From the London Atlas.

New Zealander, Volume 1, Issue 14, 6 September 1845, Page 4

From the London Atlas.

Dfath intonnpted Sidney Smith in the pvepavi'tiun of a pamphlet on tins ssil-ject. Happily how over, it u as so far advanced, as to admit of j>»l»liPtttu»n as a " fidgment 5" and though the Idle canon residentiary is now gone, he has left both his wit and his wisdom to assiat thesettleinent ol a question, in which his own interest never flagged Ibi fort) •sears. The fidgment opens in what was Sydney's choicest st)le :—: — The revenue of the Irish Roman Catholic church is made up of h iH-pence, potatoes, rags, hones, and fragment-, of oiil cio lies — and those, Irish old clothes. They woiship often in hovels, and in the open air, from the want of any p ace ot' wurship. Xfacr i-eli-»ion is the religion of three-fourths of the population! Not far off, in a wetl-wiudowed anil wellroofed house, is a ue 1-paid Protestant clergyman, preaching to s ouU and hassock*., aud crying in the ■wiWeiness ; neai him the clerk, near him the se\ton, near him the s. j x oil's wife,— furious against the <viorsof Popery, an. l willing to lav down iheir lives ior the gieat truths established at the diet of Augsburg. Then comes one of those happy illustrations which will be household refeiences as long as the language they adorn :—: — There is a story in the Leinster family which passes under the name of " She ti not well." A Protestaut clergymau, whose chinch was in the neighbourhood, was artiest of that excellent aud uprig.U man the Duke ol Leiuster. He had been stay3ii» at the house thiee or lour days ; and on Saturday night as they were all retiring to their rooms, the duke said, " We slnll meet to morrow at breakfast," " Not so, (\aid our Milesian Protcsiant); )our hour, my lord, is a little too late for me ; I am very parttftil ir in the discharge of my duty, aud your breakfast will interfere with mv church." The duke was pleased with t!>e very proper excuses of his »uest, and they separated tor the uight — his grace perhaps deeming his p ilace mote sale from all the evils of lile for contadiin^ in its hosoin such an exemplary son of the church. The first perso/i, however, whom the duke saw in the morning, upon entering the breakfast room, was our punctual Pr.it^staut, deep in lolls and biuter, his linger in an eg.?, and a large slice of the T'pperary ham secured on his plate. "Delighted to see you, my dear vicar," said the duke, " but I must ,->ay as much sin prised as delighted." " Oh, don't you know wlut has happened," said' the sacred breakfastcr, — "sue is not well." " Who is not well?" siid the duke, " you me not married — you have no sister living — I'm quite uneasy, tell me who is not well." '' Why the fact is, my lord duke, that my congregation consists of the clerk, the seuon, and the seuon's wire. Now the sexton's wife is in very delicate health; when she cannot attend, we cannot muster the number mentioned 111 the iii'iru 1 , aud we have theiefore no service on that clay. The »ood woman had a cold and | soie throat this morning, and as I had breakfasedj but slightly, I thought 1 mi^ht as we.l hurry back io p the iei;ular family ocjeiwei.'' I don't know that ihe clergyman acted improperly ; bqt such a church is tiardty woilh an insurrection and civil war every ten years. Not content with laughing down the " institution," -he iloliiips lib eiaet position : I have always compared the Protestant church in Ireland, (and I believe my friend Thomas Moore stole the simile from me), 10 the institution of butchciV shops in ail the village-) of our Indian empire. " We will have a butcher's «.hop in every vi 1 ige, a 111 jou Hindoos shall pay Or it. We know that njcvii) of you do not eat meat at all, and that the Si^ht olheet steaks ii particularly offensive to you ; but still, a stray European may pass your ullage, and want a steak or a chop ; the shop shall be established and you sha 1 pay ior it," This is English U';islation lor Ireland ! ! There is no abuse like it in all Europe, in all Asia, in all the discovered parlb ol A nca, uud in all \vu have heard of Timbuctoo ! It is an eiror ihat requin s 20,000 aimed men for its pioicctiou 111 lime of peace; which c<r,tb moie than a nnilun a year; and which, in the first Fn-nch war, in spite of the putting aud panting of fighting steameis, will and mustlmak out into iles|)arate