clared that tribute should be paid. He who could, as he told his disciples, obtain from his Father, legions of angels to defend him, disarmed his disciple, cured the wound he had inflicted, and suffered himself to be conducted like a criminal to the tribunal of Pilate, whose power, he declared, was given him from above. He never belied his own maxim, that his kingdom was not of this world;' and 'he underwent the cross-despising shame,' that he might be obedient even unto death," not only to the will of his Father, but also to the laws of his country, however unjustly administered in his regard.

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Peter, whom he made the depository of his doctrine and power, followed his example. When persecuted in one city, he fled to another,' but never spoke the language of resistance: nay, he said to those, who through his ministry believed in Christ, be you subject to every human creature for God's sake, whether it be the king as excelling, or to the governors, as sent by him for the punishment of evil doers, for so is the will of God.' 1 Pet. ii. 14. And again, • Fear God, honour the King.' He unites these two obligations, because one cannot subsist without the other; for, if the King, or he who bears the sword, be the minister of God, an avenger to execute wrath upon him who doeth evil,' how can God be feared or served if his minister be disobeyed? St. Peter, in this passage, only declared the doctrine which he heard his Master teach, and had seen him practise. St. Paul also published the same to all the nations whom he converted to the faith.

"It was

this great Apostle, who lived in the time of Nero, a Pagan, and the most bitter persecu tor of the Church, who, writing to his beloved disciple, Timothy, prescribed that form of prayer which we all recite as often as we assist at Mass-offering it up in his words, for the King and all that are in high station, that we may lead a quiet and holy life.' But the Apostle does not stop here: in his Epistle to the Ro mans, chap. xiii. he inculcates, in a special manner, the broad principles of obedience to the State, and with so much clearness and energy, that I cannot forbear transcribing the entire passage Let every soul,' he says, be subject to higher powers, for there is no power but from God, and those that are, are ordained of God; therefore, he that resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God; and they that resist, purchase to themselves damnation; for rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil-if thou do that which is evil, fear; for he beareth not the sword in vain, for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil; wherefore, be subject of necessity, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. Render,therefore, to all men their dues; tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honour to whom honour; owe no man any thing, but to love one another; for he that loveth his neighbour hath fulfilled the law.'

her faith, she has always abhorred them, when effected by force, or violence, or the effusion of blood. The design then, into which, it appears, some of you have entered, of subverting the State, and overthrowing the government established in this country by the divine permission, is opposed to the maxims and example of our divine Redeemer, and of his Apostles, and to the uniform doctrine of that Church whose faith you profess; but the period you selected, and the motives which influenced you in forming this vain and senseless project, are not only wicked, but disgraceful to you as men and Christians (2).

"And first-what is the period you have chosen to form a dark and bloody conspiracy against all that is established by the will of God, in a country that should be more dear to you than life? Precisely that, when our gracious Sovereign visited us like a common father; quelling the tumult of the passions-allaying the spirit of party and dissention-and dispensing among every class and description of his people the spirit of peace and good will: that period, when one of your own countrymen, renowned for his wisdom and justice, had been appointed to the government of Ireland, for the avowed purpose of dispensing the laws impartially to all, and devising remedies for the many evils under which we labour; when he who has been the strenuous and powerful advocate of our rights, as Catholics, was placed in a situation where he could view, as it were with his own eyes, your merits and your sufferings -and from which he could bear

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before the Legislature a high and irresistible testimony to the truth and justice of your claims; a period when the eyes of the whole empire were fixed upon you, and all its wisdom employed in devising means for bettering your condition, by calling forth the infinite resources of your soil, of your mines and fisheries, and employing on them the energies of a numerous people; a period when that government, which you might embarrass, but could never overthrow, was expending several hundred thousand pounds in supplying the wants, and providing for the support of perhaps a million of your brethren when England, with a bounty and ge nerosity peculiarly her own, had watched over our distress with the anxiety of a mother, and ministered, out of her abundance, to all our wants; raising up her charities, like a shield, to protect us against famine and pestilence-clothing the naked-feeding the hungry-and consoling the distressed (3)—forgetting our crimes and atrocities in the south -the innocent blood that called to heaven for vengeance against us-and remembering only thatwe were men and Christians; tho' many of us undeserving of that name. This was the period when

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Mercy and Truth seemed to have met, and Justice and Peace to have kissed each other," that you were impelled by the enemy of all good to defeat the designs of heaven upon your country, and oppose new obstacles to her improvement. Shall Ireland, my dear but infatuated Brethren, be always doomed to suffer, and to suffer through the blindness and malice of her own children? Who will in future sympathize in her

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misfortunes?

Who will vindi

cate her rights? Who will proclaim the virtues of her sons, if a portion of them not only appear disaffected, but also blind to their own interests-and if, what never until now could be objected to them-that they are ungrateful?'

