The Express.
London, England, 1851-03-22 00:00:00

in it. The people wished to see the progress of
popery arrested, but which the bill before the hoose had
nut the most remote chance of effecting. (Bear, hear)
Anything done in that way should be areomplislail by a
ditresentkiail of legislation. Whilet believing the hill before
the house would be ineffective for trouil, he likewise Iselic veil it
was calculated to be productive of in :cis misehiel. (Hear,
hear.) The noble lord, he feuded, had not exercised u wise
discretion in introducing the bill. (Hear, hear.) By that
hill he (Mr. Fox) saw the government as well as the party
of the nolde lord shattered to atoms; the public business
d. eyed ; the time of the legislature occupied' as well as the
tone of its deliberations materially lowered. (Cries of
" Hear, hear.") Ireland was inflamed ; the passions of the
people of this country were exciP cl, raging and working
havoc amongst the social relations of fe:ends, and all that to
placate the wounded pride of a tiew cttil,laStieS . (" Hear,
hear," and cheers.)
Mr. WALPOLE (whose opening observations were in-
audible in the gallery) said he was anxious to notice, in the
outset, an olgeryntion se hich occurred in the able and tem-
perate *path of the hon. gentle tuan who had just sat clown.
(Hear, hear.) The hon. gentleman had said, and he h-
Lewd hint in error as to his assertion being an aphorism,
that " Christianity overrides netiandite." Now he (Mr.
Walpole) believed that Christianity so far from doine any
such thing. recognised nationality; and on that ground
he dissented from the " aphorism" of the hen. gen-
tleman. Wishing to discuss the question Carly and
openly, he thought he could not do bete r than
state what he believed to 1w the two questions ut isstie—
First, whether the conduct of Risme in cstehlislihre within
this realm a territorial hierarchy was not an act of aggreo-
sion which they should notice. Assuming that qut stem to
he auswered in the affirmative, the other and more int-
port.int question arose, namely, in what way it should he
met, end whether the measur• proposed by the government
was or was not suitable to the evasion. (Hear.) Now
with regard to the first question, considering it related to
the sovereignty of the crown of England, (Ind in that he
intendisl to rest his argument. he should own he heard with
astonishment the eetraorli nary se.. ech of the right. hem
IIiVIII',CT for Ripon (sir ,lames Graham), but for
which he thought the ittiestien would admit of
I only one slower. The right honourable member for Ripon
fully admitted that the act of the Pope was aggressive and
Renton:: and, admitting that, he :Omitted the whole of
his )lr. Walpole's) case. (Hear, hear.) It was an often-
-1 sive aggression, submission to which nicer hail been, and
he trusted never would be, characteristic of the people of
Enrilincl. (Hear, hear.) Her alajestyae government had
I razed this measure on twit grime's. they asserted there
had li.en an insult offered, :to well as an injury dime. to
this country. The noble lots! (Lord Arundel and Suerey)
denied the one, and disclaimed the other. (" Hear. heat,"
from Lord Arundel and Surrey.) If the question wens
one that might he derided by mere opinion, he (Mr. Wal-
pole) was happy to be able to state that no opinion
would be eutitleil to more weight than that
of the noble lord ; but us the question could
not be determined by opinion, it should be deter-
mined by the nature and character of the dorm-
nents. as well as the sense in which they had bet n
I received by the recognised organs of the Romish church, as
oleo the consequences, if submitted to, to which they world
lead. (Hear, hear.) Now, tio person who hail nail the
papal document or Cardinal Wiseman's pastoral could fail
to be struck with the force of what had been so admirably
said by that eminent lawyer, Sir E. Smitten, namely, that
" he felt a. if a blow had been persmally struck at him.'
(Hear, hear.) He believed that sentiment was a true ex-
ponent of the public feeling. The spontaneous instinct of
the whole people had taken alarm : and they really felt as if
s• a blow had been pyre malty strut k at thou.
(Hear, hear.) Why did they so feel ? Because they
heard for the first time the latiguuge of sovereignty
used towards them, not by their Queen, whom the y loved
and obeyed, but by a foreign prelate, whose powers and
encroachments they and their ancestors had cocci sefully
defied. (blear. hear.) They well knew from history that
if that language meant as it indicated, their liberties as well
as their religion were in danger—(hcar, hear)—and under
these eireumdmices the people saw sufficient to excite a
feeling of defence. (Hear, hear.) Now. if these (ligaments
meant what they put forth,l he asserted they should not he
submitted to. ((pear, hear.)) If these documents hail been
submitted to, the consequence would be the establishing of
an i iiiiirel inn in intectiii ; and, therefore, it was right to
vindicate the authiinty of the Queen and to prevent sucha
consequence. (Hear.) As otherwise, as Lord Bacon had
express, cl him-elf on a similar occasion, " the Pope wooled
challenge competition, and become the rival of the Queen
for the h-ei rt. and obedience of the Queen's subjects.•• (blear.)
Now, Ow the justification of the Roman ea:holies for them:acts
In the first place, it was stated that the meaning of the
documents had been misunderstood : next, that the power
set llp WWI a spiritual power ; and thirdly, that the eliange
front vicar• npostolic tit bishops was amens change in words
or names, which would have no effector the laws or institu-
tions of the yountry. (Hear, hear.) As to the first, he
tulmitted that it' these words or language had been inisuu-
, desist ak they ought not to dwell any longer on them.
