The Sun. — London, England, 1821-04-18 00:00:00

which establiihed the purest system of Christian faith, but had to the utmost possible' degree suc ceeded in securing the religious and 'civil liberty Q€ those who dissent from it, whether Catholic or Piotestant Dissenters; and now he mentioned the Protestant Dissenters, he should observe, that the framers of the present Bill seemed to have forgotten them altogether,—(Hear !)—and to hive overlooked the fact that so many great Statesmen. had.thought ,itnecessary to defend the ChfirA against them, by , refusing to -repeat the Tilt- and Corporation Acts. But they were told ~in this they 'were lift wrong,- atid...tliat they sti)i-tdr• •let the, Ohttrch ,Establishment take its eb4Ce. He wan of :v. different opiniOn ; .if he weir at 'the. !wit irirfrnent of his life he shOuld as ser:t,•that an established reliiion,Was the greatest befit to a people, not. to make-the Church poli ti.r.4l-, but to naqiie'the State religiiras. ;—(Hear !) —and he was firmly convinced that the interests of re'igiota would,be better 'Consulted by SaYing, 6a: there should be ait religion established, la-lee an enlightened, toleration, than by saying :hire should be no es'tablishment ; for he believed that- in the preseot state of society. the existence of an 'establishment was the best way of . promot 11g the religious an 4 civil interests of every man in.the country.—(Hear !)-He could not agree that -the mode in which the discussion had pro .cekded had liro6ght them to the true question in this:r,ase. ; he . would not go into those early scenes of -the history_ of this country before the Refor- Motion, when - there were a Popish King and Po piSh Houses of . Legislature acknowledging the authority of the Pope. But the House would go along with him in saying, that never were there Pretensions so unfounded as those set up by the Pope . , and even as those which were acceded to; 'and he would also do justice by •admitting, that never was the love cf liberty more strongly dis played than in those struggles with the Pope. But that was not the period to look to; for, till the period of the Reformation, the question of foreign influence was never looked at in the same point of view or with the same interest as now. He .wished their Lordships woold read the various • statutes respecting the King's supremacy, passed in the reign of Henry VIII. But he could not pass the earlier times of our history without pay ing a tribute to those great men, who defended, bat did not lay the foundations of English liberty, which were laid at a much earlier period ; for the Church of England having lived in this • country before the Church of Rome was brought in. - What the supremacy approved by the Pope in. this country bad been he could only know frCrn the statutes of the country. If they read ths.-.l.st Philip and Mary, c. 8, they would see what supremacy at that time of day was. There ceald be nothing more humiliating, there could nOt be a more debased and degraded record re specting a nation, than that absolute submission '• of all the States of this Realm to a Foreign Pre te. lie begged their Lordships to read it ; he hardly knew a man who had read it. No man who would read it would fail to arise alive and : trembling, lest they should open again the door to that lion which had so nearly devoured us. — Those who framed the present Bill seemed not . to know that there were common law oaths as well as statute oaths. But lawyers would tell them that the old Oath of Allegiance was the sarrie as the modern Oath of Supremacy. Allegi ance, according to the common law, was un divided allegiance. Lord Hale said, that the Oath of Supremacy had become absolutely zretessary to inform the people that they could not have a civil allegiance distinct from' ecclesiastical or spiritual allegiance. It was introduced to " unrivet" (that was his ex preasion). those errors which had crept into the it iods of the subject, and to explain in what man - non he pledged himself to the Crovvn, as the head of the civil and spiritual state of the country. The Bill , before them appeared to him (the Lard .Chancellor) to be framed with the ex . tress purpose of undoing what the Oath of Su premacy. meant to ,effect. The greatest men, Seldon, Clarendon, Locke . , • and Lord Somers, had•not hated Popery on account of its religi oos tenets, but on account of its tendency to in trodace:slavery and subjection to a foreign power: Mr- Locke, indeed, had said, that because the Catholics acicnOwledged foreign authority, they cpuid not . lie. at 'all tolerated in a State.—The Rev. Ereiate (the Bishop of Norwich) shook head—:.-.he (the LOrd Chancellor) could shake, laugh !)