The Sun. — London, England, 1817-12-05 00:00:00

THE 'CAFIiaLIC CLAIMS. FOIL THE , 1 110 0 '1 rul , 'llll 54 0 • • [L . E'rrEn. Ma. EOrrOa,--Tke Writer in The British Press tas:taken some .pai:l3, to cot:l.:ince us that he is trot the Pamphleteer R.e . spondeut of_ 'Air. PEEL.— ] am satisfied, and -paTlon my error, I trust, when I assure him 'that it arose entirely 'from a conviction that no 'Man, capable of istring-,. :ing together, half a dozen sentences in English lhowever zealously, disposed thwards THE CAUSE), could he. found in the United Kingd6M, volunta illy to espouse the arguments of this,PamPhleteen, except himself. These Gentlemen (since they must no lomger be identified)_ are great sticklers for authoritY„ when it ,suits•their own purpose, and though the Old Whig Fathers of the Revolution are little better in their eyes than an equal . number of Old Women - , they would clap a padlock on all mouths which are opened to confute or even dispute the Dogmata of mcn like Father 'MILNER or tiir HENRY PAKNELL. p 0, 1: 51" 'fb l afelb th e c 5.; The Pamphleteer affects to retison Mr: PEEL out - of his p t iociple!, it. ,, tl to prove their absurdity, be cause Mr. ELLIOT and Mr. !'ot..e %vete Irish Secre laries, and thougllt differently, and because my Lord GRENVILLE held a similar 'offir.ial situation before Mr. - PEEL. was bortF! ! ! and this he is ideased to call " the argumentum ad verecundiam!" llis Compurgainr, howevc-r, in The British Press, in the trite spirit of Catholicism, copsiders ail resoning 'upon the -question as- saperation-, inas nitich as the solriect is worn threadbare. He ands, that it is the inure u-nuecsary,- as it is seldom, :argued in Parliament upon the general principle, '?,otlivie are few in the Country abase opinions are valuable, either by their 11.. ink - or Talents, who tlo not admit, that with certain Conditions, thE Clainis of the Catholics might nit be con ceded.—This EicOmmunication 'against Heretics will not succeed in silencing ME, at least ; and the attempt, to CHECK INO.HIRY, by erecting an infallible standard of political authority, will'only tend to convince all sober-minded and constitu tional Men, that Truth is to be found only iu eneral Prinriples, anti that delusion is only suc cessful when the e are obscured. To do tbe Peimphleteer jostice, however, his views are More etllwged, and certainly of a more general natare„any are, tiierefore, mote calcu lated to as,ist,vor enqu:ries as to the propriety of Vonce(sion' to tt,e Roman Catholic Claitnants.— _ . He is ready, or ratder he givec c-redit to the Ad- rite vacate% of lt. Man Carbolictielief torheing ready,. l o (h , russ ihr4;eslloll - pro — ns ed by the Irish Se cretary, whether it " adviscable to continue the, present system of Laws atlecting the Roman Catholics, 'tinder which Ireland has heen governed 5ince,1793, or whether %re shall snlwititte some „. stein i n it s place. Wlseth, rwe 311311-adopt in the place of the -present almost a new form of Governmtnt I"—Mr. PEEL says, " It is not 'whe ther we shall remove certain inconsistencies anti anomalies which are pointed out, in the existing Laws ; but whether we shall substitute it; the place of the present, almost a New Form of ,Go vernment P'—Attend, Sir, to the answer of the Pamphleteer, which, he assumes, the Advocates of Catholic Rditf ►►re ready to giTe to Mr. PEEL— " The Friends of the Great ibleasure now expected, certainly cannot stop to look into anomalies and inconsistencies existing in the Laws of 'England anti Ireland reFpreting the Catholics; such petty de tails are quite unfit to occupy the minds of men intent upon a great and general arrangement, which con templates the purpose of conferring on the Catholics of both. Countries, the RIGHT OF SITTING IN PARLIAMENT, AND EVERY CAPACITY FOR OFFICE AND POLITICAL POWER !" Here then is the ready answer to Mr. PEEL'S Iniiniry, whether we shall or shall not adopt the alternative of overthrowing the Constitution. No hesitation, no feint of de- licacy or prudence, is assumed upon the occasion, but the open and avowed admission on the part of this most zealous Representative of " the Advo cates of Catholic• Relief," tliat in pursuit of the grand object of POLITICAL Puwan, not only every lesser consideration, every minor contingency— but THE CONSTITUTION ITSELF, ►s to be 'set aside and overthrown, if it stand in the way of its full attainment ! Can any town