The Sun. — London, England, 1819-04-20 00:00:00

FOR THE SUN. ROMAN CATHOLICS. LErrEK 111. MR. EDlTOlt—ln my last Letter I endeavoured to skew the intimate connection subsisting between the Revolution of 1688 and the Roman Catholic Question. I shall now proceed bit enquire, how those %N ho profess to be guided by the principles of that Revolution can consistently support the present Claims of the Catholics. 'What the principles were which the Roman Catholics en t,-rtaiOed at the period of the Revolution are evident; the of Rights declares them to be inimical to the Liberty of V.nglish .objects, and destructive of the British Constitution. ;!therefore, becomes us to , empire, whether any change has , taliell place in these prinCipics—whether those tenets which were esteemed politically dangerous in 1688, have become .harmless in 1819. Str,ictly speaking, however, the onus pro bandi; in this respect, lies upon the Roman Catholics; and it is for them to shew, not for Protestants to point out, why all the securities which were established at the Revolution, to guard our Liberties and Religions Establishments, should be swept away. In entering upon the discussion of this part of our subject, I have always felt considerable difficulty. Living, as f here done, and still continue to do, in the strictest inti macy with several members of the Romish communion, whom I most sincerely respect, it is difficult to bring forward the discussion of a subject, which cannot fail in some degree to excite unpleasant feelings. I hold it, however, as an incon tFovertible maxim, that English Liberty ought never to be sacrificed for private friendship : sincerely do I I tlieve, that amongst the Roman Catholics there is every thing good, great, and noble ; hut as sincerely do I. believe, that many of them 'are utterly ignorant of the lengths to which their principles would carry them, and would shudder at the acts which they .would be compelled to perform in a case of emergency. I an► of opinion that the Ecclesiastical subjection under which Roman Catholics are placed, is not so much known to them as it is to Protestants; and why? because the latter have been induced to make the necessary enquities fot their own security, and because the former are not fond of recurring to a sabject which places the . tu so completely under sacerdotal influence. In recurring to our present subject, it will be necessary to consider what was the situation of the Roman Catholics pre vious to the Revolution, and what was the state of things established at that period with respect to them. The state of Roman Catholics previous to the Revolution was one of complete proscription, brought aboht by their own conduct in the reigns subsequent to the Reformation. Their Properties, their• Religion, their means of defence, and their rights of ac tion, were taken away from them; indeed, such was the se verity of these laws, that the President Montesquieu has ob served, " That they were so rigorous, though not professedly of the sanguinary hind, as to do all the hurt that could pos " sibly be done in cold blood." (Sp. L. G. 19. c. 27.) These Laws, however, were merely enacted as emergencies arose, and were never intended to form a permanent system of Le gislation. At the Revolution the restless conduct of the Ro man Catholka ;t necessary that they should still be retained ; they were accordingly so until the causes which proelueed most of t hem 'had ceased to exist. Such eif them were then repealed as did not immediately affect the Constitution of the Country, and all that are now retained are those which exclude Roman Catholics from Parliament, from holding certain Civil and Ecclesiastical situations, from presiding in our Courts of Law or Equity, and - from rising to certain rank at the Bar.* The Properties, the Worship, and the Civil Rights of the Catholics have now as much protection as those of the Protestants ; and all from which they are excluded, e those situations which would give them a Political in fluence over one Protestant Constitution, and a Legislative (out rout over our Protestant Establishment. Having thus premised, we.shall proceed to consider seria-1 tins the reasons which have induced some of our modern Whigs to second the efforts of the Roman Catholics at the present period to obtain Political Power in our Protestant State. We have been told," That the present Test Laws, by " which the Roman Catholics are crawled from power, did " not originate at the Revolution, and that they are incon " sistcnt with the Toleration that Was then established." Now let us for a moment refer to the Act of Toleration itself (t W. and M. c. 18.) The Preamble to that Act runs as follows: " !Forasmuch as some case to scrupulous conscience's in the " exercise of Religion fluty he an effectual