now put forth, but in the small and more fatal skirmish at the hustings and court-house. The country is traversed in every quarter, by ruthless ruffians to gather into the registry or to the election, the peasant and the pauper, that they may risk the penalties of unqualified perjury-that a profligate representation may be secured, and the very armoury of the constitution turned against itself.

In this emergency, engirt by sleepless assailants, betrayed by our natural guardians, do we sit down in despair and give up all for lost ?-in verity no. Our case is critical, but not desperate; not even dangerous, if we acquit ourselves like men, and therefore have we traced the history of fools and cowards, of plunderers and traitors-therefore have we sketched the progress of folly and madness, aggression and robbery, bigotry, profligacy, blood, and crime; well knowing that all required for our security is the deepfelt conviction of the enmity of our foes, and the treachery of our friends-of the actual existence of impending danger that its approach may be arrested by firmness and energy in the use of our rights.

And already do we see streaks of nascent light dawning along the political horizon; dim and faint, but still giving promise of a brighter day; amid the gloomy retrospect of the past, there is one bright spot of fixed and abiding lustre, on which delighted reminiscence dwells with untiring gaze, as it glows into stronger radiance, and wreathes from out the mists that would quench it, a halo to encircle it with glory; while hope expands the growing splendour and traces in every ray a message of future peace-peace, the first and greatest blessing-" tired nature's sweet restorer" the soothing balm of life—the emblem pledge and foretaste, the crowning joy, the great presiding spirit of Heaven itself.

The Protestants of Ireland are not alone in the field, without an earthly aim to defend them or an earthly shield to cover them. The great and noble ones of the land have arisen, and stood between the living and the dead opposing a barrier to the sweeping flood of popular fury. The democrat's career has been arrested-shall we say permanently? The British peers have met the assault, and quailed not before its violence, but fearlessly dared the

Catholic Emancipation.

vengeance of a sanguinary faction, by refusing to be the instruments of their crime; and in that conflict for life and death made displays of heroism and endurance, that will form the richest recollections of a future age. On them now rest the destinies of the empire.To them a nation's eyes are turned, watching the issue of that struggle on which their fate depends; we would therefore implore them to pause, consider and weigh the consequences before they shrink from the post which their value has so ably defended, and tell them, with all the earnestness which danger inspires, that if they retreat, their doom is sealed; and with them the empire falls. If one inch be yielded, the point of the wedge is inserted and what can then stay its progress. The measures they have rejected, go to the root of vested rights and established religion. Without their consent, they can never become law. Will they then give them the sanction of their authority and thus strengthen the hands of the spoliator and the bigot? And what will concession obtain from them? Have they not tried it over and over again, nerving the arm that is uplifted for their destruction? Twice with peculiar weakness have they bent their necks beneath a traitor's foot-have they secured his smile? After many a

well-fought field they yielded to menace, and what has been the result? Has contentment and gratitude marked the conduct of those to whom they stooped? After bearing for years, the angry assaults of the priesthood and their minions, they at length succumbed, and loosed the bands which had coerced their disaffection, and for what? raise to the altitude of British senators the slaves of a hostile power, the sworn enemies of their rights and privileges. The instruments of inquisitorial ferocity, that the leaven of their malice might spread and prevail and poison the sources of law and govern

ment.

Το

This was the first great wound given to Protestantism in Ireland. In addition to the host of evils which followed in its train, it rendered a second defeat+ all but inevitable. Were it not for the impulse thus given to popular excitement and the influx of popular leaders thus poured upon the le

+ Reform Bill.

gislature, a radical reform would never have been sanctioned by our Upper House. But the preponderance that measure gave to the movement party at such a crisis, baffled every effort at resistance, and the Peers shrunk before the "pressure from without;" the evils which their weakness had caused, they had not the courage to avert. The demon they had evoked, they had not the strength to master. The unswerving opposition which was so long given to constitutional change, grew languid and became extinct; adding another to the succession of popular triumphs, and providing the means of their recurrence.

