The Statesman. — London, England, 1812-06-23 00:00:00

I~ I~ rr■" r i r y **undervalue the blessings of the Reformation, but ab.e../e redected upon the tumultuous and violent measures of the times, he could nut discover any thin + th-ir cothplexion or character, if the sys . tern were refereed to that period, to ennoble its 0rn41.1; besides, the House should bear in mitd the cruelty, injustice, and rapine of that greateat t) raut a all who ever sat open the throne of, RA- Wu, whose violence and atrocities were, ih the hands of Providence, the instruments in effecting that reformation, the blessings of which the coun try was now happily enjoying. When they looked to the spirit, and character, and forms of that tyrant's legislation, under whose despotic sway the coos& • tu!ional functions of Parliament were extinguished, • and that House was compelled to vote, not accord.. lug to its ow n judgment, but his arbitrary instruc tions—when they considered that the historians Of that period, in describing the extravagant injus tice of the tyrant's government, stated, that " all those who were for the Pope were hanged, and all • those who were against him burned"—when they called to mind teat the Parliament had been reduced to such an abyss of degradation as to give to his proclamations the. force 'of law, he was persuaded that no Honourable Member would think of refer ring to the reign of Henry VIII. for the source or the precedent of perfect legislation. While they came down still lower, through the period while the Reformation was gaining progress and strength to the reign of that greet Princess (Elizalietli) whose Government Was conducted. upon principles and with a degree of wisdom that covered the Em pire with glory and prosperity, they would find that towards , the close of that glorious reign a spirit of persecution arose, in the progress of which, all • the barbarities of the preceding reign were renetted with little less teligious rancour, as if it had been necessary tor the establishmett of the Reformation to retaliate their Own cruelties, by inflicting them in turn upon the sect that was overthrown. Would Gentlemen think a period of such alternate persecu tion a suitable time in which to ley the origin of their system of perfect legislation I—Would they refer to the reign of the First Charles, whose perpetual contests with his Parliament and People subverted every fixed principle of legislation I—Then they came to the Protectorate of 'Cromwell, the rule of • whose Government was towards the Catholics a principle of extermination. This was a period •to which the origin of the system of perfection would, • lie was persuaded, not be referred. Thus they were brought down to the Revolution, that era so much and so justly esteemed by Englishmen,* which was referred to With so much stress, and' quoted with such confidence upon this subject. It was not, however, true that the origin of the system was to be traced in the progress and character of that glorious Revolution. It was perfectly true that a degree of civil slavery was imposed on the Catholics at that period, as the consequence of their intimate connexion with the political doc trines of the assertions of the old Episcopalian Establishments ; but it was equally true, that no consideration of that nature could sanctify the • establishment •of a degree of civil slavery which • (ight in no State to exist ; and the disabling Sta tutes which had been resorted to on that occasion, , he considered in no other light than a remnant of that, persecution which employed the exterminating sword It was not true however, that the system wog referable to that period, or that the principle of perfect legislation contended for had its origin in that reign iu %%hid, the Revolution was. effected. It was not till the reigns of Anne, and of the first mo narchs of the House of Brunswick, that the prin ciple was acted upon to its fullest extent, aad the system brought to its highest perfection, and fitted to the • purposes of which it was capable. The house would then see that it was not till the com.' mencement, and early part of the last century, that thk perfect system had grown up. The prin ciple of the Protectorate was extermination, that of the Revolution confiscation.; and it was not until aftt-r the Revolution that the systein of artificial de pression was established, which operated to stint the population—to cramp the energies—to weaken the i resources---to put do*n the great mass of the ration, and make the objects of this artificial depression al degraded and " enslaved class in the empire. It was in these three successive reigns then, that the system . was established and brought to perfection ; and he would ask any man, therefore, whether there was any thing in the times or the circumstances under which the system originated, flust could make him think