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the VETO. Mr. Grattan supported the measure; he said :

"The influence of the Pope, so far, was purely spiritual, and did not extend even to the appointment of the members of his Catholic hierarchy. They nominated themselves, and looked to the Pope but for his spiritual sanction of such nomination. But if it should be supposed that there was the smallest danger in this course, he had a proposition to suggest, which he had authority to state, which, indeed, he was instructed to make; namely, that his Majesty may interfere upon any such occasion with his negative. This would have the effect of preventing any Catholic ecclesiastic being advanced to the Government of that Church in Ireland, who was not politically approved of by the Government of that country.

"Mr. Ponsonby, in supporting the petition, made the same proposal; and said he did so upon the authority of Dr. Milner, who was a Catholic bishop in England, and who was authorised by the Catholic Bishops of Ireland to make the proposition, in case the measure of Catholic Emancipation should be acceded to. The proposition, he said, was this:-"That the person to be nominated to a vacant bishopric should be submitted to the King's approbation; and that, if the approbation were refused, another person should be proposed, and so on, in succession, until his Majesty's approbation should be obtained, so that the appointment should finally rest with the King.

"Mr. Percival, as might have been expected, earnestly and prayerfully opposed Mr. Grattan's motion, and all the other possible concession to Papists, whether on the condition of veto, or any other condition. Not that he would be averse, he said, from giving contentment to his Catholic brethren, whom he loved as

a Christian, as much as any man; and "should not conceive himself precluded from supporting their claims uuder different circumstances, in the event, for instance, of a change. taking place in the Catholic religion itself." On the division upon Mr. Grattan's motion, the Minister had a majority of 153-128, having voted for going into committee, and 281 against it. Fortunate! thrice fortunate, that such was the result of that measure, which would have ruined the independence of a Church that had weathered the storm for thirteen hundred years; a measure that would have fastened upon her trammels like them with which the Church of France was encumbered with for centuries gone by; trammels, ironically called, "The Gallican Liberties," denounced by Chateaubriand, and sneered at by the Count de Montalambert.

The alarm and indignation excited in Ireland, both amongst clergy and laity, by the veto project, were quite vehement. The conscientious historian, Plowden, says :

"The prospective view of a national religion, preserved with a virtuous hierarchy, without any civil establishment or State interfereuce, through three centuries of oppression or persecution, produced alarm in every reflecting mind. The proposed innovation of introducing Royal and Protestant connection, influence, and power in the constitution and perpetuation of a Catholic hierarchy, to the utter exclusion of which, the Irish Catholics ascribed that almost miraculous preservation, threw the public mind into unusual agitation. The laity abhorred the idea of the ministers of their religion becoming open to Court influence and intrigue, and shuddered at the prospect of prostituting the sacred, function of that apostolic mission and jurisdiction, to which they had hitherto submitted as of Divine ins

1 Grattan's Speeches-Plowden Index.

titution, to its revilers, persecutors, and sworn enemies. At the same

time, the whole Catholic clergy of Ireland were driven by a common electric impulse into more than ordinary reflection upon the stupendous efficacy of that evangelical purity and independence by which the spiritual pastors had so long, and under such temptations and difficulties, preserved their flocks in the religion of their Christian ancestors.

In the session of 1810, the veto was again brought under the consideration of Parliament. Mr. Ponsonby supported the measure: he ad vocated the principle on the ground that the Pope was then a subject of the Emperor of France, and no longer a free agent, and that the nominations to the Irish Episcopacy would thenceforward be in the hands of the French. "But veto or no veto, it appeared to him that Government were inclined to do nothing for Ireland. Force would never secure Ireland. The resident landlords were fewer than formerly, on account of the Union; he therefore had better try his hand at a repeal of that measure. Ireland had never received from Great Britain any considerable advantage but at the moment of British embarrassment. If Great Britain went on refusing everything to Ireland, the House might depend upon it that the Irish would think the Union had made their situation worse than ever, and that what they might have had the power of obtaining from their own Parliament, they would have no chance of procuring from that of the Empire. They would look to other or less legitimate friends, and the activity of the Emperor of France would not long leave them without the means of availing themselves of them, should they be induced to resort to such a desperate extremity. It was the duty of Ministers, and if

they neglected that duty, it became the duty of Parliament, to tell his Majesty how he might avoid losing Ireland. He would stake his reputation, if the present system continued, that either during the life of his Majesty, or that of his immediate successor, such a convulsion would be experienced in Ireland, as would shake it to the centre, or separate it altogether from Great Britain."1

