The National Register. — London, England, 1813-11-07 00:00:00

THE WATCHMAN (RES ;.ORIL:1)) No. I. Iflud If fw Night! OLD TESTAMENT. Ye ectis diacd - rn thelaa of the sky ; but, edit yc not discern lkt Signs of the riots ?• • • • NEW TESTAMENT. C ATHOLICS. AND DISSENTERS. Since it has been requested of the " pulpit critic" that he would extend his range of observation, beyond the mere limits of the Pulpit, he is induced once more to appear in the character of WATc It M AN, in doing which he presumes it may not be altogether inexpedient to offer some explanation .of the title he has again thought proper to assume. And this explanation is foi tunately at hand. lie who stands for ward in the responsible situation of Watchman to the bode of Israel,' according to the paraphrase of a Jewish Rabbi, is to look out on all occurrences, and forecast their effects:— he is to understand, by the comprehension bestowed on him, all matters which shall come to his ears ; and if he foresee any evil, likely to result, be is not to hesitate as to his part, but boldly to give warning of the same. It now remains forlhe present writer to endeavour faithfully to discharge the (tusks of the station lie thus aspires to fill. Amongsit the more important subjects which at this mo ment press on the attention of every friend to the corstitu tion of this kind, and concerning which the warning voice' cannot be too loudly heard, what is commonly called the Catholic Question seem: immediately entitled to deep con siderivion. Pa' liament has assembled ; and will in all pro bability have to decide, before the termination' of its Ses sion, whether the Plotestant Ascendancy is to he maintained as the gusraniee of our Political rights; or, in other wot ds, whrther Catholics and Dissenters ern hereafter to legislate for Prote-stant Fpiscapalians? Here the question narrows itself at once. Without first ascertaining the peculiar bent of the Roman Catholic Re ligion, respecting its tolerance towards our petsuasion, this ss•eins perfectly clear, that---if the Catholics are once admitted within the of the Coastihttion, then the Dissenters can hat 'to means he e,icladed. Our dissenters, to say the truth. ap pear to be pet fectly aware of this ; since they have, almost without exception, shewn themselves to he either strenuous ipporters or complacent encouragers of the catholic claims. titrality concerning those chims was the just ground for 'otes!ant disseuters. Instead of taking such ground, which best became them to take. we behold them courting an liance t'iom which their foiefathers would have started; A l resorting to the dangerous experiment of serving those 'horn they fel medy con,idered as their enemies, in the iubtful hope of being eventually benefiited by their success. ,ach arc striving for that mastery which cannot he shared, pposing it obtained by either, and •which must terminate the subjugation of one. Englishtten can no longer rest mere spectators of this contest, unless they arc grown perfectly insensible to the blessings they have so long enjoyed, and, therefore, lament ably indifferent to the preservation of their Constitution ! While clainis..so evidently injurious to that Constitution have already nearly passed the (louse of Commons, having been there resisted by a majority of four only, what have we not to apprehend, should those claims be presently allowed to their extent, and should we find the popular branch of our legislature to consist of persons who have avowed them selves favourable to such claims? Resistance would be then uoasailing. When the dissenter that! have Altroycd our re- NOV. i witi , . ' p u r N e : , it 1 aili ant . Wil Aol Ea sul . In TIIT, NATIONAL REGISTER. • I& • : ligious establishment, and the catholic have demolished -our political institutions, it will he too late to struggle for their con servation. It cannot be too often remarked, that the present question does not merely affect our religion; but that it is political, not less than ecclesiastical. The wreck of the church has generally preceded the subversion of the state. They now stand together—together they will fall. Attacks on the church are, where church and state are one, so many indi rect advances against the state; and, whenever they pass with impunity, may bx. regarded as prelusive to revolution and ruin. England knows nothing of a political constitution, alienated from her ecclesiastical constitution ; and the Catho lie Question, as it seems fashionable to call it, now involves ' the destruction of both. Imperatively summoned, if the preceding representation be just, to rally round our existing government, let us pa triotically preserve it from those innovations by which it seems neither partially nor distantly endangered. Our foes are those of our own house. We are menaced, not indeed with an invasion of our country, but with an infraction on that constitution which has hitherto been our security and our glory; and the consequences resulting from the violation of which, the stoutest among us might well tremble to anti cipate. Now is the crisis of our fate. " Adhering to those laws by which the Throne, the Parliament , and te Government of ibis country are made fundamentally Protestant," and the Church, connected with that Government, is m;de not less decidedly Episcopalian, let us be careful to maintain them the satne ; and deliver unimpaired to our children's children that excellent Constitution whose advantages have been repeatedly acknowledged by us, because they have been so long and so universally felt! November 4, 1813. ONESIM VS. TO THE EDITOR QV WU E NATIONAL REGISTER. R--If you think the following lines worthy insertion irs THE NATIONAL REGISTER, they are at your service :-- BUONAPARTES SOLILOQUY A'f LEIPS!G. ! h7w horror crowds around me; deserted by my friends and surrounded by my foes. " Woe is me, my Mother, that thou bast borne me a man of strife, and a mail of contention to the whole earths.—t Shall iron • break the northern iron and the steel ?"—No, I feel it pierce ray Heart.—Oh ! that my soul was mortal ; that the earth would gape and (Trish me in its centre.—Annihilation wo►►td be,a blessing.—Am bition thou art a fiend and bast deceived me.—Reflectiou quite un nerves me —Ret rospec lion distracts um—There's no alleviation but iu act ion.— To A r »ts ! To Arms! J. B. D. • Jer. c. 15, part v.lO. t v. I'2. AGRICULTURAL REPORT FOR OCTOBER. Wheat seed time has been favaitrOle, from the seasonable wags, er both on tilth land and clover leys: Witte hills in the northern districts, and also on some in the centf4Ferilnitie of Ca n necstec am, Ostiird, where early sowing is necessary, the voting wheats have planted well. The Clover St ed, crops have Snifeteil materially in ; most parts, excep t on warm soils, from which they were gath ered in the dry season. the Potatoes have afforded, generally. a large peo (lnce. The Triruip crops have recovered from the stunt which they got (luring flue drought, and now promise to he abundant. The con tinning fall in all kinds of pain I:as occasioned considerable alarm through the landed interest ; although the reAuced prices are evi dently caused by the immediate general necessity of turning a cer... lain tpiantity of corn into mOney, and the raeility with which the threshing mills 'have c&cted this object. This has naturally g Nen the mercantile speculator a tenipciary advantage over the agricnl tnrist, of which the Public, unfortunately, have not their due share. The Hay markets are considerably lower. Learn Stock, both in sheep and cattle; is alsolower, 'front the shortness of food ; bat good Bcd and Mutton Bommilat excsed their last montles yrkil• S