The Prose Works of William Wordsworth: For the First Time Collected, With Additions from Unpublished Manuscripts. In Three Volumes.Wordsworth, William
General
The Prose Works of William Wordsworth: For the First Time Collected, With Additions from Unpublished Manuscripts. In Three Volumes.
Wordsworth, William
English literature -- 19th century
The civil disabilities, for the removal of which Mr. O'Connell and his
followers are braving the Government, cannot but be indifferent to the
great body of the Irish nation, except as means for gaining an end. Take
away the intermediate power of the priests, and an insurrection in
Brobdignag at the call of the King of Lilliput might be as hopefully
expected as that the Irish people would stir as they are now prepared to
do at the call of a political demagogue. Now these civil disabilities do
not directly affect the priests; they therefore must have ulterior
views, and though it must be flattering to their vanity to shew that
they have the Irish representation in their own hands, and though their
worldly interest and that of their connections will, they know,
immediately profit by that dominion, what they look for principally is
the advancement of their religion at the cost of Protestantism; that
would bring everything else in its train. While it is obvious that the
political agitators could not rouse the people without the intervention
of the priests, it is true that the priests could not excite the people
without a hope that from the exaltation of their Church their social
condition would be improved. What in Irish interpretation these words
would mean we may tremble to think of.
In whatever way we look, religion is so much mixed up in this matter,
that the guardians of the Episcopal Church of the Empire are imperiously
called upon to show themselves worthy of the high trust reposed in them.
You, my Lord, are convinced that, in spite of the best securities that
can be given, the admission of Roman Catholics into the Legislature is a
dangerous experiment. Oaths cannot be framed that will avail here; the
only securities to be relied upon are what we have little hope to
see--the Roman Church reforming itself, and a Ministry and a Parliament
sufficiently sensible of the superiority of the one form of religion
over the other to be resolved, not only to preserve the present rights
and immunities of the Protestant Church inviolate, but prepared by all
fair means for the extension of its influence, with a hope that it may
gradually prevail over Papacy.
It is, we trust, the intention of Providence that the Church of Rome
should in due time disappear; and come what may on the Church of
England, we have the satisfaction of knowing that in defending a
Government resting upon a Protestant basis--say what they will, the
other party have abandoned--we are working for the welfare of humankind,
and supporting whatever there is of dignity in our frail nature.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account