blind himself to the consequen . tic ces thus held over us, tiros anticipated even by )!". the incautious Zealots for the Question ? Are the foundations of our .Constitution to he torn n p , . and the maxims of State, by which the Great r . Machine of Government bAs been worked from the i t period of our glorious Revolution. repealed, for ve• the purpose of givibg political Power to those who have invariably abused that Power to pm , poses at which every,Pao.TEsTAgr feeling . shud ders —and which every Constitutional Briton _Abhors Whgt, let us asis, is the object of Pow Ea—ls t to capa'ciutte ns to sztbinit more'ratientiv (O what we consider a grievalce ? Is it flili ratt)er s'ou , ht As the direct means of rtitrivil , ;,:: a t frievanee t) these Advocates vtrisli its even to utter, titstt if they • rz f possessect t he power of esta_ OMAN iiv THOLIC ASCENDANCY, they ;vonLI ref' Sin from applying it to that ptirpose , ? Or if they %could, where is the man to he foi;ocl ;lbove he lowest state , tf . Trostrat s ion, %Ole, would be— lieve . them ,?--Stich an inference is ()noosed to the Natin'e and 'COnstitt:tion of Man—and in a - MeM- her of the Chirrcil'of Rowe niole - esp . el)4 . lly . , is contrary to every pre-conceived • noti,n of duty and allegiance to its Heat! !--if then Nicer be the avowedobject of the A(locatt-vot fit lief• . ---and it Pow-t• alone be %valiiing to over ihroic THE PROTES : TAI3T Ascrtislrmi:cy, the ales: Lion is reduced to the alternative of siippo t rting or abarrdoning the Constitution as se , tled at 'the Revolution ! But here recurs the great Prin cii.l.e, no , ' of the British Constitution only— but of all Governments whatever ! What gill be the result as 'to the General Interests of the People at large, by' the experiments proposed, for it will not be contended that partial evils are to be remedied at the hazard of the Common Safety If we look no further than the present arrangements proposed by the Catholic Adv - cates, if we consider them merely . as tending to gratify the natural disposition of torn to parts ' cipate in the hot - mars 'of the State, or to gratify personal ambition, in opening to them the dis tinc.imir of becoming Legislators, we might not be disposed to oppose a:prineiple so natural anti inherent in the -constitution_of nian ; still, if this . concession could. Only be made at the expence of a sacrifice , which might eventually involve the existence or the interests of the State itself, no sound politician could hesitate his, decision against it. - But if the- motives lie deeper than • • - considerations of a private or personal tiature, and political power should appear. to be the latent object of the Alernands thus brought forward, should we not hesittte it linzine, awl ask our wives, to what end and 'object.. this power was likely to be. directed—and if we should ,further discover that this power was sought by those who had a separate or opposed interest to that which was considered as the Common Juterest, should we not at inlet deride against conceding it ? Let me not be tc.)1,1 by the puling and vapouring Professors Of:Liberality, that these are unchari table, reflections_upon a whole_corumunity ! They are the reflections of Common Sense upon our Comtnon Naturewhat we • anxiously wish, we. ardently . seek to obtain—and if we remain attigra lifted, it is because the power of gratification is beyond our reach. We have indeed -moral re stca?nt to circumscribe our wishes-•--but•where the object contemplated is not only apparently legi timate but sanctioned by a tonviction that higher interests than those visich bind us to human insti- tutions are connected with our nesires, even these moral restraints become subordinate in our ono , logne of duties ! How 0)(11 stands the question, divested, as our Answerer proposes, " of all petty anomalies and inconsistencies - existing in the Laws: upon the subject ? The Roman Catholics, when euttusted with political power in these - Realms , DID AMISH THAT Powert, and had nelrly reduced- a Nation of Freenien to - it State of arbitrary . servitude. The Nation bad sufficient strength and energy to thrriw-off the-Yorte before it was rivetted, and as , • their first and great security against its being again imposed, deprived the Roman Catholics of the Power by which their Liberty , had been endan, tiered. A Century hail scarcely elapsed in which the progress -of