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the spirit of freedom inherent in the constitution, and which rendered a rupture between the sovereign and the people inevitable. The unhappy effects produced by his father's fatal predilection for a Popish marriage, were soon manifested. The great increase of Romanism, through the Queen and her chaplain's interference, (for whenever political Protestantism is in abeyance Romanism comes in like a flood,) the rapid growth of arbitrary principles-the divine right of kings— the Laudite principle of apostolic succession, and the meritorious efficacy of the sacraments, raised an host of opposition that ultimately overturned the Throne and the Church, and brought the unhappy Charles to an untimely end, and the nation to the brink of destruction.

CROMWELL.

Carlyle in his "History of Heroes," speaks thus of Cromwell, "Like all men of great minds, he believed himself to be a chosen instrument in the hands of God;" wise in council, brave in the field, hating foreign and papal domination, and ardently attached to England, and the Protestant religion, Cromwell collected together the fragments of a broken legal power, and although surrounded by anarchy and intrigues at home, and by enemies abroad, he gave peace to our distracted borders, consolidated more firmly than they had ever before been, the interests of England, Ireland, and Scotland. In ten years he raised England to a higher station than she ever before occupied, exalted her at a more rapid rate, in those ten years, than she has ever risen since, and, as he himself proudly boasted, "made the hair of an Englishman's head feared and respected in every part of the world."

CHARLES II.

The attempt on the death of Cromwell, to place Charles on the throne having failed, the unhappy monarch, before the high altar of the Church of Fontarabia, abjured the Protestant faith, which had been rescued at an immense sacrifice, from the thraldom of Popish intolerance and superstition, and for the sake of a corruptible crown, bartered away the incorruptible treasures of divine truth. He ascended the throne as a Romanist in disguise. He degraded himself by condescending to become the paid agent of the king of France, and latterly he entered into a conspiracy with the same king to overturn the religion and liberties of his country.

JAMES II.

There was one peculiar feature in the character of James, as Duke of York. He was an inviolable observer of his word. His courage also was manifested in many heroic deeds, which he had performed in the defence of his country. What a melancholy change do we now find? On the very first opportunity, in the presence of the privy council, he made a solemn declaration in which he abjured all notions of "arbitrary power," and expressed his intention of preserving the government, both in Church and State, as by law established. know," he said, "the principles of the Church of England are for

monarchy, and the members of that Church have shewn themselves good and loyal subjects, therefore, I shall always take care to defend and support it; I know too, that the laws of England are sufficient to make the king as great a monarch as I can wish, and as I never shall depart from the just rights and prerogatives of the crown, so I shall never invade any man's property; I have often, heretofore, ventured my life in defence of the nation, and I shall still go, as far as any man, in preserving it in all its just rights and liberties."

On the assembling of Parliament, the king in the fullest manner repeated what he had asserted in his declaration before the privy council, and even quoted the very words; and to leave no doubt upon the minds of men respecting his sincerity, he added, alluding to the words of his declaration, "I spoke them not by chance, and consequently, you may firmly rely upon a promise so solemnly made."

A similar declaration was made on a former occasion by Queen Mary, and in both instances we find, even in the highest grade of society, the truth of that distinguishing feature of Antichrist "speaking lies in hypocrisy.”

James also when it answered his purpose could act the part of a modern liberal to the very life. He published a declaration, proclaiming liberty of conscience throughout his dominions. The declaration was drawn up in strains of the purest Protestantism, and would have deserved to have been ranked amongst the most enlightened monuments of human wisdom, had not its projectors been engaged at that very moment in a conspiracy to overthrow the laws of their country, and to destroy every vestige of civil and religious liberty.

As a comment on this declaration, he sent seven bishops to the Tower, for presuming to doubt the wisdom of his proceedings, and there was also another culprit of a different character, whom he arraigned before the inhuman Jeffries. This was the excellent Richard Baxter, a dissenting minister, who was tried and convicted, for having stated in his "Saint's Everlasting Rest," that Pymm, Hampden, and Lord Brook, were now among the saints in heaven.