means to unite " their Majesties' Paoy esTA NT SaV ects in interest and nice " tion." Thus it appears, that it was merely for the relief of the " scrupulous consciences of PROTESTANTS iu the exer " cis,:‘ of Religion," that this Act was passed. The Act goes on to exempt Protestant Dissenters from those severe Laws which had been passed against Non-conformists in prior Reigns, but at the same time contains two most remarkable exceptions—exceptions which speak volumes upon the pre sent question, and clearly shcw that King William's general ideas of Toleration never extended to Popery. So jealous were the Parliament that passed this Act upon this point, and so apprehensive were they that a Roman Catholic might take advantage of a Law which was intended exclusively for the relief of a Protestant Dissenter, that the Act of 25 Charles the Second (which was made " to prevent dangers " which might happen from Popish recusants"), and the Act of 30 Charles the Second ("for the more Teetually preserv " lug the King's Person and Government, by disabling - Papists "front sitting in the House of Parliament") were especially _excepted in the Act of Toleration ; and no Protestant Dis senter could take the benefit of that Act, unless he took the ',tabs and subscribed the Declarations which the two excepted Acts contained, and - which were in the strongest degree ini mical to the Roman Catholic Religion and to Papal encroach ment. How can it therefore be maintained that the ideas of Toleration, as entertained at the Revolution, were favoura ble to the claims now urged by the Roman Catholics, when we see that it was made an especial condition with those who availed themselves of that Toleration that they should dis tinctly recognize the legislative enactments which excluded Roman Catholics from Parliament and from filling any Civil Offices in the State ? The Revolution did indeed reconcile Liberty with a Protestant Government, but it effected this by driving Popery and Intolerance to their native shades, and by erecting the standard of Civil Freedom upon the wreck of Tyrannical U3Urpation. We have been told, however, that " The Toleration, as " established at the Revolution, was incomplete, and that it " tuns the commencement, not the completion, of a system."-- S George la. c. (..icori;t ill. C. 32. lamat a loss, hone - er, to know upou what., grounds this Opinion has formed. It has been said, that when the Act of William was passed, a Catliolic exile King was living, who possessed the affections of a great portion of his late Subjects, among whom were men of the first talents and property, and that even nanny of the Bench of Bishops were then Jacobites; but what has this to do with the subject ?— Were ail that were called Jacobites favourable to the Roman Catholic Religion ? Were not many of them Jacobites from principle, and who conceived themselves so bound, by having , worn allegiance to James, that they could not e onsejentiortsty take the Oath to William ? What. was Archbishop Sancroft, and what. were Bishops Kenn, Lake, White, and Turner? — Were they Roman Catholics? No martyrrati ! they were the very men who were imprisoned for re sisting the dispensing power claimed by King James 'for releasine , the Catholics from the operation of the Penal Laos and the Test, but who suffered themselves . to be deprived of their fees rather than take the oath to Wil liam. These were men who suffered for conscience-sake; and is it. to be now contended, that they were advocates for the Repeal of the Test Laws, who suffered imprisonment for op posing that Repeal, and that Statutes, which Judge Black stone calls " the Bulwarks of the Constitution," are to be now abrogated because Jacobites have ceased to exist, and because some obsolete political doctrines have been explod ed?—lf any additional proof were wanting, that the present Calms of the Roman Catholics are not comprehended in the principles of Revolution Toleration, the celebrated Letter which was written in 107 by Pensionary Fagel to Mr. Stewart, by command of the Prince and Princess of Orange, as illustrative of the principles which placed them upon the Throne of England, most set at rest the question. This was a Letter written in answer to one sent by King James, re vesting their Highnesses to aid him in his attempts to abo lish the Test Laws. The following are extracts from this memorable document:—" Their Highnesses could by no " means agree to the repeal of the Test, and those other Pe " nal Law', that tenfleofto the security of the Protestant Re- 114inn,sirece the Roman Catkolies receive no other preju- " dices ,from these than their being excluded from Partite " ment, and Millie Employments ; and that by them the " Protestant Relis,rion was sheltered from all the designs of " the Roman Catholics