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times evince in the real conflict of his undertaking; but such is the character of his imagination. Many may still deem it an affection too feeble to withstand experience: while, at the same time, it has the power to conciliate their interest in the Missionaries themselves; and, by an easy consequence, it wins their partiality to the Missionary scheme.

Others are, by temperament, indisposed to zeal of every description, and cannot but regard it, as in all matters, a mere indiscretion. They remark, in the very aspect of enthusiasm, something which offends them; nay, to some of these, it seems as if "all ardour came from Hell." There is at all times a discord in the tone of excitement which is apt to confirm the indifferent in their indifference, or to convert it into opposition. Thus the Missionary enterprize must, like every other, have its opponents. But it possesses, undoubtedly, some peculiarities which are calculated to aggravate the hostility against it; and amongst these is the Missionary character itself. This it is which chiefly revolts them; nor can it be said that that character recommends itself in every respect to minds of sound and proper feeling. "The vain world is passing away like the wind of the desert,"-cannot be agreeably proclaimed on every occasion, to the most religious. It is more decently reserved for moments set apart to such impressions, or brought about by the accidents of life.-Otherwise, there takes place an incongruity betwixt the situation and the sentiment which may sanction either ridicule or disgust. The ignorance and meanness that unfit the great number for their commission, are apt moreover to beget, along with an objection to the individuals, a more unreasonable objection to the measure in which they are employed.

But though there are many striking reasons to be dissatisfied with the mode of conducting the Missionary operations, the reasons have yet to be pointed out, which should persuade us to abandon them.

When the result is so insignificant, as for the most part it has been, this may afford an apology for indifference; but it ought not to dictate that opinion which considers the whole measure as of no obligation, and inconsistent with the practice of more important duties. Is it a thing impos

sible, that an individual can contribute amite to the Missionary Societies, without omitting the duties which more intimately concern him? Or is the Missionary more negligent of his civil and natural ties, when he chooses the theatre of his life and action in a foreign land, than the soldier, or the merchant, who does the same? In the general case, the active Missionary is not undutiful: and the friends of Missions find no incompatibility betwixt all that they are bound to do at home, and the little that they are required to do abroad. There is the less need to caution them against the error of concerning themselves too much in those who are situated at a distance; as the affections of all men are, by nature, in more danger of being too much narrowed, than of being too much widened. The most enlightened people of the earth should recognise the brotherly relation on which they stand to every other tribe of mankind; and a people whose command is so extensive by land and sea, cannot be supposed to want the means of making its humanity effectual, beyond the bounds of its own nation.

"Between Christians, and those who are called Philosophers, a great and impassable gulph seems fixed: While the first are interested in nothing but what concerns the next world, the second neither care for, nor believe in, any thing but the world of to-day,' as the Mahometans speak. It is rather singular, how. ever, that those who are looking to the future and the invisible, are the men of ac

tion, and that those whose only world is the present, have never advanced one step beyond professions of philanthropy, nor made the least effort to introduce the improvements of philosophy into the greatest and uncivilized portion of the world. Still it is to be regretted, that Christians will not shew them what Christian benevolence

can do for the comforts and embellishments even of this transitory life; and thus there might be some common feeling between the two parties, who might gain much by mutual intercourse. The Missionaries, instead of filling their journals with the experiences of particular converts, which

have often more connexion with the state of the body than the soul, might be gaining experience themselves of the climate and the country, the modes of thinking, and the prevalent superstitious notions of of the people by whom they are surround

ed."-P. 112.

The above passage may be considered as a sample of the style of these Hints.

THE QUARTERLY REVIEW.-No. LIII.

which the whole conclave of sciolists, sophists, and revolutionists, could, in their hour of deadliest hate and greatest cunning, have contrived to make.

The sooner the Review is deposited in its grave, the better; for it is impossible that it should retain the public confidence after such a flagrant exhibition of subserviency to the paltry interests of an individual, or that it should continue to fight the good cause with any effect, after such manifest truckling to money-bags.

[Some of the PLUCKLESS have, with their usual good taste, been making a sad outcry against us for Tickler's castigation of the Quarterly in our last Number. The following extract from the letter of a valued correspondent will shew how this matter is viewed by all men of sense. C. N.J I cannot dismiss this brief note without an expression of my great satisfaction at the castigation which Maga has so properly inflicted on the Quarterly Reviewers, for their unprincipled arraignment of the Lord Chancellor's decisions, in the recent cases of the pirated editions of Cain, &c. Your correspondent, or contributor, has most ably and effectually exposed the whining sophistry of the Reviewer, and, I trust, convinced him and his publisher that all attempts to trim their course between God and Mammon can alone end in affording a further illustration of the truth of the proverb, that "Honesty is the best policy." Where the sting of the reproach ought to be permanently attached, I know not; but, certes, the injunction article, coming from that quarter, was more positively mischievous, and better calculated to promote the principles and proceedings of the party, which the work stood pledged to oppose through all its vermicular attacks on the glorious fabric of British Institutions, than the most powerful effort

The disappointment which was felt on the appearance of the pitiful article in question, was not a little aggravated by the expectation which the public had previously been led to entertain, that the Quarterly men were getting up an amende honorable for the skulking evasion of their duty, on the publication of Don Juan; and so deep and general is the disgust now felt, that I cannot understand on what ground the conductors can reasonably flatter themselves they can redeem the former character of the work. London, August 6, 1822.