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The Romish party were now in the ascendant, the King's religion became fashionable, and every day, men of weak minds and strong ambition, of wicked morals and of sordid tempers, apostatized from their religion, and abandoned the faith of the Gospel. But the good providence of God, sent a speedy and mighty deliverer. When all hope seemed about to expire in the breasts of Protestants, on the 19th of October, the Prince of Orange set sail from Holland. Admiral Herbert led the van, and every thing seemed to promise a prosperous voyage, when on a sudden, the wind becoming westerly, blew a dreadful storm, and continued with such fury for two days, that the whole fleet was scattered, and driven back upon their own

coasts.

At dinner the king received the news; he used but one hand, holding the most welcome letter in the other. Amongst other things he said to M. Barillon, the French ambassador, laughing, "At last then

the wind has declared itself a Papist," then resuming his serious air and softening his voice, he said, "you know for these three days, I have ordered the holy sacrament to go in procession."

The respite however, was short. On the 1st of November, the Prince again embarked, and the whole fleet weighed anchor. On the third day they discovered the coast of Essex and Kent. As the im

mense array of transports and ships of war moved between Dover and Calais, the people on both countries crowded the opposite shores with eager curiosity, and indulged wishes and speculations agreeable to the desires of their hearts. William himself, with a vanguard of three ships of war, preceded the armament at some distance.

He carried displayed the broad pendant of England, with this animating inscription on his flag. "For the Protestant religion and the liberties of England." In England the general language was, the Prince is coming to maintain the Protestant religion. In the capital, however, the sentiment was more decided. The Protestants were every morning seen gazing on the weathercocks, anxious for an easterly, which was called the Protestant wind. On the other hand the Romanists pressed in crowds to their chapels, where the Host was exposed both day and night. They were unwearied in their prayers and vows for the defeat of the enterprise.

On the 5th of November the Prince landed at Torbay, the Anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot, a day hailed by his followers as auspicious to the Protestant cause. Well may we exclaim in the beautiful language of our liturgy, "Accept also, most gracious God, of our unfeigned thanks, for filling our hearts again with joy and gladness, after the time that thou hast afflicted us, and putting a new song into our mouths, by bringing His Majesty King William upon this day, for the deliverance of our church and nation from Popish tyranny and arbitrary power."

The battle of the constitution however, was yet to be fought, and that on Irish ground. The immortal Walker, a clergyman of the Church of Ireland, whom history has to proclaim, the hero of Londonderry, and the saviour of the liberties of England, was the honoured instrument in God's hands of preserving Ireland, as an appendage to the British crown. "The muse of history," says a Roman Catholic writer, "shall weave her richest chaplet for his head, and the champions of liberty in all succeeding times, be animated by the recital of his achievements." "Had he been a military pedant," continues the same historian, "who conceives nothing possible out of the narrow circle of rules, he would have at once given up the place in despair; as he was a man of genius, and a hero born, he defended and kept it." Never was exhibited so severe a satire on the whole pedantry of war, as in the circumstance of this immortal defence. If any thing parallel can be found, it will be in the history of own times, we have seen a small Syrian fortress, without any regular fortifications, defended, and successfully defended, by a handful of marines, and an irregular assemblage of Turks, headed by the captain of a man-of-war riding in the harbour. Its assailants were the best troops in Europe, under the command of its most renowned general. These after being baffled in repeated

assaults, and after a protracted siege of sixty days, retired in disorder across the desert, which divides Asia from Africa."

"The siege of Derry, from the regular investment of the place, to the time when the besieging army withdrew in disorder from its walls, lasted more than the same time, and though the assailants were less powerful, and the reputation of their commanders very different, yet its means of resistance were still more slender. This will appear evident if we consider the local circumstances of the place, and the state of its preparations, which will show what an humble clergyman was able to accomplish, after the despair and flight of veteran regiments and veteran officers." The constitution of England 66 was won on the banks of the Boyne," and on the 1st of July, 1690, the gallant Enniskilleners, and the brave defenders of Derry, again signally distinguished themselves, and mainly contributed to the success of that glorious day. "The star of the House of Stuart grew pale for ever on that illustrious day, when James displayed again, the pusillanimity which had cost him his English crown.'

