering how large q sum of money that
was which Dr. G'Brien succeeded in amassing.
and yet how loud and long. continued" was
his " wall at the evil days he fell upon, can we
be surprised that Irish Protestant churchmen
at tie present day proclaim that although they
have already taken to themselves about eleven
millions sterling out the sixteen that constitute
the CaDitaliZed Valua of THAR livinra at;1