rebellion Tinning to Wr. O'Conuell —to his'-deai Duiiel," in whom tiiere is "a gieat deal ol virtue and mounii"," — he | ooli poohs down lejiUdl, and then addresses him tuns :—: — J And n »\v, dear D miel, sit down ((iiietly at Deriynnne, and ted me, when the bodily frame is refreshed w ih the wine ot Bordeaux, whether all tlvsis woith j v.mle. What is the object ol all government ? The o »ject or all t-ovei nnu'ut is roast mutton, potatoes, < ■ i -i 1 e t , a stout constable, an honest juttiie, a clear highway, a free chapel. What tiash to be bawling 1 111 the streets about the Green Lie, the Isle of the ocean, the bold anthem ol Enngo br(t»h\ A far beuci an 1 hum would be Enu go biead and cheese,

Erin go cibins that will keep out the rain, Erin go pantaloons without holes in them ! What folly to be making eternal declamations about governing your- i selves! If laws are good and well administered, is it worth while to ru-h into war and rebellion in order that no better laws may be made in another place ? "The Hist thing is to pay the priests." Aflei a little time they will, Sulney assures us, " take the money " if it only be olTetcd in good faith. Of course, in talking of a government payment to the Catholic priest, I meau it should be done with the utmost fairness and good faith; no attempt to gain patronage, or to make use of the Pope as a stalking horse for playing tricks. Leave the patronage exactly as you find it; and take the greatest possible care that the Catholic clergy have no reason to suspect you in this particular; do it like gentlemen without shuffling and prevarication, or leave it alone altogether. State payments will not, he thinks, (for though dead, the canon is, for all useful purposes, think ing still,) diminish ihe religions influence of the priests ; hut they will enable them (o oppose the folly of the peoplp, and destroy " agitation." Give the clergy a maintenance separate from the will of the people, and you will then enable thorn to oppose the folly and madness of the people. The nbJLCiion lo the state provision doe? not really come from the clergy, but from the agitators and icpealeis. These men see the immense advantage of canying tha clergy ill their agitation, and of giving the sane tion of religion to political hatred ; they know, that ihe clergy moving in the same direction with the people, have an immense influence over them ; and they are very wisely afraid, not only of losing this co-operating powei, but of seeing it by a state provision, arrayed against them. lam lull) convinced that a state payment to the Catholic clergy, by leaving lo that laborious and useful body oi men the exercise of their free judgment, would be the severest blow that Irish agitation could receive. His main argument in support of this piopo sition, is the state of Ireland :—: — If I thought Ireland quite safe, I should still object to injustice. I could never euduie in silence that the Catholic Church of Ireland, should be left in its present state ; but I am afraid Frauce and England can now afford to fight ; and having saved a little money, they will, spend it iu{fi»ht>ng. That puppy of the waves, jouug Joinville,willsleain over in a highpressure fleet ! and then comes an immense 20 per cent income tax war, an universal in urrection in Ireland and a crisis of misery and distress, in which life will hardly be worth having. The struggle may end in our favor, but it may not; and the object of political wisdom is to avoid those struggles. I want| to sec jolly Roman Catholic pucsts secure of their income, without any moiive for sedition ortuibulencc. I want to see Patricks at the loom ; cotton au<l silk factories «piin^ up in the bogs; Irt-land a rich, happy country !