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the man of peace, by the plaintiff in the pulpit, against the defendants, his congregation. It is a strong argument against the tenth, that such claim is not only inconsistent with the nature of things, but absolutely incompatible with the exercise of the Christian religion. Had the Apostles advanced among the Jews pretensions to the tenth of the produce of Judea, they would not have converted a less perverse generation; but they were humble and inspired men; they went forth in humble guise, with naked foot, and brought to every man's door, in his own tongue, the true belief; their word prevailed against the potentates of the earth; and on the ruin of barbaric pride and pontific luxury, they placed the naked majesty of the Christian religion.

"This light was soon put down by its own ministers, and on its extinction a beastly and pompous priesthood ascended-political potentates, not Christian pastors; full of false zeal, full of worldly pride, and full of gluttony; empty of the true religion; to their flock oppressive; to their inferior clergy brutal; to their king abject; and to their God impudent and familiar. They stood on the altar as a stepping-stone to the throne, glozing in the ear of princes, whom they poisoned with crooked principles and heated advice; and were a faction against their king, when they were not his slaves-the dirt under his feet, or the poniard in his heart. Their power went down-it burst of its own plethory, when a poor Reformer, with the Gospel in his hand, and with the inspired spirit of poverty, restored the Christian religion. The same principle which introduced Christianity guided Reformation. What Luther did for us, philosophy has done, in some degree, for the Roman Catholics, and religion has undergone a silent reformation; and both divisions of Christianity, unless they have lost their understanding, must have lost their animosity, though

they have retained their distinctions. The priesthood of Europe is not now what it was once; their religion has increased as their power has diminished. In these countries particularly, for the most part, they are a mild order of men, with less dominion and more piety; therefore their character may, for the most part, be described in a few words-morality enlightened by letters, and exalted by religion. Such many of our parochial clergy, with some exceptions, however, particularly in the disturbed parts of the kingdom;-such some of the heads of the church ;such the very head of the church in Ireland. Least of all, should you be withheld by that idle intimation stuffed into the speech from the throne, suggesting that the church is in danger, and holding out, from that awful seat of authority, false lights to the nation, as if we had doated back to the nonsense of Sacheverel's days, and were to be ridden once more by fools and bigots. Parliament is not a bigot. You are no sectary - no polemic: it is your duty to unite all men, to manifest brotherly love and confidence to all The parental sentiment is the true principle of government. Men are ever finally disposed to be governed by the instrument of their happiness. The mystery of government, would you learn it? Look in the Gospel, and make the source of your redemption the rule of authority, and, like the hen in the Scripture, expand your wings and cover all your people.

men.

"Let bigotry and schism,—the zealot's fire, the high priest's intolerance, through all their discordancy, tremble, while an enlightened Parliament, with arms of general protection, overarches the whole community, and roots the Protestant ascendancy in the sovereign mercy of its nature. Laws of coercion-perhaps necessary, certainly severe-you have put forth already; but your great engine of power you have hitherto kept back: that engine which

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the pride of the bigot, nor the spite of the zealot, nor the ambition of the high priest, nor the arsenal of the conqueror, nor the inquisition, with its jaded rack and pale criminal, never thought of,-the engine which, armed with physical and moral blessing, comes forth and overlays mankind by services, the engine of redress: this is Government, and this the only description of Government worth your ambition. Were I to raise you to a great act, I should not recur to the history of other nations: I would recite your own acts, and set you in emulation with yourselves. Do you remember that night, when you gave your country a free trade, and with your own hands opened all her harbours?—that night, when you gave her a free constitution, and broke the chains of a century; while England, eclipsed at your glory and your island, rose, as it were, from its bed, and got nearer the sun! In the arts that polish life, the inventions that accommodate, the manufactures that adorn it, you will for many years be inferior to some other parts of Europe; but to nurse a growing people,—to mature a struggling, though hardy community, to mould, to multiply, to consolidate, to inspire, and to exalt a young nation,-be these your barbarous accomplishments!

"I speak this to you from a long knowledge of your character and the various resources of your soul; and I confide my motion to those principles, not only of justice, but of fire, which I have observed to exist in your composition, and occasionally to break out in a flame of public zeal, leaving the ministers of the crown in eclipsed degradation. Therefore, I have not come to you furnished merely with a cold mechanical plan; but have submitted to your consideration the living grievances, conceiving that anything in the shape of oppression, once made apparent-oppression, too, of a people you have set free-the evil will catch those

warm susceptible properties which abound in your mind, and qualify you for legislation."

Mr. Grattan's motion was seconded by Lord Kingsbrough, and supported by Mr. Brownlow and Mr. Curran; it was opposed by Major Hobart, Mr. Arthur Browne, Mr. Parsons, and Mr. Fitzgibbon (Attorney-general), and rejected by 121 to 49.

Mr. Grattan's speech on this occasion, was pronounced by the Attorney-general, to have been one of the most splendid displays of eloquence the House had ever heard. The reviews of the day, in noticing it, say " Mr. Grattan took up three hours in delivering this speech, in which he displayed the most consummate eloquence that any assembly, whether modern or ancient, could perhaps boast of. He took a most comprehensive view of tithes from their first origin. The resolution he proposed will do him eternal honour; they originated in virtue, and were dictated by humanity. This speech, by its eloquence and oratory, persuaded his hearers, and flashed conviction on the House. When he came to reason on the subject like a statesman, a philosopher, and a Christian, the House was amazed at the blaze of eloquence with which he lighted up the subject; it was an irresistible flow of elocution, which carried along with it the passions, the judgment, and every feeling both of members and auditors."

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CHAPTER XI.

Mr. Grattan's residence at Tinnehinch-Death of his favourite stewardMr. Grattan renews the subject of tithes, 14th April, 1788-Proposal for a settlement thereof-Goes to England-His letters to Mr. Broome and Mr. Day respecting the King's health, and his return to Parliament the ensuing election-King's illness-Regency-State of parties in Ireland-Conduct of Mr. Fitzgibbon and the Government Fatal consequences to Ireland-Meeting of the English Parliament, November, 1788-Regency question-Mr. Pitt's conduct-Mr. Fox's doctrine as to the Prince's right, originated by Lord Loughborough -Denied by Mr. Pitt-His letter to the Prince, and reply thereto— Resolutions carried against the Prince-Remarks thereon.

MR. GRATTAN's leisure time was now chiefly passed in the country. The estate that had been purchased by the grant of the Irish Parliament, was situated in the Queen's county. His trustee and friend, Sir John Tydd, who resided in the neighbourhood, not far from Maryborough, had recommended the purchase. It extended from the River Barrow, the second river for its size in Ireland, towards the village of Stradbally, and had belonged to Lord Sydney, and afterwards to the Cosby family, their relations.

The place possessed few attractions in point of scenery. It was intersected by a canal, (Mr. Grattan giving the land to the Company without compensation). The country was flat and not

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