• A Guide from the Church of Rome to the Church of Christ (2nd edn. 1836).
• Apostolic Christianity: People’s anti-dote against Romanism and Puseyism (London: John Snow; Dublin: J. Robertson; Belfast: W. M'Comb 1841), xiv, 399pp. [see details].
• The Touchstone of Orthodoxy, or Essays on the Present State of the Churches (London: Darton & Clark; Belfast: John Hendeson 1842), 227pp. [see extract]
• Education in Ireland: its history, institutions, systems, statistics, and progress, from the earliest times to the present (London Dublin: Saunders, Otley & Co.; Alexander Thom 1862), xii, 277pp. [head of t.p.: A Hand-Book of the Education Question]
• Ireland and Her Churches (London: Chapman and Hall 1867), xxxv, 623pp. [see contents & extracts].
• The Religious History of Ireland: Primitive, Papal and Protestant including the evangelical missions, Catholic agitations, and Church Progress of the Last Half-century (London: King 1873), viii, 313pp.
• The Land-War in Ireland: A History for the Times ( (London: Macmillan & Co. 1870), xiv, 436 [Demy 8°; see extract]; Do. [facs. rep.]; (Port Washington NY: Kennikat 1970), xiv., 439pp.

• Motives for Leaving the Roman Catholic Church [Controversial Pamphlets: Popery; Vol. 3] (Dublin: Curry, Jun. & Co. 1827), q.pp..
• The Church Principles of the New Testament (British Anti-State Church Association Tracts 1848). 
• Ireland Without a State Religion (London: James Sears [1868] - being an off-print chapter from Ireland and Her Churches (1867) [copies in Cardiff Ul and BL].

• with J[ohn] A. Walker, The New Hand-Book of Ireland: An Illustrated Guide for Tourists and Travellers [Walker’s Handbooks] (Dublin: Steam Printing [1869; 1871; London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co.]; 2nd. edn. [1873]), 468pp. [maps and cold litho ills. by Foster of Dublin].
• The National Review of Politics, Literature, art and Progress. Vol. 1, Nos. 1-20 [conducted by James Godkin, Esq.; formerly owned by Lady Wilde];
  Weekly, Vol. 1, no. 1 (Jan. 1, 1868) to Vol. 1, no. 20 (Dec. 26, 1868).
  

Preface: ‘[...] But the writer of these pages is not in the position of those excellent men, whose zeal for the principles of the Reformation, now endangered, has induced them, in the midst of pastoral duties, and other pressing engagements, to study works on the Catholic controversy, in order to guard Protestants against Puseyism. He has been familiar with that controversy from his boyhood, and is acquainted not only with the outworks of the system, but has dwelt in its chambers of imagery. The inner spirit and doctrine of the Church of Rome can hardly be appreciated properly by those who only look at her from without, or read descriptions of her internal working. And yet this inner spirit so modifies external matters, and makes them sometimes so different from what they appear, that Protestants not ^infrequently miss the mark, in trying to enlighten Roman Catholics. Even when they do hit, they often strike a chord of pride or prejudice that makes the heart recoil from all further efforts. [v]

‘Besides, if we wish to rescue immortal souls from a system of fatal error, so mixed with truth and so originating iu truth, that it requires a delicate hand to pluck up the one without loosening the other, we must study that system, not in books merely, but as it actually lives and works in the hearts of its victims. The confidence of the Author, therefore, in thus coming forward, is grounded chiefly on the fact, that he is no raw recruit in this warfare. He was brought up in camps and he has been for several years engaged in actual service. He has tried his weapons, and found them proof in every species of conflict, whether wielded from the press, the pulpit, or the platform. Having learned his tactics in the field, he knows the strong and weak points of the enemy, as well as the most effective modes of assault. Yet the testimony of all parties warrants him, perhaps, in saying, that he has been enabled, through divine grace, to abstain from every thing offensive or violent in conducting the controversy. The enlightened reader will find nothing in this volume to wound good taste or Christian feeling, nor need the most tolerant friend of truth hesitate to put it into the hands of intelligent Roman Catholics ; for no man deprecates more strongly than the Author, the acrimony with which they have been treated.’ (pp.iv-v.)

: ‘If an International Court were established as a supreme tribunal to the decisions of which all States should submit, and to which oppressed nationalities might appeal, there is some reason to apprehend - juding from the tone of the Continental and the American press, and from the speeches of such English statesmen as Mr. Bright and Mr. Stuart Mill - that in the case of Ireland v. England the verdict would be for the plaintiff, with heavy damages. [...]’ (p.[1]).

[...]

