The Sun. — London, England, 1819-04-26 00:00:00

FOR THE SUN. ROMAN CATHOLICS. LETTER vr. MR. EDITOR-4r has been invariably asserted by the advocates of the Roman Catholic Ciainui, that the allegiance which the doctrine of .the Rontish Snitren►acy creates is-merely spiritual, and does not extend to temporal concerns. When, however, we reflect, that the influence of the Pope extends over the most domestic and social ties-, over marriages, divorces, legitimacy, &c. ; an►l that his influence is considered equal to any Civil Law on these s►tbjects--that his excommunica tions deprive the subject of all his Civil Rights, and subject him to imperative temporal punishment ; it is impossible not to admit, that what is called a mere spiritual allegiance, is, in point of fact, in a great degree, a iemporat one also. This was abundantly proved during the late war, since it is notorious, that the Pope gave Buonaparte more trouble than any person besides, notwithstanding the complete ascendancy with which that Despot lorded over him in a personal point of view, and the degraded situation in which his Holiness was then placed*. The Pope, under such untoward circumstances as these, could not possibly have any political influence (in the general accepta tion of the term) over the belligerent Powers. He had no boons to confer upon them, no ex tent of territory to offer, no means of plunder or aggrandizement to suggest. From what then could the difficulties which Buonaparte experienced arise, but from a certain " Imperium in imperio," from a secret, lurking, allegiance—a superstitious ve-' neration which was felt for the Sovereign Pon tiff ? Was it not this which frequently prompted the French General to adopt lenient, where other wise he would have adopted the most rigorous measures? Buonaparte was too great a tyrant not to have annihilated the l'opedont if he dared to have done it ; he indeed did all he dared towards producing such annihilation ! hut he was suddenly arrested in his efforts by a secret influence ; an invisible, but sure and powerful, influence, which stepped between the Vatican and the projected blow, and proclaimed, " Thus far shalt thou. come, and no further." SVe' were, indeed, ex ultingly asked during the war, what danger could possibly arise from an allegiance due to a pri soner, as the Pope then was ? But surely those who asked such a question had not paid much at tention to the scenes. which were passing around them. If they had, they would have known that the Pope's imprisonment was indispensable to the success of Buonaparte's 'plans, and that bad his Holiness been in the full exercise of all his func tions, the Imperial Eagles Would have moved but sloNly. Whatever arguments, however, might be drawn in favour of the Roman Catholic Claims from the situation of the Pope during the war, they can certainly have no weight under our pre , sent circumstances ; indeed, they now tell the tontrary Way, and become reasons for rejecting, instead of conceding, those claims. If 'the idea of the allegiance due to the Pope was ridiculed, because the Pope ,was a prisoner, is it equally an object of ridicule, now that be is reinstated in his Dignities—in his Capital—in the exercise of his Divine Functions ? It is remarkable that amongst the first measures which the Pope ad.opted after his re-instatement, were, the restoration of the Order of the Jesuits—the Prohibition of the Scriptures, without a Comment—and a restraint upon the Liberty of the Press. Now, it is but reasonable to conclude, that a mind like that of Pius VII would not be idle when in confinement. lie, no doubt, had there considered what wonld most conduce to the benefit of his Church and the re-establishment of his authority, should be ever return to Rome, and there can be little doubt b ut that which was decided upon at FoPlainbleau was merely carried into execution at Rome. This certainly is but a reasonable supposition, and it is remarkable that the measures to which I have alluded had a more direct