This extraordinary revolution, unexampled in the records of any age or nation, established again the Protestant principle of the constitution. From this period the nation has proceeded without any material interruption in its mighty career, till it has gained an eminence never attained by any other nation, and acquired a dominion so extensive, in both hemispheres, that the sun, as it traverses its course, never sets on its possessions, nor can it be doubted, that in its political institutions, religion and laws, it stands forth by the will of the divine Ruler, an exemplar state, amongst the nations of the world.

When we thus reflect upon the commanding position, which Great Britian has held amongst the nations of the earth, and the liberty and peace she has enjoyed; and then look upon the altered state of every thing around us, we may safely conclude that the gradual decline of our country, in the scale of nations is at hand. The rapid increase of religion within the last half century, has been unfortunately unaccompanied by the kindred spirit of political Protestantism. The clergy generally speaking, while zealously employed in feeding the flock over which the Holy Ghost has made them overseers, have neglected the equally important part of their office, that of a watchman, to protect them from the inroads of the Romish wolf. And thus in the language of my Resolution, "the danger with which the institutions of the country seem to be threatened, are greatly increased, because those who might have been regarded as their protectors, have been lending their aid to destroy the bulwarks of the constitution, which ought to have been upheld and strengthened," so that we are now threatened with the return of the worst days of Charles I. and James II.

The Emancipation Act, was carried by the exertions of the religious Protestants, who were at the same time political Romanists. What a melancholy consideration to reflect upon, that the late Mr.

Esq.

The "History of the British Revolution of 1688-9." By George Moore,

Wilberforce, that excellent man, and his religious associates mainly contributed to the passing of that iniquitous measure, and his son (ignorant of the circumstance, that England is an artificial country, and must be upheld by artificial means,) is now the champion of a measure in the House of Lords, that will end in the establishment of the free trade principle in the church, and endanger the stability of the throne itself. Immediately after the Emancipation Act followed the Repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts, then the sweeping and destructive Reform Bill, which transferred in Ireland our municipal corporations from Protestants, into the hands of Romanists.

Then followed as a matter of course, the frightful inroads of Romanism and Tractarianism-the Apostolic Succession, and the efficacy of the Sacraments by apostolic successors. And now we have the abrogation of the Act of Settlement, and the abolition of Premunire, an Act passed above two hundred years before the Reformation, to protect Popish England from Popish aggression. By the recognition of "the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome within these realms," as established by the Charitable Bequests Bill, whereby the dignitaries created by him, take precedence of the Peers in Parliament, the hereditary "cousins and councillors" of the monarch of Great Britain, the brightest gem in the diadem of our beloved Queen, has been transferred to the tiara of an Italian monk.

Again we have the godless system of education, inculcated through the machinery and instrumentality of provincial colleges, and if the attempt that was made some few years ago, to remove our divinity class from the University of Dublin, had been successful, our beloved Alma Mater would have been made one of those provincial Colleges. Again, the National Board of Education, decrying and denouncing the word of God, and substituting in its place the works and tracts of Socinians and Romanists.

In fact we have the country revolutionized. The aristocracy beaten down. The agriculturist ruined. The landed proprietors pauperized; and what shall I say more? yes! There is one sin more, and that a national sin, which will, like the sin committed by James I., bring swift destruction in its train, and that is THE ENDOWMENT OF THE COLLEGE OF MAYNOOTH; and I confess, Sir, that my heart was moved with holy indignation, when I beheld noblemen presiding in that chair, at the Bible and Church Missionary Societies, who gave their votes and assistance to the passing of that iniquitous measure. What a proof that the want of principle in the present day is not confined to individuals. In a very few years, in whatever part of the globe, a missionary with his Bible in his hands may appear, there he will find a Maynooth priest, "standing at his right hand to resist him."* But, Sir, the subject is too painful for me to proceed. I shall therefore conclude by seconding the Resolution I have in my hand :—

"That the efforts made by the Roman Catholics to regain in this country their long-lost ascendancy, are a just ground for inquiry and alarm. That the danger with which the Institutions of the country seem to be threatened, are greatly increased, because those who might *Zech. iii. 1.

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