‘Then, there is in all parts of the country a considerable portion of the population that has been severely tried by the transition state of society during the last few years. Many of the small farmers have given up in despair the struggle to live by the cultivation of the soil, in consequence of free trade, which renders it almost impossible to make small farming pay. It is not without bitter feelings that these people have relinquished their homesteads and emigrated to America, or sunk to the rank of day-labourers.’ (p.3.)

In one respect the Established clergy have become intensely national. They are passionately in love with the old Irish Church. The Church of St. Patrick, they contend, was truly and essentially an Episcopal Church of the Anglican type, with which the present Establishment is really identical. The identity is assumed to be a fact clearly demonstrated ; and on the strength of this assumption, the Roman Catholic hierarchy is regarded as an alien institution imposed upon the country, and possessing no right, human or divine, for persisting in its offensive intrusion. This is the, position taken by most of the Irish bishops and clergy since the publication of the Rev. Robert King’s “Primer of the Church History of Ireland,” which has been made a class-book for Divinity Students in Trinity College, Dublin.

This must be regarded as one of the most extraordinary delusions of the age. “The Church of the native Irish,” writes Dr. Todd, “was discountenanced and ignored by Rome as well as by England. It consisted of the old Irish clergy and inmates of the monasteries beyond the limits of the English pale, who had not adopted, the English manners or language, and who were, therefore, dealt with as rebels, and compelled to seek for support from the charity or devotion of the people. Many of these took refuge in foreign countries, or connected themselves with foreign emissaries hostile to England at home; but at a subsequent period, when the Anfjlo-Irish Church had accepted the Reformation, the were Irish clergy were found to have become practically extinct.” (p.20; citing Todd, St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland. A Memoir of his Life[,] and By James Henthorn Todd, D.D., Senior Fellow of Trinity College, Regius Professor of Hebrew in the University, and Treasurer of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin [no page-ref given.])

”Inspection of the Bishoprics” [being Pt. 3 of Ireland and Her Churches] (-a visit to St. Catherine”s)

[...] which at the close of the last century was inhabited by 20,000 people. At present the population is about the same, but only 1,595 belong to the Establishment. For these there is ample accommodation in the parish church, which is conveniently situated — a fine building with sittings for 900 persons. The net value of the living is £300 a year. We are not surprised to find that it is in the gift of the Earl of Meath, nor do we question the general belief that, in the manner and form provided by law, the next presentation is sold to the highest bidder, and that there is therefore little regard paid to the intellectual or moral fitness of the rector, who claims to be the sole legitimate pastor of the 20,000 souls within the bounds of his parish. The late rector became [190] the subject of a trial which contained very unedifying disclosures, and it could not have been, expected that under his pastoral care much could have been done for the spiritual good of the people. Nothing can be said against the moral character of the present incumbent. But turning to the “Irish Church Directory,” published by Mr. Charles, I find something very remarkable in the dates connected with the appointment. He was ordained in 1849, at which time he entered the diocese, and in the very next year he was inducted the rector of this parish. He suddenly abandoned another honourable profession, the Bar, for the purpose of enter previous training, therefore, could not have specially fitted him for the discharge of his duties as the pastor of a missionary church in the midst of a poor, ignorant, dense population. It is true that he is assisted by two curates, but if a rector is not himself very well qualified for his office, he is not likely to employ curates with abilities calculated to eclipse him. The men of his choice will be faint reflections of himself, and even if they have superior light, they will find it prudent to keep it shaded. This may account for the melancholy fact that while the total population of this parish within the city bounds is 18,000, and the Church of England population is 1,595, and there is accommodation in the church for 900, yet the actual attendance upon the ministry of’ these three clergymen at Sunday morning service might be contained in a schoolroom of moderate dimensions. This parish has the best estate in the city, amounting to nearly £1,000 a year, managed by a board incorporated by a recent Act of Parliament, at the instance of Mr. Benjamin Lee Guinness, M.P. Part of the stipends of the two curates is paid out of this fund. The church at Harold’s-cross, and another in Swift’s-alley, off Francis-street, are chapels-of-ease to St. Catherine’s, though each has its own district assigned to it, and each minister has the position of an incumbent.

 Among the charges brought against the late rector, who had exchanged an English living for this parish, was one of mismanagement, in connexion with the proceeds of the great [191] parish estate. To avoid his creditors he lived in the vestry-room of the church. At one time, when the Rev. Mr. Hastings was rector, and the Rev. Thomas Gregg curate — two excellent ministers — there was a great revival of religion in this parish, and the church was full; but since that time it has been rapidly sinking in popularity and public estimation. This result has been brought about partly by interminable parish squabbles connected with pecuniary matters. A Presbyterian congregation in the neighbourhood is said to have been largely recruited from time to time by desertions from St. Catherine’s; whereas if its pulpit were efficiently occupied by an Evangelical minister capable of preaching extemporaneously, the contrary effect would be produced; the Dissenters would frequent the church as they have done to a large extent in this city. (pp.191-92.)

