ther example of the abuse of language so common in the controversies of faction? A government which has truly forfeited the attachment of the people in the only just sense of the term, is unworthy to exist. But the people have not been alienated from the constitution and the religion of their fathers; they are, in general, sound and untainted; and it is only in the stagnant marshes of society, in the haunts of obscure profligacy, that the obscene birds of confusion have met with a cordial reception and a sympathetic enthusiasm. The combination, however, is still pregnant with danger; for although it does not comprehend much moral, it still embraces a large physical force. But to speak of the people of this country as alienated from the government which protects them, and to demand conciliation towards them, is a mere audacious misrepresentation, which as it implies a reproach, no less bitter than it is unfounded, upon the conduct of government, merits the most unqualified contradiction.

What is meant by conciliating the disaffected? Is it implied, in this advice, that they have sustained wrongs of which they are entitled to complain-wrongs sufficient to justify the attitude of rebellion which they have ventured to assume? If this be the meaning,—then, away with conciliation,-for the proposition is utterly false in point of fact, and can be intended only to mislead and to inflame. What system of conciliation will you propose with the radical reformers, with men, who proclaim that they will have liberty or death,-who announce to you that their scheme of liberty consists in universal suffrage, annual parliaments, and election by ballot,-nay, who have in some instances vindicated their claim to an agrarian law, and who are fast following up their speculations, by preparing for the sanguinary conflict, through the horrors of which they are to advance to the reality of practical experiment? Would any temperate reform,-any practicable retrenchments of expenditure, any conciliatory measures, which it is in the power of parliament to adopt without degrading itself and endangering the monarchy, satisfy men who cherish these wild and wicked theories, and who, without the power of estimating the true character of their own terrific visions, are prepared to rush headlong into the violence of instant and unfaltering performance? With such men conciliation is impossible, and every step which is imprudently taken with the view of soothing or reclaiming them, only gives a fresh impulse to their audacity, and imparts to their cause all the courage and confidence which are derived from the apparent pusillanimity of their adversaries.

But if by conciliation be meant, a tender sympathy with the sufferings of that portion of the labouring classes whom the revo

lutions of the political world have sorely affected, and who, in the depths of extreme privation, have continued to exemplify the fortitude and the triumph of virtue, then we may confidently assert, that the spirit of the British government is conciliation, that the deeper and more diffused spirit of the British people is conciliation, that both from the summits and the whole sheltered slopes of British society, there is not only a sympathising glance cast upon all those who are virtuously struggling with the storm. that has assailed the base, but a vigorous and outstretched arm ready to lend assistance and to save from despair,-and that the country required not any formal or obtrusive remonstrance from factious men to do its duty, and will not yield the glory of this species of conciliation to the stirring and strenuous persons who inculcate, as a desirable novelty, what has so long been rooted in the practical benevolence of an enlightened people. In the sense to which we have now referred, we expect from the Government the sympathising and conciliatory spirit which they owe to a loyal, and in some parts, a suffering people; and when their first and most sacred duty has been discharged, by carrying through the legislative measures which are to avert the peril that now impends over the state, we shall expect—and we have no doubt our expectations will be answered—the utmost promptitude in attending to suggestions calculated to alleviate the pressure now felt by the lower orders-the most unequivocal commiseration of their actual distress, and the most strenuous efforts for its relief-a profound and heartfelt sympathy with their rights, as well as their wants, and a tender regard, upon all occasions, for the integrity of the constitution.

There can be no spectacle, indeed, more deserving the benignant regard of a free government, than that of a virtuous, though humble individual, inevitably suffering from the revolutions of the political world, and persevering in patient, but now, alas, unprofitable industry, amazed, but not exasperated, by the sudden changes, of which, although he had no part in them, he is doomed to be the victim. It makes the heart sick to see such an individual shrinking before the slow but sure advances of pauperism-casting many a melancholy glance over the ruined comforts and blasted hopes of a beloved family-surveying, with a trepidation which every day renders more intense, the slender accumulations of his once prosperous industry gradually declining under the pressure of immediate demands, and yet, in this most commiserable state of baffled hope, and present anxiety, and approaching starvation, of which he can neither penetrate the causes, nor trace back the procuring sin, remaining untainted by disaffection towards his sovereign, or impiety towards his

God-struggling intrepidly with fortune, and preparing to meet with resignation the catastrophe which all his efforts are powerless to avert. There are individuals of this description to be found among the people of this country, but not in the ranks of radical reform. Their merits are indeed sufficient to redeem the disgrace recently brought upon their order by the madness of anarchy, and to demand that tone of conciliation, on the part of Government, which some men would prostitute, by invoking it for the implacable enemies of the state, but which Government will know how to employ in the alleviation of real distress, and the re-assurance of patient and struggling virtue.