--He thought Mr. LOcite &gone too:far • —Lthat he had lost on that bceashin thi.aumin Understanding. When the :Reformation bad made some progress, Queen Eli forifi:i an admonition to her subjects, .s*.h KHz. .his utte r astonishment', he (th . e.lord . G.).had seenit-deolared, that this ad motaitipoov.as tan exPbsitiOri of what the Oath of S.;.iptc4na.cy, sni. , ant.: would go the length of , Sayieg, . the ind4id4t'a.l...w ho waS..theti aildressin; their. Lordships, or those who passed that Resolution as to .Queen s'a.dmoni nOtsfinoW.the meaning of common lan was evidetlt, to him that . it had nothing in,tl. s 4l ,world to do with . the Oath' of Supremacy. said.by ; the advocates of the' jiiesent bill, that .the Protestant_ gistablishrrient was secured in . the,frst:pl4ce by .the acts of William anti' Mary ; in the - secAiid piece by the Union with Scotland; • and thlrdli,. and 'post 'effectually, by the Union .With-.trelani: He was ready to . agree to all this perinitted the means to, remain by which thr: establislitnent.w.as secured. They had heard _:..other places, of paper and parchment-eonstitu , .ti.one,.but what was the Act Of Settlement but a ,papersconstittation, if they 'took away the means ,o3i its provisions were effected ? It was io..the bill, that the Catholics were ready to abjure all allegiance except what 'referred to re ligious Then, why, he asked, was not the oath, framed accordingly ?: He begged any one • •• • .tcr• re,acl. that oath, and to ask whether it was not - • left entirely to the mind of the person who look -.tine.. oath, to say what was matter of belief or not? :V.e.was willing to give credit to the Catholics for atore...Jaonottr . and integrity than the present bill attributed to;thern. But why was the person who • belonged toflie ChurchVEndand togive greater :piedges:fOr the security of the chtii:ch than the Ca tholics? We, the Protestants, were to give the Cape no authority at all, the Catholics were to except matters of belief, with no definition of what they considered matters of belief. It was not Titus Oates, or the Popish plots (which they were continually latighing at and giving thanks for), that induced 'King William to pass the Acts respecting the Catholics'; but he plainly de clared, that it was necessary that a Protestant King should have a Protestant Government (the Declaration against Transubstantiation had been taken not twelve months ago by the King on the Throne). It was not thought enough that the King. should be Protestant alone, but that the Legislature and all the Officers•of State should be Protestants. All ihese enactments were ex- pressly declared'to be not only essential but fun damental, and as far as that Legislature could make them, perpetual. Though he acknow ledged.that the Legislature of to-day could not, bind the Legislature of to-morrow, yet this was undoubtedly the strongest way in which they could express an opinion, that the system was not only essential but exclusive. It was necessary to remember, that they could not pass this Bill of Conciliation [so called, he supposed, from set ting together all parties by the ears:l—(A laugh), unless they would to-morrow repeal the Test and Corporation Acts. They must take this system of Legislation altogether in opposition to the Bill of Rights and the Act of Settlement, which declared, that the person who wore the Crown should be Protestant, and that he should be sur rounded by Protestant Ministers and Officers. — The Noble and Learned Lord referred to the 13th, 14th, and 33d of the late King, and the oaths imposed under them; he desired to know what circumstances had happened since 1793, to induce them to dispense with all the oaths which were then thought necessary ? It was worthy of consideration, too, how, under the present Bill, they intended to protect this country from that public exercise of the Catholic religion, which could not be permitted without disturbing the harmony of the people. In the first Bill, a march was stolen upon the Protestants by calling the Catholics " his Majesty's Roman Catholic sub jects." He could not call them by any other title than that which was given to them in former Acts, " his Majesty's subjects professing the Roman Ca tholic religion." By the Bill before them, the Ca tholic Church was recognised in every part of the kingdom. Were we to have Catholic Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Bishops, Deans, and Col legiate Bodies? Was every part of this country to see that species of Catholic establishment, which if net now a misdemeanour, only failed of being so under a forced construction of recent statutes ? They should act, if at all, fairly and with manliness, and if they wished to allow this open display of the Catholic religion, they should avow it and acknowledge their error.