‘The Irish landlords heave found in Lord Dufferin a most ac complished advocate. No champion ever fought with more polished weapons, or used them more skilfully. We cannot but admire the force of his arguments, the masterly disposition of his materials, and the perfection of his rhetoric. If we are disappointed in anything, it is that a nobleman so singularly gifted, with a mind so well cultivated, so en lightened by travel, so just and kind as a landlord, so liberal in politics, and really so patriotic, does not always rise superior to the instincts of his order. There is no man in the peerage whom we should have regarded as so well qualified to act as an arbitrator between the two classes - land lords and tenants in this country. I, for one, therefore, regretted that he took up the position of an advocate of one of the parties, and that his discussion of so great a question assumed the form of a plea for the Irish landlords.

[...; Here quotes extensively from Dufferin”s article - as supra.]

‘Of course the rights of property must be recognized if society is to exist at all, and it is perfectly natural that every class should pursue its own advantage with more or less intelligence. But considering how the present race of Irish proprietors obtained their property, they were bound to do all in their power to render it sacred, to purge it from [585] its original sin of violence, and cleanse their title deeds from the stains of blood. That was a memorable occasion when the Irish Viceroy and Cardinal Cullen met this year at the Lord Mayor’s banquet in the Dublin Mansion House. It was the first time that ever the head of the Irish Government met at the social board a prince of the Roman Church, recognising his rank, and giving him precedence above all those who were present, so that the representative of the Pope entered next to the representative of the Queen. The Cardinal’s health was proposed next after that of his Excellency, and was received with all the honours. But why do I advert to this matter her? For this reason. Archbishop Cullen was not only a Cardinal sitting beside the Viceroy. He was the son of a Celtic tenant farmer sitting beside one of the great territorial lords, to whom the confiscated lauds had been parcelled out by the King of England. This fact gives great significance to a circumstance which has not been hitherto noticed, and which is pertinent to my present purpose. [...]’ (pp.584-85.)

Opening: ‘In a former Work, the Author of these essays endeavoured to enlighten his Roman Catholic countrymen, by directing their attention to the nature of the Church of Christ. The present volume is designed to express the evils of those divisions among Protestants, which rise up as a frowning barrier before the temple of Truth. The scholastic divinity, whose power is still, to a great extent, predominant in the Church, is fruitful of strife, indeed, but barren of practical good. Its theory is a system of metaphysical abstractions; - its practice, servile formality. It is not faith, but a creed - it is not dispositions, but ceremonies - it is not rooted in principles and holy tempers, but inflexible forms and sharply defined opinions, which constitute those religions that have obtained the imprimatur of authority and the homage of the multitude. The influence of the Baconian philosophy is not confined to science or political economy; its spirit is invading [ii] the province of religion also, and is working a revolution in the Churches - not volcanic and violent, like that which rent society at the Reformation, and spent itself in petrified incrustation on the surface - but penetrating and deep, like the all-diffusive energy of the sun, which quickens the roots of all things before it pushes forth the leaves and blossoms; and changes their outward forms only by subjecting them to the power of an inward life.

The spirit of the age is eminently practical. Men now look for fruit - for beneficial results; - and every institution, sacred as well as secular, which fails to exhibit them, is in danger of being cut down and cast into the fire. Churches, like other things, are tried by the test of utility. If they cannot be made to work well they must not be in the way. Their past services are forgotten in their present decrepitude; and they are compelled to retire into the wilderness before the march of civilization, like the aged savaged, who curses the power that convert that wilderness into a garden, and drives him, with the beasts of prey, into deeper solitudes.

This practical tendency of the age is in strict harmony with the genius of the Gospel; which only gives holier motives and nobler aims, and reveals a more glorious recompense to the activity of the human mind - stimulating and directing, but never impending or paralysing, its energies. For centuries [iii] Christianity has been struggling to be free - sighing for the opening of her prison doors, that she might go forth and bless the world. Her own temple has been her dungeon, - her priests have been her gaolers - and long and carefully did they keep the key of knowledge; but it has been wrested from them; and now Truth has free course, and is lighting up her own glorious high-way through the earth!

In these Essays, the Churches are subjected to a new text. They are tried for the spirits -their fruits. If they have ‘that mind” which was also in Jesus Christ - then must they have rooted in them the faith which works by love. If not, their profession may be sound, indeed - but it is no better than sounding brass. [...] (pp.i-iii.)

