Our text tells us that Jeremiah was to plant and build up. Here he planted, and here he did build. He planted and built a throne, a college, and a religion. Turn to Ezekiel, chapter xvi., and read the famous riddle. Tea Tephi is the tender twig that was cropped off from the high cedar, King Zedekiah, and planted among the merchants by great waters on the mountain of Israel. She was the tender one that was to take root downward. To Jeremiah, the Lord said, “Verily it shall be well with thy remnant.” Nay, more, He told him that He would give him his life for a prey whithersoever he went. And in 2 Kings xix. 30, we read: “And the remnant that is escaped of the
House of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant and they that escape out of Mount Zion; the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.” And Ezekiel, in his captivity, sent forth a prophecy referring to the wicked prince, Zedekiah, saying of his throne in the name of Jehovah: “I will overturn, overturn, overturn it, and it shall be no more until He comes whose right it is, and I will give it Him.” So was this throne overturned, and was never after established in Jerusalem. You will notice that there are three overturnings, and as Scriptural language is emphatic and not superfluous or tautological, these overturnings mean something. Turn to history, and you will find this throne has been turned over just three times—first, from Jerusalem to Ireland; second, through King Fergus to Scotland, and, third, through King James, from Scotland to England. This throne can never be turned over again, for Jerusalem will be incorporated into the British Empire. The throne has turned over till it got home again; hence, as surely as we live, Palestine will go into the hands of England. The throne, religion, and education established by the prophet have ever kept together. This is the secret of Ireland’s prestige and marvellous pre-eminence in centuries past. The college of Armach could boast of 7,000 students at a time. Missionaries went forth from Ireland through all Europe, teaching Christianity, and founding schools. Few men can compare to Virgilus, Eregina, Columbanus, and Columba. In olden times she was known as the “Isle of the Saints.” The day of Ireland’s weakness and distress came to her when she permitted her religion to be corrupted and controlled by foreigners; and by these same Italian intriguers she is now impoverished and enslaved. But for this the throne might have remained with her to-day, and England and Scotland have been under her. But when a nation loses her religion, she loses the right arm of power, and the ability to preserve freedom.
Jeremiah was the patron-saint for Ireland for a long time. Simeon (the Welsh) had and have David; and as surely as the Welsh have kept their saint, so surely ought Ireland. St. Patrick is looked upon by many as a mythical person. I believe, however, that he was a veritable man. The best authorities make out that he was born at Bonavena, in ancient Gaul, near what is now called Boulogne, some time about 387 a.d. He is reported as having died March 17th, 465, in the county Down. His father’s name was Calpurnius. Young Calpurnius, or St. Patrick, as he was afterwards called, had a hard life of it in youth. I believe him to have been a Benjamite, a Christian; for the Benjamites began to fill in that part of France about that period. This Tribe were by nature missionaries. This prompted him to desire to redeem his brethren in Ireland. In Ulster he began his labours. From this same Tribe others had visited Ireland. History mentions four who preceded St. Patrick. The name of St. Paul, by many, is connected with a visit to Ireland. It is very easy to see how Jeremiah, the patron-saint of Judah, would be installed in such a relation with the Danites after his death. He was the real sainted patriarch of Ireland. And by a crafty design of Rome, young Calpurnius was created sainted patriarch, or St. Patrick, and by this means Rome linked the greater part of the Irish nation on to herself. Anybody honest and familiar with history knows that St. Patrick was a Christian, and in no sense of the word a Roman Catholic. The fact is, Rome began early to covet Ireland. Once they got possession, it was necessary for them to destroy the influence of Jeremiah. This they did, in part, by substituting the name of St. Patrick in the place of the prophet’s; and more, they then set to work to destroy even the old and famous capital city of Tara. In 565 St. Ruadham, along with a posse of bishops and chiefs of the South of Ireland, cursed the city, so that neither King nor Queen might ever rule or reign therein again. They forced the government, monarchy
and people to abandon the place. From thence Tara was deserted, and the harp sounded no more through Tara’s halls. The city thus cursed crumbled to ruins, and remains to this day buried, awaiting a glorious resurrection. Rome caught her prize at last; but neither Rome nor any other power ever enslaved or conquered Ulster. Beyond the pale—that is, the dividing line, running from the Boyne to the Shannon—Rome never got, nor never will. Irishmen clamour for independence, to be free from England, and wonder why they are not. The reason is that God cannot trust liberty to them; for a people that yoke themselves to a foreigner, and give themselves over to be governed in spiritual matters, would make a poor effort if trusted with their temporal government. We all know that if Ireland had been free, she would not long have remained so, for body, as well as soul, she would have committed to the Italians. Why Irish Catholics should ask for freedom when they so voluntarily bind themselves to a foreigner, I fail to see. As the Protestants of the North have asked, and had granted, spiritual freedom in the severance of Church and State, so let the men of the South ask and demand, and stop not short of freedom from Rome. A free religion is the parent of a free State, and a free State of free school. A people who are not wise enough to take care of their own religion, are very poorly prepared to be the guardians of liberty. My belief is that Ireland ought to be free. She ought to be an independent province, with responsible government, as other English provinces. And once she becomes free religiously, it will not be long before she will be free politically. Substitute Jeremiah for St. Patrick, and the Lord Jesus for the Pope, then the day of freedom will not long tarry.
London: Printed by Robert Banks, Racquet Court, Fleet Street, E.C.
Footnotes:
[23] Essay on “Manasseh and the United States,” by the author, published by Robert Banks, price 2d.
[159] This Discourse we give to the reader as reported. In all the others we have excluded the reporter’s introduction and personal references.