arts, sciences, manufactures, and commerce bad been more than commensurate with . the promises at first held out of the benefits to he derived from a fixed and settled, PROTBSTANI: CON-. STITUTION. when these Roman Catholics again come forward with a claim (mark the expres-, siou I) to be admitted to Power—and to be rein stated in equal authority in the Councils of the. State with, the Protestants—to legislate, and to be the' Executors of the Laws—to return, in, short,' to that state in which they originally stood befOtC their exclusion ! Supposing that, in the course of years, their principles had undergone a change which might naturally-have been inferred; Claim indeed there couldlave been none, but a pica for the Restitution of their lost Privileges might have been fairly set up ;—but when, durin4 the now long and detailed discussions which have .Vakt n place upon - the question, 'not one single ad-. mission on the part of the lionian Catholics them selves (though asserted by their Protestant Advo cates) can be discovered ot the least Change in the prin:iple or practice, by which they originally rendered themselves' obnoxious to the interests and welfare of the .Constitution, when (I appeal to facts open 'to the world) they have resented the charge, as an indignity offered to their body— . , declared thyroselves tone the'satne, . . , . )1F• for over, :vhtit plea, what claim, what pre- ence even, c.-u be 35s ,metl • for threir, return to priwt;r? A-i!• else is leather and prttimWt-7-whitst ten pFrsist*in pritjciple was (mom!, upon -mirricince, to be lipstile. to the best interests of the Commonwealth, they can bare no claim or pretence, I repeat, to be re-ingrafted on :0 stock. The Constitution has not changed, and what was lerniciotri at one time must be pernicious at coo- her *hen the nature .of things hag undergone lo revolution ! Those penalties for past .crimes • which subsi•ted . for.,perhaps too .loog. a. period, are dot E le filAray—those franchises of which they were hecause they had abnsed them, are re . stored.; evei'y restraint upon personal freedom is repealnot only as a Measure of Indulgence; but because * being still WITHOUT Political. Power, 'they are prevented from offering any injury to our Political: and Religious Establishments, by the intrusion of principles. professedly hostile to THE LATTER, at least. The Reign of our . beloved So, %;erei , n has been 'a Record of successive 'Conces sionsto B o d y — an d it %rill he t ernembet ed, 'that at each stage it . Was; professed (look _to it, Mr. -GRATTAN), soleninlii profelsed, that nothing further - Was expected or looted for I. We are at the last ditch, and Political Power is all that re 6 mains to be granted ! THAT POWER IS NOW .dt..mmEn, and the Advocates-for it are in the heart of the Legislature ! ." ()linter ipso hi liniine Porte " Substitit, atque utero sonituniquater aimh redere!" • LANFRANC. ROMAN CATHOLIC BOARD, DUBLIN; DEC. i; Yesterday the t atholic Board met at the Board Room, in Fowoes's-street, pursuatit to a Itc-qui sition, The Meeting was not numerous, though several . Gentlemen of respectability attended.— About half-past three, o'clock, OgvaF. O'Coz+Nolt, Esq. was called to the Chair. Mr. HA? stated that he had, agreeably to -the instructions of the Board,. for Warded the-Remon strance to the Pope. It was transmitted by a pri vate hand to l'atis, 'and it was there put into the General Post-office, but no account has yet arrived of its having been received at tome; though other letters, sent off at the same , intr, and through ihe 3 am° channel, had been regularly received and acknowledged. - Mir. O'Cowstst.t. said, it was of considerable importance, at this crisis, that the Remoustranee of the Catholics of IrelAnd,. on a siihject so Mo mentous, should- reach the ears of his tiolincsS the Pope—that Remonsfraace, adopted nnortbs ago, and entrusted to their . Secretary, has , not, it would appear, been receive d. tie wOuld suggest the propriety of iuttnediAtely transmitting a du plicate of that document,. through .the General Post-office of Dublin, to Rome,,aud another copy Might e4sily be sent by private hand to Bour demur, and there put into the Vost-office. Mt. 0 - CoNNELL next ob s erved, that he had been informed that a I , ll.Mbet of COMLbetCI,II lemen could not conveniently 'attend-the Meeting his dav,-as they were detained on ,He uhmitted the propriety of adjourning to 'l'lints