it ought to be upheld ? Let the House but look at what was the state of the case in 1760, on the ac-' cession of his present Majesty, before any remedial or alleviating measures had been resorted to. They would find, by referring to the state of the law at • that period, that the Roman Catholic,was cut off from; his civil rights = that a principle of t seperation was • established between him and hiloffspring—that the'. provisions of the law, whilst they disfranchised the father of his civil rights, stimulated the son to de rive hiss of Lis inheritance. This was a state to w hick lie was persuaded, that .no man would refer • • fur an example of perfection; and to that state atm ; law they must refer, ifthey were to consider the de-1 *struction of the Penal Code an infringement upon ! the established Constitution. Thus, if the system were to be upheld as perfect, it must be referred to 'that period when it attained to maturity, and then it be found, that iti decay had began. Other i ' systems, after having atitained to maturity, continued '.l) perfection for some considerable portion of time ; but this system had to date its decline from the at-' tailuilent of its maturity, Ind may be traced to its 1 , :decay from the period of it s p e rf ec ti ou . If it h a d • existed in perfection for any p er i o d, it cou ld on l y I I e lavePri for fourteen yeait, from the year 1700 to the " year /771, s hen the first relaxing Statute was enact ed. And here he must beg leave to ask, whether tiny • of the dig tiding Statutes had been resorted to on the • the groued of religious tenets, or of political disagree thin i—Whether" thee Penal Code was intend el to • • exclude a sect, or to parsish rebellion ? Bishop Bur •. net, who had written the Hist illy of the Reforma tion, had recorded of lQueen Elizabeth, that she was paturally averse from persecution, and that it was not • till the hitter years of her reign, when the prepamt• lions of Phillip H. and the machinations of some of her own subjects of the Roman Catholic persuasion; menaced the overthrow of her government, that she Gould bring herself to countenance persecution. U ta • .1 4 , • THE STAMINAN. they looked to the period of the Revolution they would also find, that in all the measures of that period the adherence to the old epi s cop alian p rinci p le , was never dissociated from the idea of rebellion, and the disqualification was directed against, sot the re ligion or the .relief Oiled. bnetin• political - dist', loyalty. This thrrwould find laid don n in the • Morktref the best writers of the day. The same opt ;atbn was entertained by altistt Triter, who could' not-be gape-0W of any great partiality .to..lihost l ik ' (Mr. Justice Blackstone) before any relaxation fitak . " pon the sabject -of that place in the Penal Code. , U Statutes that writer had the following passage:— J I • " This is &short iummary of the laws against the Papists, ass- ' dee their three several claws, of Jaquith professing the Pophh • Religioo, Popish recusants convict, and 'Popish prietei. Of which the President Montesquieu observes, that they are so• el rriiiis, though not professedly of the stingtunary kind, that they do all the hurt that can possibly be done in add blood But la answer to *lsis •it may he observed (what foreigners, who only page from our Statute-book, are not Billy apprised of), that these laws are seldom exerted to thr4r utmost rigour; and, hat deed,rif they were, it would be very difficult to escuse dieta l l for they are rather to be accounted fur from th eir history, add. the urgency of the times Which produced them, than to be tip proved (upon a cool review) as -a standingsyttonsof law. The 4 restless mach nations of the Jesuits, daring the re ign of Mika-, limit, the turbulence and uneasiness of the PApists under *ll new religious establidunent, and the &oldness of their/lopes and ' wishes fur the succession of the Queen of Scots, obliged the PAP , liameot to connteract so dangerous d spirit by law( of • F rew . ! and perhaps IleCeiNiq, severity. The powder-treason, in the succeeding reign, struck a panic into James I. which operated indifferent ways: it occasioned the enacting of new laws againit ; the Papists ; but deterred him from putting them in execution. —The intrigues of Queen Henrietta, in the rein of Charles 1. . the prospeet of a Popish successor in that of Charles U. la Assassination-plot in the reign ile King Ms illiani.arid the avowed : claim of a Popish Pretender to the Crown, will account for the ' extension of these penalties at those several periodi of our. Ms -1 tort' . - But if a thee should ever orris., and pertitspe it is not . a ve n f t y t r i l i i:ta i tt, o r henz i l i t i r e rs of aa o a t. leh i tes; :11l t h , a c v n e in v e m; e is e h b e i V ' ridiculous, and despicable, note only In finglard, hut in every