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LORD BLESSINGTON ON THE STATE OF IRELAND." LORD BLESSINGTON, as our readers may know, writes himself down a Whig; and if they look, as of course they do, into the columns of John Bull, they will find many a keen gibe and jeer at his lordship's expence-all of which is quite correct, and indeed amiable, on the part of John. Yet Whig as he is, and in spite of all the guffawing of the Bull, there does not exist a man more sincerely attached to the constitution of his country, or more warmly devoted to the interests of his native land, which, as he is an Irishman, happens to be Ireland. During the war he voted firmly, through thick and thin, for its continuance; and we are happy to see, that he still calls the contest "glorious," even though he thinks proper to qualify his approbation by the somewhat unpalatable epithet of" extravagant."-P. 27.

He has just published a pamphlet

on topics connected with the state of Ireland, in which, though we may occasionally differ from his politics, yet we must in all cases applaud the goodness of his intention. It is little more than a republication of a former brochure, which he gave to the public without his name. In its original state, he had been rather savage on a couple of ministers, with whom he waxed wroth for their share in promoting the Union with Ireland. On cooler reflection he struck out the personal allusions, and re-wrote the letter, observing what of course is no more than we should expect from a gentleman of his honourable feelings, that had he meditated personal offence, he would have dismissed the asterisks, and appeared in propria persona. The attack, he remarks, was against their public, not private, character. We admire their character, public as well as private, and

Observations addressed to his Excellency the Marquis Wellesley, on the State of Ireland. By the Earl of Blessington. 8vo. Longman and Co., London; Millikin, Dublin, 1822.

for nothing more than for promoting the measure Lord B. condemns; but with respect to the Union, we can easily enter into the feelings of a warmhearted Irishman, anxious for the honour of his country, and sensitive with respect to her independence. Of its ultimate advantages, we have no doubt whatever. For more than fifty years, the Union of Scotland was regarded with an eye of hate by three-fourths of the Scottish nation: is there now a man so insane as not to acknowledge the great utility of that measure? The same must occur in Ireland; even at present the sensation against it is decidedly going down. The prophetic arguments urged by its opponents have been so miserably falsified, that many who were persuaded by them, have begun to laugh at their delusion. Tom Goold, the lawyer, wrote a pamphlet, which proved, in the most admirable and logical manner possible, to the satisfaction of himself and a surrounding audience, that " grass would grow over the flags of Merrion Square, and College Green be again a green indeed." Now a man has only to cast his eye out of the Commercial buildings, while at his coffee, or take a turn in the Square just before dinner, to be convinced that Thomas the lawyer is not so great a prophet as Balaam the son of Beor, by 360 degrees. However, we quarrel not with Lord B., for we know that his opinion is that of very many excellent men of his country, as indeed it is little wonderful it should be.

His Lordship expects much from the known attachment of the present King to Irishmen; but we have reason to know, that he has attributed too strong a bias against them to King George III.

"Our late monarch, King George the Third, was supposed to be favourable to Scotsmen, but considered Irishmen and rebels as synonymous. It was stated that his Majesty removed a noble Earl, now deceased, a firm adherent to the Pitt system, from the situation of Lord of the Bedchamber, because King George would have no Irishmen near his person.

"The conduct of his present Majesty has been directly the reverse.

"It is unnecessary to name the late Duke of Leinster, the Marquis of Hastings, the late Earl of Roden, &c. &c. who were the friends of the Prince of Wales, or the Marquises of Ormond and Headfort-Lords Roden, Forbes, G. Beresford, Sir A. Barnard, Sir E. Nagle, Sir J. Beresford, &c. who have been and are members of the

household of the Prince Regent and King George the Fourth, or that the private secretaries of the Regent and the King have been Irishmen, to prove that our present Sovereign had no fear of trusting his person to the care and attendance of his western subjects.

land and its interests in terms of warm re"The King has always spoken of Iregard and affection, and he has proved his confidence in the people of that nation by appearing among them, irritated as they have been against each other, without the customary guards which defend the person or decorate the pageant of the Sovereign."