Conclusion: ‘[...] Vainly do we mourn over the unbelief and impiety of the world, so long as the Christian army is broken into fragments, and the powers of darkness stand before us in phalanx firm. Without union indeed, no great moral victory was ever achieved. If the world is to be converted, then, Christians must lay aside their petty jealousies, and unite as one man. And blessed be God, they are uniting! Even those bodies which have hitherto moved farthest away from the common centre of light and love, are visibly yielding to the attracion of the Cross; and I fondly trust, that soon with harmonious movement and commingling radiance, we shall behold all the orthox Churches of our land shining together in the Christian firmament - a bright and beautiful constellation, ordained to reflect on the world the light and glor of the Sun of Righteousness - which schism will be seen falling like lightning from heaven.

‘The sum of the whole matter may be given in the pathetic words of Paul: “If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil ye my joy and be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vain-glory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man to his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus ... Do all things without murmurings and disputings: that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke; in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.’ [The End.]

It would be little creditable to an Irish Catholic to own himself capable of narrating this chapter of Irish history with calmness and without all-conquering emotion. For my part I content myself with citing the descriptions of it supplied by Protestant and English writers.

“The eighteenth century,” says one of these, writing on the penal laws in Ireland, “was the era of persecution, in which the law did the work of the sword more effectually and more safely. Then was established a code framed with almost diabolical ingenuity to extinguish natural affection — to foster perfidy and hypocrisy — to petrify conscience — to perpetuate brutal ignorance — to facilitate the work of tyranny — by rendering the vices of slavery inherent and natural in the Irish character, and to make Protestantism almost irredeemably odious as the monstrous incarnation of all moral perversions.”

“Too well,” he continues, “did it accomplish its deadly work of debasement on the intellects, morals, and physical condition of a people sinking in degeneracy from age to age, till all manly spirit, all virtuous sense of personal independence and responsibility, was nearly extinct, and the very features — vacant, timid, cunning, and unreflective — betrayed the crouching slave within!”

[475]

In the presence of the terrible facts he is called upon to chronicle, the generous nature of the Protestant historian whom I am quoting, warms into indignation. Unable to endure the reflection, that they who thus labored to deform and brutify the Irish people are for ever reproaching them before the world for bearing traces of the infamous effort, he bursts forth into the following noble vindication of the calumniated victims of oppression:

"Having no rights or franchises — no legal protection of life or property — disqualified to handle a gun, even as a common soldier or a gamekeeper — forbidden to acquire the elements of knowledge at home or abroad — forbidden even to render to God what conscience dictated as His due — what could the Irish be but abject serfs ? What nation in their circumstances could have been otherwise? Is it not amazing that any social virtue could have survived such an ordeal?— that any seeds of good, any roots of national greatness, could have outlived such a long tempestuous winter?”

“These laws,” he continues, “were aimed not only at the religion of the Catholic, but still more at his liberty and his property. He could enjoy no freehold property, nor was he allowed to have a lease for a longer term than thirty-one years ; but as even as this term was long enough to encourage an industrious man to reclaim waste lands and improve his worldly circumstances, it was enacted that if a Papist should have a farm producing a profit greater than one-third of the rent, his right to such should immediately cease, and pass over to the first Protestant who should discover the rate of profit!”

[...] To beat back the growing tendency to dependence on a poor rate; to awaken the Church to a realization that it was the true and only benefactor of the poor, became the great passion of Chalmers’ life. (Hunter, Intro., p.24.)

Dr. Chalmers failed, except in a few instances, to induce the Churches in the populous centres to adopt his method of district visitation, which he held to be necessary. There is no doubt that this was a profound disappointment to him. The abolition of outdoor pauperism was one of the chief interests of his life, and he knew that it could only be accomplished by an active forward movement on the part of the Church. If the Church generally had followed [34] his lead, a poor rate in Scotland might have been confined to the maintenance of institutional poor, to which Chalmers had no objection. In insisting on their long-established right to care for ordinary out- door poor, the Church might have maintained and strengthened her hold over the working-classes, and there would not have been to-day that chasm be- tween the two, which all who are interested in the best welfare of the country deplore. Apart from the question as to whether we have travelled too far along the road of public relief ever to be able to return, it is impossible to ignore the teaching of Chalmers on the question of poverty. His knowledge of the poor was so intimate and personal ; his intellectual apprehension of the matter was so acute and his sagacity so practical, that the Church and the nation, in periodically dealing with this question, are continually brought up against his conclusions. In one of his luminous phrases Chalmers speaks of the charity of law as contrasted with the charity of human kindness. (pp.33-34.)