mind by his secret working. He enlighteneth the heart to conceive worthy thoughts of Almighty God. A work of Cicero, written expressly upon the nature of the gods, has been providentially handed down to us and it affords the most striking comment possible on the scriptural doctrine of the ignorance of man. This great philosopher has shown at large, to the entire satisfaction of every Christian reader, how totally blind the three most celebrated sects of antiquity were in all those points which are placed beyond the cognizance of sense. With a mind alive to all the beauties of composition, and versed in all the researches of philosophy; with abilities rarely equalled, perhaps never excelled; the Roman orator ventures to soar beyond the bounds of the material creation, and to scrutinize the nature of the Omnipotent. How are the mighty fallen! The grossest ignorance, and the strangest errors, are the principal characteristics of his celebrated treatise. Once, indeed, a consciousness of human inability extorts from him a confession, that no man ever became great without some divine inspiration:* but scarcely has this memorable sentiment flowed from his pen, ere the doctrine of an universal providence is expressly denied by the advocate of one of the contending sects. : Such was the wisdom of the philosophers and thus was their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that was in them, because of the blindness of their heart. (To be continued.) POPISH THEOLOGY. To the Editor of the Irish Missionary Magazine. Rev. and dear Sir,-I think it may advace in the cause of truth in Ireland and England, at the present crisis, to lay before the Christian public, through the pages of your Irish Missionary Journal, a few of the superstitious doctrines of Romanism, selected from their own authorities; which are perhaps not generally known, at least, to the religious public of England. And should such illustrations meet your approval, I shall be able to furnish regularly articles on POPISH THEOLOGY. Directions as to a person who dies excommunicate, and has given signs of contrition before death. "If the body is not buried, it is to be lashed with stripes, and then absolved; and Nemo igitur vir magnus sine aliquo adflatu divino umquam fuit. Cicer. de Nat. Deor. l. ii c. 66. after being absolved, is to be buried in holy ground." Again, "If the body is buried in profane ground, exhumation is to take place, if it can conveniently be done, and then it is in like manner to be lashed with stripes, and after the absolution, to be buried in holy ground. But if exhumation cannot be conveniently effected, the place of sepulchre is to be lashed and afterwards absolved."Rituale Romanum Paule V., Pontifices Lugduni, 1817. The Office of the Rosary. "The devotion of the rosary, (so called because it is, as it were, a chaplet of spiritual roses; that is, of the most sweet and devout prayers), was first revealed by the Virgin Mary to St. Dominick, the father and founder of the holy order of preachers, as a devotion most efficacious for the obtaining all favors (!) from God, and averting all evils from ourselves. It consists of fifteen Pater Nosters, and a hundred and fifty Ave Marias, and is divided in three parts, whereof each contains five Dicades, that is, five Pater Nosters and fifty Ave Marias." -Key of Paradise, p. 224, Ďublin Ed. 1813. "Permissu Superiorum !!!” An Association of the actual and perpetual devotions to the immaculate Heart of Mary. "ITS SPIRIT is a spirit of gratitude and reparation; a spirit of imitation, particularly of the constant and generous immolations of the holy heart of Mary to the will of God. 66 "ITS END-is to honour the immaculate heart of Mary, by consecrating to it any hour of the day, to adore the sacred heart of Jesus, and the source of all virtues and graces, by devotions to the holy heart of Mary. "ITS PRACTICE.-The devotion was instituted by a pious cardinal. The holiness of its object, the advantage proposed by it, is so full of charity and so easy in practice, that it cannot but be favorably received by the true servants of the Mother of God. "The members of the association may each take any particular hour, to devote themselves to the immaculate heart of Mary. During that hour their heart should be a new Calvary, where, at the foot of the cross, they may offer to God, the sacrifice of their heart, in union with the sacrifices of Jesus Christ, through the holy heart of Mary. "The members of this association should lead an edifying life, receive the sacrament of Penance and the Eucharist on the second Sunday of each month. Humility, meekness, purity, and chastity, are the favorite virtues which they should endeavour to practice each day. After an appeal (which is truly orthodox) to the Trinity in Unity, I find the following blasphemous composition introduced : Heart of Mary. Heart of Mary, according to the heart Heart of Mary, united to the heart of Heart of Mary, organ to the Holy Heart of Mary, sanctuary of Divinity!! Heart of Mary, illustrious throne of glory Heart of Mary, abyss and prodigy of Heart of Mary, refuge of sinners Pray for us. Act of Praise to the sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. "May the divine heart of Jesus, and the most pure heart of Mary, be known, praised, blessed, loved, served, and glorified!" Amen. Note. The following Indulgences for the recital of the foregoing prayer and aspiration, were granted by his Holiness Pope VII., by a rescript, dated August 18, 1807 : I. To all persons who shall recite them every day, an Indulgence of sixty days each day. II. To all those who shall recite them every day for one entire year, a plenary indulgence, on the three following festivals of the blessed Virgin, viz.: the Nativity, the Assumption and the Sacred Heart of Mary; provided that having received the sacrament of Penance and the Eucharist, they visit a Church or altar dedicated to the blessed Virgin Mary, and there pray according to the intention of his Holiness! III. To such as shall practice this pious exercise all the days of their lives, a plenary Indulgence at the hour of death! All these Indulgences may be applied by way of suffrage to the suffering souls in purgatory.-Devotions of the Heart of Mary, published by Richard Grace, 45, Capel Street, Dublin, Roman Catholic Bookseller, 1841, p. 27. The above extracts are from the books sold at the depository of Roman Catholics, for the direction and instruction of their members in the doctrines of the Church. They exhibit, in the strongest light, the ignorance and superstition of Popish priests and people of Gospel religion; and proclaim, trumpet-tongued, to British Christians, the loud call-AWAKE! to rescue. Ireland from her present position, by additional aid 66 My brethren," said the Bishop, in a charge," if we shut out from spiritual usefulness all who are not ordained to such duties we contradict the plain commands of our religion. But we protest against such error, as the worst relic of Papal usurpation, bred and nourished, not in the times of primitive Christianity, but in the dark days of its corruption, when they chose to keep the key of knowledge to themselves, who were afraid to trust the people with it, and allowed the priest's lips alone to speak, that he alone might enjoy the power which belongs to the people. Never, never, brethren, shall we be a Christian community till this error is dispelled-till it is with us as it was with those who were first called Christians-when every one who has the knowledge of Christ in his own heart, believes it his duty to bring to the same knowledge the individuals with whom he is connected his child, his servant, his dependant, his neighbour. Then, and not before, may the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. THE IRISH MISSIONARY MAGAZINE, REPEAL! PART II. Repeal! Again we cry, Repeal! Let Christians strive for Erin's weal, Poetry. No longer through divisions weak ; To Mammon's baneful sway; Then like the ancient phalanx move And truth victorious soon shall prove, Then shall Hibernia shine as bright On the happy Death of a child, who died rejoicing in the finished work of the Saviour. Another lamb is folded Safe in the Saviour's arms; That happy spirit feels, In robes of purest white; Safe in the Saviour's arms; P. D. H. THE TEARS OF ERIN. Erin weeps! and well she may, And prefers the fogs of Rome. Blood in foulest murders spilt. Erin weeps! tho' richly blest By nature she might sit a queen Amidst her own sweet valleys drest In verdure of unfading green. Erin weeps unreal woes Idly wailing, vents her grief; Treats her real friends as foes; Talks of wrongs, yet spurns relief! Weep then, Erin! weep thy sins; Tears of godly sorrow flow: May true penitence begin; This shall soon end all thy woe. Erin weep! but turn thine eye To yon Sun of Righteousness, Dawning on thy clouded sky, To enlighten thee, and bless. Then those bitter drops of woe, In the sunshine of his face, Shall become an emerald bow,* Circling thee in its embrace. HIBERNIA. HIBERNIA! my native isle, *Rev. iv 3. JOHN PHILPOT CURRAN. Biography. Tuis high-gifted individual, whose genius, wit, and eloquence have rendered him an ornament to his age and country, affords a striking instance of the buoyancy of a superior mind on the flood of early adversity; and which, in spite of all impediments, raised him from the humblest state of friendless obscurity, not only to one of the highest stations in the legal