Kilwarden and the Irish bench of his day, we consider a virtual repeal of the heavier punishment; and also the expediency of erasing from the statute book altogether an offence of so very problematical a nature, provided both the parties to the marriage are anxious for its celebration according to the Catholic ritual, as some nominal Protestants readily might be.

Of the gallantry of the Irish soldiery in those wars which terminated in the overthrow of the gigantic power of Napoleon, who needs to be reminded? or who knows not, that the majority of those soldiers were Catholics? yet by law are they liable to a fine of a shilling for the first offence, and to be laid in irons for twelve hours for the second, in refusing to attend the worship of the church of England, which they deem heretical and sinful; and it is even doubtful, according to the strict letter of the articles of war, whether they might not, for thus disobeying the lawful command of a superior officer, be sentenced to be shot. Surely, surely, it is high time that the rights of conscience of our brave defendersand no man, as Lord Mansfield well observed upon another occasion, ceases to be a citizen by becoming a soldiershould have a better foundation than the chance of their colonel being a tyrant or a gentleman, a furious bigot, or a man of a liberal mind. These things require attention; and it is thus far important that they should be altered, though their practical operation may, perhaps, be but slightly oppressive, that the great mass of Irish population may be satisfied that the resistance of their emancipation from their civil disabilities, proceeds on principles for which a reason can be given, not on an obstinate determination, right or wrong, to grant them nothing. To the opponents of concession we would say, If you apprehend real danger to the constitution, and to the Protestant ascendancy, from throwing open the legislature, and the great offices of state, to Roman Catholics, resist such a proposal with firmness, but with temper and moderation; and to shew that you do this from principle and not from prejudice, no longer support the application of an exclusive system-justifiable in no case, but from apprehension of real danger to the stateto the disqualification of believers in transubstantiation and the mass, from the very lowest offices under government, or in a corporation, even down to an exciseman, or a crier. You may prohibit their being judges, on what appear to be sufficient grounds; but why deny them the mere honours of their profession as king's counsel? They

might be dangerous as chancellors; but against what mischief are you guarding your country by disqualifying them from the mere commercial post of governor, or deputygovernor, of the Bank of Ireland? Because you may rationally fear to give the ell, let not a foolish adherence to a vulgar maxim, (and we are at a loss to find a better reason for your conduct,) determine you pertinaciously to withhold the inch.

And the supporters of Catholic emancipation, have they, it may be asked, no duties-do they stand in need of no admonition? Temperance, we answer, is their duty; and we do not needlessly admonish them to liberality and forbearance. Let them learn to do justice to the motives of their opponents, though they cannot be convinced by their reasoning. They, in their turn, will neither convince by railing, nor add to the number of their supporters by contempt. If they cannot obtain all they lay claim to, let them take, with a good grace, whatever their adversaries are willing to concede.

We will not lengthen our remarks. To many they may be already too long, though to those who feel interested as we do for Ireland, they will be far too short. She seems approaching the crisis of her fate, at least it cannot be distant, and may be nearer than we imagine. We have no room to take a retrospective glance at the measures we have recommended for averting the threatened calamity, and giving to Ireland prosperity, for we cannot restore what never was enjoyed. We must content ourselves, therefore, with declaring, in the language of the writer of the first of the pamphlets before us, both of which we cordially and earnestly commend to the attentive perusal of our readers, our "most mature opinion, that without them, Catholic “ emancipation would not tranquillize the country; and that they, without it, would."

B.

An Introduction to the critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. By Thomas Hartwell Horne, M. A. (of St. John's College, Cambrige,) Curate of the United Parishes of Christ Church, Newgate-street, and St. Leonard, Foster-lane. Second Edition, revised, corrected, and enlarged. Illustrated with numerous Maps and FacSimiles of Biblical Manuscripts. 4 Vols. 8vo. London, 1821. Cadell. pp. 762, 910, 610, 689.

DEDUCTIONS, unfavourable to the literary taste and moral feeling of the public, have been drawn from the VOL. IV. No. 8.

2 B

popularity of those writings which are merely of an amusing and romantic description. It has been frequently intimated, that we have degenerated since the days of our ancestors, who attacked the largest folio with untrembling fortitude, and traversed its vast tract of thought, and persevered through its intricate mazes of various sentiment, and almost boundless wilderness of briery controversy, without any sensation of fatigue. In those periods, the discreet and persevering theologian was under no necessity of spreading over his performance the minor beauties of composition, or of bestowing his utmost care and assiduity upon the construction of sentences, the collocation of words, the arrangement of ideas, and the nicely adjusted plan of his discourse. He felt secure that his labours would be appreciated, and his writings read, if he were only careful to investigate thoroughly the proposed subject of inquiry, or elucidation; and to bring together an ample supply of materials, in masses, however heterogenous. And hence we find on the dusty shelves of our libraries— and, to the discredit of the times, thrown into their obscure recesses-volumes that cost half a life to write, and that would require not only months, but years, as they are at present devoted, to "read, mark, and inwardly digest." Any one of the great standard works of these days of yore, would terrify many a modern pretender to holy orders to look at; and be worse than even the unwelcome quantum sufficit of Latin and Greek, which a professed clerical education at the University requires to pass muster, even cursorily to peruse.