"And what were the motives which influenced you to act thus, and even to profane the awful name of God, and rashly to call upon him to attest your wicked purposes your distress, your hatred of Orangemen, your love of religion, your faith in propheeies, your hope of seeing your country free and happy? Let us, my dear Brethren, examine dispassionately each of these, before we come to shew you the absurdity of your designs, as well as the impossibility of ever carrying them into effect. And first, as to distress. The distress that prevails amongst you is general and great, and in many instances cannot be remedied by human power; but it is worthy of remark, though I have seen and conversed with many individuals who were once engaged in those wicked associations, I have not known one who was impelled by want to enter into them. Some idle tradesmen, boatmen, servants without families, and young, inexperienced youths of the labouring classes-these have composed your assemblies, and have entered into them either through terror or a depravity of heart, hardened by irreligion, drunkenness, and other vices, but not by distress: of this you are all conscious. And now let me ask you, how are your wants to be remedied, and your distresses removed, by these associations?

-Is it by the breaking of canals, by the destroying of cattle, by the burning of houses, corn, and hay, and establishing a reign of terror throughout the entire country, that you are to obtain employment? Is it by rendering the farmer insecure in the possession of his property, that you will induce him to increase his tillage? Is it by being leagued against the gentry, that you will prevail on them to improve their houses and demesnes ? Is it by causing a heavy police establishment to be quartered throughout the country, to be paid by taxes collected from the holders of land, that you will enable them to give you employment? No; your proceedings are only calculated to compel gentlemen to fly from the country, to convert their lands to pasture, and to place an armed force to protect their cattle, and to treat you, if necessary, with the utmost rigour. Your conspiracies therefore, are calculated not to relieve, but augment your distress an hundred fold.

"Your hatred to Orangemen. The Orangemen may be foolish, may be wicked, may be your enemies; but if they be fools, they deserve your compassion; if they be wicked, you are obliged to seek their conversion by prayer and forbearance; if they be your enemies, your Redeemer teaches you how to treat them, saying:

Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, pray for those who persecute and calumniate you.' And his Apostle, who desires you not to return evil for evil, but to overcome evil by good.'- If your enemy,' he says, be hungry, give him food; if he be thirsty, give him to drink ; and thus you will heap burning

coals, that is, according to St. Augustine, the fire of charity, upon his head,' which will consume his enmity. But these men, who are so very hateful in your eyes, are our Brethren in Christ; they are each of them as dear to him as the apple of his eye; they have all been baptized in his blood. If, then, they be your enemies, by a misfortune common to you and them, they are still the children of your Father who is in heaven.' Christ died for them, and you should not only forgive them, but love them for his sake.

"Your associations are, however, the best means you could devise, to increase their number, ánd extend their influence. Their association had lost all respectability; the King smote it, like as the angel did the host of Senacherib, and it became lifeless. Those who formerly belonged to it were ashamed of it; public pinion condemned it; it was writhing in agony, and could not exist another year; but the spirit of your conspiracy has blown apon the lifeless bones of it; the nerves and flesh are reuniting to them; it will be restored to life, and again become formidable. But if your feelings be again insulted, if your wives be abused, and your daughters violated, blame not Orangemen; blame your own absurd and mischievous proceedings.

Ah!

"Your love of religion. my dear Brethren, how frequently is the sacred name of religion abused, and how many crimes and profanations are committed in her name! Could religion be weighed in a scale, there could not be found one ounce of pure religion among all those who

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have freely entered into your associations. For how can iniquity abide with justice-light with darkness-or Christ with Belial? It was by meekness, humility, patience, suffering, and unbounded charity, that Christ, 'the author and finisher of our faith,' founded his religion; by these and such like virtues, it was propagated by his followers to the end of the earth. By these that holy Apostle, St. Patrick, whose name you profane, and whose religion you cause to be blasphemed, planted the faith in this island, which was once an island of Saints, but which you would convert into a den of thieves. Can religion be served by conspiracies? Can it be propagated, like the superstition of Mahomet, by fire and sword ? Does she require for her support the aid of those who neglect all her duties, disobey and despise her pastors; who violate all her commands, and indulge in her name all the vices which she condemns? Does not your Catechism teach you that the most essential part of your religion consists of the two great precepts of charity,— To love God above all things, and your neighbour as yourself, for the love of God;' and again, that by the word

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neighbour' is signified all mankind of every description, even those who differ from you in religion? But you say you have the true religion, and hence, I suppose, you consider yourselves entitled to hate those who differ from you. • Shew me your works,' says an Apostle, and from these I will tell your faith.' And again, Faith without works is dead:" nay, if you had faith, so as to remove mountains, but