against it, or against the Public " Safety; that neither the Test, nor those other Laws, could " be said to carry any severity in them against the Rowan " Catholics upon Account of their consciences, being only " provisions qualifying men to he Members of Parliament, or " to he capable of hearing Office, by which they must declare " before God and men, that they were for the Protestant " Religion ; sn that, indeed, all this amounted to no more " than a securing the Protestant Religion from any preju " dire it might receir, from the Roman Catholics. Their " Highnesses were convinced in their consciences, that both " the Protestant Religion and the safety of the Nation would " be-exposed to most certain dangers, if either the T.lts, or " those other Penal Laws, of which he had made fregnent " mention, should be repealed ; therefore they could not con " cur with his Majesty in those matters ; for they believed " they should have Inuckto answer to God, if the considera " Con of any present advantage should induce them to con " sent to things which they believed would not only be very " dangerous, but prejudicial to the Protestant Religion:'t This memorable document clearly skews what King Wil liam's ideas of Toleration were; and shall we, who are at se remote a period from times when the operation of Roman Catholic principles was manifested, adopto different line of conduct ? Shall we learn nothing from that experience which was bequeathed to us by our ancestors ? Shall no earnestness be excited in us to preserve the liberties and religion which they have bequeathed to us ? " 0 that I had words to represent " to the present generation the miseries which their fathers " underwent; that I could describe their fears and anxieties, " their restless nights and uneasy,days, when every morning " threatened to usher in the last day of England's Liberty. " Had men such a sense of the miseries of the time past, it " would teach them what consequences they were to expect " from any successful attempt against the present Esta " blishment :." The only true criterion which we can adopt, whereby to form an accurate judgment of any measures proper to be pursued under circumstances of peculiar emergency, and with which our ancestors have successfully struggled, is, to observe attentively what were the measures adopted by them after the struggle had ended, and what were the means devised to per petuate the benefits obtained by the contest. This is the standard to which I would bring the present question, and I shall endeavour to spew in my next, whether Roman Catholic principles have so much altered as to render any change in Legislation necessary. I trust I have shewn that the Tole ration granted by a William was not one which opened a door to all sects without restraint, and disregarded an Esta blishment as necessary to the welfare of a Country; on the contrary, that it was a Toleration .which was not in different to a particular Religion, and that it was one which encompassed the Throne with Test Laws, and vested the Civil Authorities of the Country in those who professed the religion of the State. These are very different principles of Toleration to those about which , we- hear so much at the present day. Some of these, I ant greatly aps prehensive, have originated in that disregard of all reli gious Institutions which characterized the French Revo lution. Establishments were then considered as unnecessary ; a spurious religious liberty was the order of the day, and every thing which was deemed sacred by our ancestors, was ridiculed by their puny descendants. Far, very far, am I from insinuating, and as far from believing, that any im proper motives are, harboured by the present supporters of the Roman Catholic Claims ; many of - them however entered into life when the French Revolution was almost the only topic, when it was the object of panegyric, and was holden nut as an example for imitation. Its dire effects had not then been seen ; the slavish chains which were afterwards manu factured at the Republican Forge, had not then bound down the liberties of the people. May we not therefore be allow ed to suggest the propriety of an enquiry being made by some of the present supporters of the Roman Catholic Claims, all to the period when the principles of Toleration' upon which they now support those Claims first began to take effect upon their minds, and whether any ideas of universal free dom have not been mixed up, or at least confounded, with the system of our National Toleration. In my next Letter I shall resume the subject, and endea vour to 'hew how far the idea of Roman Catholic principles being changed is founded in fact. Your's, &c. Leicester, April t 6, 1619. BRITANNIcus. * Bl : Coniw : vol. 4. j. 58. t Kennet's History of England, vol. 