tion, long since established and annually increasing amongst the
six and a half Irish Papists. Thus only can our total population be
fused; and without that fusion, it will scarcely be hoped that we can
enjoy the whole unmutilated use of our own latent power.

Towards such a purpose therefore, _as tending to union_ by its
political effects, the Protestant predominancy is useful; and
secondly, were it no otherwise useful, it is so to every possible
administration by means of its patronage. This function of a
government--which, being withdrawn, no government could have the means
of sustaining itself for a year--connects the collateral channels of
Irish honours and remunerations with the great national current of
similar distributions at home. We see that the Scottish establishment,
although differing essentially by church government, yet on the ground
that doctrinally it is almost in alliance with the Church of England,
has not (except by a transient caprice) refused to the crown a portion
of its patronage. On the other hand, if the Roman Catholic church were
installed as the ruling church, every avenue and access for the
government to the administration of national resources so great, would
be closed at once. These evils from the overthrow of the Protestant
church, we mention _in limine_, not as the greatest--they are the
least; or, at any rate, they are so with reference to the highest
interests--but for their immediate results upon the purposes common to
all governments; and _there_ they would be fatal, for any Roman
Catholic church, where it happens also (like the Irish) to be a Papal
church, neither will nor _can_ confide privileges of this nature to
the state. A Papal church, not modified (as the Gallican church) by
_original_ limitations of the Papal authority, not modified (as even
the bigoted churches of Portugal and Austria) by modern _conventional_
limitations of that alien authority, gloomily refuses and must refuse,
to accept any thing from the state, for the simple reason that she is
incapacitated for giving any thing. Wisely, according to the wisdom of
this world, she cuts away from below the footing of the state all
ground on which a pretence could ever be advanced for interfering with
herself. Consequently, whosoever, and by whatsoever organs, would
suffer from the overthrow of the Irish church as now established by
law, the administration of the land would feel the effects from such a
change, first and i