kingdom in Europe; it probably would net then be emirs - to I review and soften these rigorous Edic:s ; at least till the &ill principles of the Roman Catholics called again upon the 1.e.: I gi-latu re to renew them; for it ought oat to belef: in the breast of every. merciless - bigot, to dm down the vengeance of these . occasional laws upon inultrnsivc, though mrs.alecii, subjects; ia ' opposition to the lenient inclinations of the civil magistrate,and to the des:ruction of every principle of toleratiou and.religioui liberty." . . .. It would he worth while to examine, whether the re, laxations which had hitherto been made•in'fiveur of' the Catholics, were in conformity to the printiple which Blackstone had in view. We should be Ole to ascertain, by a reference to the Preambles of the various Statutes by which these relaxations werief fected, what had been the object of the Legislatire. By the first act passed in favour of the Catholics in 1774, a purgatory oath was exacted from them be fore they could enter on the enjoyment of threprivi leges thereby conceded, on account of 'certain tell . gious tenets, by which they were said to regulate their conduct.—Tire second Act which was passed in their favour was four years afterwards, in the year 1778. In the Preamble to this Act it was stat ed, that whereas it was deemed conducive to the welfare of the. Kingdom- that the different classes of persons who composed the population thereof should be united by the bonds of mutual interest and affec tion. - Now, said the Hon. Member, no inference tan be more clear than that which is to be drawn from the necessity of promoting mutual interest and affection. The Preadtble to the third Statute, he observed, after having premised that the oath of I allegiance should be administered to the Catholics ! in the same manner as to persons of any other reli- I gious persuasion, went on to -state, that whereas they, the Catholics, were considered to be good and l loyal subjects of the Crown. Theu, continued the Right lion. Member, it was assumed, that they had a'cquire4the quality, the want of which a former Pre amble had left to be inferred. And in the Preamble of the last Act, by which the privileges were extend ! ed, similar language was to .he found. The peace ful and loyal demeanour of his Majesty's Catholic I subjects was made the ground of concession. We found then that this system, to break into which, to innovate on which, was deemed a violation of the civii.principles of our ancestors, was the growth ofl two centuries, and had, when brought to perfection, remained about fourteen years stationary. During this i time the Government of Ireland had been a problem of no small difficulty. The statesmen of this coun t try had endeavoured to solve it, by applying priori. pies of legislation to one country which were only adapted to the other. And it was but too true, that io the progress of their efforts they had gone se. ! far as to adopt a system of extermination. When td act upon this was found iffipracticable, they had recourse to Statutes framed to grind down the po pulation of Ireland, and these too had failed. They at last had happily turned their thoughts to experi ments of It very dille.rent nature ; and the question . now was, whether a chance of complete operation should be afforded to those experiments. Much had been said of the security by which concession ought I to be accompanied ; but those who dwelt on the ne t cessity of such security did not make sufficient al tlowance for the different genius and spirit by which I • different ages would be distinguished : he would, ge- nally speaking, leave unresolved the philosophical problem of whethe r the ^roa I d improved or became i deteriorated as it grew in years.. But of this he was I I sure, , that a spirit of mildness at least gave the pie-I sent age some right to challenge a contrast with I those which had p r e ce ded it. N o m o re forciblell-1 ! lastration of this truth could be found than in what i ! had been recently stated in that House—he meant by the Honourable Gentleman who had brought forward the Mono% on the Orders in Council. lie i I eau stated, that the Treaty of Utrecht, which had been the sabject of general condemnation, had, in a more particular manner, attracted the execration of fosterity, - by - Itaving held out, as the siegle•advan. tage this country was to obtain from au extension of the slave trade. This advantage was obtained foi us at a period which had been distinguished as rite lAugustan age of England. No one would Impute to the moral writers of that age any want of those qua: I.lities which were requisite to fill theieworks with les sons, calculated to soften and refine the minds of pos.' terity ' • bat he would, nevertheless, ask, if a Mini s te r of the Crown were now to stand up in that Rouse,', and exhibit to their-notice