profession, which he adorned, but to the most honourable distinctions of an independent senator and incorruptible patriot. Mr. Curran was not a descendant from Irish ancestors; his first paternal stock, in the country so justly proud of his name, was a scion from a northern English family, named CURWEN; who found his way to the sister island as a soldier, in the army of Cromwell; but, from the humble fortunes of his posterity, he does not appear to have been enriched by the spoils of the land he helped to subjugate, like many other adventurers in the train of the usurper, whose descendants have long stood high in rank and fortune. Little more is known of the ancestry of this eminent man, than that his father, James Curran, filled the humble office of seneschal, in the manor court of NewMarket, in the county of Cork, the scanty emolument from which, with the produce of a small farm, were his only resources for the maintenance of a growing family. The maiden name of his wife was Philpot. She was descended of a respectable stock in that county, and, although John, her eldest son, who bore also the name of his mother as an additional prenomen, could boast no hereditary talents on the side of his father, whose education and capacity were as humble as his rank; he derived from his mother that native genius, which, moulded by her early example, and cherished by her instruction, laid the basis of that celebrity which afterwards so highly distinguished her favorite boy. Though young Curran, from the first dawn of intellect in his puerile days, gave eminent proofs that the seeds of wit and talents were not sparingly sown in his composition, the humble circumstances of his parents afforded no prospect of an education to bring out the native lustre of his capacity; and, but for circumstances wholly fortuitous, he might have lived and died with fame, no higher than that of a village wit, and the chance of succeeding to his father's office. VOL. I. Such might have been the fate of Curran had he been placed in any soil less congenial to the growth of his young intellect, or any guidance less favorable than that of a mother, whose native capacity was his best inheritance, whose culture "taught his young ideas how to shoot," and whom he loved and venerated to the latest hour of his existence. The village school received him as an early pupil, where he soon evinced a capacity superior to his little ragged companions; and in the hours of play he proved his superiority in all the variegated sciences of marbles and chuck-farthing, and evinced a sportive fancy in all the arch pranks, and practical stratagems of the playground. His father, even if he had capacity, had little leisure to attend to the progress of his son's education. The youngster was therefore left to follow his own devices, and pursue the bent of his humour in every species of lively fun and arch eccentricity. At fairs, where wit and whiskey alternately excited the laugh and the wrangle; at wakes, the last social obsequies to the dead in the village, at which sorrow and mirth in turns beguiled each other, young Curran was always present-now a mimic, and now a mourner. The prophecies of the more serious began to augur most unfavorably to the future fortunes of young Pickle, while he was the favorite of all the cheerful. The court of his father was quite scandalized, but all acknowledged him the legitimate heir of his mother's wit. A new scene, however, occurred in the amusements of the village, in which Curran young made his debut as a principal actor with much éclat to his comic fame, and which, through life, he took great pleasure to relate as one of his first incentives to eloquence, especially to that part of it which Demosthenes urges as the first, second, and third essential to the success of an oratornamely, action. The itinerant exhibitor of a street puppet-show, in the course of his tour, arrived at New-Market, much to the edification and amusement of the staring crowd; and the comic feats of Mr. Punch, and the eloquence of his man, superseded every other topic of conversation. Unfortunately, however, the second named actor in this drama was seized with sickness, and the whole establishment was threatened with ruin. But little Philpot, who was a constant member of the auditory, had eagerly imbibed at eyes and ears the whole exhibition, proposed himself to the manager, as a volunteer substitute for Punch's man. T This offer from so young and promising an amateur, was gladly accepted by the manager, who was well aware of the advantages of an arch young comedian, acquainted with all the characters, and local history of the place; but the young actor declined salary, and only stipulated, that he should remain perfectly