The National Register. — London, England, 1819-03-22 00:00:00

grow No. 11 (16.—' The press of other important matter in our long Post script of last week, prevented us from noticing the Pe tition of the English Catholics presented by Lord Nugent to the House of Commons. It has been customary for many years for the English Catholics to separate their cause from that of the Catholics of Ireland, at least as far as presenting a distinct Petition for relief from their civil disqualifications does so. Anxious, however, to avoid all cause of jealousy or dissatisfaction among their brethren, they have still forborne to petition for any pe culiar or exclusive privileges, and have endeavoured, as far as possible, to connect the relief of the whole Catho lic Body with their own. His Lordship, therefore, no doubt, in conformity with the instructions he had re ceived, declined making any further motion upon the Petitiem than simply that it do lie upon the table, wait in,g, as he then intimated, till the fate of the Irish Pe nnon, about to be presented to the House of Commons by Mr. Grattan, and by Lord Grey to the House of Lords, should be decided. Should this last mentioned fail of its object, which it is rather expected it will not, as, among other grounds of hope, Lord Liverpool is himself said to have been at last convinced of thejustice and policy of concession, some further measure, on be half of the English Catholics will be then adopted. So strung, indeed, and so entirely unobjectionable ap pear to be the claims of our English Catholics, that had they chosen to prefer a different course of proceeding, and to have at once insulated their own question, it is handy possible to conceive upon what grounds it could have been resisted. The common claims of the whole Catholic Body, and the Unreasonableness of the restric tions to which their civil rights continue to be subjected, are topics which have been over and over again urged by all the powers of eloquence and the force of truth. Whatever sanction the weight of authority can confer on any measure, or what one would think an unanswerable ar e :omen!, the union of even the most eager of political opponents on other subjects, has been repeatedly thrown into the balance of our Parliamentary divisions on Ca tholic Emancipation, and yet those ponderoits materials, ignorance, bigotry, and intolerance, have outweighed the whole, and may do so again. We are no friends to • rash and hasty spirit of legislation; we would have even abuses apparently the most flagrant, well and de liberately considered before they are swept away, lest the very mode or time of effecting their destruction *hood itself occasion mischief. We are, therefore, neither astonished nor indignant at the course of cor rection and improvement which the lapse of time is perpetually demanding in our social and civil institu tions, Icing somewhat more tardy and obstructed than our must holiest mid zealous politicians would frequent ly contend fur. IVe have seen a cobweb rudely brie-lied from the corner of a mirror, alai the glass skis ered to Msees by the zeal of a cleanly house-maid. But this reasoning is happily no longer relevant to the point now at isuue . The complaints and prayers of the Boman Catholics for aihnis.itm to their en tl rights, have been almost cotistaady before the Legislature ever since the Kwolutiou. Objections which were then, perhaps wisely thought instirrable, have gone on gradually disappearing. Tile faintly of the Pretender, which was always or: 4 eil a., the natural rallying-point or their alle giance, is now extinct. The prowess of society, and th e general spread of knowledge have taught the Catho lic, as well as others, to distinguish between civil and religious obetheoce. interferelice of Polk:, in the temporal affairs of Pt i reS atud siates, is 110 W 110 longer heard of. The British Catholics or Cie piesetit (lay tilt'. fer ins' as with Iv fro m the politics of lieliannine, a• the Clergy of the Estatilished Chinch now differ from iitiise whn maintained, as an orthodox doctrine, the (lit we r4ht of Kings in the d.ls of 1/1111:$. A inure universal acquaintance with history has huffier taught us, when we remember that Protestants were once persecuted and burnt by Catholics, not to forget, also, that Catholics were persecuted and burnt by Protestants in their turn, and has shewn us that to the slate of society, rather tllllll to any inherent property of their faith, the vitt - Armee and errors of both parties are to be referred. To all this we may still further and particularly add, the ntany and glorious opportunities that have been afforded to the Catholics of proving, by positive facts, their unquestionable loyalty to the throne, and attachment to the constitution.— Thtoughout the late arduous and protracted struggle, their blood has flowed quite as freely in their country's cause as our own, and their share of the public burdens has been borne with as exemplary a patience. Lastly, we must not forget to mention, that all those obnoxious and anti-social tenets, so long charged upon them, and so generally believed, have been formerly and solemnly disavowed by every Cathblic university and college in Europe. Nor has the moroabstract question of I and political justice, as connected with their cause, been less successfully argued and determined in their favour. All the greatest masters of human reason and philosophy have agreed that conscience, inasmuch as it is beyond the reach of laws, and even beyond the con troul of a man's self, cats never be a proper object of hu man legislation ; and that it is equally a violation of all equity and justice, either to demand the performance of an impossible duty, or to abridge a 111311 of whatever rights and privileges belong to the society in which he lives, for not doing that which he has it not in his power honestly to perform. " No civil 3.lagisnate," says Locke, " can have mote than any other man, the care of souls. It is not conintitted to him by God, nor can any such power be vested its him, even by consent iof the people." Ttte rights of conscience are natural rights, both antecedent and superior to all human insti tutions. They are what laws never gas e, and what laws cannot take away. Any particular church, also, is no more than a free and voluntary society. Men are not born either Catholics of Protestants, nor bound by any natural connection to any sect or denomination whatever. Nor again, is a ...buret' establishment any proof of the truth of the doctrines maintained within it. For otherwise the faith of Bramalt would be true in India, of Nlaho met in Turkey, and of Christianity in Italy, France, and England; and if it were, you can still have no power or authority to compel a man to follow even truth itself, if he prefer being a disciple of error. If then you C3ll have no right to interfere with liberty of conscience, you cat, certainly have no just plea for re ligious disqualifications. You may erect a national reli gious establishment, and may clothe it with whatever dignities and emoluments you may think most condo cite to its welfare, and best adapted to promote its pro per end, the spiritual advantages of all its members.