Both those measures became law, and as a necessary result, proved to be, but the first instalments of an unlimited—an illimitable debt; others have followed; worthy successors, bearing their parent's impress-in the short interval of a year or two, we seem to have grown old in revolutionary daring. Why, a century would scarcely have sufficed to raise the spirit of change to the colossal magnitude it now exhibits. Menaces now are patiently listened todemands are openly made-efforts are feebly opposed-encroachments are passively acquiesced in, which a year or two ago would have been branded as the blackest treason. Would not the most abandoned of the profligate press of that day have deemed their page polluted by the prurient virulence that now deluges the kingdom? Time and space forbid our quoting examples, but surely a line can scarcely be scanned that is not pregnant with a candour of malignity—a hardy avowal of political baseness-a vehemence of revolutionary passion from which the most reckless of their predecessors would have shrunk,* and to their Lordships more especially, passing events are uttering a most articulate voice;

menaces have been urged, and new desinns unfolded, which must sound in their ears like the echo of a distant earthquake. An insurgent rabble respects not dignities, when their hour of frenzy comes, and we need not point out the first victims of popular wrath; but a more imminent peril threatens them-a licentious press is inundating the kingdom with gross and unmasked Jacobinism, stimulating the malignant hatred of a sightless mob against their character and their existence, exhausting the vocabulary of invective, in heaping obloquy on them-but the source of their danger is higher still. Were we to take up the last year's records of our second chamber, and thence detail the unblushing declarations made in solemn council, or the measure proposed and yet to be urged upon a misruled land-concentrating and embodying all that insolent malice ever yet dared to utter or perpetrate against the objects of its hate, a faint outline thus might be given of the peril that impends. And it augurs something ominous in the coming destinies of the empire, when the solemn sanction of senatorial dignity is impressed upon ferocious outrage against all that is high and noble amongst uswhen men of rank and opulence are found soliciting infamy in the cause of revolutionary turpitude, and directing the stream of popular fury against the brightest and greatest characters which are yet to adorn our history's page. But none of these things need intimidate the Peers. The utmost efforts of remorseless passion, or deliberate guilt, will exhibit, but the impotency of an expiring grasp, if they be but true to themselves, if they but see the danger and summon fortitude to resist it. Themselves the arbiters of their own and their country's fate, by shrinking, they only court destruction,

as every inch they yield, every concession they make, is but accelerating the rapidity of their descent, and risking their existence by a suicidal act.

But history and experience alike at test, that passive compliance with popular demands, instead of averting or retarding, aggravates impending danger-that it but stimulates the cravings of insatiable appetite-that it is but breaking the maniac's fetters,-for him to turn and rend his keeper. We would remind our Peers of the acts of their forefathers in 1648, when unlimited concession characterized every measure until after patience was exhausted, and virtue outraged by the most insane acquiescence, they ventured to hesitate on a trying occasion. They shrunk from the precipice to which their weakness had urged them; and forthwith the resolution which is now only proposed, was passed and executed" the Commous declared, that they were the sole representatives of the nation, that the Peers held their seats as individuals in a private capacity, and that if they did not consent to acts necessary for the preservation of the people, the Commons and complying Lords should join together, &c."

The sequel is known-sentence of extinction went forth against them, and they almost became the executioners of it themselves. And we would also remind them of the conduct of the French nobility in 1791, when a Parisian mob clamoured for their destruction. The noblesse in the spirit of a generous chivalry, (they knew not the character of their assailants,) at the very first struggle in one night (10th August) voluntarily surrendered all their privileges, abolishing dignities and emoluments of every kind they expiated their weak ness by spoliation, exile, imprisonment, and death!!—and again-to turn from the past to the present-we would direct their attention across the Atlantic, to the boasted Utopia of the demagogue and the sciolist. There, the first shock of that earthquake was felt, which rocked every throne in Europe, and seemed commissioned against all political stability. We take up the record of events which are hourly transpiring there, and we ask, has the convulsion, which shook that nation from the parent stem, ceased to vibrate? Details are unnecessary, when

the occurrences are on every lip; but we fear not contradiction when we state, that if ever peace and union blessed those states, their days are numbered. A year or two since, that collossal fabric was almost rent in twain ;-the chasm was closed, but not cemented-the unhealed wound is now hid from view, but fierce and unchecked fever still riots in every limb. And how could it be otherwise! The germs of internal dissolution there flourish in rank luxuriance. The people-the unerring wisdom, the stern virtue, the majesty, the power, the vengeance, of the people, there, form the sole theme of flattery, the sole object of terror, the pole-star of legislation. Legitimate government, therefore, in America, trembles on the verge of a volcano. Popular fervour, stimulated by adulation, unable to govern, unwilling to obey, is gathering resistless energy-each moment of partial suppression only accumulating force for the ultimate explosion. And in vain does the ruling power now seek to stay it: already is the utter impotency of coercive effort both seen and felt; a nd the passive nominee of a demagogue taught, that he may, by acquiescence

Whet

Not glut, the never-gorged leviathan.

