solution? I agree with him that nothing can be more unexceptionable than these terms. But what cares he about terms at any time? In short, he knows very well, and the subscribers ought to know, that these conciliatory adjustments, in the opinion of members of parliament, who, in fact, expressed this last year, mean precisely those changes in our ecclesiastical discipline, which the assembled prelates of Ireland, have solemnly pronounced to be "essentially injurious to, and which may eventually subvert the roman catholic religion in this country." They condition, indeed, that the changes in question shall be compatible with the doctrine and discipline of our religion: but, then, instead of listening to their clergy and bishops in this essential matter, they leave Sir John Cox Hippisley, who, at every turn, swears that this religion is idolatrous, to declare what changes are compatible with our doctrine and discipline; and who, on his part, produces a large folio book of 544 pages, consisting partly of the discipline of roman catholic states, which is not, by any means, applicable to protestant states, aud partly of the irreligious and oppressive edicts of jansenistic or infidel princes and ministers, which true That unfortunate man, who seems to live only for the ruin of the religion which he professes; the author of the blue books, the founder of the protestant catholic dissenters, and the contriver of the fifth resolution, had for several years been secretly labouring to get into his hands the management of the religious affairs of the Irish catholics, but to no purpose; his name throughout the whole of their island, ranks with those of his "invaluable friend' as he calls him, Sir John Hippisley, and Dr. Duigenan. In short the nobility, gentry and people, no less than the clergy and bishops, proved to be immoveably attached to the religion of their ancestors, and resolved not to barter an atom of it for any worldly consideration whatever. Atlength, however, by his agents, and the other powerful engines which he put in action, he, last year, ensnared a certain number of the expectants, being most of the two for mer classes, to sign an address of his drawing up, which runs as follows: "There is no conciliatory adjustment, compatible with the doctrines and discipline of our religion, and not threatening danger to the purity and permanence of its exercise, to which we will not readily assent;" and, by the unworthy manouvre of pretending to call a pub-catholics must loose their lives soonlic meeting at a house in Dublin, to which none but their own adherents were admitted, (like our meetings of the catholics of Great Britain in a small parlour in Stanhope-street, or a small cellar in Stone-buildings) his agents have just now, in the present month, got that declaration confirmed by some dozens of signatures, which they are about to present to parliament as the general sentiment of the catholics of Ireland! er than submit to. The occasion does not admit of any long quotations from this hon. member's voluminous collections on the subject of our reform: a subject, which, as he has said, he studies all day and dreams of all night; it will be sufficient to mention a few of his avowed leading maxims, these are, that the civil power is the source of all legitimate disciplinary regulations; that the clergy are bound to submit But what so orthodox, this gen- to the state in their ecclesiastical tleman says, as the above quoted de-functions; that the emperor (or su claration? Does it not obviate every preme civil power,) may restore to objection made against the fifth re- their sees and churches, bishops and priests, condemned and excommunicated for schism by assemblies of the highest prelates of the church; that there are no ancient traces of any distinction between the supreme head of the church and the supreme head of the state; finally that the bishop of home possessed no authority over his fellow bishops. except from his patriarchal dignity and voluntary respect!* -And these, then, my catholic brethren of No. 50, Ecclesstreet, Dublin, are the maxims which in the existing circumstances, you virtually admit of in treating with protestant statesmen for the integrity and security of the catholic re-driven forward, to prevent its being ligion! If you avow this, and avow it you must or else protest against the report and its abettors, as not being competent judges of our hierarchy and discipline,) what fools have your ancestors been during these 300 years, in losing their lands and their lives, for refusing the oath of royal ecclesiastical supremacy?. Nay, what simpletons are you yourselves in boggling at it, and thus giving so much useless trouble to our parliamentary friends? ferences with a celebrated member of parliament and the cabinet, which produced the schismatical and persecuting clauses of the bill, which we heard with so much astonishment. four years ago; and we have no reason to expect, from any change in him, or from the complexion of the report, more favourable terms now, than were then propounded to us. In fact we may expect that a bill of pretended emancipation, but of real persecution, will be introduced into parliament, as soon as possible after the Easter recess, and we may judge of the haste with which it will be I have sufficiently illustrated my assertions, that, the greatest storms and dingers which the catholic church in general, and our insular churches in particular, have had to encounter