—(Hear !) —He now wished to consider the Bill as a mea sure of conciliation, and he would ask, whether they had heard any thing from Ireland within the last seven or eight days, which could lead them to suppose that it would be accepted by the Catholics as a boon ?—(Hear !)—But, oh ! we were not to mind the Catholics. We were to bring in a Bill to conciliate the hearts and minds of all classes of the community, but we were not to care whether the Protestants would grant it, or the Catholics receive it—but conci liated they must be. This put him in mind of a story he had heard of a person in the High lands, who was seen driven along by a fellow with a cat-o'-nine-tails. A passenger naturally asked the driver what he ivas doing with the man who was driven ? " Oh," said he, " I .am going to make a volunteer o him."—kA laugh !) This was the nature of this forced conciliation. Under the Bill, he was.to have no choice of his religion, nor the Chancellor, nor the Lord Lieu tenant and Chancellor of Ireland. But yet Roman Catholics were allowed to be Judges. This was one of the most monstrous proposi tions he could conceive, for if they allowed persons without the qualifications to hold those offices, it was a call upon all persons of that religion to point at the Throne as the cause of their exclusion. It was curious too, that this Bill allowed the King's Councillors. to be Catholics, but required that the Chancellor should be not a Catholic. The Privy Councillor was forbidden by this Bill from giving advice on Ecclesiastical matters; and .he was made the judge of what was Ecclesiastical, or not. But the oath of the Privy Councillor was to advise his Sove reign in all matters without distinction. It was said, however, that the Legislature which im posed that oath, could unmake it. So that the Privy Councillor would say, "True, I have . sworn .to-day that I will give my Sovereign advice in all-matters, but there was an Act of Parliament Made yesterday to say, I. shall 'not." By the Bill too the - Ecclesiastical Judges were to be Protestants, but in Westminster. Hall the Judges might be.Ca.tholics. Now any one who knew the nature .of our laws. would know,- that our temphral and , Ecclesiastioal Laws were so bound tip together, that it was impossible to separate them.—(Flear!).—lt would of-course happen un der this.l3ill that a Pretestant Judge would have to decide .in Doctors'.Cornrnons, and a Catholic Judge in Westminster •Hall, on the same ecclesi astical.cause.-L-(Hear !)—This,,under . .the .provi sions of the Billy, they could.. not, possibly avoid. As.for the dignity . of King's. counsel, •it was not an office, 'and -it was to •be remarked, that they did not take'any oath on being appointed, so that place, was,perhaps,already more open to them than was generally supposed. From the year 1688 to the present time, this country had been governed by a Protestant King, Protestant _Peers, and Pro testant Commons, who had shpported religious liberty as it• had. never before been supported. — He held that no person was punished by being excluded. from political power.. It was the giv i lug' the elective franchise to which in, his con science he believed the.present.motion was to.be attributed. (Hear, hear, hear I)—They were now to open the doors of Parliament to Catho lics, -who were to come there under the King's summon:7, to consult of the arduous business.of the English Church-; he felt • that the country was well now, and he : Would .not_ hazard the destruction of its blessings:, What might happen was the subject of conjeetnre=what had hap, netted - was the subject or experience. The Noble . and Learned Lord then alluded to the present regular establishMent of- the Catholic Clergy in Ireland; he could acknowledge, he said, a Bishop or Dean of the Popish persuasion, but he could not acknowledge a Bishop Or Dean of the Popish Chiirch in this kingdom.—(Hear, hear !)