In the course of the pamphlet, he discusses the prominent topics usually connected with Ireland-the Roman Catholic Question-tithes-financereform-county presentments-agriculture-trade, &c.-magistrates and sheriffs-a copious bill of fare. In it much will be found to fix the attention of any person, who regards the interests of that, or indeed any part of the empire. The questions are all of acknowledged difficulty; and the most honest and brilliant men have been divided in sentiment, how best to treat them. That what Lord B. recommends would be unquestionably useful on all occasions, we doubt-That he has done good, by bringing the suggestions of one, as deeply interested and well-informed on the subjects as he is, before the public for consideration, we have no doubt at all. Of the moderate tone of the pamphlet, we shall quote, as an example, what he, though an AntiOrangeman, says of the Orange Lodges of Ireland.

"It was reported that the cause of separation between the Protestants and Roman Catholics, originated in a disagreement between two men of these different ving arms and the latter none, when in the persuasions, occasioned by the former haexecution of some duty assigned to them; and subsequently, the Roman Catholics withdrew towards a district where the greater part of the population was supposed to be favourable to their views.

What dire effects from trivial causes spring!"

"To the cause of loyalty the effects were as favourable, as to that of rebellion they were dire-but another effect was produced, which lasted for a considerable period, and the fire now smothered may be fanned into a flame. The evil to which I allude, and against the renewal of which I wish to guard my countrymen, was the formation of small Freemasons' Lodges, called Hedge-Row.' In opposition to these, the members of which were all Roman Catholics, the other party formed small Orange Lodges; the members of

which, professing loyalty, were admitted into the yeomanry, from which the other party was excluded. By a correspondence at the time with the Earl of Moira, I ascertained that these Hedge-Row Lodges were not acknowledged by him as the head of the fraternity of Freemasons; and I have heard that the lodges formed by the other party were self-created ⚫ Orange.' From the opposing and virulent opinions of these two parties, and the high tone assumed by the Orange party, many serious and bloody conflicts ensued. It must, however, be admitted, that the latter party maintained its professions of attachment to the Crown, whatever difference of sentiment might for merly have existed among some of its members. By the exertions of the resident gentry, the wearing of badges, &c. was discouraged, and at last the processions on the 1st of July and 12th of August were, by the orders of the Government, suppressed during the viceroyalty of the late esteemed Duke of Richmond, who was most anxious on all occasions to benefit the

country of which he was the ruler. Since that period, the north of Ireland has been in a state of tranquillity. In these observations I have endeavoured to make a distinction, where, to Englishmen, there may have appeared no difference. I have been anxious to show that many of the outrages originated in factious persons forming selfconstituted lodges, for the prosecution of their particular plans; and to prove the extent of the evil so created, there are still, I fear, some remnants which ill-disposed persons, or injudicious ultra-royalists, may patch and put together, to create another party demon.

"No man can more highly estimate the services of King William than I do, nor can any man more highly appreciate the blessings of the constitution, as established at the Revolution. I consider King William as the monarch that saved the Protestants from popery, and the Roman Catholics from slavery; but the present age is too enlightened to admit of public testimonials of triumph, which formerly might have been tolerated, or in which we might have mixed as pageants, or have considered as standards to rally round in the time of danger. The danger now to be apprehended is the revival of party spirit.

“If the public peace is to be disturbed, if days of misery are to be the effects of processions, party colours, or other symbols of triumph; if, in the seeming of loyalty, but in the spirit of faction, any body of men lends its protecting aid to measures liable to produce such effects, it will become the duty of the Government, or of the Parliament, to inquire into the legality of its institution. I must here guard myself from being considered as a direct assailer of the principles of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland. All that I know of its institutions or rules is acquired by

reading in the morning papers statements which may be most incorrect.

"In those rules there appear some expressions which it would be advisable to omit, because they are offensive; but if any society is allowed to exist at all, it must, like the Freemasons, have a right to its own mode of government."

No association in the world, perhaps, calumny than the Orangemen of Irehas been more the object of unfounded land. They have been loyal, steady, and true at all times; their devotion to the constitution of the country, is as unquestioned as their courage in being ready to oppose all who are its enemies. That they have shewn superfluous heat on some occasions, is very probably true; but then we ought to remember the almost inherent pugnacity of all ranks and conditions of men of the other side of the water, and the actual tumults and insurrections which make their appearance every now and then in the Green Island. But we agree entirely with Lord B., that their irritating pageants and processionstheir continually reminding the public of feuds, which we wish to God were for ever buried in oblivion-nay, even public drinking of toasts, unexcep tionable, perhaps, in themselves, but needlessly insulting to the feelings of their Roman Catholic countrymen, are quite unworthy of any honourable cause. They gain no end by it, except unpopularity; they excite no spirit but that of dislike; they add no strength to their own, nor do they diminish the force of the adverse party; and they delay the kindly influences which that greatest of all conciliators, Old Father Time, is gradually introducing. We hope the Orangemen (who of course read us) will see the and abolish these idle customs. They matter in the same light that we do, may rest assured, that their loyalty will not be less pure, for being less ostentatious.

