not but pity the poor victims of others' malice, though legally convicted. The principle had been asserted, and that suffices, and a gracious act of that mercy which is doubly blessed, is in strict harmony with the character of the prince who has here exercised it. We are glad that it was not performed under the pressure of an impertinent interference, the most inconsistent on record; although probably the delay, caused by the necessity of not yielding to it, has prolonged the sufferings of its objects. For this they must thank their friends.

It now remains to be seen what will be the last act in the drama. Will good taste and good sense for once prevail in the counsels of Exeter-hall, and will these poor people be allowed to remain quiet, to enjoy the calm approval of their own consciences? Or do tea-parties, and prayermeetings, and a round of visits through the country, to be exhibited on platforms, await them? We do not know. But there seems to be such a natural instinct in Protestantism, to spoil the best possible martyrdom, by showing it off, and what is worse, by taking care that it has its reward here, that we incline to the latter opinion. One curious speculation remains, which may, in the end cool the first enthusiasm of their reception. They have become Protestants; they will now have to choose their particular denomination. "What will they be?" is a question which many perhaps are already asking, and which, when answered by fact, may lead to many a conclusion, that their choice proves them not to have read their Bible profitably. For our own part, we have only one good wish and one prayer for them: -may God bring back their wandering steps to the right path, and by a sincere repentance, enable them to repair the sin and scandal of their apostacy!

ART. VIII.-Finlason's Report of the Trial in the Queen v. Newman. London: Dolman.

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T was in our pages that the statements originally appeared, the republication of which by Dr. Newman,

led to the prosecution recently concluded. It cannot, therefore, but be expected that we should advert to a case which was virtually our own, and in which morally, if not legally, we were concerned: and we are prepared on the one hand to vindicate the moral necessity for the course we in common with Dr. Newman pursued; and on the other hand, to impeach the legal justice and expose the moral wickedness of the prosecution, which, had it not been wicked in its object and its aim, would assuredly have been instituted, not against Dr. Newman, but ourselves.

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The simple fact that the charges, for republishing which Dr. Newman was prosecuted, had been published in our pages nearly a year and a half before, indicates the moral" with which we design to "point our tale." On one occasion in the course of the prosecution, Mr. Justice Coleridge, in his zeal for-we were going to say his client -eagerly seized an opportunity to do away with the force of this damning fact. "Oh, (said his lordship,) many circumstances may prevent a man from instituting legal proceedings on the first publication; for instance, anonymousness, want of means," &c., &c., &c. The ingenuity of Mr. Justice Coleridge could invent no better excuses for so significant a laches; and our reader will appreciate them. As to anonymousness, a libel in a Quarterly Review is little less likely to be read than one in any publication with a name attached to it; and only the other day a general officer applied for an information against one of our contemporaries. It is idle to urge that as the reason, more especially, as we shall see, Achilli knew who the author of that article of ours was, and publicly alluded to it. Then as to want of means, it is equally idle: who found the funds for the prosecution when it was instituted? Who sat on the Bench during the trial, indicating (we might almost say) by "nods, and becks, and wreathed smiles," his lively interest in the proceeding, and his anticipation of a conclusion sufficiently penal for the illustrious controversialist under whose sarcasm he had so often writhed? Was it not the gentleman to whom Achilli so lovingly and touchingly alludes in his book, as his dear friend in the Lord, Sir Culling Smith? Ah, Sir Culling Smith is a man of much wealth, and more hatred of Popery, and of course has some friends of the same character, perhaps comprising Mr. Kinnaird, who has

lately exhibited in Parliament his sympathies with the Italian proselytisers of Protestant propagandism.* Were these worthies less wealthy in July, 1850, than in November, 1851 ? Was their bigotry less bitter, or their hatred against Popery less violent? Why were they then so silent on the former occasion, so rampant on the last? We will explain the enigma; one little allusion will be enough,-Papal Aggression. In 1851, the agitation against Popery raged, and then, and not till then, Achilli's patrons ventured to take him before a jury to "vindicate his character." In more respects than one it is important to look to the antecedents of the prosecution, and also to the antecedents of the publication. It is equally essential, in order to appreciate the moral necessity for the one, and the moral iniquity of the other. To estimate either, it is requisite to consider the account Achilli gave of his past career in the Church, and above all, to direct attention to the character of his book, which had not been published when we wrote our article in July, 1850, and of which a second edition had appeared shortly before the publication of Dr. Newman's Lectures in November, 1851. And farther, it is necessary to know the extent to which the calumnies in that book were accredited and accepted, among all classes of the Protestant community of this country.