lay next, as 'Matters of considerable inr-py6t and mportance were likely to coMe under discussion, e would, - in the mean time, give notice, pia? on . . the next day of meeting, he would movo that a Sub-Committee might be appointed to t.ll- up a disavotral,on the part of the Catholics of thio-3,..trin try, of the bigoted, uncbaritable,.and intolei:Vot doctrines contained in the Rheimish Testament. Considerable efforts, it appe2red, had Been mtide to impute these doctrines to the Catholic Body, even by men -who kn6v that the Catholics held them in Jitter detestation. it was necessary that they should refute the calumny—the •disavowal Might be made somewhat comprehensive, and the curious history of the Itheimis4 Testatneot tnight be stated, for it is an historical fact, that ; in angry hoes in England, these notes were written lay Eng lish Clergymen, but werenevercountenanced by any of the Divines 01 the Catholic Church in Ireland ; they were' always denounced—and at the- present day, no Catholic, he believed, in the country would peruse them without disgust, and yet their corrupt and interested enemies du not hesitate to say that these doctrines are entertained by the Irish people. Ti . , calumny-has gone abroad ; and, under the circumstances;' he thonght it would be wise to refute it ; he wnuld.- . rherefore, give-no tice, that, on Thursday neict he would move that a Committee be appointed to draw up a disa vowal of these doctrines: Mr.-ENEAs M'DoNI4I.ELL said, that the words of Mr. O'Connell's notice appeared to hint to be too general. Souse of-tlie notes to the Rhei mish Testament were bad enough, but this would go to condemn the entire., . ' - Mr. O'CONNELL)--The words of the notice are not more general than the words of Dr. Troy : but we had better not discuss the merits of a mo tion•-befort it has been made. .. Mr, O'CONNELL also gave notice of a motion for a deputation to wait on the Rev. Mr. thyes, requesting that that Gentleman would attenclthe Meeting on'a con venient day, to give them,an ac count of his mission to Ronie. . 4 The ,Meeting adjourned to three o'clock on Thursday, and Mr. secret;iry Hay War directed to summon the Meothers of the Board to,attend on that day,- 7 (Carrick's Morning Post,)• . It is understood that Mr. Lucas MlThnnell will oppose a " general denunciation" of the Rheimish Testament ; and that the comse of proceeditig, which he trill endeavour to persuade the 13141 to adopt, will be to select such votes as he conceives are objectionable, and con lemn those specifically. It is alio believed that Mr. Howley, and several other Gentlemen, will oppose the motion for a Deputation to Mr. Hayes, and very interesting discussions are expeeted to take place on both subjects iit the Meeting on Thursday, which, no doubt, will be very autueronsly at tended.—(Free ton's. ' • ti -nient:nned vesterdny t ie Nie:Nch of this Gen tlett►ah, to , ,k pl.►ct• on the 12tt► hit. at Stati- niorc, Bud the public, ‘ye a►e sure, will join with us ire r fer.,retdog the everit, wbvn they ;earn -that lie liV4 long so - respectable a member •of the theatrical communi;v a 4 to do honour to himself and his profession.• He bad reached a "very ad ranco.age, and if we Are rightly informed, was an.oificer.in the ; Marines at the raking of the Ha vanna!). Ambitions of distinction on the stage, and rinwilling to wait _the slow -progress of' military protnotiOrt. he first , ventured upon' theatrical hoards in I.,otidon'about the year 1757. - His per son vas manly and well -Proportioned, and his face, if not ha'ndsome, was capable of strong and varied expression. Elis chief detect W3S in his but his judgment, feeling, and knowledge of the',author; gave value and importance to what ever character he assumed, and he was . too pru- dent and too, well acquainted with his own powers, ever to attempt parts that Nature had not fully qualified him to sustain with credit to himself and , advantage to the respective dramatic Works to. which they might belong: Characters of manly energy, such as Pierre, Eustache s de St, Pierre, and others of a similar cast, always found in him ri fit representative. His lap was a masterly perform ance, ,and he :ignited considerable reputation Ilk Prover°. But he was nut confined to trigedy or the graver characters of comedy. His Mutvo tio admirably embodied the , author's intention, and his 'illosea in,UEs JuNsoN's excellent play of The Fox, might