tendency to uphold and extend the Papal supremacy than any otlLtrs which could hate been adopted. Nothing could so clearly prove the importance of the allegiance which the Roman Catholics owe to the Pope, as the conduct which was evinced when the memorable Veto was discussed in the year 1808. Certain Members of the Legislature had been authorized to bring forward the Claims upon It is quite clear that the Pope had great power during the war, and gave Buonaparte infinite trouble. When Ge nesal Moore was in Spain, a Report from the Minister of Po lice to Buonapite happened to be found, and way .etti over to this country, The deliberate opinion of Fouclti then was, that the French Emperor would iformotint all his great diffi culties, if hr relaxed his severity to the See of Rowe. The L !vice of Eouche was fo towed, and it produced the desired eff,t ; but after his successes against Austria, Poionaparte renewed his severities towards the Papal Sec.—ln his speech to the Conservative Senate, in !SOD, Buouaparte wade use of the folowing resoarkahle language :—• 6 It has been demon " strafed to sue, that the spiritual influence exercised in my States by a Foreign Sovereign is contrary to the inde " uendence of Frouce—to the dignity and safely of uly " Throne." the principle of conceding to the Crown a Veto, upon the appointment of Roman Catholic Bishops. This principle had been distinctly recognized by some of the most respectable Ca, holies i n th e Kingdom, and was brought forward in the House of Lords by the Duke of Norfolk, and in the House of Commons by Mr. Grattan. The snb jeet was debated upon that principle which was not a new one, but one which had been recog- nized by almost every European State, whether Protestant or ROman Ca:l'oWe *. The affairs of the Roman Catholics were therefore supposed ro be going On prosperously ; and the' long-wished for goal appeared to be in view. But mark what followed. The Prelate (Dr. Milner), through whose 'medium the proposition had been made to the Duke of Norfolk and Mr. Grattan, thought proper to withdraw it, and to withdraw it with a public declaration, that be would shed the last drop of .his blood rather than consent that the King should have any influence direct or indirect in the appointment of a Roman Catholic Bishop t. This certainly was strange conduct, and the more so as the measure of the Veto did not in the least interfere with the rights of the Pope at to Ordination—Ecclesiastical Jurisdic tion—and other spiritual matters, and as neither the Apostolic Chain, or the discipline of the Roman Catholic Church, would have suffered from the adoption of it. Why should, therefore, that have been refused to the King of England which the schismatical Sovereign of Russia and the heretical King of Prussia were allowed to exercise ? Possibly we have here the solution of the difficulty ; the Proposers of the Veto bad, perhaps, looked round to foreign Countries and seen something of the same kind adopted there, and had -therefore thought of applying it to the Sister Island ; but no sooner did it occur to them that Ireland was more under the direct influence of the Pope than any other Country, and that the spiritual allegiance I. which Roman Catholics owed to hint flowed directly to s the inhabitants without any intervention of the existing _Government, tl►an the cases were found to be dissimilar. This, however, is mere conjecture, and 1 may therefore be mistaken. I, however, look upon the circumstances attending the Veto as vitally important to a right,under. standing of this part of our subject. Supposing there had been 100 Catholic Members in the House of Commons in 1803, under Bishop,Miluer's sanc tion, they certainly would have agreed to the Veto when proposed by Mr. Grattan. — When, however, their Prelates had declared that such a measure was impracticable and inconsist ent with the doctrines of their Church, will any one undertake to say, that the Honourable Mem bers would not have altered their opinions and voted against