As every one is talking about the poor of Ireland now-a-days, we shall extract some of his Lordship's remarks on the subject. They are somewhat of a miscellaneous character; but those who know the country will appreciate their value.

"My last division is truly worthy of the deepest attention of your Excellency; viz. the impoverished situation of the labouring poor.

"It is argued by some persons, ignorant of the true state of Ireland, that the ab sence of the landed proprietors has no effect

and that whether they live in Dublin

or in London, is equally advantageous to Ireland.

"Will any one say, that to the labouring poor it is the same, whether his landlord lives on his estate or in London?

A resident nobleman or gentleman employs in the improvement of his demesne, or his estate, from 10 to 100 or more men, daily. The proprietor, either from economy, parliamentary duty, pleasure, or a desire to see foreign countries, is absent for one or two years from his home-his steward would not be justified in keeping up such an expense, and a third or fourth part of the labourers only is employed. The farmers do not require additional labourthere is no recruiting for the army or mili. tia-consequently, if the industrious man has any money, he emigrates to Americaif he has not, he starves at home, or lives on the charity of his more fortunate neighbours.

"There are two causes, besides absentees, from which the increased exportation arises one is, the aid of machinery, and the second, the decreased demand at home, from the increased poverty.

"It is a melancholy fact, that vast numbers of the labouring classes are thrown out of employment; and it is to guard against the evils which must arise from a state of idleness, that I intreat the Members of the British Parliament to hold out the charitable hand of succour to a sister country. In addition to the want of employment, there is great danger of distress from other causes; and it is difficult to persuade men in such a situation, that they ought to be contented because they are free. The fact is the poor man, in Ireland, frequently wishes to be sent to gaol as a vagrant, in order to be fed-to a gaol crammed with murderers and felons, in whose company his morals must be inevitably destroyed.

"In times of financial distress, it is very difficult to propose means for alleviating these horrors; but as a comparatively small sum would materially benefit Ireland, perhaps I might venture to recommend a loan to that country, to be distributed fairly through the different provinces.

*

"In the different provinces of Ireland, there are different wants and different wishes.

"In Ulster there are mines of coal, iron, and copper, but there is no capital to work them; there are quarries of marble, freestone, and limestone; there is a superabundance of water, and the opportunity of levels, but no canals; there is land capable of being drained, and a climate suited to the growth of oak; there is a hardy and welldisposed population, without the means of employing it.

"I have stated, that there are marble quarries, which might be worked with great

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"It would be the duty of the grand jurors to appropriate the sums advanced to the best mode of employing the poor, and of speedily producing some practicable good -the grand jurors must be best acquainted with local wants and local advantages. It is not my intention to insist on any particular mode of employment-my object is, to suggest the various modes that appear to me practicable, and to leave it to those better acquainted to select the most proper.

"It is possible greatly to extend the fisheries, which would not only find employment for hundreds, but provide cheap food for thousands.

"On the coast of Galway, capitalists could find lucrative employment in catching the sun-fish, which is there in abundance, and which produces a better oil than the whale.

"In Donegal Bay there is also, as I have been informed by Mr Ryan, of mining celebrity, a great capability of establishing a lucrative fishery; and on every part of the Irish coast fish is plentiful.

"In a country so inhabited by Roman Catholics as Ireland, the introduction of fish into general use would be as agreeable to the poor, as profitable to the fisherman. Mr Thady Connellan has furnished many useful hints upon this subject. He is now in Ireland, endeavouring to carry his plans into execution, and to propagate the doctrines of the Old and New Testament among his fellow-countrymen in their own language.

66

Having mentioned the name of Connellan, I must do justice to his exertions in carrying into effect in this country the wishes of those who consider the extension of education and circulation of religious doctrines, as the primary objects to be attended to, in the hope of eradicating the evils arising out of ignorance and irreligion.

"It is well known that in Ireland there is a wide field for improvement; it is equally well known that herds of persons have been driven in to vote as forty-shilling freeholders, at county elections, who cannot speak English, and who would swear to any thing. I have myself witnessed the effects of such driving at an election for the county of Donegal."

We recommend this last paragraph to the attention of the votaries of Universal Suffrage. Let them go to Ireland, where they will see a close approximation to their darling scheme in full action; and if they come back Universal Suffragists, we offer to turn Radicals at any moment they appoint,

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