But the Manchester question! It is here that faction delights to make its stand, and, reckless of the public danger, to scatter its firebrands in all directions. It is here that the ordinary retainers of party, and the yet viler sycophants of popularity, have put forth their entire strength of falsehood and fabrication, and polluted the country with their nameless abominations. Far be it from us to imitate their malignant audacity, by presuming to usurp the province of the laws, or to wrench from the sanctity of the tribunals one of the gravest questions ever submitted to their cognizance. Far be it from us, even enjoying as we now do that clearer and steadier light which the disclosures extorted in parliament, by the prevailing misrepresentation out of doors, have thrown upon this painful subject, to pronounce the magistrates and yeomanry blameless, with that emphatic stupidity, with which, in pro found ignorance of the facts, their busy calumniators have often pronounced them guilty. This much, however, so we may assert, that even a prima facie case against them, such as could have warranted any extraordinary proceedings, has been made out only by wilful falsehood, now fully detected; and that the charge against them, be it well or ill founded in the eye of law, has hitherto been supported by a series of scandalous fictions and perjuries. We are now warranted by evidence, the purity of which will never be compared for a monient with the mass of vulgar slander to which it stands opposed, in asserting, that, if the magistrates have done wrong, their errors at least have not been of the description so long and so falsely charged upon them; that so far from indicating contempt for the rights of the people, they waited in scrupulous suspense till events should decide the illegal character of that meeting, upon which they did not venture to pronounce by articipation; that after the tumultuous character of the assemblage had been developed, in a manner to leave them no alternative but its dispersion, or the shameful abandonment of

their duty, they proceeded with tenderness to the execution of the warrant which it became imperative upon them to issue; that their prudent arrangements were, in the first instance at least, seconded by the yeomanry employed, a part of whom put themselves in imminent danger, to avoid any collision with the agitated multitude by whom they were surrounded; that this forbearance was returned by insult, by assault, by an attempt to enclose and detach the party to whom the more immediate execution of the warrant was entrusted; and that even after the defensive conflict, and the arduous work of dispersion had begun, the deplorable sacrifice of lives which ensued was occasioned by the headlong movements of the multitude itself, not, as has been falsely asserted, by the sabres of the military. Do we mean to say, that this statement, which came in substance from a quarter above all suspicion, ought to supersede farther proceedings, or that the unquestionable guilt of this menacing assemblage ought to extinguish all sympathy with the unhappy sufferers, and obliterate all that is painful in our recollections of this melancholy day? God forbid; but we do maintain, that it ought to arrest the violence of hasty prejudication; that it is more than sufficient to sweep into indignant oblivion the long series of unblushing falsehoods, which have been propagated to madden the public feeling; that it may justly reclaim for the insulted magistracy-who through difficulty and peril have upheld the laws-some portion of that sympathy hitherto exclusively lavished upon the misguided offenders who have violated them; that it may, in fine, turn the stream of public resentment against the wretches, who, in the mere wantonness of mischief, have circulated the vilest calumnies, and who in their real insignificance may be visited only with that passing scorn of a generous and abused people, which will be exalted into enduring indignation and distrust towards the mightier men, by whom this painful and solemn subject has been prostituted to the unmeasured vehemence of debate, and the angry collisions of political warfare.

POSTSCRIPT

ON

Mr. Curwen's Statements respecting the Irish Roman
Catholic Priests.

WE shall never hesitate to acknowledge, or, if necessary, publish any respectful and respectable letter, which either corrects mis-statements we may have inadvertently committed, or furnishes us with important intelligence in addition to our own stock. Of the latter kind is the following communication. The subject to which it relates is sufficiently interesting in itself to warrant our notice; and the language is so complimentary to our intentions and our principles, that our self-love no less than our judg ment is influenced to present it to our friendly readers. Much error, we are perfectly convinced, infects the ideas which are prevalent in this country on the subject of Ireland. We shall feel peculiarly happy to be enabled in any measure to remove it, by the occasional insertion of authenticated documents; and, on this account, we are grateful to our correspondent, the extent and accuracy of whose information, did they require any guarantee farther than the disclosure of his highly respectable character and connections, have been confirmed to us in a manner which would remove every scruple from our minds, had we entertained one. He will enhance our obligation by transmitting any other particulars relative to his native land, on which he may be of opinion that the public still need to be instructed or rectified.

“TO THE EDITOR OF THE EDINBURGH MONTHLY REVIEW. "SIR, "I AM encouraged, by the well-known impartiality of your excellent Review, and by the generous interest it takes in any work tending to elucidate the real state of Ireland, to forward to you these remarks; requesting, should you conceive their execution equal to their intention, that you will honour them by insertion.

"It appears like presumption to recur to a work which you have already ably and conscientiously reviewed, but I trust you will not consider it so in a resident of the country treated of in that work.

"I can readily believe Mr. Curwen not to have been influenced by party feeling when he wrote his celebrated letters on Ireland; yet, from their celebrity, any unintentionally-erroneous remark in them, to the prejudice of the country or its communities, becomes of dangerous importance. In short, I trust my motives will plead my excuse. Sir, I have the honour to be your reader and admirer.

"J. H."