Great was the indignation again awakened in Ireland by the proposition of the veto. O'Connell from the first opposed it. A Protestant sovereign nominating Catholic bishops is thus spoken of by Edmund Burke, in his letter to a peer-"Never were the members of one religious sect fit to appoint pastors to another. Those who have no regard for their welfare, reputation, or internal quiet, will not appoint such as are proper. The Seraglio of Constantinople is as equitable as we are, whether Catholic or Protestant; and, where their own sect is concerned, full as religious; but the sport which they make of the miserable dignitaries of the Greek Church, the faction of the Harem, to which they make themselves subservient, the continual sale to which they expose and re-expose the same dignity, and by which they squeeze all the inferior orders of the clergy, is nearly equal to all the other oppressions together, exercised by Mussulmen over the unhappy members of the Oriental Church. It is a great deal to suppose, that the Castle would nominate bishops for the Roman Church of Ireland with a religious regard for its welfare. Perhaps they cannot, perhaps dare not do it." And in another letter to Dr. Hussey, the Catholic Bishop of Waterford, he said: "If you (the Catholic bishops) have not wisdom enough to make common cause, they will cut you off, one by one. I am sure, that the constant meddling of your bishops and clergy

1 Plowden-Parliamentary Debates.

with the Castle, and the Castle with them, will infallibly set them ill with their own body. All the weight, which the clergy have hitherto had to keep the people quiet will be wholly lost, if this once should happen."

The project of subjecting the Irish Catholic Church to the English Protestant State, was for that time defeated; but it was brought forward again and again, during the struggle for emancipation, and for many years, greatly agitated the Catholic public.

In the course of this session, Lord Grenville made his motion to make Catholic merchants admissible as Governor and Directors of the Bank of Ireland. Lord Westmoreland opposed the motion, on the general ground that no further concessions whatever should, under the present circumstances, be granted to the Catholics. But to this not very intelligent argument, his lordship added a sensible observation. He said, "He was surprised to see such motions so often brought forward by those who, when they were themselves in power, employed every exertion to depreciate and prevent such discussions." This was true. Ireland and her grievances, the Catholics and their wrongs, had become, in the Imperial Parliament, a stock-in-trade for Whigs out of place; and have so remained ever since. When these politicians are in power, they still "deprecate such discussions." Lord Redesdale, late Chancellor of Ireland, was alarmed at the danger to the Protestant interest which would arise, from

allowing Catholics to be bank directors. He said he had only to repeat his former objections to such claims, "The more you were ready to grant them, the more power and pretensions you gave to the Catholics to come forward with fresh claims, and perhaps to insist upon them." His lordship then launched out into a general invective against the Catholics, and particularly the priests.

The earthly career of George Ponsonby was now drawing to a close. Assiduous in his parliamenty duties, he was struck down by his deathsickness (paralysis) in the House to Commons. Lingering on, he had the satisfaction, before his reason left him, of being reconciled to his former friend, John Philpot Curran. His only child, Martha, the wife of Francis A. Prittie, watched by his death-bed, and saw him breathe his last, on the 18th of July, 1817. His remains were interred in the graveyard attached to Kensington Church, where a simple stone marks their resting-place.

The judgments delivered by this Chancellor have not come down to our time. Messrs. Schoales and Lefroy having ceased to take notes of cases in Chancery. At the departure of Lord Redesdale, their places at the reporters' desk remained unfilled for several years.

Lord Howick, in his place in the House of Commons, on the 3rd of July, 1808, thus spoke of the merits of George Ponsonby, "Never presided in Ireland a more upright and efficient judge, or one who had rendered such universal satisfaction.”

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CRUEL AS THE GRAVE.1

IT has been said that during the latter part of the second French empire, it was a distinction not to wear the riband of the Legion of Honour, which had been prodigally showered right and left. When persons with the smallest modicum of literary powers, and very often without any, frequently without being able to write a sentence of even decent English, appear before the public as novelists, the time is evi-dently approaching when not to have written a novel will be considered a mark of intellectual distinction. For, to say the truth, no kind of composition is easier to produce than inferior fiction. A number of the conventional puppets, familiar to the young ladies who patronise this kind of literature, are made to spin page after page of dreary platitudes and witless dialogue; a few murders, or forgeries, or railway accidents, or breaches of the seventh commandment, or other equally exciting events are introduced and described more or less artistically, the villains are punished and the virtuous rewarded with no sparing hand; the heroes and heroines form their partnerships for life, and the book comes to an end amidst pictures of future connubial bliss. Women generally shine in this description of novel-making; they possess more leisure than men; they have greater social ambition, and all those who have seen them scrawl away sheet after sheet of letter-paper, crossed and re-crossed with the rapidity of a steam-engine, will not be surprised to perceive with how little substance, or with what speed they could write three, or, for that matter, ten volumes. When we peruse sometimes some works published by respectable

firms, we hardly know whether to wonder more as to how any sane individual could have written them, or as to how any rational being could be expected to read them.

