and most
devoted of mankind, the hope and joy in life and death of millions
of humble and faithful saints--is pronounced by the Bible to be
punishable with the everlasting torments of hell fire! Verily, if
this be the 'spirit and manner' of these 'true Christian pastors',
the less we hear of this new Reformation the better!"

The charge of being a political and social injustice, which we have
brought against the Establishment, is fully proved by what has hitherto
been said. Even if there were no other arguments on which to rest our
case, save the single one which we have developed above, it must be
admitted that we have made good our accusation. "I hold", said Lord
Palmerston in 1845, "that the revenues of the Church of Ireland were
destined primarily for the religious instruction of the people of
Ireland.... It is impossible, in my opinion, that the present state of
things in Ireland, in regard to the establishments of the two sects, can
be permanent". But there is more. Evil is ever the parent of evil; and
in one comprehensive injustice like the Irish Establishment are involved
a thousand minor wrongs. The effects of these wrongs in Ireland, and the
mischief wrought by them on our people, we daily see with our own eyes,
and hear with our own ears. But to Mr. Cunningham we are indebted for a
striking and rather novel view of the Establishment, as a source of
mischief to England also. The very guilt she has incurred by the
perpetration of so great an injustice, is, in Mr. Cunningham's opinion,
the greatest of misfortunes. "To do wrong is a far greater misfortune
than to endure it. No man enjoys a wrongful privilege, tramples on his
fellow-citizens, or violates fair play, without forthwith incurring a
moral loss, compared with which, any external advantage is a bauble
indeed". Noble words these: and most refreshingly do they fall upon
Catholic ears, wearied with the noisy utilitarian philosophy of the day.
Nor does the Establishment confer any external or material advantage on
England. On the contrary, it is preparing for her some grievous and
humiliating calamity. Who sows the wind must expect to reap the
whirlwind; and no other harvest but calamity can possibly be gathered
from the evil seed of disaffection on one side, and of tyranny on the
other, which the Establishment has sown in Ireland. Mr. Cunningham thus
describes how the chronic disaffection of Irishmen is produced:

"The church