almost be considered as aperfect performance. it is impossible to fOrget the ad mirable manner in which this comedy was sup ported; when the respectable Veteran Smitt was Attsotas Corboecio, anti BENSLEY Mosca. In characters of modern lire Mr. BENSLEY divrayS deservedly held a, distinguished rank, as in Mrs.. I NCH BALD'S I'll tell you what, and General Bun- , GOY NE'S Heiress. But he' chiefly appeased to ad vantage in those characters which, besides digni fied,sententiopsness and moral energy, required something of a sarcastic mixture. The predominant feature of his 'acting, however,- was good sense evidently tesulting from ..judgment, a cultivated understanding, and extensive knowledge of man.. kind. ,His - private character" was marked -by the qualities, blended with something of aisati . .. Tical mood. but -3.vithout•the least mixture of ill nature. His conduct iv.as distinguished for lute grilyand a nice sense of honour, and the Actor, the Officer, and the Gentleman formed the compound of his-character. He was induced - to retire trotn the Stage many yews ago, having procured a military appointment under the patronage of his late friend, -Mr. WI.NDHANI: To \yards the latter end of his life a near Relation btllneathed to Lien . a consider able lortude. Mr. BENSLEY, without ail uti- .seengly pride, wai always select in his connexions, which consisted of the most tespectahle iieLtary and other friends.—lle p,tssed through life excit ing general esteem, Mid never giving offence ; not restrained by timid prudence, but wvll-hred roar tesyi and he has lett an amiable, and intelligent widow, and a numerous IE3III of• friends, to la ment the loss of who, in all the re... ions of lire, acted his p.itt with judgThent, 'pricey', -and rectittitle. ,SPORT,ING INTELLIGENCE. . . STATeMENT OF 'ME 'ODDS ON THE DERBY STAKES, ISIS, DEC. of‘ DEBBY. 1.1 to 1 azit. C. by Waxy„ out of Milfonia. Tolien-12 to I apt. b. C. by Orville, out of , Allegretta.• to.l arAt. c. by Sorcerer, put of Hanby , • 13 to 1 agsL b. c. by Waxy, out of Ringtail. Taken-14 to.l ag - st. Brother to Crecy. OAKS. Takeo— 7 to 1 apt. Loo; - by Wax:-. BRUTALITY TO A_GIRL. A Woman notned Elizabeth Patton, who resides at IS, Lambeth -road; was charged with reiterated and violent assaults upon Janet ream), her niece, a girl of 16 years of .age. Mr. Matt, it person of genreel appearance, stated, that on Friday last he took lodgings at the house of Mrs. Patton: He was continually dist-urbed with dreadful cries, which proceeded from Janct Patton wi.de . she was suffering notice the inbutnan punishment inflicted on her by the aunt. He listened, and distinctly heard the lashes of a whip. The same violence Was committed seve- rat times in the day. He took . 'an opportuhity of speaking to the girl, Who stared; that • she was an , orphan,. and had been_ taken by her aunt' from charitable motives'. She had been. with her twelve months, during which time not a day had passed without the inflietion of a severe beating, someriznes with a whip, at other times with a poker. She ilesribed herself as a masa of bruises, and said,.t hat she was scarcely able ti k move from sureness. The dread of being mm tiered by her inhuman aunt prevented berfrom informing any person of her situation. Mr. Matt remonstrated with Mrs. Patton- about her conduct to the girl, but he rifts compelled to hold his peace,brMrs.Pat ton pi mincing a knife, anti threatening to stab hint if he interfered. She had since that lime be haved with greater inhumanity than , before, and had beat her ivith a whip,•and sometimes with poker, upwards of 20 times since last Monday. The prisoner could say noticing in extenuation of her conduct : the-ts a woniart of masculine ap pearanee about 45 years of age: The gill was st) much terrified at her presence that it was with e treme reltietance that she answered the questions of the Magistrate. :She is a native of Perthshire, and of.imereiting appearance. The 111agistrate (Mr. EvAt4cE) expressed his k i.bliorreoce of the horrid t)rotaiity of the prisoner, attd ordered .her to find Inid to Answer t he c harg e s of her niece, attd .11o . of Mr. Matt, tat the Quar ter Sessions. Two of the .first houses at Copenhagen !lave stopped One has been e,t,iblist , ed ..‘er since the year 1616: the IA Of one or thus houses bt "(oised by the unfortunate resoles of t h e West India trade, and the second by occurrgnces itiNarway.