We have sometimes pictured to ourselves one of these fine old, patient, poring, persevering theologians entering his little study, as it is technically denominated, with his spectacles, cap, wig, pen, paper, ink, and all other concurrent requisites to the production of a ponderous piece of divinity, duly prepared and adjusted we have seen him cogitating, and excogitating, day after day, night after night, and week, and month, and year after year, till the giant image of his conceptions rises from the accumulating mass of papers, and stalks through the long avenue of the press into the world. Here we have observed the admiration, in many cases, richly merited, it has instantly obtained; and the wide extent of society through which it has continued to move, with ever increasing acceptance. Unalarmed at the mighty tome, behold the patient reader adjusting himself in his venerable arm chair, and, conven

ing his family round the wintry hearth, apply himself to the diligent perusal of its contents. Many a long, and, otherwise dreary hour, is beguiled and improved, while the subjects of attention involve the important themes of inspiration, the great realities of another world. With a still deepening interest he turns over page after page, peruses chapter after chapter, and acquires, as he does so, that enlargement of mind, that tone of feeling, and that correctness and elevation of moral sentiment, which combine to diffuse a general seriousness of deportment, in which, amidst the scenes of domestic life, the varieties of social intercourse, and the perplexities of mercantile affairs, every surrounding witness discerns the beneficial influence of a genuine Christianity.

Such things have been;-but it is alleged, in vindication of the unfavourable conclusions that are frequently formed of the moral habits and principles of the present age, that essential changes have taken place. The writer no longer aims to instruct, but to amuse; he no longer endeavours to communicate profound knowledge, or conduct the reader into the deep recesses of truth, and along the unfrequented path of patient and useful investigation, but to gratify the love of novelty, the taste for entertainment, and the general propensity to acquire only that superficial information, which is adapted to elevate the individual to temporary distinction and premature fame. The proof of this allegation appears, the moment we are pointed to the general cast of the most successful, and therefore most numerous publications of the age. How can we better ascertain the taste of the reader, than by adverting to the character of the writer? Whatever might be the propensity of the gay, the giddy, and the superficial, to write, their vigour would soon be paralyzed, their fingers stiffen, and their pens drop from their hands, if the multitude were not disposed to read: and it seems, therefore, no unfair criterion of the state of mental and moral cultivation in a community, to ascertain the most current publications of the period to which the particular investigation refers: and if so, must we not believe, that there is a sad degeneracy in the present age? For now the Athenian fever seems at its height, and the public pulse exhibits symptoms of great excitation. The reading population is continually asking for something new; and while the good old systems of divinity are exploded, suffered to slumber in libraries little frequented, or are only welcomed in the reduced form of octavos and duode

cimos, cart loads and ship loads (from Scotland to wit) of novels, romances, and tales, meet with a speedy sale, and universal circulation. Even the graver and more important subjects of discussion, are, as we have intimated, brought to a successful market, solely upon condition that they shall be sufficiently compressed in their form, and superficial or novel in their character. We were well assured, some time ago, by a bookseller of our acquaintance, that the least valuable publication in his whole warehouse had by far the most extensive sale; and that while excellent biography, historical research, and biblical disquisition, stood side by side in unbroken rank and file, for months together; flimsy fiction, poetic juvenility, and travels and voyages performed by the hasty scribbler in a garret, and round the world in a month or two, appeared and disappeared in rapid succession.

appears

Such things are; but in abatement of this severity of criticism on public taste, and in extenuation of what to be the literary error of the moment, we must put in a claim to be heard in a few particulars. It is not a correct mode of estimating the general state of intellectual cultivation, and the moral habits of the times, to bring into comparison either the number, magnitude, or nature of the most popular publications, those of a different description in the present day, or those of a past, and more puritanic period. Far more requisite is it to consider the general state of society, the systems of education, the current notions of refinement, and the moral and religious condition of the world. It is more than questionable, whether the vast and ponderous accumulation of materials in the folios of another age, was at all advantageous to the impartation of knowledge and the promotion of improvement; and whether this mode of instruction was not in fact calculated to cherish a vitiated taste, and to impede the advancement of the mind in real wisdom. The predominant fault of the compositions of that age was prolixity, and it would unquestionably have been beneficial, had the habits of authorship been those of rapid and judicious combination, selection, and conciseness. By pursuing the elaborate, excursive, and diffusive style, the force of argument was often diminished, and the power of attraction wholly lost; and even with reference to many of the most valuable writings of past and present times, it may be truly said, the authors would have written better, had they written less. By consequence, some of the recently published abridgments of the works of