The agitation of the Irish population in late years, provoked, no doubt, in a great measure in Ireland, as in Poland, by the immaculate emissaries of the pontiff of Rome, has led the government of England to con- sider the propriety of granting the three millions of Irish Romanists such liberty in worship and education as should make them as fit subjects as the other twenty millions of the northern isles who enjoy the protection of the British crown, and worthy associates of their English-speaking neighbors. Jn 18G8 INIr. Gladstone, whose very earliest work had been " marlied by a plain inclination to elevate the Church above the State," and who, in the very maiden-days of his political career, had •■exhibited an unfailing tenderness for the whims, the complaints, and the growing claims of his friends the papal prelates," was called to the premiership of Great Britain, to establish, if possible, perfect accord between the English and Irish people. Almost the sole aim of the policy which the new premier inaugurated was the conciliation of the Romanists of Ireland. Eor this one purpose he has labored uninterruptedly. No sooner had he succeeded Mr. Disraeli than he urged the disestab- lishment of the Church of England principles as the ecclesiastical principles of Ireland. His success in this attempt is now a matter of history. See Ikeland. Flattered by the easy victory gained in his first effort, Mr. Gladstone followed it by a proposal for the estab- lishment of compulsory education and denominational schools. Herein, also, he succeeded, but only measura- bly. Encouraged by these repeated successes, he has lately come forward with a scheme which only a few (lays ago (February, 1873) threntoned his ruin, and even now holds him in suspense. His new scheme now on foot is a proposition to dismantle Trinity College, long the eyesore of Romanists, and to found an immense ed- ucational establishment, called the Irish University, in which Catholics shall study only their own history and philosophy, Protestants a different series, and which shall lie endowed with a vast revenue from the spolia- tion of Trinity and the wrecks of the EstabHshcd Church. Botli Dissenters and Conformists are alarmed at the step iMr. Gladstone seems determined upon. Even Roman- ists disfavor the proposal, for of -the three or four mill- ions of Catholic Irish it is probable that not one third of suitable age can read and write. The greatest oppo- sition, however, has come from Rome, and suddenly the premier of Great Britain finds himself confronted by
those whom he had always had reason to look upon as his chief supporters. Well has it lately been said that " the policy of Rome knows neither friendship nor grat- itude ; to serve ' the Church' it strikes indiscriminately at its friends or foes ; and the British statesman has shown himself no match for the Italian priests, who have prej'ed upon his eminent renown, and woidd now, perhaps, exult over his fall. They throw him aside as the instrument they can no longer use, and demaml that Ireland shall be ruled and educated by Catholics alone. With media3val mummeries they have dedicated the island to ' the sacred heart of Jesus,' and plainly intend nothing less than the total subjugation of its Protestant population to a priestly despotism." The endowment of Maynooth, and later the establishment of the queen's colleges, and even the open doors of Trinity, cannot and will not pacify Rome. She seeks control of Ireland both in Church and State; and so long as the papacy shall re- main tainted by a zest for temporal power, both Eng- land and Prussia will find defilement and abasement, aj^e, not unfrequently rebellion in the ranks of those of her subjects who claim fidelity to the hierarchy. The last days certainly are teaching even the most liberal- minded politicians that the Church of Rome is built upon a foundation which is political as well as ecclesias- tical, and that the severe measures, as inaugurated by Bismark, will alone save the Protestant world from ruin and decay. .
Mayo, Daniel, a Presbyterian divine of some note, ■was born in London or vicinity in 1G72. He was edu- cated first at liome, then went abroad and studied for some time in Holland under Witsius. On his return to England he preached successively at Tothill Fields, Westminster, at Kingston-upon-Thames, and at Hack- ney, and finally settled permanently at Silver Street, London, where he died in 1733. Mr. Mayo was a man of considerable talents, great zeal and activity, combined with prudence. I5esides publishing many sermons, he wrote, in continuation of Henry's Exposition, a Com- mentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, See Allibone, Diet, of Brit, and A mer. A uthors, s. v. ; Brown, Cyclop), of Relir/ioiis Knowledge, s. v.
Mayotta, one of the Comoro Isles (in the Indian Ocean), since 1843 under the control of the French, is situated in latitude 12° 3-4 '-13° 4' S., and longitude 44° 59' 15"-45° 23' E., covering some twenty-one miles from north to south, with an average breadth of six or seven miles ; if, however, the dangerous coral reefs which surround the island be included, the whole occupies a space of thirty miles north and south, and twenty-four miles east and west, and contains a population of about 8000, mostly Romanists. The surface of this isle is v,ery uneven, and is studded with volcanic-looking peaks, some of which exceed 2000 feet in height. Its shores are in some places lined with mangrove swamps, which are uncovered at low water, and are productive of ma- laria and fever; it is in most parts capable of cultiva- tion, prominently that of sugar, the only article exported. The French themselves live mainly on the islantl of Gaondzi, inside the chain of reefs on the east side of ]\Iavotta. A governor and colonial officer are residents, and" some 100 French soldiers, besides some natives, were stationed there. The Roman Catholic Church alone has a hold here.