52S 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 18U. 



many men have crept into tlie com- 

 mission, who, however useful they 

 might occasionally have been, 

 ought not to remain. The needy 

 adventurer, the hunter for prefer- 

 ment, the intemperate zealot, the 

 trader in false loyalty, the jobbers 

 of absentees, if any of these vari- 

 ous descriptions of individuals are 

 now to be found, their names should 

 be expunged from the Commission ; 

 and if such a mode of proceeding 

 should thin the Commission, va- 

 cancies may be supplied, by soli- 

 citing every gentleman of propertj' 

 and consideration to discharge some 

 part of that debt of duty, which 

 he owes to himself and the coun- 

 try, by accepting the office of Jus- 

 tice of Peace. Should their num- 

 ber be i nadequate to su pply the de- 

 ficiency, clergymen, long resident 

 on their benefices, more inclined to 

 follow the precepts of their Divine 

 Master, by feeding the hungry and 

 clothing the naked Catholic (al- 

 though, adhering to the commu- 

 nion of his fathers, he should con- 

 scientiously decline to receive from 

 him spiritual consolation), not ha- 

 rassing and vexing him by a new 

 mode of tything, and an increase 

 of tythes : but seeking to compen- 

 sate the dissentients from his com- 

 munion for the income he derives 

 from their labour, by showing a re- 

 gard for their temporal welfare — 

 attached to their protestant flocks 

 by a mutual interchange of good 

 offices, by affection, and by habit. 

 Such a man, anxiously endeavour- 

 ing, not to distract and divide, 

 but to conciliate and reconcile all 

 sects and parties, would, from his 

 education, his leisure, his local 

 knowledge, be a splendid acqui- 

 sition to the Magistracy, and a pub- 

 lic blessing to the district com- 



mitted to his care. Men of this 

 description are retired and unob- 

 trusive ; but, I trust, if sought af- 

 ter, many such may be found. Per- 

 sons there have been of a sort dif- 

 fering widely from those I have 

 described. These men identify 

 their preferment with the welfare 

 of the Church ; and if you had be- 

 lieved them, whatever advanced 

 the one necessarily promoted the 

 other. Some Clergymen there may 

 have been, who, in a period of dis- 

 traction, perusing the Old Testa- 

 ment with more attention than the 

 New, and admiring the glories of 

 Joshua (the son of Nun), fancied 

 they perceived in the Catholics the 

 Canaanites of old ; and, at the head 

 of militia and armed yeomanry, 

 wished to conquer from them the 

 promised glebe. Such men, I 

 hope, are not now to be found in 

 that most respectable order ; and 

 if they are, I need scarcely add, 

 they should no longer remain in 

 the Commission. 



Gentlemen, 1 must further ad- 

 monish you, if you are infested 

 with any of the Orange or Green 

 Associations in this county, to dis- 

 charge them — discharge all the 

 processions and commemorations 

 connected with them, and you will 

 promote the peace and concord of 

 the country ; but suffer them to 

 prevail, and how can justice be ad- 

 ministered.' — " I am a loyal man," 

 says a witness — that is, " Gentle- 

 men of the Petty Jury, believe me, 

 let me swear what I will." — When 

 he swears he is a loyal man, he 

 means, " Gentlemen of the Jury, 

 forget your oaths, and acquit the 

 Orangeman." A truly loyal man 

 is one who is attached to the Con-^ 

 stitution under which we live, and 

 who respects and is governed by 