the measure The probability is that, as true Catholics, they would have done so, and what a scene would this have exhibited I A portion of the English Legislature would have been thrown at the foot of a Roman Citholic Bi shop, and their votes in Parliament would have been controuled by a secret power, grounded on a secret allegiance, equally unknown and repug nant to the open and defined principles of the English Constitution. • As things stand, therefore, the Roman Catho lics require every thing to be conceded to them, without making any concessions •themselves. — Protestants are called upon to relinquish all the safeguards which the wisdom of their ancestors had devised to protect their Establishments, (and especially to protect them against the influence of the allegiance which we have been considering,) and yet the applicants for these great concessions will do nothing !—will not abjure the allegiance complained of—or even allow a British Sovereign to have a negative voice upon the appointment of one of their Bishops within his own dominions, although such a voice is allowed to the Emperor of Russia and King of Prussia ! ! , Surely, if the Roman Catholic Claims be conceded under such circumstances as these, Roman Catholics will be placed in a far more advantageous situation than l'rotestants, inasmuch " as they will be entitled to the same privileges without submitting to the same conditions." Volumes might, indeed, be written upon this part of our subject ; but I find that I must stay my pen, as my Letter has already run to a length which I did not intend. In my next I shall con sider the question upon the alleged ground of Ex pediency, and remain your's, &c. BRITANNICUS. * In the Austrian Dominions (Hungary included) the Bi shops are appointed by the Emperor, and confirmed by the Pope. In Portugal and the Brazils, the prerogatives of the Crown have been uniformly asserted; so in Spain, Russia, Sweden and Prussia,--(Vide "Report of the Cominittee of the House of Commons on the Laws for Regulating the Roman Catholic Subjects of foreign States, 1816. 1 ') fi " Tour in Ireland," td Edition, p. 309. General DEVEREUX has arrived at Liverpool, and chartered a number of vessels for the convey ance of the two fine regiments he has taised in Ireland to South America. TIIEAT R. I C I, ILEGISTEX. l'eyfor2;ied urd MEATRE Itnv AL, Ditu ItY-I,ANC.—The Rivals : Sir Anthony Absolute, Mr. Nlnliden: Lyitia. Languish, Miss Also{,. Af ter which, The Heroine. i'IiVATRE ROYAL, COVENT-GAP.OEN.--.-The Heart of 9ii(l-Lo- Vitian Georze Robertson, Mr. Mac...ready; I‘Nge Are', -Mrs. C. lietrilde% After which, 47'1J Critic. ‘4. - -•-• • TO CORRESPONDENTS. A IlistToN, ALBERT, CAN T nws,jENRUG, to-morrow. Also, if possible, SUGGEST I Orls on the INsoLvENr DEBTORS' ACT. *a,* For BENNVOLUS, CLERICUS CANTAB, alad HOME, see First Page. STOCKS ELVE o'cr.ocw. Bank Long Ann. IBi 13-16tlis India Bonds, 28s. 30s. pr. Each. Bills. 2d......35. 4s. pr. Cons. for May ... PRICE 0 THIS DAY AT T 3 pet Cent. Red 3 prr Cent. Cons. 724 4 per Cents. 9OZi. 5 per Cent. Navy Ann. 104 i MAILS. ARRIVED-2 Dublin, 1 Waterford, 1 Sweden, 1 Hamburg!), Holland, l Flanders, l France., Dus—i Dublin, 2 ►Waterford, l Guernsey and Jersey. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE TO-MORROIV. Murning, 48 minutes after 4.—Evening, 53 minutes after 4. THE SUN. SOLE'! QUIS DICERE FALSUM AUVEAT ? LONDON, MONDAY, APRIL 26, 1819. Yesterday and this morning we received the Paris Papers of Thursday and Friday last. On Wednesday, in the Chamber of Deputies, the dis j l - cnssion was resumed on the first projet respecting the Press, and on the additional article proposed by M. BENJAMIN CONSTANT, which involved in another shape the rejected amendments, whilst it had also for its object to save the Journals from prosecution on account of the publication of what passed in the Chambers M. 13. CONSTANT, at great length, stated the grounds on which he had brought forward his Article. After some discussion, the KEEPER of the? SEALS proposed to substitute words to the effect that there should be no liability to prosecution for de famation or libel on account of any thing con tained in,a faithful report of the proceedings of the Chambers, given bona fide in the Journals.