THE RAMBLER. VOL. V. New Series. MAY 1861. PART XIII. CATHOLIC POLICY. IN a former Number we laid before our readers some general views on the Theory of Party. We pointed out the dangers and evils which must always follow the attempt to construct a separate Catholic party without any connection with either of the great political parties which alternately govern the country. Nothing, however, was further from our intention than to deny that Catholics had peculiar interests which they were bound to defend, and that the only condition on which sincere Catholics could act with any party was, that a fair consideration should be given to those interests. If a party is composed of several of those subdivisions to which we referred, a systematic neglect of any one of those subdivisions imposes upon it the duty of vindicating its rights; and it may be forced into a course of conduct calculated for the moment to weaken, or even to overthrow, the party with which it generally acts. It would be manifestly absurd for the representatives of any large section of electors to enter into combinations from which the views of those electors were excluded; and, as generosity is not the distinguishing characteristic of political parties, such weak and tame submission would be infallibly followed by permanent ostracism. A leader of a party has difficulties enough to contend with. He has a number of earnest yet sometimes diverging convictions to fuse together into one whole by compromise; and if he found any considerable section ready to follow him VOL.V. NEW SERIES. B at any price,-docile when disregarded, and, like the ancient cavaliers, "True as the dial to the sun, Although it be not shined upon,” he would rejoice at having one difficulty the less in his course, and would continue to disregard those whose souple submission had shown him that he might disregard them with impunity. We need not say, therefore, that we have seen without pain the demonstrations hostile to the present government made on a remarkable and critical occasion last year, and continued during the present session, by many of the most influential and most sincerely liberal Catholics in the House of Commons; and, much as we should regret to see the Tory party restored to power, we consider, upon the whole, that their temporary occupancy of the Treasury benches would be a lesser evil than the tame submission of an influential portion of the liberal party to insult and to ostracism. Thus much, to prevent any misconception of our views, we have thought it necessary to say, by way of preface to the question which we now propose to discuss. We should rejoice to see the Catholics of these kingdoms acting, as they used to act, in combination with that party which upon the whole is most prepared to give effect to the principles involved in the passing of the Emancipation Act; and just in proportion as we should object to their being leagued together in a separate faction, is our desire that, in the difficult times on which we are now entering, their influence should not be frittered away by any difference of opinion as to which party most demands their independent allegiance. In times such as these united and energetic action is necessary. In the face of the events which in rapid succession are subverting the ancient European system, those miserable quarrels and petty piques which have divided us ought to be forgotten. At best we are a minority, weak in numbers, weaker in influence; a minority that was called into political existence only thirty years ago. We are always in the face of active and unsleeping as well as unscrupulous foes. Forgetful of the lessons which the history of 1800 years teaches, for the hundredth time the song of triumph is raised, and they begin to ring again the knell of the old faith. We know that the passion will once again, as it has been a hundred times before, be followed by a glorious resurrection; but faith is not fatalism, and we must rely on our own energies, and use the means which Providence provides for us, just as if there were no promise of invincibility to the see and to the faith of Peter. We doubt not that the Catholics of these kingdoms will thus act, and our object now is, by a careful investigation of the causes which have produced our present divisions, to facilitate their removal. Îf the truth must be told, the main cause of the secession that has lately taken place from those serried ranks which won, under a great leader, the battle of Emancipation, is to be found in the antiIrish spirit which pervades a portion, small but influential, of the English Catholics. We do not speak of fine ladies or fine gentlemen who lisp their contempt of every thing Irish, still less do we care to mention those humbler votaries of fashion who vindicate their gentility by denying their country; they are a great deal more contemptible themselves, and infinitely more culpable, than the poor Pats and Mikes who, on their arrival in England, attempt to disguise a nationality which their speech betrays, by assuming Saxon Christian names. But putting aside these not very numerous, and certainly not very influential, classes, we admit with pain that among the best and most earnest Catholics on this side of the water are to be found some who have their eyes so exclusively occupied by the scene before them, that they forget their Irish brethren, and act and feel as if no part of the United Kingdom but their own had any claim on their regard; but they are few. It was, we believe, Mr. O'Connell who said that the English Catholics have in their days of power been as oppressive and as contemptuous of the Irish as the English Protestants have since been, and that there still remains in the minds of some of the former as bitter a hostility as ever to the Irish. These expressions are too strong; but we put it to our readers whether they have not at least some foundation in fact; and the natural result of such feelings is to look upon the Irish as a race so difficult to understand,—so little governed by English common sense, -that it is useless to try to comprehend their grievances, and hopeless to attempt to redress them. Admit these premises, and the conclusion is not illogical. Isolate England from Ireland, admit that English Catholic interests are alone to be considered, and we freely grant that the importance of party questions is much diminished. Looking from an exclusively English point of view at the parties which contend for power, we can understand a preference for Lord Derby to any liberal leader. The Tories are weak and therefore civil; they have to make their characters with Catholics; the liberal party is too apt to live on the memory of former services. At this moment its chief, like an attorney-general |