Gentlemen, I now appeal to you, if it is not evident from what I have advanced in the preceding pages, that the late crusade against Catholics, has been most unjust, and most cruel. If you will seriously, and coolly, and impartially consider what has been advanced, you must be convinced, that all your alarms, and those of many other Englishmen, are mere chimeras of your own imaginations. But if, to some of you, the above reasoning does not appear satisfactory, I am sure it will to every sensible and unbiased Englishman. Englishmen, indeed, like all other nations, have _their faults_, and _their perfections_. In times of general excitement, and of public panic, nothing is too absurd, for their credulity. In the hour of excitement, and of public panic, _pigmies_, appear _giants_ to them, and _mole-hills_, swell into _mountains_. Witness the late railway mania. This mania, spread like wildfire, through the higher, the middle, and even the lower classes, and threw the whole nation, into a fever of excitement. Before their excited imaginations, rose the golden dreams of their _six_, and _eight_, and _ten_ per cent., of railways, as the _best_ and _surest_ investment for their property, in short, as the easiest and most direct means, of turning their mole-hills of money into mountains of gold. _In vain_, were Englishmen warned, and cautioned by _sensible_, and _thinking_ persons, _against_ these _golden_ prospects of their excited imaginations. Convinced, they either _would not_, or _could not_ be. But lo! the mighty bubble burst, and then, to their loss, and sorrow, they both _saw_, and _acknowledged_ the _folly_ of their former excitement, of their _railway golden dreams_. Again, I say, when Englishmen return to their _cooler_ moments, and _seriously_ reflect, on all the _late hubbub_, about _Pope's Bulls_, and _Guy Fawkes_, and _Gunpowder Plots_, and _Catholic Mummeries and Superstitions_, I feel confident, they will verify the words of Dr. Hughes, the Catholic Prelate of New York, who lately preached in London, on his way to Rome. "I am sure (says this distinguished Prelate,) that this great, and liberal nation, (England) _will_, after this _temporary_ excitement is _over_, _be ashamed_ of their _present_ conduct, and will be _astonished_, how they could _ever think_, of proposing any steps, which tended to _abridge_, the _liberty_ of _any_ portion, of their countrymen, and violate that freedom in religion, which _is their boast_. The (English) Ministry _cannot_ go _one_ step back, upon the track of _persecutions_, if they make but _one_ step, in _that_ direction, they will be _condemned_, by _every liberal_ minded man, and will be looked upon, with _contempt_ by the _rest_ of the nations of the _world_." (Dr. Hughes' Sermon. London, December 1st, 1850.)