At this moment is a rival banner ready for elevation in every state; and insurrection, civil war and dismemberment threaten-a train of evils which successively await, and must inevitably terminate the Western Republic.

Nor should the apprehension of civil convulsion induce our peerage to yield one moment to a delusive expediency. The assault will still wear the aspect of constitutional effort, and the struggle long continue a moral one; to resist which effectually, only moral firmness will be required. Though ruffian violence, midnight intimidation, and sanguinary outrage prevail, the sphere of their operation is, and long will be, limited to the poll and the court-house. We must suffer many a defeat, they must achieve many a triumph, ere a reign of terror commence, ere the iron sway of popular anarchy become universal-a consummation which nought but concession can ever produce. At present, therefore, the menaces of physical coercion may be met by the smile of derision. The democrat may

talk of rebellion; but his threatening jargon, without alarming the most timid, scarcely yields a pretext to a venal ministry to screen their acts of perfidy. Well they know, that an appeal to force would only hasten their destruction, which now lingereth-that the British phalaux, true as the steel they wear, would now, as before, sweep to the winds of heaven their mad and disorderly hordes. No! never will the flames of civil war consume our fair and fertile plains, until by folly, by cowardice and treachery, popular fer vour be ripened to wild and resistless frenzy.

And as of civil convulsions, so of the puerile menaces of organic change in the upper house. It is only by a revolutionary second chamber that the first will ever be invaded; and what is to be feared from the attenuated majority the movement there commands? Such an attempt, at present, would only ensure defeat, and merit scorn.

But a few short months, and things may fearfully change. A few more triumphs to the movement party, and the opposition, which is now difficult, will then be vain. The murmur that now awakes, will then become the yell that appals, or the cry for blood that is never hushed but to have its victims marked. The Peers now stand at the Rubicon of their own and their country's fate. Will they cross, and rouse the demon of civil war, to scorch the nation with his fiery breath? We hope better things: and therefore, as men whose lives, and liberties, and faith depend, we call upon our noble Lords to "bide the shock," to stand fast and quit them like men. We have reminded them of their ancestors' frailty; we would now turn the picture, and talk of their achievements, were it not that the task would take volumes where we have not lines. Are not our peers the descendants of those, whose names stand blazoned brightest on the dazzling pinnacles of our country's glory? potent spells, to awake in every breast resolves of might and virtue? Have not their ancestors led our armies to victory-swept the ocean with our fleets, and gathered deathless laurels in every field of fame? Has not their courage sustained our liberties, and spread our dominion? Does not the blood of the Howards and the Percys flow in their veins? Are they not the descendants of Marlborough, of Chatham, and Somers; of Abercromby, Howe, and Nelson? And have they

not at their head the hero of a hundred battles, before whose mighty arm a world's despot shrunk paralysed and prostrate; who smote the sword from the victor's hand; who weighed nations in a balance, and appointed each its due portion? And will our peers forget the glories, to imitate the weakness of their ancestors? Perish the thought. They will never become the fawning sycophants, the abject slaves of a debased and debasing ascendancy. They will never yield to the serpent fascination of a wily foe, who has mingled death in the springs of a nation's life-blood, that her people might writhe under the poison that consumes them. While removing the dross that encumbers, they will not pull down the pillars that support the fabric of our constitution-that august and glorious fabric, which the wisdom of their ancestors fortified, and their trophies adorn; which has survived the wrath of the zealot, the rage of the democrat, the sword of the invader; and stood for centuries, unscathed by flood, by fire, or tempest; never will they suffer it to be trampled on by the cloven-feet of an atrocious priesthood. strong in the armour of ancient faith and loyalty, let them resist the pestilential genius of republicanism, with its delusive and ever-crumbling theories, nor wait until the cup of popular frenzy is full to overflowing, to close its burning fountains.