— sc ibhling, carding, and making calico, as it mankind bad only a lew diysmoie allotted to them for making cloihes, and were ever after to remain stark naked. Remember that between your impending and past wars with Ireland, these is this remarkable difference. You have given up your Protestant auxiliaries; the Protestauts enjoyed m former disputes all the patronage of Ireland ; they fought not only from religious hatred, but to preserve their monopoly ; that monopoly is gone; you have been candid and just for thirty ) ears, and have lo^t those friends whose swords were alw ays ready to defend the partiality of the Government, and to stifle the ciy ofju-tice. The next war will not be between Catholic and Piotestant, but between Ireland and England. I have some belief in Sir Robert. He is a man of great understanding, and must see that this eternal O'Connelling will never do, that it is impossible that it can last. We are m a tiansition Siate, and the Tories may be assured that the baronet will not go too fast. If Peel tells them the thing must be done, they may be sure it is high time 'o do it ; they may [ retreat mournfully and suddenly before common I sense and common justice, but retreat they must when Tamworth gives the word, and in quick step too, and without loss ot lime. And let me beg of my dear Ultras not to imagine that they survive for a single instant without hir Robert — that they could form an Ultra roiyadmlnistration. Js theie a Chartist iv Gieat Britain who would not, upon the lirst intimation of such an attempt, order a new suit of cloihes, and call upon the baker and milkman tor an extended credit ! Is there a political leason'er who would not come out of his hole with a new constitution ? ls> there one ravenous rogue who would not be looking for his prey ? Is theie one honest man of common sense who docs not see that universal dissatisfaction and ci\il war wouH follow from the blind fury, the childish prejud ces, and the deep ignorance of such a sect? I have a high opinion of Sir Robert Peel, but he must summon up all his political courage, and do something next session for the payment of the Roman Catholic priests. He must run some risk ot shocking public opinion ; no greater risk, however, ihan he did in Catholic |Em uicipatien. lam sure the Whi«s would be true Ito in m ; and I think I observe that very many obtuse , couuiiy gentlemen are alarmed by the state of Ireland and the hostility of France and America. Give what joti please to the Catholic pr.ests, habits are not broken in a day. There must be time as well as justice, but in the tnd the->e things have tbe.r effect. A bu^gy, a huuse, some fields near it, a decent income, paid quaiteily; in the long run these are the cures of {-edition and dissa lslaction, inon don't quit the common busuios-, of lite, andjoin bitter political patties unless they have something justly to complain of. But where is the money — about £-100,000 per autiiim, to come from ? Out of tue pockets of that best ut men, Mr. Thomas Grenville, out of the pocket 1 : of the bishops, of Sir Ruben luglis, and all other men who pay all other taxes; and never will public money be so well and wisely employed ! It turns out that there is no law to prevent entering into diplomatic engagements wiih the Pope. The •.ooner we become acquainted With a gentleman who has so much to say to eight millions of our subjects ihe better ! Can anything be so absurd and childish as a lunror of communicating with the Pope, and all the hobgoblins we have imagmej of premumres, and outlawries, for this contraband tiade in pieiy ? Our ancestors (strange to say, wiser than ourselves) have left us to do as we please, and the sooner Government do, what they can do legally, the better. A thousand opportunities of doing good in Irish atlaiis have been lost, fiom our having no avowed and dignified agent at the court of Rome. If it depended upon me, I would send the Duke of Devonshire theie to-moriow, with nine chaplains, and several tons of hotestant/i'hcology. 1 hive no love ot Poj.er), but the Pope w at all events better than the idol of Juggernaut, whose chaplain, I believe, v\e pay, and whose chaiiot, 1 dare say , is made in Long Acre. We pay £10 000 a j ear to our ambassador <.t Constantinople, and are slat tied with the idea of com- | municatitig diplomatically with Ko.ne, deeming the Sultan a bcitei Chnstiuu th m tlic Pojie ! j