with, have arisen from her own children and professed friends. It appears also that the severe trials which the latter have suffered during the last thirty years and are enduring still, are chiefly owing to the presumption of one unaccredited lay catholic on this side of the water, who, nevertheless, has, on every occasion the art to make himself pass with protestant statesmen, for the authorized agent of the whole catholic body. It should be known that he has lately renewed those con * Report, p. 188, Letter to lord Fingal, Speeches. opposed or sifted (as poor Mr. Percival foretold,) from that which marked the progress of the last bill. Hence it is proper that the English catholics should hold themselves in readiness, throughout the different countries (for that is the fairest as well as the most practicable plan,) in which they are most numerous, such as Lancashire, Yorkshire, Middiesex, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Somersetshire, &c. to convince our representatives and natural guardians, by our respective petitions, which need not be verbose or argumenta. tive, that the pastors of our church, and not the laymen alluded to, with some score of his adherents, are the judges of her discipline as well as of her faith. A few months ago the public witnessed a contest, between this presumptuous layman and his bishop, concerning a most important religious matter. The former has long been a public subscriber to a school for the sole education of catholic children, the fundamental laws of which require that no catholic cate-. chism, or priest shall ever be admitted into it. The master of it, for the sake of deception, long professed himself to be a catholic, but has latterly been forced to own himself a protestant. This plan of concilia- › tion (for all his plans profess this to be their ground) our meddling lay his nuptials; how slight are the sa crifices we have hitherto made him! let us go, my dear sisters, to meet the celestial Lamb who invites us; this is indeed our wedding day." Then, shewing the ring which she had received on the day of her profession, This," said she, "is the pledge of the promise that was made us, and is now going to be fulfilled. Come; my sisters, let us go to the same al tar, and may our blood, washing away our past infidelities, mingle with the blood of our adorable victim, and open for us an entrance into the everlasting tabernacles." She then embraced her dear sisters in religion, and they were all led to execution.Sister Magdalen Dorothy De Justamon, of the order of St. Ursula, mounted the fatal car with the other victims, and said to the guards, who heard her not without emotion, "How good are those who condemn us to die! Our parents gave us but a short life and full of misery; our judgės ordain for us in exchange an eternal life, free from toil and pain, and abounding with delights." ་ A peasant, seeing these angelic females pass on their way to execution, bowed himself down in the most respectful manner, and begged that he might touch the hem of their gar ments. But they refused this kind of veneration, and with the greatest humility cried out; "Ah? rather pray to God for us; in less than fifteen minutes, time for us will be no more, and eternity will have begun, pray for us to that God who in a few moments will judge us, that God, before whom the most just are not without stain.". As soon as this humble and courageous virgin, sister Rosalia Bès, known in religion by Magdalen had ascended the scaffold, the name of Pelagia, at the age of she joined her voice with the shouts thirty-four was condemned with se- of the people who cried out, 66 Long veral other nuns to death. As soon live the nation;" "Yes," cried she, as the sentence was pronounced, she" Long live the nation; I say cried out to her companions; "To day heartily as you do, and with much the heavenly Spouse will admit us to more propriety; long live the nation, INTERESTING ANECDOTES OF THE it as which on this happy day procures us | gold from the furnace, with a new the crown of martyrdom." and more refulgent brightness. On the other hand, how many striking examples can be produced, among the advocates of infidelity and phi With a similar devotion the Carmelite nuns of Compiégue met their fate. Being all of them condemned at the same time by the revolution-losophism, of the most ridiculous ary tribunal, and chained to the superstition and disgraceful cowfatal car, as they passed through the ardice! furious mob that lined the road, they sung the Salve Regina with the same composure as if they had been in their own church. As each of them ascended the scaffold, the others continued their plous chant, and the concert ceased not, until the abbess, who was the last that suffered, gave her neck to the axe. The courage of these nuns made such an impression upon the populace, and so softened their fury, that from this time they ceased to applaud such executions, and by degrees the rage of the mob subsided and gave place to sentiments of humanity. These Carmelite martyrs foretold that the next victims of the guillotine would be the very men who condemned them to it, which was verified by the downfall and execution of Robespierre and his partizans. The English nuns of Cambray, now at Salford, near Evesham, were fellow prisoners at Compiègne with the above martyrs, and took an affectionate leave of them, by signs at least, as they were led out of prison. Being in want of clothes, they received some