3, p. 4G6. Bp. Sher lock's " Discourses." We received this morning the Paris Papers of Thursday and Friday last. The following are extracts : " CHAMBER OF PEERS, THURSDAY, APRIL 15. " The Baron de Montalembert, one of the new Peers, took his seat. The Chamber, after renewing the Bureaux, &c. adjourned till Saturday, to discuss the projet respecting tobacco. g , CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES. " The discussion was resumed on the proje respecting the'Press. " It was supported at some length by the Chevalier Figarol. The Chevalier Cuvier replied to the objections made against the projet, and after a few words from M. Courvoisier, the dis cussion of the projet was closed, and it was then commenced on the articles and amendments. " The articles 1,2, 3,4, and 5, were adopted, with several amendments, proposed by 111. JO' quinot de Pampelune. " The discussion on Article 6, and the follca . ing Articles, was postponed till to-morrow. " FRIDAY, APRIL 16.—The discussion was re slimed on the Articles of the projet respecting the Press. " Article 6, after a long debate, in which MM. Benjamin Constant, Manuel, Chauvelin, Courvoisier, Bourdeau, Benoit, the Keeper of the Seals, and the Councillor of State Guizot, took %. part, was agreed to, as was also the following additional article moved by M. de Chauvclin, amended by M. de Courvoisier, and approved °I by file Keeper of the Seals " The printers of publications, the authors nf . which shall be put upon their trial, and wh o shall have fulfilled the obligations prescribed by Title of the Law of 21st October, 1814, shall " t prosecuted for the mere fact of printing suc— publications, unless they have acted knowinglP as stated in Article 60 of the Penal Code respect' ing complicity. " The discussion of the remaining en d a tioli newly divided according to the recomm of the Committee, was postponed till co worn% Adjourned. chapters, " PARIS, APRIL 17.—The King yester(ll 11.0" acted business with the Minister for Foreign A fairs. • " His Majesty has sent to the Persia n Am" ; sailor, as a present to his Sovereign, a chest guns, pistols, and sabres, of very splendid // at ' . manship, from the Royal Manufactory of 'Ve t ' sallies. " The King has begun to walk about his apar t ; ments. His Majesty, it is thought , will g° on Sunday next. a fte r v7 l "It is said, that the Emperor of Russia' .ii attending the extraordinary Diet at Wa rsaw. ' proceed to Brussels, where his Imperial Nialest f °ell i is expected to arrive about the mid dle o month. " According to a private letter from Manbeitn,; on the day of the assassination of Kotzeh" (2 , 3 . March), another Student attempted at Dresne,- but not h aving lc to assassinate M. tie Stouria; ceeded, he killed himself. The German ourns s_o however, stands in need of confirmation. are silent as to this intelligence, which Rome °Lth " The Emperor of Austria arrived at the 2d inst., %via% the Empress and the Arch.. duchess Caroline. " The King transacted business on Wedne sall with the Count de Cazes. LONDON JOURNA LS. FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY. [Morning Chronicle.] It was reported yesterday on 'Change, that the Commissioners, Who have hitherto purchased 97,000/. per day for the reduction of the National Debt, will shut their box, and not make any more purchases for some time to come. If there is any troth in this rumour, it must have been deter mined to take at once the produce of the Sinking Fund for the service of the year, instead of ob taining an equivalent amount by the circuitous_ mode of a Loan. [The Times.] A rumour was abroad in France a few days ago, that the Northern Courts of Petersburg') and Stockholm were not on the happiest terms. The cause of this alienation is left to conjecture : the effect, however, upon the dignity of one per- son, may he esteemed of great importance. We observe also, that our Paris Correspondent does not speak in terms of unqualified' praise of the present King of Sweden. The sailing of the Heela and Griper from Dept ford, for Davis's Straits, is expected to take place to-morrow. Previous to their departure they are to be inspected by Viscount Melville and the Board of Admiralty.—(lbid.) [Morning Post.] PRINCE LEOPOLD.--41111 Royal Highness, we are well assured, has been detained abroad under circumstances as unavoidable as distressing to his feelings—the alarming and continued illness of the Dowager Duchess his mother. A favourable turn in her Serene Highneis's health has at length, however, permitted the Prince to make the neces sary arrangements for his return borne; and every preparation is now making here in expectation of his Royal Highness's arrival at the end of the present or the beginning of the ensuing month. We have already stated that the article from Vienna contained in a late Hamburgh Mail, men tioning his Royal Highness's intention to reside for the future in the neighbourhood of the Aus trian capital, was totally void of foundation, and we have no hesitation in again giving the most positive contradiction to the report. Private letters from Manchester, we are happy to state, speak favourably of the appearances of trade, which continues to be reviving on every side, so that complaints are no longer beard of its alarming stagnation.