We are bound, however, in justice, to observe, that Cruel as the Grave cannot be included in that class of novels.

Baroness Von Bothmer is no novice in literature, and has produced before some creditable and interesting stories. Cruel as the Grave contains a sufficient plot, and is not devoid of well-delineated character, or of strong situations, albeit these are diluted by long speeches and dialogues. There are two heroines, Ella Dobree and Lesbia Lesley. They are, naturally, both beautiful, though in everything else they are as dissimilar as two maidens can well be. The former is Juno-like in person, stately and commanding, resembling more a nature woman than a girl in her teens, as she is; imperious and variable in mood, suspecting all those who express admiration for her of base and mercenary motives, and though at times displaying nobleness of mind, and elevation of thought, is by no means an altogether agreeable young lady. The latter is graceful and lovely as a Hebe, of a soft, yielding nature, full of tears like a Niobe, overflowing with hero-worship for her male friends, ready to fall into the arms of the first man who threw his handkerchief to her, and to become his very humble servant and submissive slave. Moreover, the strong-minded Ella is a rich heiress, whilst the weak-minded Lesbia is a poor orphan.

When Major Lesley dies in India, he leaves his only child to the care of his old friend, Mr. Hamilton, of

Cruel as the Grave. By the Baroness Von Bothmer. 3 vols. Henry S. King and Co., 65, Cornhill.

Berrylands, a country gentleman of independent means. George Hamilton is a man of the world without being worldly. He had married when very young, a large-hearted, large-minded woman, much older than himself, and who had, contrary to what generally happens in such cases, rendered his life very happy. She had sympathised in his studies, joined in his pursuits, explored with him the art treasures of Rome, Florence, Munich, and Dresden, and rendered his bright English home the abode of cultivated enjoy

ment.

On her death-bed she recommended, with rare generosity, to her husband, to take unto himself a young wife, who would give him sons and daughters, and tend him as he grew older. Mr. Hamilton, however, mourned his wife truly, and cannot bring himself to give her a successor. He receives in his house, as an act of kindness, Mrs. Scarsdale, his wife's cousin, a coarse, red-faced woman, of mysterious antecedents, who managed by dint of flattery and skill, in superintending domestic arrangements, to establish herself permanently at Berrylands as his housekeeper, hoping afterwards to become the legal mistress of that fair estate. The other inmate of the establishment, until the arrival of Lesbia, is Frank Hamilton, the only son of Mr. Hamilton's only brother, and the heir presumptive. Frank, though but seventeen years of age, looks twentyfive. He is plain, with dark beetling brows and large grey eyes, and instead of being at Harrow or Eton, playing cricket or foot-ball, or learning Latin, and Greek, and history, as becomes a lad of his years, especially one intended for the diplomatic service, he unaccountably is allowed to roam about at large, making love to Lesbia, and scowling bitterly at her because she treats him as a boy.

Lesbia and Ella, who lives with her mother, a still young widow, in the adjoining property, soon become

acquainted, and a sincere friendship springs up between them. Lesbia, it must be said, is not absolutely penniless, her father having bequeathed her an income of a hundred or two, and the principal object and care of Mr. Hamilton is to find a proper establishment in life for his ward, who, though nineteen years old, and, in fact, older than Ella Dobree, is in reality, as simple and innocent as a child.

Two gentlemen are introduced to the reader as the possible heroesCaptain Dobree and his friend, Mr. Dalrymple. Hugh Dobree is thetype of a handsome young Englishman. He is fair, blue-eyed, frank and prepossessing, and though he pays much attention to Lesbia Lesley, in reality his heart belongs to his cousin Ella, who seeks every opportunity of snubbing him, and letting him know that she regards him as a mercenary fortune-hunter. Mr. Dalrymple is a very different sort of individual. He is a tall, remarkablelooking man, too young to be called old, and too old to be called young. Nevertheless, a handsome and fascinating man, with a quiet, well-bred air. He is neither horsey, nor doggy, nor slangy. Though nearer fifty than forty, his skin is fresh, and his hair thick and black, albeit he does not use any restorers. The descendant of a good family in reduced circumstances, he had taken service in an Austrian cavalry regiment, where he had acquired great popularity. For he could swim like an otter, ride like an Arab, shoot like a Tyrolese, walk like an Austrian. In fact, he could do everything better than anybody else. Having left the Imperial service, he had travelled much in Germany, and resided long among the smaller courts. Now he had acquired the confidence of the Grand Duke of Goschenheim, and he is in England to buy remounts for the cavalry of that potentate.

When staying on a visit with Mrs. Dobree, he wins the favour of all ex

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