a treaty, in' which itct, could boast of but a solitary advantage, and that an increase of the benefits resulting from the slave trade, with what feelings his congratulatory oration' would be listened to? Assuredly, it mould be re.. ceired with a just, a vehement, and universal hurit of indignation; the spirit of the times watt clang ob lie did not wish to arraign the wisdom of 'our in- , castors, but without doing so generally, be coul d' _ safely assert, that they legislated is a different spirit from that which could now with propriety actuate, or did actuate that assembly. The question now was, not whether we were to renew a system which it hell been found necessary to depart from ; but whether, having proved its inefficacy, we were to give full operation to principles's:4am opposite nature. We read in the history of ancient Rome that the Samitites, the inveterate enemies or that Power, • become masters-of a cooeislerable-aemy, sent against them, and headed by the Consuls at the Caci dini Forks, the victorious General sent a message to his father, an aged and experienced Senator, to ea-. cluirtiii to the-manner in which he should proceed at so important a juncture; the answer of the old man was, that the Romani should be dismissed unran somed ; this answer created much surprise, and some mistakes being apprehended, the messenger was sent a second time, and returned with an answer of a very opposite nature to the former. The old man i recommended that the environed army should be I exterminated to the last man. The Samnites flow I began to conceive that the Reverend Senator was de prived of his senses, and a third message desired that he would come to the camp, and unfold the reasons of the strange advice he had given. With 'this he complied, and assigned as the reason of his I first advice, that by conferring a great benefit upou the Roman people, his fellow-citizens might look to a corresponding degree of gratitude being awakened in the minds of a powerful people; if this did , not please, then, by adopting his smit!, they would.. get rid of a prostrate foe, and strike a decisive blow against a power„ from the hostility of which I•they.'hid every thing to dread. The old Senator (continued the Honourable Member) concluded his explanatibn by observing, to use , the emphatic Illvagtmge given him by the historian, indium Yertiu us clineilium placed, nage alio conceditur ult.. The advice was not adopted, the son thought himself . wispr than his. father, took a middle step, pass- ' eel the Romans under the yoke, and sent them 'house; the consequences are welt known, and have left au,impressive lesson as to the irnpolicy of tem- , porising measure , of neither acting decisively on th e ! o4e - pide nor the other. But if this principle were ca pableof being applied to the question now under dis cussion, in a favourable way, heretofore, how much mom so now, when the Union of Great Britain and i Ireland had made so great a difference in its aspect ! ' he could no longer talk of a Protestant garrison in a Popiih oeuntry. The Protestants of the United Empire now constituted a majority, there was ae , minority of Protestants beset by overwhelming num- bars, and, therefore, concession, to whatsoever ex tent it might go, mild create no danger. There were alarmists, indeed, who still would maintain the im po,sibility of concession, that Papists, placed be neath a Protestant Government, would always here a tendency to shake off the yoke of the Government ; that the encroaching spirit of the Catholic Cburch could never be at rest, and that if her spirit of perse cution were once set loose, it would soon make us wish, when, perhaps, no longer possible to retrace the steps we had taken ? impelled by feelings weakly in dulgent. Now, with respect to the perpetually en croaching spirit imputed to the.Church.of Rome, he had to rPmark, that in the lapse of Me centuries she had lost two-thirds of Europe, the smallest portion of which she had not recovered. When it was sail that Catholics held it as a principle that they would not keep faith with heretics, that their watch word was, Ileretieos pencquar et expugnabo"—he couldnet but allow that such tenets, if really received, challeng ed thedetestation of mankind, and justified their oppo sition to those whose conduct they influenced ; but we were not to allow ourselves to go too fast towards a , belief that they were really received, we should pause and consider whether the offensive words of the creed were not mere words of course, and whether it could not be shown that words of a similar import could not be found where we would must readily admit that they were nothing more than sound. It was, perhaps, but little known, that in the oath taken by the Sovereigns of Scotland, and which had been taken by William and Mary at the time of the Revolution, there was a clause to ' this effect—" I will carefully root out all here ties."