—yet, in Ireland, though they existed' only by sufferance, the Catholic Ctergy had Synods and Consistorial Assemblies, and inter fered in judicial matters. They took on them selves,in their Ecclesiastical Courts, to pronounce sentence of excommunication ; when restitution of conjugal rights was sued for, they Undertook to prevent it by the sentence of their Courts. Was it then to be wondered at, that the Catho lic Clergy were unwilling to subject to inspection the bulls and rescripts from the Pope ? The Noble Lord concluded in a low tone of voice, which prevented us from catching the whole of his sentences below the Bar, by declaring his conviction, that the Bill endangered the Protes tant Establishment, and by expressing his hope, that the names of Grey, Grenville, Lansdown, Holland, and Spencer, would not go down to pos terity, coupled with a measure injurious to the religious and civil liberty of the country. The Bishop of Norwich explained. He ob served, that the Learned Lord on the Woolsack had not quoted Locke fairly. In his 2d and 3d letter, he maintained the right of universal to leration, though he declared, that there were some doctrines, such as the proposition that Kings excommunicated by 'the Pope might be deposed or murdered, which, might fairly exclude the holders from the'benefit of that toleration. Lord GUF.NTILLE, in rising to deliver his sen timents on this question, said he should not in all probability have troubled their Lordships with the expression of his opinion had he not felt that there was something about this subject which would prevent his being absent from the discussion . of it with any satisfaction, or from giving a silent vote in favour of what he had so often advocated in that House. His opinion on this question he fouhd was not to be shaken by the lapse of time. He knew of no way in which the Legislature could convey satisfaction and gratitude, always attendant on a great benefit to the united people of this Empire, than by giving a vent to those great principles of political jus tice and religious toleration which were involved in their agreeing to this measure of relief to the Roman Catholics of Ireland. When he offered himself to the House as an humble advocate of a measure of that degree of importance Which no imagination could exaggerate, and no illiberality , deny, he ought first to express the joy and thank fulness he felt at the altered condition in Which it appeared before them on the present occasion. —(Hear, hear!)—The question now for their consideration was not arising from the suggestion of the Catholic themselves as to what was best for them, but a measure for their benefit corning to that. House with the recommendation of the other branch of the Legislature, after a long and mature deliberation, carried on with a temper and calmness, wisdom and deliberation, which had given to his mind a degree of satisfaction lie had seldom before felt 'at the contemplation of the conduct of the Legislature. The object of the measure was to relieve a great portion of their fellow-subjects from' disqualifications to hold political power in the State. Such a mea sure, having such a tendency, and being brought before them in such a manner, were they to reject it immediately—were they, as had just been recommended to them, to refuse to deli berate upon the principles of it, which was the natural course at that stage of a Bill: but to forestall the business of a future period of its progress, and go into a minute con sideration of the meaning and even the words of some of its clauses ?—(Hear, hear, hear D-- He did hope that that was not the way in which a Bill to relieve a great portion of their fellow subjects—to admit 4,000,000 of their countrymen to a full participation in the laws of the empire ; would be treated. He hoped the House was nol about, by such an act of instant rejection, to de clare that, in its opinion, - the subject was not worth the consideration of the House. There certainly were cases in which the House might with propriety exercise its right of refusing to' enter into the discussion of a subject. But he was at a loss to discover what arguments zould be urged upon any principle of wisdom as regard ed the relations with the other House, or drawn from any principle of justice, to refuse to enter into the consideration of the question then before them. Even though he admitted with the Noble and Learned Lord on the Woolsack, that every one of the clauses of this Bill was faulty, and re quired alteration, he could not agree in the con clusion he had drawn from that circumstance; but should, 01 the contrary, arrive at a conclu sion directly the reverse. Instead of refusing to discuss the principle of the Bill on that account ; he should urge the second reading of it, in order to arrive at that stage in which they might come to the consideration aild eMendation of every one' of those clauses. In coming to tbe consideration of this subject, it' appeared that there is in this United Kingdom a difference of religion. He agreed in all the Noble and Learned Lord on the Woolsack said as to the inseparable influence of religious principles on the prosperity and hap piness of every nation. Ile agreed with him in all the panegyric he, had bestowed on the Esta blished Episcopal Church of England, which was the purest in doctrine and the best in disci pline over every other - in the world, and of the necessity of preserving and upholding not only the faith itself, but also the form of ifs ecclesias tical institutions inviolate. He would, however, venture to say, that if it were possible to unite the two establishments under one head, the greatest blessings would result. It was useless to talk of this; for he asked, did reason,,teach them to expect it, or did experience entitle them to indulge the hope of it ? It was only wasting time which 'ought to be actively spent in unavailing wishes after an unattainable object. 