Ministers, bo is persuaded, agree with him, but lhe> aie timirl :—: — 11 I were a member of the cabinet, and met my colleagues once a week, to eat birds and beasts, and talk over the state of the world, 1 should begin upon Ireland before the soup was mushed, go on through fish, turkey and s^ldle of mutton, and licvcr end till the last thimbleful of claret h.d passed down the throat of the incredulous ELuldinglon , but there they sit, week after week; there tiny come, week after week; the Picadilly Mars, the Scotch Neptune, Themis Lyndhuist, the Tauiwoith baronet, dear Goody, and dealer Gladdy, and tliiuU.no more of paying the Irish clergy, than a man of real fashion does of pa} ing his tailor! An-l theie is no excuse lor this in fanaticism. There is only one man in the cabinet who objects fiom reasons purely fanatical, because the Pope is the Scailet Lad) , or the beveinh Vial, or the Little Hoin. All the rest are entirely ol opinion that it ought to be done, — that it is the one thing needful ; but they are afraid of bishops, of county meetings, newspaper", aud pamphlets and reviews ; ail fair enough objects ot apprehension, but they must be met, and encounteied, and put down. It is impossible that the subject can be much longer avoideJ. and that cveiy year is to produce a deadly struggle with the people, and a long trial in time oi peace with O'sVmebocly, the patriot lor the tune being, or the geneial, perhaps, in tune of a foicign war. The miseries of a priesthood tli'is paid In fees are thus ficely described : — The living oi Sf. George's Hanover square, is a beneficeof about jC 1 ,500 per annum, and a good house Jt is in the possession ot Dr. Hodgson, who is ai<-o Dean of Car. isle, worth I believe, about jCl,o()0 more. A mote comfortable existence can haidly be conceived. I),. Hodgson, is a veiy woithy, amiable man, and I am very glad he is as rich as lie is, — but suppose he had no i even ues but what he i>ot olFhts own bat,— suppose that, instead of tumbling through the skylight, a. his income now does, it was procuied by Catholic methods.— The Dr tells Mi. Th.omp-.ou that he s\ ill not marry him to Mibs S.mp->on uudei £'50; Thompson demurs, and endeavouis to be.it him down. The Dr. sees Miss Simpson, finds hei very prettyj thinks Thompson hasty; and after u long and undi;iiilied ne^ociation, the Dr. gets hi^fee. Soon after this, he receives a message Iron* Place, the tailor, to come aud anoint him with extreme unction. He repairs to the bedside, aud telU Mr. Place he will not touch him under a suit oi clothes, equal to £\0 ; the family lesist, the altercation goes on belore the perishing arti/au, the price is reduced to £'8y and Mr. Place is oiled. On the ensuing Sunday, the child of Lord B. is to be christened, the godfather; aud godmothess will only give a sovereign each ; the Dr. refuses to do it L>r the money, and the church is a scene of clamour and confuaion. These are the scenes, which under similar circumstances, tvou/n take place lieie, for the congregation want ihe^comfbrts o( religion, without the fees, and will cheat tlu clergyman it they can ; and the clergyman who means to live, must meet all these artificers with stem resistance. And this is the wretched state of the Jr sh Roman Catho'ic clergy !—! — a miserable blot and fctain on the English nation. Poor Sydne), anticipated the wrath of the ultras for these opinions; and by anticipation, defended himself from objurgations he was not doomed to hear: — For advancing these opinions, I have no doubt I shall be assailed by Sacerdos, Erasmus, Vmdex, Latimer, Yates, Clericus, Aruspex, and be called atheist, deist, democrat, smuggler, poacher, highwayman, Unitarian, and Edinburgh reviewer 1 Still, I am in the right, — aud what I say requires excuse for being trite and obvious, not for bting mischie\ous and paradoxical. I write for three reasons ;—; — first, because I rea'ly wish to do good; secondly, because if 1 don't write, I know uo body else will; and thirdly, because it is the nature of the animal to wiite, and I cannot help it. Still, in looking back, I see no reason to repent. What T have said ouglu to be done, general .y has been doije, but alw.t\s twenty or thirty years too late ; done, not of couise, because I have said it, but because it wr.s no HHiger pomble to avoid doing if. Human bungs cling to their delicious tyrannies, and to their exquisite nonsense, like a drunkard to his bottle, aud go on till dpath staies them in the face. The monitions ,tati of the Catholic Church in Ireland will probably remain till some monstrous ruin threatens the very existence of the empire, and Lambeth and Fulhani aie cursed by the affrighted people. Sydney Smith did not live to know thai Ministeis meant to propose an iucrease to the giant of Maynooth ; had he suivived long enough to have learnt that fact, he would have recognised in it, the first step towards his own larger proposition. For how can we refuse to maintain as priests, those whom we have educated for priests ?