the kings, saints, and martyrs, scandalize us; and from these two false
notions the degradation and apostasy of many Irishmen commence. Hence they
no sooner land on the shores of America than they endeavor to clip the
musical and rich brogue of fatherland, to make room for the bastard
barbarisms and vulgar slang of Yankeedom. The remainder of the course of
the apostate is easily traced, till, ashamed of creed and country, he ends
by being ashamed of his Creator and Redeemer, and barters the inheritance
of heaven for the miserable and short enjoyments of this earth.

A _fourth_, and a leading motive in the publication of this work, is to
record the manly defences which the people among whom the author lives
have made of the creed of their fathers, and to enable them to refute,
in a simple, practical manner, for the edification of their opponents,
the many objections proposed to them about the faith. By placing a copy
of this work in the hands of every head of a family in the congregation
in which he presides, the author thinks he will have done something
towards the salvation of that parent and his house, by showing him how
he may educate his children, and save them from those subtle snares laid
to rob them and him of happiness here and hereafter; for, without true
religion and virtue, there is neither enjoyment nor happiness even in
this world.

But are the principles sound, and the estimate he has formed of American
character and the conduct and motives of the sectarian parsons correct?
There may be, and undoubtedly there is, great variety in American
character; and, so far, what may be true of the people of one state or
county, may not at all be applicable to those of the rest; but as far as
regards sectarianism and its slanders of the church, and the low
character, intellectually and morally, of the parsons, ministers,
dominies, and preachers, with few honorable exceptions, it may be said,