of the poor garments of these happy victims, parts of which they still preserve. The fortitude and heroism of the servants of God appear in the highest point of view, when contrasted with the cowardice and superstition of the infidel philosophers, who have made it their business to cry down religion as fit for none but weak minds. In the hour of trial and danger religion inspires her children with a noble forțitude of soul, which enables them to come forth, like The great patron of Voltaire and the other infidel writers of his day was Frederic II. king of Prussia. Among the circle of this monarch's associates, the famous marquis D'Argens, author of an infamous book, (L'Esprit,) held for some time a distinguished place in the royal favour. At length however he fell into discredit and disgrace, for which no other cause can be assigned than his cowardice and superstition. He was so affraid of death that the very idea of its threatening him was suf ficient to lead him to the most ridiculous actions. Nothing could induce him to sit down at table, if the number of guests happened to be thirteen. To find his knife and fork crossed was a subject of dreadful alarm, I have seen the marquis, says a member of the Berlin academy, when seated at a repast next myself, take my knife and fork that happened to be crossed and place them parallel to each other; and when I expressed my surprise at seeing him pay so much attention to a triffe, he replied, "to be sure, it is a matter of no consequence, but they will be full as well as I have plaszd them." His niece, madame, Conorbue, relates, that at the me when he was busily employed about his infamous book, (L'Esprit) he found himself on one occasion in so happy a disposition for writing, that he continued at his desk till midnight; he then came down to supper quite satisfied and good humoured, though his mutton was roasted till it was as dry as a stick; but recollecting, as he sat down to table, that it was the first Friday in the month, he instant dying scenes of those who during life, have made it their study to bring religion into contempt with their fellow creatures. A Voltaire tossing himself in an agony on his bed of death, as if he were already enves loped in eternal flames; now invok ing, now rejecting the mercy of that God, against whom he had vomited out so many blasphemies; a Voltaire foaming with rage, with madness, and impiety, and sending forth the most hideous cries of despair; a Diderot, and a D'Alembert, opening their eyes to the light of truth on their funeral couch, but deprived of the helps and comforts of religion, in those awful moments, by the artifices of their in* fidel disciples, are so many dismal lessons of the fatal effects of irreli gion. The mind indeed recoils from the dreadful scenes with horror; yet she learns from them how little reliance is to be placed upon the autho rity of men who have declared themselves the enemies of religion, white a deceitful world smiled upon them in the moments of their health and strength, but whose dying scene les vels at one stroke the system which they had so ardently laboured to es tablish. ly went and committed to the flames all that his pen had written that day. Numberless other instances are on record, of the weakness and superstition of this champion of irreligion and infidelity; this apostle of a system which had a principal share in bringing about the revolution in France, and which, in fact, aimed at the entire destruction of the throne and the altar. Happily however for himself, the marquis had at last the grace to see and to acknowledge his past guilty errors, and to pay homage to religion and truth. His brother, the virtuous president d'Eguilies, prepared him for his conversion by kind and charitable exhortations, and by put ting into his hands the books that were the most proper for him. The marquis gave a considerable portion of time to the reading of the holy scriptures, particularly the new testament, and after some time said to his brother, "I shall perhaps one day think as you do, at present I am neither a believer nor an infidel." Shortly after he assured his brother that he was now a believer in christianity; and his faith received a great increase and strength by the practice of holy and fervent prayer, and the exercises of religion. An humble country clergyman, worthy of the sacred office which he filled, completed the work of his conversion. D'Argens died a true peni- As the situation of our catholic tent. When the angel of peace, who brethren under the different protestrled him on his death bed, sug- ant governments on the continent ed to him acts of resignation cannot fail to be peculiarly interestand confidence, he cried out,Give ing to the readers of The Orthodox me acts of faith; it is against faith I Journal at this crisis, when we, who have sinned; to faith let my expiring profess the same faith, are laying our breath pay homage." Thus did reli- grievances before the senate of the gion inspire the penitent marquis nation, the following account is con with a courage and fortitude of soul pied from Sir J. C. Hippisley's reto which he was a total stranger port, a great part of which is exwhile he walked in the ranks of infi-tracted from professor Staudlin's delity. work on "Ecclesiastical Geogra How eloquent, how instructive, is phy," and the rest from official the spectacle presented to us in the notes transmitted to the foreign of | STATE OF CATHOLICITY IN THÉ OF GERMANY. |