'lt was the unhappy policy of this coun try to pursue a course of confiscation and persecution in order to eradicate the Catholic faith. So car, however, fro.n accomplishing that end; the means employed had the opposite effect, as it was' in the nature of things, and contributed only to root that faith more firmly in the breasts of its professors. Amongst the opponents of this measure in favour of the Catholics, there was a difference of opinion which rendered it difficult for others to know which way to steer their course amidst such contending currents. They had but one duty to perform, and yet the propo sitions of the adherents in opposition to their Bill were directly the reverse of each other. The Noble and Learned Lord on the Woolsack said, it was their duty to leave matters as they regarded the Catholic's, in the state they were placed in by King William at the Revolution, without making one iota of change or alteration. The other part of their opponents said" leave matters 'as - they are now, there is no cause to change." Now, which of these two courses did the House mean to follow ? He believed there was no one who did not know that the funda- mental principles of the state of things at present was diametrically opposite to what they were at the time of the Revolution. Of the two propo sitions, he certainly felt best able to reconcile himself to the approbation of that which recom mended them to adopt the principles of the Revo lution on this subject. They had all heard in de tail the horrors of the system pursued at that time. They .were told by Lord Clare _ that the lands of the Catholics were confiscated 700,000 acres more than covered the soil of that kingdom. By that meaning to say, that some of the land had been- confiscated two and three times over. lie did not seek to rake up the ashes of past dis cords, but merely to justify the cruelties on one hand, which were 'called for by the cruelties of the other ; for it was one black characteristic of the first acts of cruelty that they did not end w ith their own guilts, but created retaliation on the side of the afflicted. lie should not follow the Noble and Learned Lord into the detail he had gone into on the laws in flicting these cruelties. He was satisfied with knowing what they were intended to produce, and happy that nothing remained of them but that last remnant which they were now called upon to destroy. Their Lordships knew that similar predictions and gloomy apprehensions ac companied every step towards the removal of those laws ; but had any one of these predictions been verified? To give an idea of the spirit in which these laws were originally adopted towards the Papists, he would read extracts frogi a work published at the time of the enactment of some of the principal of them. It ran as follows :—" We look: on the Papists to be altogether as inconsi derable as women and children ; their lands are almost entirely taken away from them—the de scendants of the hereditary proprietors of the soil are almost all deprived' of the soil of their ancestors, and almost bereft /of tile power of ever acquiring it again. If they ever should possess the means, the power of ptirchasing - should be taken from them. By this means the little that remains to the inhabitants of the soil of this coun- try will daily crumble away. To prevent their thus crumbling away, many turned Protestants, and perhaps many more will." Not only their property but the faith in which alone they lived was taken from them ; for as their Priests died away others were not allowed to supply the place., Their Lordships would perhaps be astonished that such sentiments should ever be printed and publish ed; but they would be more surprised when they heard that it Was the production' of a Rev. Di vine. Not only were these sentiments openly answered, but the system there laid down was recognised and acted upon. The writer ex pressed a hope that this would favour the great work of conversion, and he thought, under such a system, the Clergy would succeed in bringing over great numbers to the