But,

And now a word to the Irish Conservatives. The plans and object of your assailants are fully developedthe elevation of Popish supremacy, on the ruins of Protestantism, and your extirpation or expulsion from Ireland. This consummation is to be effected, not by physical, but legislative coercion. Your natural guardians are the slaves of a faction, and have a majority of your representatives to support them. In this state of things it is evident, that the peerage is at present the only barrier to the ruin that impends; and even that, your last hope, now is threatened. A second time, in British history, is the extinction of our upper chamber attempted; most ineptly, no doubt; but it is by you that this must be proved: you are the source of their strength in this vital combat; by the manifestation of your support their resistance is to be rendered effectual. We have laid before you a faithful transcript of the state of Ireland, and would now ask you, what has given it an aspect so appalling? What has

been the pregnant cause of all those evils? Bear with a few words, not of censure, but monition ;-and would, that instead of being scanned by the eye, they were branded in deep conviction on the mind, has it not been your apathy and inertness, while implacable hostility was straining every nerve for your destruction? Have you not, with childlike infatuation, instead of meeting and averting, closed your eyes to the coming danger, and by inexplicable indolence, permitted a spark, which an infant's foot might once have crushed, to threaten universal conflagration? It may well be said of you, that while you slept the tares were sown, and you awoke only to see what an enemy had done.

But though you tarried so long from the field, though your first inexperienced efforts were opposed to an enemy practised in combat, nerved by malignity, and flushed by partial success, a most encouraging, a triumphant stand has been made. Even already the results of your fresh-roused courage, your unflinching firmness are apparent. Behold the change that has been wrought among us! Instead of a few despised and trembling stragglers, crouching round their devoted leaders, awaiting ruin in every shock of popular violence, without a hope to inspire them; "nothing left but their honour," and the high resolve, to share their country's fate, as was our state when the first de-formed parliament met-our leaders are now surrounded by a noble phalanx, scarcely inferior to the foe in numbers, but how infinitely above them in genius, wisdom, and honour; and above all, in their sacred veneration for that high old spirit of British thought and feeling the true source and safeguard of our national glory; and against which are now concentrated the utmost energies of blind, infuriate, implacable malice.

There is, however, still a majority; base and paltry, no doubt; but it must be annihilated, that the threats and designs which are based thereon may share its grave. For this, ' renewed exertion is necessary. The incendiary has avowed his guilty purpose, and knows the penalty which national retribution will exact; the cravings of revenge are therefore quickened to the recklessness of a despair which would purchase with life the death of its victim. Our safety thus rests upon the unqualified putting forth of every antagonist effort,-upon our

showing a determined, undaunted front, and wielding, with the assured skill of our opponents, those weapons of the constitution which they are perverting to its overthrow. We have already pointed out the line of policy adopted for your extirpation,-a species of assault as fatal as it is treacherous; deliberate and noiseless, but unerring in its operation; by which the system of representation that was designed to be the Palladium of your liberties, has been rendered the engine of their destruction. We have told you, that the court of REGISTRY is the place where this parricidal act is sought to be perpetrated, an attempt which must inevitably succeed, if fear or apathy be indulged. To that scene of conflict we would urge you by those motives that must ever awake to alarm and promptitude,-the protection of your property, your freedom, your faith ;your happiness in this world-your prospects in a better. Surely you will not pause and procrastinate until the cloud, that now lours, shall send forth its lightnings; when the only boon that mercy will vouchsafe, is the alternative of an appalling death, or a worse apostacy? Will you wait, until the torch of anarchy is in your dwellings, the Jacobin dagger at your throats, or the revolutionary halter at your necks? A fearful crisis impends, and every moment is pregnant with eventful interest. To loiter is to perish. Let, therefore, vigilance, energy, and ac tion characterize your conduct; and, while undefiled by its influence, catch somewhat of the spirit that nerves your foe, making zeal and indignation subserve the cause of truth and freedom. Enrol your names upon that record of the brave and free, to which your country calls you. Be up at your post, swelling the ranks of faith and loyalty, that by your wide, and deep, and dauntless front,-by your enthusiastic cheers of unchanged devotion, your noble leaders may feel the thrill of fearless hope, and, strong in your strength, may meet unmoved the sweeping flood of wild licentiousness, which beats and surges round them,that, contemning alike the remorseless passion and brutal revelry of a reckless but impotent rabble, they may stand undismayed, amid the rollings and howlings of the moral deluge which so portentously threatens, and say with stilling energy to its advancing waters, "so far shall ye go, and no farther!"

C. C. T.