(Hear, hear.) But he feared that these words hail not
been misunderstood. (blear, hear.) It was unfortunate
that less ambiguous expressions were not used by that
power. which nttended to wards and made such e see Dent
use of them—(!lmer, hear) ; and at was still more
unfit:a:nate that, when found fault with. ant a word iu
retra,tation 4.r explanation wits utt, feel or written. (Hear,
hear.) Indeed, so far from being corrected or explained,
1 they had hen reasserted and affirmed in a manner still
1
more offensive Oren in the original documents. (Hear,
hear.) The nano*/ in France, :mil the iii6let in Eug-
land, had so written. The homer journal stated that, as st.
Oratory hail transferred the pritnacy of London to router-
Imay. es did l'ius IX. transfe r the primacy from theme to
Westminster. He had substituted Southwark for Louth's.,
and aholisited all the ancient t 41,. (Hear, hear.) the
Tablet said that " Route' had spoken and octet:. She
hail divided the land into dioceses, and plated ince
each a palm, 10 5\11,411 all illipliwd persistis e. ere
openly conatnanded to submit themselves in ecc:o..nis•
tical mattes under pain 1.1. damnation." (hear, lwar.)
Now. considering the Queen was the head of the
church, mil resident within one of the new preemie. el Clio-
CCAN, he (Mr. Walpole) was not surprised that the noble
hod ,',Lorel .1. Russell) should consider the doctrine of 11w
Pope Mem:skew with the rights of the mason and the in-
dependence of the religious feelings of the nation at large.
(Hear, hear.) Well, secondly it hail been said that the
power aimed at was entirely spiritual; and the right lion.
member for Ripon took them to task for not distingu:shing
between tett:e.rals and spirituals. But the noble turd the
Secretary fir Foreign Affairs (Lord Palmerston) told them
the other night that the powt rof the Pope 111111 a double
action. (Hear, hear.) It really never was purely
spiritual. If so, it ought to be left tot irely
to himself. But if the power of the Pope were exereistA
in temporal matters, though in the guise of spirituel, Ids
spirituality should not be taken as an excuse. (Hear,
hear.) The fact was, the power of the Pope might be spi-
ritual in its means, but it never was entirely summed iu its
objects. (Hear, hear.)' It was always acting through tent-
pond aunts, and with temporal purposes, and attaining
tempera! cssnsequences. (Hear hear.) In that respect it
was different front all those other'
institutions to which it
had been compareel by the honourable member for Ply-
mouth, such as the Wesleyan body and the Ephe apalicin
watt iu Scotland. (Hear, hear.) Thew sects did not
claim any temporal power ur power committed tic
them by a foreign potentate claiming to be •ii-
prerno and universal. (Hear, hear.) The power
1 of the Pope woo indirectly a temporal power exercising a
certain degree of temporal influence ; but the temporal and
the spiritual powers were both used, although only the spi-
. ritual was avowed—though history showed that the Pope
spiritualised matters for his own purpose. (" Hear, hear,
and a laugh.) Therefore it was all the same to the people
of this country whether they were struck at directly or in-
directly. It signified nothing whether the- Pope struck at
the authority of the church of England indirectly or by u
downright buow. (Hear, hear.) lie believed every nation
in Europe had always taken care to guard and control the
powers of the Pope, even in cases where thew tuitions
were wiling to do homage to him in spiritual
matter*. Therefore the new system sought to be
introduced could not he looked upon as a mere change
in words and names, but must be looked upon as has itig a
temporal baaring, and calculated to inflict temporal injury
in this country. (Hear, hear.) It ought always to lie
borne in mind that the system of vicars apostolic, by means
of which the doctrines of the Roman church had been ad-
ministered in this country for so many yeas, was suf.& lent
fur all religious purposes, awl that the system was thimble:
of expansion to any extent, according to the requirements
of the Roman catholic hotly. On this occlusion, as on all
others, he would not confine himself to the evidence of
protestante; lie would new take Cardinal Wisetnati him-
self. The reason given Icy the cardinal was, that "they
could not have an organic body of union without a hierar-
chy, the right of meeting in synod, and the promulgation
of the canon law in England"—thus, by his own testi-
mony, furnishing proofs of the absolute necessity that
existed for opposing his innovations. (Hear, hear.) These
matters—the right to meet in synod and so forth—which
they denied to the bishops of the established church, were
to be conceded without a murmur, and the Callon law of
Rome let loose over the land. (Hear, hear.) Was it any
wonder, then, that the people should have taken fright at
the prospect of such a state of things ? (Hear. hear.)
If he understood the operation of the canon Lew
it was this—that under vicars apostolic the Roman
catholics of this country would be governed by the same
laws us the protestants; but if the canon law were introduced
the Roman catholics would be governed by a system tinder
which they would be called on to pay obedience to the
Pope, and, thus might be plated in a position which would
be inconsistent with their duty to the Queen. (Oh, oh.)
He admitted thot there were difficulties surrounding the
question which it was not easy to untangle. (hear, hear)
He had real much on the subject, and with an anxious, de-
sire to come to a just conclusion; and the conclusion at
which he had arrived was that which he bad just stated.
(Hear, hear.) If he was proved to be in error, he would
willingly give it up. But if he were not in error ; if the
matter stood as he had stated, then this change was not a
mere question of names between vicars apostolic and bishops
in ordinary, but it wee a question whether the Pope's law
or the Queen's law was to prevail in this country. (Cheers.)
He thought the people of this country had strong reasons
to complain of this aggression on three grounds.
First, Isaause the papal brief was contrary to the law of
nations; secondly, because it was opposed in foto, as ho
would undertake to show, to the law of England ; cued,
thirdly, became it was utterly inconsistent with and re-
' penmen to the genius and spirit of our constitution.
' (Hear, hear) The low of nations required, and it was
limo...wary for the peace of the world that it should i.o re-
quire, that no aggression should be =ads by one power