—From the taking such an oath he did not infer . any • thing prejudicial to the characters of William and Mary. They no doubt took it in their own sense, that was, that when in words It pledged them to root Out heretics, it really meant no sdch thing. He did not mean by. any thing he had said to justify the Itemtsh Church for inculcat ing tenets of the kind, but be wield say, that if it was permitted to another Church to put what con struction she pleased on her tenets, it would be acting unfairly to refuse a similar privilege to the Catholic Church. It wind& be most unfair to say, because certain intolerant principles were to be found in her canons, that•with her alone such prine.l ciples were to be endowed with a mischievous ac tivity, and impel her sons abroad to disseminate her doctriee i ,by the ad of the sword and thettorch.-1 Amin, the Catholics were charged with holding tenets which absolved them, from keeping faith with heretian, and - Tee by a curious perversion of or , principles of reasoning, au oath was exacted from ; them by the Statutes, by which they had, privileges ] extended to them, that was, we exacted oaths from those Whose creed and trade was perjury.—[hear, hear, heer.9—He did not see in his place a Right ] 'Ron. and Learned Doctor, with whirl this was a fa- Arourite doctrine, but it was rather a curious Orem stance that this Learned person, who was loudest hi maintaining that no oaths coul d bind the fugitive and volatile spirit of those religionists, was.hiniself en trusted with the task of framing the very last oath which was appointed for them to take. However little the security of an oath might please a certain class of persons, they must of necessity be satisfied , with it till some more powerful obligation could be, imposed, and.it could )tot be imposed till it was dia.. covered. Again it was said, that the Catholietl should be content when they contrasted their sittie t l Hon with that of thOse 'persons who were placed be neath . Goveirients less mild than that they had tlitil .happiness of living under. lf they looked ahroad;l ipres sea /hey , could no longer be reasounbly fitedVith their fraitcbiaes, however limited. But 4eEir it teachthein te, look abroad !--[dear, iot I]--Madh better would it be, that 'they Should be =yen /yak_ at.henei, ,11.4% leek •Imne without any Faidfous contrast to make between their condition they an w d er t o li t a o t l s o ) o r fell ow l4( t . h no e l,: i ri r (oitutil,l w nate l i nt i szt ,.. rtic.; b o u w t n stipOse a tio d n i ir c: r m ei l i d ce th o e f y re th li e g l i t o i d l e b ri: g e e , t nations towards which ti t ie h and hostility ? No ; I na com m iZe l totallyi n order o 1 1 : : es' n y: e c. a mhiul h a:':lgtil il rtf i fi e jeen(nr s clid s t: v ineegiy ; ts ot r fio l bf f ifteddidirsii'vintlel: my. Should they turn their errs towardsni nny against elk') the power of that enemy was °li i t ' ) k 0 t . .. i r ii u s 0 , ~ is ;! Iy to be directed, would they fi nd there thatplru:iscpileele*: ! of disunion from which they mightsdeilvethe rad CON isolation afforded by a p ar ti c i pat i on of evil ? \ , ,. ' would be recoil:: there they Would find the rulte-Of awh.ittecoitirentryz: ported by the counsels of a Popish Chancell or , a ,"', y w ould do, ledbeldvbill: ; t is h a e s s u k r i l t l h o e f te a li P e ro o t n es u t f a Protestant t G iser e !ell: 4anrayp,aartepoprsiliboiniehoedf whopan 1 ed, that soave time to si f isc il e u i n io i ditrewsaestosutihvne supposed, felt themselves ag o ir af • d • d . iiTsiro a ue:eitildt, :iii. information w ie h n o tt w as not C - o l r i r t ectlin -1 li Pere"• ground ere of L, f g e ion rel lta t t owli the rd in religious s tsciple of iutoleeauce Wry, ' ( gary - there was no reli t p h a e rt a u dd i. address was ' w fb a it s h t o he ut effect F pletely banished. He lamented.. torsotoinylhla,tlhatelotsittwnwit:ries) aou.m;ividaties, it still subsisted in all its force, as was bat too ap ‘ i v sa h r i e c i h it t f i r le om at s t o s n o ie f r t e h c e en c t o pl i i t h e l s ica h t n io d us be a en d trillapo ' il . hi t c i r d long a been w -he d pp o i r sg at.ctw r it h oios c nii: e xl d iod t h l a i t a t in i t f o l l i e e r r a e m t e h e uil l d r e i Irish Catholic weh ile .an a rt .4 ,_n a spirit b y r. o. r , e ly col i i n ec t t h , at at co t u h n e tr s y ani w e disgracefully pre-eminent in bigotry. at the same time, call to mind how freel y system t d u h s e la G vi o ss v ho er mo n ef or og s urar o i f ials( t io h v a ife t eio c 7 . o 7 a i ot t i ti yh y e.r t s o ,lla i d use into their be temptede salutary t a c t, d wisht laudablei'at w advice v r' would ir keep home a co l consumptio n ; that 01. that acting upon it, we might give to mature Eli