—(lbid ) [British Press.] EARLDOM OF 11PPERARY.—The Duke of Cans. bridge derives his second title from Tipperary, but his Royal Highness, is not a Peer of Ireland. The Crown cannot confer a Peerage of Ireland, unless on the extinction of three Peerages of that part of the United' Kingdom, consequently the titles of Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Tipperary, and Baron of Culloden, granted to this Prince in 1801, (after the Union with Ireland had taken place; and when no vacancy had yet occurred in the Irish Peerage), were all Peerages of the United Kingdom. The Duke of Sussex, in like manner; is not a Peer of Ireland, though deriving one of his titles from a place in Ireland, viz. Baron of Arklow. Advices from Gibraltar to the 23d ult. state, that the Governor of the fortress had just received the unfavourable news of the increase of the plague at Tunis, and the towns in the immediate neigh bourhood. This distressing intelligence is con firmed by German Papers, received last night.— THEATRICAL REGISTER. Pertbrmed Lest Night. THEATRE ROYAL, DRURY-LANE,..--(2d time), Honour: Prin cipal Characters by Mr. H. Kemble and Mrs. W. West. After which (6th time), Abudah. THEATRE ROYAL, COVENT-GARDEN.—(2d time), The Heart of Mid-Lothian : George Robertson, Mr. Macready ; Madge Wildfire, Mrs. C. Kemble. After which (6th time), Furtu natus and his Sons. sit' For ATTORNATUS, see the Last Page. PRICE 0 STOCKS vELVI OIC LOCK. THIS DAY AT T 3 per Cent. Red. 711 72 ner Cent. Cons 724ia4 3i per Cent.......... BOW 81 k 4 per Cents 9O 5 per Cent. Navy Ann. 104 ii Bank Long Ann. 18 15-16 19 India Bonds, . 365. 38s. pr. Exch. Bills, 2d......45. 3s. pr. Cons. for May 73 MAILS. ARRIVED—I Dublin, 2 Waterford, 1 Fiance. DuE-2 Guernsey and Jersey, 1 Sweden, 1 Hau►bnrgb, 1 Holland. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE TO-NIORROW. Morning, 49 minutes after 11.—Evening, 14 minutes aftei 12 THE SUN. SOLEM QUIS DICERS FALSUISI AUDEAT ? LONDON, TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 1819. FIVE PER CENTS. TF. 5t5 hursday — - c. Friday DEFERRED STOCK Thursday. Friday. Of the 22d March, f. 85 84 f. 65 e. 22d Sept. 1817.....82 f. 85 c... 82 f. 65" 22d Nlarch,lBlB... 80 f. 95 c BO f. 65 e• c • 22d Sept. 1818... 7 8 f. 85 c 7B f. 22d March, 1819...77 f. 85 c... 76 f. 5 5 c ' Li ra " VIENNA, APRIL. 6.—lt is Said that 1.15.2 Stewart will shortly resume his functions herebii English Ambassador, and will bring Wit h bill' et ! Lady. His Lordship, it is supposed, will proce from hence to Italy. inten ds to << Our. Government, it is reported, 01 construct several fortresses in Upper klungarY Gallicia. " HAMBURG, APRIL 7.—The Journal here, called The Germ an ° lo ping has received an anonymous letter , thre- Kotzebue, him with the fate of the unfortunate _or Jouro ta if he should dare to publish in his thing offensive to the students in ge neral. , o f ‘C MANHUNT, APRIL 9.—Sand, t he a ssilssin he Kotzebue, still lives, but his wound is n ever . ne d less considered mortal. The information OW respecting him is kept entirely secret. proprie-tor obsef aroPe: The following is an Extract of a L e tter the Cape of Good Hope, dated January 23 f " Arrived the Frances Charlotte , Bengal and Madras, ,she brings a cc most violent hurricane was experienced at lqadreti punt s on the 24th October, during which th e eli ttla t t b r a . t a : Charlotte was totally lost, with all on boar d ; t hat the Lady Castlereagh, and Cornwall, both loa d eh for England, had been disma sted, and s° ina res damaged, as to be condemned ; a nd the G eorg o • a f t er and Harriet, had put into the Roads, and t ha t hurricane, completely disable d at sea ; anot the Barkworth was blown out to sea, and h i " ' si been heard of." .0 1 C ATHOLI C CLAIMS.--WC bear that th e - on°t Sheriff of the County of Somerset does intend to convene that County to Petitian C L AIM Parliament against the CATHOLIC unless Mr. GK&TTAN'S Moti on should be car' consV ried in the House of Commons• quence, therefore , Petition s are now sign ivein ang lila eight or ten different p arts of that extenst opulent County , pray in g Parliament not to gra n any further Concess ions to the Roman Catholicif b and %villa& will be prepared tim e enough to L. 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