— This amendment, which was adopted by M.BENJA MIN CONSTANT inv esti of his own Art icle,was agreed to. The other Articles were gone through with out any thing material occurring, and a scrutiny was taken on the whole projet, when there ap peared in favour of it 143, against it 58, majo rity 85. The Chamber adjourned till Thursday, to commence the discussion of the second projet. The Spanish Ambassador bad an audience of the KING on Wednesday. It is now said, that-M. de STOURDZA, a literary agent of Russia, at Dresden, having been threat ened with assassination, has in consequence set out to return to Russia. SAND, the assassin of ICOTZEBUE, had, it is stated, been subjected to a painful operation, which it was thought would prolong his life. The following are .extracts from the Journals of Friday : " CHAMBER OF PEERS, THURSDAY, APRIL 24. ‘"fhe Baron Bastard d'Ebtang, one of the new Peers, took his seat. " The Count de Scessy reported from the Com mittee on the Tobacco projet in favour of its adoption. Report ordered to be printed, and dis cussion adjourned till Saturday. " The Cotint Cornudet reported from the Committee on the proposition respecting substi tuting another punishment for deportation.— Ordered to be printed. "CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES. " The discussion was opened on the second projet respecting the Press. " The President stated that no name was in scribed to speak against the projet; two were in scribed to speak in its favour. These two, viz. M.; Legraverend and M. Pavan! de Langlade, were heard. They suggested some amendtnents. " The articles were then discussed seriatim. " In Art. 2, respecting Prosecutions autho rized by ,either of the Chambers for offences against themselves, M. de la Bourdonnaye, after speaking at some length, moved to refer this arti cle back to the Committee to amend it, so as to render the Chambers themselves judges of any offence against them, through the medium of any publication. 4 "rhis proposition, after a short discussion, was negatived by a large majority, and the arti cle, with a slight amendment, agreed to, as were other articles, to 9 inclusive. The discussion on the remaining articles was postponed till to- morrow. " PAats, APRIL 23.—The King yesterday transacted business with the Minister for Foreign Affairs. " Accounts from Frankfort state, that the Chancery of the Germanic Diet have received a great number of documents, respecting the assas sination of Kotzebue. There is not yet any in dication 4)t an AClllat conspiracy: The Minister t Of Saxe Weimar, at the Diet, has , b ov " f ft t- el ! Fiffirttled , that he believes, from circamstoo which have transpired, that a certain nav her of Students of Jena were informed of 1 proi cted aslatisination of M. Kotzeutie, w e; , i t r. ,I d tb sl :Sand eelENtesigrike?l , . by' lot sit ca ll w ilsta ,„,, t y 0 ' ['Arra)! At i inns eheittfm.' Sliver's' Oltil !Dents of Germany have addressed complaints,i, the Diet, respecting the bad spirit which P among the Students of Jena. IV " The Count Palmella, the Portug uesC bassador at London, has arrived at Paris. i FIVE PER CENTS. 75C. Wednesday ... rs f 661 • . B°C. Thursday DEFERRED STOCK. Wednesday. Tburstisf• Of the 22d,March,3817.....84 f. 50 c .8•1 f. 45c. 22d Sept. 1817.....821. 50 c •• • 8 e f • 45e. 22d March 1818... 80 f. 50 c - .Bof. 45w 22d Sept, 1818.... 78 f. 50 c ..- .78f. At c ' 22d March, 1519...76.. 50 e... 7 -6 f• 8° * 4 0 1 " CONSTANTINoPLE, MARCH 12.--The A iii i Divan sult. have lt i s not u u yet wu , p r frti o heoo d (rgai t ta t tb c iniy e uoe d uira n a t t at : lra : ant 02 3 : 212: I da i . 