gran isle andl adult Ireland those privileges she craved and des erte d at our hands, and change the hostile . frown she now wore t e o nd the sh i p. lt w serene andas not unusualtranqui ! smile to of.o i p r se ti tile claims of the Catholics by a reference to the cruelties, which it was but too certain were practised in thF , first ages of that mighty religious convulsion Wich changed thelace of Europe; but what should we say if we found theiCathorcs. disposed to go hack to that very period to find grounds for crimirratien against ourselves? Were they to dwell on the outrages and cruelties oommitted by Anabaptists in Munster, or the tyrannical successes of the odious Henry, or the Protestant prosecutions which are to be found record. ed even in the annals of the reign of Queen filititsefo or the cr e el death which the atrocious Calvin cased the unhappy Servetus to suffer after he hod eutrapped him into his power ? And lastly, the erogress of 1 the reformation in Scollalsol, which had given link to the abominable oath to which he had adverted in a former part of his speech, as well as to the brie r I lent and sanguinary successes of John Knox and his followers. But he hoped the Catholics would al -1 ways show themselves unwilling to enter into such a contest, and he had only exhibited die strength ;of their • cause, in order to show more forcibly, i that it political violence gave birth to politicalani. mosity, it was the bounden duty of a Government or a Legislature to remove the possibility'ef its being brought into action. Al the present time 410 apprehension was to be entertained or this spirit giving.birth to exoesst.s such as those Which, at a ruder period of society, it had prodtic,.d ; and while such was the case, • he could not-express how much ho i had been shocked of late by obse , Nitr a prmphlet, purporting to be a History of the Neissacre of S. Bartholomew. Happily there was but little reason to fear that such a publication conid produce any ~ rious effect; but the intention of tile author could ' not be perceived without the warmest feelings of in. • dignation. What good - could now be dine by ob truding on the attention of the l'ublic the history of such 'horrors as were enacted in that lamentalle tragedy? What had the present ace to do v.ith the bigotry and cruelty of Charles the Ninth? What with the Guises, stained with the blood of their fellow-citizens? What had this country to do with the character of Frenchmen? Who were the i actors in these sanguinary and atrocious scenes; or why should their atrocious deeds be blazoned by the pen of the scribe and the graver of the artist, 1 and thrust forward as a lesson to oleo iucapable of I feelings from which such deeds collet emanate ? To what he had already stated with . respect to this pious performance, he was grieved to have to add, j that it was inscribed to the memory of the Right Honourable Spencer Perceval, and a parallel vas drawn between the crime which deprived the Ila'lo3 • of that lamented , and mtrch-honaored individual and that to which Admiral Coligni fell a sacrifice. It Iwas - plain from every page of this abominable , work, that it was not addressed to perso ns of that class of mind, which would subject its co, 1. ! tents to a fair examination and discussion o f their l merits; it was addressed to the blind p assim 1. of an infuriate mob—such a mob as, he trusted, !this country could not afford to reduce to Wad i. tide the dark designs of a bigoted incendiary. Like Spencer Percent, raid thirrespectatile person, did Coligni fall, in the exercise of. his duty towards hit . ' King, his Conntry,..and his God. Good Waves! i laid' the Honourable Gentleman, • rising into all the Iwarmth and vehemence of honest, virtuous indigna tion, and had but one short mouth ela psed after the perpetration of a crime, the Oriels of %% bleb 0 : , have never ceased to deplore, ere it suppl iA g round for an such attempt as that which I h ave laboure t e to expose—an attempt, the fellow of wh ich is not o . be found, multiplied as they are, on the records of 1 s . b iie . .11 , ,, ferny ? . .It was fartunate that the ass assin of Mr. P . e s : t revel Was neither an Irishman nor a C atholic ; it was possible that he might have bee n -both, if such had been the case, he would a s k what migh t i have been the effect on the public -mind of sari! . i paragraph as that to which he had referred, red sure ! ` justice . big, as it would have done, some co.sour ;or ...,_ . from accidental circumstances, and penned ' . ViliP • spirit of malignity, which assuredly -weak' not beeu abated by an increase of probability; with t t e tidings which had been this day received , cons t ! e toted, he' conceived, additional arguments for on l . , taking the subject, now under discussion, into • sideratien, when it might be discusse d with tctso. r . 'r NA f~