Established Church. This system, it was thought, would he beneficial, and preferable to one which united them to the constitution, and 'gave them an interest in the well-being of the country by affording them the advantage of being governed under equal laws ; • depressed as they had been, reduced to. the situa tion of hewers of wood anal drawers of water. When it was argued that they Were placed in a situation in which they could do no mischief, he would say that they were So circumstanced that they could do no good, 1)14 on the contrary, were likely to do nothing. but mischief. The system of depressing the Catholics had been acted upon previously to the Revolution, and for SO years afterwards, down to that happy period of the late reign, when it was.thought Wise to adopt a more liberal and conciliating course. The present sys tem was imperfect, and he agreed with an animat ed writer on this subject, that that which pre ceded, execrable as it was in its purpose, and detestable in its' means, merited at least the prac tice. of being unform, consistent, and well fitted to the Object which the Legislature, in adopting it, had in . their view, which was to depress the Catholics to the lowest state to which the tnem bers of any community could be reduced. Some thought by _repealing several laws that stood in the black catalogue, the rest might remain,and that it was only by retaining these that the Protestant interest could be secured. This was the impression on the minds of some of those who were opposed to the presept Bill. He would contend, on the contrary, that if they . recurred to that system they must take the whole of -it. It consisted of a gradual accumulation of laws to depress those against whom the Measures of the Legis lature were. directed. It .would be found that the first law against the Catholics of King Wil liam was followed by other laws in his reign and in the reigns of Anne, George.l., and George I 1., and the Catholics were depressed by accumulat ed persecutions, till it was at length discovered that that was not the course which wisdom'would pursue, 'and different measures were adopted. The loyalty of the Catholics had been proved, but if it was assumed that they were incapable of being trusted to participate in the blessings of the Con stitution, the melancholy conclusion to which that assumption would lead, was this—that late as it was to do so, the'Legislature must retrace its steps, and either expel them from the community altogether, or depress them as they had formerly been depressed. A Noble Friend of his, for the illustration of .his argument, had referred to one of those tales which formed the delight Of their childhood, and which he, for ()tie ; even now, could peruse with pleasure ; RIO, letd re minded the House of the story which rep_ e'sents an individual to have removed the seal from a jar or chest, under which a genius had been confined from the time of Solomon. The chest opened, a black tall pillar of smoke, Nfliich ascended from earth to heaven, had issued, from which, at length, presented to the view of the individdal, the Genius, in the form of an enormous His Noble Friend had inferred; 'that the restric tion removed from the Catholics, their religion would spring up like the Genius from the chest in, the form of a Giant. -His. Noble Friend was a little late in the application of this fable. l t was not now that the chest was to be 'opened, it had been opened when those immunities and con, cessions were' granted which the Catholics had . so long enjoyed. The Spirit had already gene forth, and had happily become a Giant great in power, in strength, and in extensive influence, and possessing the means of doing good or evil in a most extraordinary degree. 64 'Tis excellent to have a Giant's power and it was now for them to consider whether it was likely to be used tyrannically as a Giant. The question was not at present whether the Giant should be unloosed. That had been done in 1788. The seal was re meved from the chest the moment the Catholics of Ireland were lifted from their former state . of depression to hold the. great and comthalidino fluence which now belonged to them. His Noble Friend ought to pursue the story which he had brought to their recollection. If he did so, hi.