From the course of measur...
The Times, 1824-11-23T00:00:00

Frnut tbe course of measures for soltme time adopLcd by the Government of Ireland, with n view to coerce or to coln- ciLiate the multiulde, as occasion might requirt, it was flrst predicted by the authorsi of the niw svstekn, andl next grit. dlually believedS by rtLasonable munvi who observed Its pro- gress artl oplerationi, that ta real cure woould soont bo adlti- t'isie-t,edto tihe know n atid lthrnietlisn\ses of thecountry,afdl ehat the powemrs whlihel ittti tvunce poli tical socetlies thuhirugh- oit the rtst of tilt world wouldl be lerft iitolstrtteteld, to p)rdlult\ in I relaidti , zas tliw rew thI(' 9te tI leasiIgS oI.f civi lUiZ- lion ant tatiooual prosperity. whliel txperience proves to be, iR qt,nerat casts, thliir rejtilt. I'l Its, whio pretetd nl uot to have beeu at any petliod distingtishe-l by the Viwttnilt (if' otur inlteWerncne Int tle atKtiro t' tieu'lan-lcre, . ItaP?I, ve felt niot, witlin nmay of outr teotomporarics, sto dielidvd A eon fideneeX iil thle it ac, ie1 fltlt i ':its 0'f tftin propositl atmil tnuch-l\itiizteul ehallgtes of the conlstitution-to liti, we acknowledge, it has been a soutrrc of-s,tistlietion rathrr thrin of surprise, that sensible benc its have aetuttlly fillowetO witlhin the l.tst twSelve'moutil 01 twVo, frotilt 0ltitgei ol a less organic and ostentatious character tltat I it oxe w itic had for twenity-Lve years past leein desctibed as the oily ones throuighl wvhiclh the ishutl could( be natlitttailled Its a tueti- ber of the Britislh empire, or trmnqtillized as it Christiao community. Ve are not now to speak of the Iinsuirrectioni Act, whliCii in its application to a tlesperate dise:mse was a retnedy aiost as desperate, though we mlay speak of its r e- moval as in evidenco that the in mediate imiscllet'l hnd dis- appeared. The other experiments resortedI to are of a class whlichl manifest a more searching insiglht into fitturity; and not being on the spot ourselves, we are satisficd to concur in the opiiiotns which have reached us, that the Tithe Act, the Police Act, an1d, farabove all, the improved adlministra- tion of justice, have apparently wrought among the lower ortlers of Irishmen the three most obvious desitlerata of their existeucc-a comoarative easiness u ndter tlheir con- dition, a more general respect for life and property, and a morewilling o,bedienee to the laws. So ftr forth as the above descriptioiis of poersons andl things can be separately' considered, a great amendmeicnit has therefore beeni for many months visible throughout the whole island. As between lawsandlaw-breakers-asbetween the most pitiable sufferers and their oppressors, tranquillity lhas at length been esta- blished ; and to that extent the policy of the Government bas been actually crowneel witli success. But the alarmll rings from another quarter. If the dliffi- cult task has been aecomplished, of quenching the fire below stairs, it has caught tne upper chamlaers of the edifice, wvhere it seems to burst out from every door and widlow. Many persons, however, are more terrified than we feel ourselves, at this transfer of the mischief frorm the peasantry, whose weapons are their hands, to the more active and( educatedl of the Irish, among the majority of wvhom, at least, we may expect that physical violence is not contetmplatetl as a proper antl voluntarv instrument of poli- tieal amelioratien. The two tiovel bugbear.s in the pre- sent state or Ireland, are tlhe scenes of religious contro- versy, anid the Catlholic Association with its attendanit rent. The Government has been blamedl for both, but, as it seems to Us, unjustly. 1st. Although tlie prgress of both may have hcen forescen, it was impossible to prevent them, without a change so violent in the existing laws as must have shocked the constitutional feelings of this coutntry, when it was employed to anticipate a contingent andl speculative danger. 2d. If it had been possible to reconcile the public ntind of England to an experimental system of premature intimida- tion, we doubt whether it would have been wise-we more than doubt it. Wilth regart to thcse conflicts between the champions of opposing creeds, whieh must be carefully se- parated in all our reasonings fromn the Associationi and its objects, we say, Let them alone. lVhat can Popery gain by free discussioni? What can the Churchl of England lose by it? Suppose that the Irish Priests of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had come into the field of argument, face to face, with the divinies of EDWARD VI., of ELIZA. BETH and JAIES I. ; that the Protestant clergy had been qRalified to preach and apostrophize in a language understood as well by the Irish of that day as English is now comprehended throughout Ireland ; that the same English elergy hadl appeared from th/e first, with the Bible it1 the native tongue of Ireland, as their letter of recommenidation to theignorant Irish, rather than as mnere collectors of tithe ; and that the prescriptive designation of pure state pensioners had been abantloned by them for that of religious disputants and preachers; does any one imagine that the whole body of the Irish nation would have been at this day wedded to the chureh of Rome ? The contr6- versies-we offer it as our deliberate opinion-if conflned to intellectual and spiiritual weapons, must tenl to enlighten and to rouse the Catholic inind thioughout Ireland. The assertion of a right to readl ant thittk for himself is natural to every human being: priests, wben they challenge public dliscussion, must do what is almost unheard- of in their church-tl4ey must defenid, by something more than authority, the prohibitions which that au- thority has imposed on; its comnmunion. Hard named will not do "fanatic.s,"-"mcn-,elent meddlers,"-"heretic.," and so forth, wvhich the priests have lavished on our Protestant clergy-for the peophi wvill infallibly canvass every word the respective disputants utter ; and to bring them -to-exercise atny thought upon religion, is a step towards their think- ing rightly. If, thein, the baffled and irritated Priests do not stir up tha,ir flocks to revolt, as a diversion frown more peaceful arguinent, is it unreasonable to presume that from these free ansi open questioniugs, the TarFORsINETIOt itself may take iti date in Ireland? Government will be mad if they interfere in controversial meetings, between the Established and Catholic clergy. Should, indeedl, lawless violence follow, a netv case arises, an-id with it a new course of policy. But, at the same time that we assert the rigbt, nay, the direct obligation, of all Christians, to seek the rule of lifo andt the promise of eternity where alone they are to be found-miamely, in the unadalterated word of our CREATOR-wedd not vindicate the practical wisdom. of aei attenmpt, on the part of Government, to assist by public money, any mnore than to repress by -public authorl. ty, the effbrts of pious and benevolent men to rescue the people of Ireland from their spiritual thraldom. The- Wlolesome operation of moral inflcences will gradually and peacefully accomplish the end desired. Want of space com- pcls IUs to.put off, for a day or tvo, some remarks with whicb we mneant to haYe conciuded, on the lay proceedings of the Cathiolics.