9 1 1 0: ; 1 0.6 / 0 r ; ciations between the Russian Minister all" 6 re OfficialHoar y ter,f from t in h N e h o i t s ß e Note, r o a o v e n e c r o e d in i e g p n s .: ` i t (1 $° d . vo purpose of tively terminating the discussions on th e Art % of the late Treaty of Peace ; but this i ett4' ge l; ta g a t I. from Vienna by express, daring 645 " ' , tf Emperor of Rusiia in that capital, 1 ' 39 -13 fri p dan r acc o y,ro, d sgn u eiss c ,:iiia e A d N a K n Fyo effect.Rr A Lion, the object of which ;is to prow - I:lice in aab the lpeanc kuCountyemtba:rid addressed sc H eodi a ) inteuasou,oi rafrea:e ic:aiietriigt.:so excite the P . to to revolt. The innkeeper gave ioformatietej end the Authorities, who in consequence Pracc°coad to tu Ibieatnaakne,utouncdoenrsisduecruocfirtchue:stseaus;r:,,m7 i el " FRANKFORT, APRIL 17. The st iL. " - en ,i" . 5 die an attempt to assassinate M. de SW" — i 411 11 PR" 17. An 1011100er 'of void of foundation. He is a b"," li : ezd t Dresden, but it is uncertain whethe r he P..° to Vienna or returns to Russia. 0 01 0 " Neither Letters nor Journa ls fr f l tar l ' ' make the least mention of die alleg es di9 1 1,1 once in that Capital. Tha a ccount, there may be regarded as an invention.". • . her Royal: 1 : 1 i —......00 0 ""' vi ~ t By private letters ftom Hanover we 10 ' 1'14 0 0 fast recovering her wanted health atid s treslg at l .44 a circuit/et an egsh:sn,sessicott:estiDtuttlicobnes;s , ( , ) 9 f , C:01: tpleill ce that proves the gooo' a ll te Royal Hi have heard, the disease which induced tihoti' mature labour in the case of her rtova " F ig ies# l l was one of the most severe attacks of i be ever experienced, and that the phy,..ilso,ifii great di ffi culty in stopping th e violen- GI f 19" co.' flammation. We regret to find that thi s 'la" vtit at Os° complaint is in a manner epidemic I - and that several Ladies of high o ar ' - t. ;Ata gg'i , maid f , the interesting situation of her RoYal -, 00 0 have been carried off by it ; land i." ; (1 , 4 :0 "10° °I what we know of the low and dalOP 5 tal i , g a any A , the City of Hanover, almost as ba u - i n aat i in Holland, we are not surprised that 00 inti llr tory complaints of the chest are wl° l aon tiiii the inhabitants (luring and after the rs iul . „roe 11 0 1 l'r,e, k' We should consider Hanover as :p u ke Or i' ll v residence for his Royal Highness "- b i f° 1 p a glue i f RENCE, who has already suffer ;„eerely begepii tacks of the chest , and tve S ' -- • or e ' i ree iii I 1 ti ) his Duchess, whom all reports a g . Ilu als $ II ing as a Princess who has fe w eV- • ti t) dd chgl ~,s' t excels in every quality Tha t C an I' I " t ge I by ° Ai 10 human nature, will not be ,saer''.-( Ag P' irgii.l residence in that city which ' has a' proved fatal to her Royal Highness' - ' ... f p s(' .......—.00..- - fr ido7 t o The University of Cambridge, °ll ball' o°4 IV determined to present Petit ions f tij° of Parliament against the sanaissicin o Ffver. es 11 ' oli man Catholics to Politic al • co_. Cha r les d OLD BAILEY.—This tnor ril", " the Co etl 1 was_placed at the Bar, when he mn 0v 1 of lei s 1 1 to postpone his tria l, on the gro.o . d e fenc e ' a t+' having had time to prepare for but t s pon e t ) ; Court, granted t h e motion, and - c ourit ' t trial till 'next Sessions.--(For an a c I examinatiou, see the last page.) ........................-- n il tO le d THR PRINCE REGENT.----We are haPri ~ es. . 'cloc k Y Of from Brighton,, that up to three o ... it . i, al "" cc ' day (Sunday) afternoon, the state . 3s r 1 ri l l Highness's health continued to promise improvement. Vocos6lor ARRIVAL or TIIE DOKE AND n u ke ,i' KENT.—On Saturday morning the —Cobl/ Duchess left Dover, hall, the seat of the Earl and Countes,s:bt. ley, to retnain there during that n i t; 00 ( t cf Princess, (laughter of the Duchess, di" stmt at Cobham-hall, but proceeded with the ensi4 it to Kensington-palace. Yesterdor Itorvol oil and proceeded to _ f qi Duke and Duchess left the seat of th e J-1 , 0 10 , Countess of DARNLEY for Nensingtea•P where they arrived about four o'clock; ° wards dined with the Duke of Sussits., L