This is the more requisite because we suppose few Catholics have condescended to read the wretched work ; and that the few who may have done so can scarcely suspect the extent to which its impositions were eagerly swallowed by the greedy credulity of our incredulous brethren of the various Protestant persuasions." And of course without being acquainted with this it would be impossible to understand the necessity for its practical refutation, by the publication of a correct account of the character and career of its unhappy author. And in

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*Is it a coincidence merely, that Lyons, Barnes, and Ellis-attor. nies for the prosecution-are the private attornies of Lord Londsdale the president of the council under Lord Derby, whose law officers, Sir F. Thesiger and Sir F. Kelly, were retained for the prosecutor? As it is notorious that Achilli did not find the means, this is surely significant, especially considering that Lord Derby's was essentially an anti-catholic administration, and that its organ was the Herald, also the organ of the Exeter Hall school.

directly this will at once exhibit an insight into the real causes of his erratic course, and also into the true reason of the degree in which he was patronized and defended, not only by Puritans but Anglicans, not merely in Exeter Hall but Westminster Hall, not only by Sir Culling and Lord Campbell but by Mr. Justice Coleridge.

Thus,

These railers against their brethren who are for ever seeking to prove the sincerity of their Protestantism, by the malignity of their calumny, and who are constantly heaping upon the Catholic Church the most monstrous accusations; are for ever doomed to exemplify in their own actions this truth, that the quality of their morality is in proportion to the deficiency in charity; and they are constantly exhibiting in their own characters the very errors which they so cruelly impute to others. those anti-Catholic zealots who rave against the Holy Catholic Church as countenancing the diabolical maxim that "the end justifies the means," and with practically carrying it out by allowing of any crime but heresy, and excusing any enormity of immorality, for the sake of energy of orthodoxy, these unhappy persons have, ever since the Reformation, been perpetually presenting, on their own parts, the realization of their own accusations. Thus it was in the case of the Popish plot. Thus it was in the case of Titus Oates. Thus it was even in the case of Achilli. They have eagerly laid hold of any instrument to assail that Church which is the object of their insane hatred; and of any agency to inflame their animosity against Catholicism, which they mistake for Christianity. And in this frantic eagerness they have been utterly indifferent to the antecedents of their tools, They have stopped not to inquire, and even if they have heard cared not to reflect, but have recklessly employed any apostate who would assist them in their fell purpose. of pandering to the fierce passions of a people perfectly possessed by the spirit of prejudice, against the Church which founded their Constitution and their Crown.

The more monstrous the calumnies which are volunteered, the more eagerly their convert is welcomed; and they seem to measure the sincerity of his conversion by the depth of his malignity. Yet the book itself would have aroused suspicion in the minds of any whose perceptions were not blinded by bigotry, and clouded by the heat of hatred. For what is his own account of his character and

career? Let us look at his picture, painted by his own hand, and read his history, written in his own words. Throughout, one trait will be clearly apparent, an overweening opinion of himself. He thus describes the commencement of his eventful career: "At the age of sixteen I had completed not only the courses of natural philosophy, of mathematics, natural history, and experimental philosophy, but also those of civil and criminal law. All this was before I entered the monastery of the Dominicans; they were rather proud of me." "At the age of thirty I was a maestro, to which high rank no one had ever before attained so early." Now this was about the year 1830, and the interval between the ages of sixteen and thirty he leaves in some obscurity, which is the more remarkable, since he discloses that something disagreeable had taken place; for he speaks of "evil reports at this time, says Spaletti, the Vicar-General, calumniated" him, and adds: "At the close of 1833, I was forced to surrender my professorship and leave Viterbo." What had taken place in that eventful interval?-Elsewhere he drops what may enlighten us. 'While holding the head professorship of theology at Viterbo, and teaching with great zeal the Romish doctrine.........I was no longer a Papist, for I had long ceased to believe in many doctrines which are matters of faith in the Romish Church. Yet he says: "I am a sworn enemy to hypocrisy.........I had ceased to believe in the Mass. I was like Luther and many others, who no longer believed the Mass, and still continued to celebrate Like Luther!" The parallel will be perceived in many points, and was recognized by the patrons of Achilli, in and out of the Court of Queen's Bench, from Sir Culling up to Lord Chief Justice Campbell.

it.'

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It is curious to observe the moral blindness of the man. "I continued to celebrate mass with the show of devotion. 1 was perfectly persuaded of its imposture." Then soon after he says: To me friars and priests savoured of imposture and the more I advanced in spiritual light, the more I felt myself adverse to such hypocrisy.' Spiritual light! Why do you seldom attend choir?" asked one of the friars one day. The rumour got abroad that I allowed every body to eat meat.' "A confession of sins makes one melancholy." "Confession had at length become so odious to me, that I could no longer bear it myself, nor endure the practice of it in others. My understanding

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