• .believed that he would find that the inilvidral who had released the GeniuS,and been punished b him, had afterwards _the address by some means to persuade him to diminish himself again, and re-enter the chest. This was the part which the House had now to take upon itself. They were to reduce the Giant---that this they were to tell the people of Ireland, to give up those commer cial and other pursuits in which they have been encouraged to engage, and in the success of which the country had long been accustomed to rejoice, regarding it as one of.the greatest triumphs of the age. This was the task which the House ought to take upon itself, if it acted upon the views of his Noble Friend. There was another alterna- tive. They might pursue that system of concilia tion which had replaced the former. They might remember that, in the reign of the late King (he grieved to say it), for the first time since the Re volution, a light of surpassing splendour burst on the Catholics of Ireland. Jt was thought that, instead of depressing the Catholics, as in former times, it would be better gradually to re lieve them from the disabilities under which they had laboured. Following up' this plan, they might continue to conciliate the Ca tholics, and by attaching them to the Consti tution of thei r country, render the grant-harm oletshse.rs,l3auntd, binsteadhis Nobleor this,,a}d La they were rn Friend him self, that they. wer e to. stand where ahoy new were, as no cause existed jul,tifv vail m " told by He could hardly think this :practicable. Wile ll the Bill of 1793 passed, it was necessary . that some pause should be made before the conces sion now proposed should be yielded in favour of the Catholics. He agreed that a great Change ought to be gradually made, because it was s great change, to prepare and reconcile the minds of men to it. Had he considered -that the Act of 1793 was never under anypossible circumstances to be departed from, he should have objected. to it, that it was one of the most Etribilialous And incon gruous measures that could hive been adOpteds; and taking this view of it he could never hit" agreed to it. - Would any . man say that it ivit S 1/t) inconvenience to Ireland to have the bigl%°‘ classes of her community degraded and ed as objects 'Of suspicion and - distrust, as 11 they were less entitled to countenance than Of they til were of being con dered trusted, to other class of . Men.? He wished an end put such a state of things, and desired to 'see'. concv liatery measures carrid, that would make,flh worthy eli wishe4 to make them 'worthy of being. admitted to share the blessingi of the Constit ution, by shewitt them that they were thOught to been' titled to such countenance, The appre ll6s "' n : entertained by his- Noble Friend on the siibjPc by be t sbr:stvv= h'g or i t h hw e y n . 1 of admitting Roman Catholics to places lit t he ._ Government he thought groundless. It was 00 .. ` to' be supposed that any Catholic would be 0 , 4 vanced to the highest of the situations which ll . 4 l .; Bill opened to them, till he ad proved bY conduct through a long course of years that was a loyal and well affected man, and cal b o f notwithstanding his belief in transtibStantiatiovl, faithfully discharging all the d"uties of a.l3ri t 'l subject. He supported this Bill, no t as inT l 9 l/ 10 1 tion, but as perfecting that great work i 3 W tf they had been happily engaged I'M: the 'last forildi years. He now called upon their LordshiP s, t he• agreeina 'to this measure, to wipe out from 14 .Statute-book the last remnant of that 'blot 11're stain which remained when the Catholics o'esi concerned, and which mustremain there so I°, as the present systeM was upheld. The cage must' ultimately triumph. Whatever migh t At the close of. that day's debate, 'it was no livid matter in. favour 'of the Catholics that it 511° go forth how much of all that was illustrious ,lit venerable supported their was 11° lid matter that it should be known with , wh at t :dd their cause had been pleaded. He then pr°, c . e , he to shew that the Catholic, netvilthstu nc l. e nce advanced a claim to pay superior °be an ' a ble to law, and the revealed• laW of God, wa s . c .",, r o be' of satisfying human laws by yielding Civ i l' es dience to y the Government. But it bad been .. o f lot of the Catholics to be persecuted Lee to e"' any opinions which they professed ,to taro, but for . those which were imputed to them by others,' from which those ePP°'eondact . them drew the inference th at their cv was likely to incompat ible with the 1:05 being of the State in which they resided, . mode of 'imputing sentiments not entertained, :4:0 drawing conclusions not warranted by facts. , (l the great fountain of all perse cution, a ny T _ l t o been. so from the beginning of t he world the present day. It had been p roved in the satisfactory manner, that those Who believe d .. 11 the doctrine of 'transubstantia tion, coulds.t:o, the most full and undivide d a lle g iance tea trio, testant Sovereign, without . abandoning' • &pies of their religion.' The.. ConutOni of