incog. and that his name was not to be known, which condition of the treaty the manager faithfully kept. The success of the substitute was quite miraculous; immense crowds attended every performance; the new actor was universally admired, and the crowded audiences were astonished at the knowledge he displayed. He developed the village politics, portrayed all characters, described the fairs, blabbed the wake secrets, caricatured the spectators, disclosed every private amour, detailed all the scandal of the village, and attacked, with humorous ridicule, even the sacerdotal dignity of the parish priest. But this was the signal for general outcry; satire had transgressed its due limits; and men and maidens, who laughed at their neighbour's pictures, and pretended to recognize their own, were horrified at such profane familiarity with the clergy. Religion, as on larger theatres, was the scapegoat, and sentence of punishment was unanimously passed on Mr. Punch and his man; the manager, however, kept the grand secret, and his prudence prevented any inquiry after such dangerous celebrity, and Curran, who was through life, in his convivial hours, the soul of mirth, frequently declared that he never produced such an effect upon any audience as in the humble character of Mr. Punch's man. As years advanced, the chance of better fortune began to dawn, and the reader shall have the first auspicious incident in his own words: "I was, at this time, a little ragged apprentice to every kind of idleness and mischief: all day studying whatever was eccentric in those older, and half the night practising it, for the amusement of those who were younger than myself. Heaven only knows where it would have ended; but, as my poor mother said, "I was born to be a great man." One morning while playing at marbles with my ragged playmates in the village ball-court, the gibe and the jest, and the plunder went gaily round; those who won, laughed, and those who lost cheated. Suddenly a stranger appeared amongst us of a venerable but cheerful aspect. His appearance gave no restraint to our merry assemblage. But he seemed pleased and delighted. He was a benevolent creature, and the days of infancy (after all, the happiest of our lives) perhaps rose to his memory. God bless him! I think I see his form, at the distance of half a century, just as he stood before me in the ball-court. His name was Boyse; he was the rector of New-Market; to me he took a particular fancy; I was winning, and full of waggery, thinking and saying every thing eccentric, and by no means a miser of my flashes. Every one was welcome to share them, and I had plenty to spare after freighting the com pany. Some sweet-cakes easily bribed me home with him; he seemed delighted with the casual acquirement of such a disciple; he undertook my tuition, taught me my grammar and classical rudiments; and having taught me all he had leisure to teach, he sent me to the classical school of a Doctor Carey, at Middleton, where my young capacity received the first stimulus of effective advancement, to which I am indebted for all my better fortune in life." At this school young Curran became the class-fellow of some young tyros, not then of prospects much superior to his own; but who afterwards in life experienced elevated fortunes, and became his intimate and attached friends. At this school also the promising proofs of young Curran's capacity attracted the benevolent protection of a generous lady, appositely named, Allworthy, who undertook to bear the charge of his education; and in the family of this amiable gentlewoman, to whom he was distantly related through his maternal connexion, and also in the family of the Wrixons, and others of highly respectable rank in that part of the county, he was received as a welcome visitant, not only during his scholastic years, but afterwards during his college vacations; and here it was, as he himself frequently declared, that he formed the first notions of eloquence. (To be continued.) PROTESTANTISM BEFORE THE REFORMATION. If it be asked "where was Protestantism before the Reformation?" the following fact may serve as a reply. A gentleman, on examining a mummy, found in its hand a bulbous root, which must have been in the hand of the mummy 2000 years. Anxious to know the duration of vegetable life, he planted it; and it ultimately produced a flower. Where was this root all this time? In the hand of the mummy. So where was the Protestant flower? Why, in the thraldom of Rome, until God's gardener, Luther, transplanted it into the soil of Ridley and Latimer, until he took it from the superstition of the dead, and the grasp of the apostate; and by God's blessing, it has sprung up, and is now bearing fruit and flowers. |