— And as an established religion necessarily pre-supposes that it is so constituted by the consent of the majority of those will arc to live under it, that very circum stan:T renders it the bounden duty of all, even of those who are not associated in the communion of its worship, to contribute to its maintenance, and to du nothing which may directly tend to injure or overthrow it. It is a natural ally of the state, and entitled to a civil alle giance equally extensive. But here all civil jure-diction, its 11111.1.? ts purely spiritual, met ends. Offences against a national religious establishment, are offences agJinst the state; lint until any Mills idual has actually committed some overt act rti aizgresitiOn, .yollll'l%l . HO I i,411l to legislate opon his presumed host Yon have uu ri2lit to sill jest hint to lity civil disi . ranchisenteut is hen he has incurred no forfeiture. I . llCse distinctions are the store important, as they contribute to set in its propre liAt the nalore tliat °lilt/mini' which has so lung been considered by many, and w:fultunately among those by our venerable and afflicted Sovereign himself, as an insuperable bar to any concessions to the Catholics, we mean the Coronation Oath. if the pryer interpretation of this oath be to sanction and enforce the principle of civil exclusions on the solo • ground of speculative opinions in religion, then we have no hesitation in saying that it is an obligation which can never justly be imposed, which is better broke than kept, and which, in fact, has beets broken above a huhdred times. But We must conteud that it fairly ad mits of no such harsh and unnatural construction, and that properly explained, it neither imposes nor justifies any interference, on the score or religious opinions, with the civil capacities of our fellow-subjeett. Such then is the real state and character of this important Question, and we need not hesitate to assert that the sentiments we have put together upon it, are those of all the liberal and enlightened part of the community. We say no thing of a mild and tolerant spirit of conciliation being both best suited to our professions, and the best policy for the interests of the Church Establishment, nor of persecution being the stronge.d ligament we can apply fOr cementing and keeping together the whole body of those who dissent from it. Our argument rests upon the higher ground of imprescriptible right and moral justice; and upon this firm foundation we shall now leave it, adding only a few words upon the peculiar fea tures of the Petition presented to the House. It was signed by npwards of 10,000 names, amongst which arc, 13 Peers, It! Baronets, and, what furnishes a cu_ tines and eery interesting fact, the only five names that now remain of those who signed Magna Charta, and thus laid the foundation of British liberty, are sub►cribed to this document, now praying to be admitted to share the blessings their forefathers procured to the country, and, to use his Lordship's beautiful and impressive lan guage, that they may no longer be " aliens in their na tive land." We are sorry to observe, that the Political Horizon in France wears but a lowering and tthcheering aspect to the friends of peace. The Ministry over and over again defeated by the Opposition in the Upper Chamber, have had recourse to an unprecedented creation of 64 new Peers ; and amongst these are numbered 34 of the old Officers and adherents of Napoleon. The profession or these men is arms, and no workman is well-pleased to be long destitute of employment. Extract of a letter from Buenos-Ayres, dated Dec. 16.—" Lord Cochrane has arrived in Chili, slid on the 4th inst. entered St. Jag°, where he has been received with every mark of aspect. He has been olI:red the command of the Chili squadron, which he is expected immediately to assume. The merchant vessels in Valparaiso arc likely to be much distressed for seamen, every one is running to join Lord Cochrane. French papers of Monday and Tuesday haVe just reached us ; they are totally devoid of interest. The French Funds are 66.10. Rink 1500. The Perntentirry at Milhank contains :It present 1(9 males and 123 rent:des ; it is to hold uhlinJtely 400 the prison is extrcincly healthy. On Monday last Crptain Mattis!, exitihitt d at the bar. rocks, Yarmouth. his eltmaratua for r ati ou oi•t img In c had ;wittily invited the Maynr, E.I I Pct,trin, Esq. the drimi% 11a, or, and oilier acinlirrien, to sitsvect alit, %ail. ors %attending its applicati.os. At. ',repent tars e icitch Gratified, lint it appealed to he the itcrieral p 1 espion Mot Abe inttriiions contrivance is hiller vitt:opted to private than to pottlie use. The :111 .re 4IW eene.lsts of a topper ve,sl I Hbotit 3U itirluts luteg , .uul nt a Asithei - ro ea tly to hold Lrur gal ion , of ineptrgual«d valor and Alr, hasileg as a t.rck a in.ts. pio• with .1 stop cock, tin totuiog of which the wart is propt.trett by the rnintot , ,cil air a of 35 no 4tt fief. Ilse who, otitis ;dhoti 4into., '• : a' .'t :I , 10 he ramly eonsryed to on, room. or par..ot it . • ts brie a fiic is lint ow, ,;• •s. lain awl iiitat _ c y s I, if • 0 /e . , , ~.„ .. . , , s t r lib, atto tonic 4‘ tgoottr+ Al 41/ 4 t Our Num Conattution anti ;I M .., uff. .w,,,, _ 'T 0 . 0 , • --.....--...-..-.......-...--...--.—.-Z...........--.a VOL. XII.] MONDAY, MARCH 22, 1819 [Piaci Md. , i t'ft ) 0114 '•"` 6 • t•L i t!•• .01" " • , • 14: