Page:An address to the Roman Catholics of Ireland.djvu/8

6 work their own way; time must at last heal the lacerations of the public mind: the human intellect naturally advances to justice and liberality in spite of casual interruption; the activity of the bad passions fatigues itself, and bigotry and uncharitableness are tyrants of the heart, which do not reign for ever. A new ministry, a new Parliament, a peace, a great event, or a slight change may each, or all decide upon your ultimate success. But learn from the ministerial oracle, that an Union is the grave of your hopes, beyond which there is no redemption, Learn also from him the maturity of your cause at this moment, and that the fruit is ready to drop into your hands, unless the tree be cut up by the roots. "Who will be a guarantee of the Protestant Ascendancy, and whom will it content? A party of Protestants in Ireland term it unjust and absurd; another party in England term it by fouler names; great leaders in opposition, possibly the future ministers of England, may condemn it; and some members of the British Cabinet are supposed to be adverse to it. Its liability may rest upon accident, upon the death of a single character upon the change of a Minister, on the temper of a Lord Lieutenant, " I do protest to God, whether I consider the natural tendency of the measure itself, or the principles and declarations of its promoters, I am at a loss