The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-05-06 00:00:00

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that statement, or utyor eithtriiithem---. (.; the aintra;y: the e
appeared in the Cossekr f(ctobir 14th), a letter dated October :11h, I,
thiretwed to the Editor, by .Ireltdescon Blake, iii reply to I.i.n.e'
observations which had appeired to your Journal of the 4:li,
founded upon the alleged statement of the sexton. We beg have
to snake the following extract from that letter :
•• It is asan Led ia the ('ertriA, of the 4th instant, that • from the .
unquestionably authentic account (the alleged Latenient of the
sexton) which you published on the preceding Tliiirday, the sex.
toll of St. Kevin's had decisive reasons to expect that the regular ,
curial service of the Church of ROM!. in direct opposition to the
vit tallow laws and to uniform ;mum, was about to be Tiertinined in I
Gie Church-yard, of which he hail the care ; that sh.ll he inter.
tiled to prevent this breach of the law, he informed lir. Blake,
who was proceeding to ofiicime, that he could not permit him to
officiate there; that the authority which he pleaded was the due-.
tiuoa of the Clergyman of the parish ; and that, when asked by
the priori, Mr. Blake, under what authority those Clergymen
acted, the seaton relied, • by Ilit sanrtime if Ike Bishop, and
tRe exprras laws of the land, which prevent any Roman Catholic
!'riot front reading his prayers, or performing any service In a Pro.
fentant churelx.y.• It is also awaited In the same article, "fhat
nu mention was made of any order issued by the Archbishop of
Dublin, neither did the sexton attempt to interfere with any (natant
of the Romeo Catholics ; but only to prevent an illegal lizoova.
tom' "

theraerantione, in whatever articles they may have
aeprared, or from whimemen r they may have come, ore, Pons be-
Fiswiiste to tad, dowerieht ft/le./mods. The sexton had en '• deci-
.ll/r reason tu expect that the burial service of the Church of Rome,
ra direct imposition to the existing laws and to uniform custom,
seat ebuot us be performed in the church-yard of which he had the
care." Dr. Blake did not attempt to break the law : he neither
" ifitsted nor was he proceeding to eli'l4lf." The sexton did
nut " plead, as his authuity, the directions of the Clergyman of
the parish." No !hays., was read. No " /tinder burial service"
svaa perfunnerl. 1 here was no " illegal itinovatiim." Finally,
the sexton did "interfere wish the custom of the Roman Cadet-
les," and did dittiartly vocation the eider if the Bishop as his
oothorito for doing an.
In addition to this plain. unequivocal contradiction, there were
published in the ('varier of the next day (October 15), a letter
to Mr. John Redmond to the Editor, also en affidavit of that
gentleman, corroborated, upon oath, by Mmes. Peter Hatcy and
Jhnnis Redmond tall sworn to before the I.erd Mayor of Dublin,
in due tom', with his Lordship's signature annexed), expressly
conttadictmg the alkgatiunr in the statement purporting to have
been male by the sexton of St. Kevin's, whose nastie is Dunne,
end adding that " Dunne distinctly denied having furni,hecl, or in
any way iiiithorised the etateuient miry/Prang to be sworn by him ;"
triblch auertion of his disavowal never has been contradicted by
lranne, to our knowledge. It is a fact, alto, worthy of notice,
that no attempt has been made to prove that Dunne, or any of his
redeeneson, or any other sexten iu Dublin, eve/ interfered to pre-
% Alt the usual practice at Catholic burial., "prior In the appoint-
weal of the Most Rev. hr. Magee, as Archbishop of the diocese."
Nor have the Parechial Clergy ventured to assert in their certifi-
cate that say Midi intirruption was given on any occasion prior to
his tiracie'm appointment ; nor have these Clergy ventured to cer-
tify that am order, instruction, or intimation, as to the burials of
or the interfirenee of Catholic Prints. had hottest from
his (hue to than. An omission, which cannot fail to make its
due impression ; at the same time that we must admit, we cuukl
not be inclined to attach much value to any certificate they would
furnish on this question, after reading that which is stated by their
Archbishop to have been signed by them.
bit or seven months elapsed since the several letters and affidavits,
to which we have referred, were published. The Archbishop did
not, at the time, ettoteadat the statements in any public manner,
Ile tells us new, that he purposely declined doing so out of pure re-
spect for his elevated " station." To us, who have been mecum-
tomed to think that the removal of error, the vindication of cha-
racier and the edification of the flock, are as essential to the'
Ilwis;iiin Pretreat; the self-important assertion of " station," this
ties does not appear sufficient. There was but one 'tenon in the
world whose eddicat• appears to have been taken into account,
and, by rather a fortuitous chance (of course) that person happened
to be the Prime Minister...tecordingly his Grace gave some private
explanation to Lull Liverpool. But he scents to have forgotten
that, by that set, he distinctly admitted that an explanation was
necessary, although he thought it more proper and more prudent to
w ithhold it front the public.
It IA herniated, no doubt, by his Grace, that his reason for not
derailing ins " station," at the time, by the declaration of the
truth, upon a subject deeply &flirting the public decorum, Iran.
()unlit', and comfort, the edification of his Hock, and the vradica-
hua of his own character, was because the charge against hint
'• had been confined to handbills, newspapers , and pamphlets ;
mooning obviously to convey the Impression that previous to its
• 111f171.11 announcement," as he tentus it, in our petition, the charge
bad been confined to anonymous publications. Whereas the tact is
directly contrary to duos intimation or excuse ; for you ive that
in the extracts Non Ih. Blake's two letters, i above, and
which had been published In mast of the newspapers of the day, it
is asserted (in the first letter), that the abets of Dr. Magee,
ti.ai he should not ofier any prayers over that grave, was rung in
hie car ; he reties also to •• the interdict from his (drate, the Pro-
testant Archbishop el Dublin ; and. ( in the second letter) he states
doe the sexton did " distinctly mention the order of the Bishop as
Lb. authority." Nay, more, in the statement purporting to have
beet made by the sexton. and published in defence of the Arah-
°him). himself, it is alleged ilia: the clergymen, by whose directions
it Ii represented the season interfered, acted " by the sanction of
tad Ilashop."
Those public statements of Dr. Blake, Mr. IYArey, and the
Miura. Redmond, so distinctly authenticated by them, and se-
smieseed in, so far as was known to the public, by his them, ler
NO many months, and in ausedanee with the 'statements then In
renerel circulation, induced our insertion, in mir petition, of the pa.
ragraph to which the character of " falsehood" has been imputed
by his Dace, and " inlachood," too, " reiterated," after the
moot deritior poufs had Ped /dared &live Me public."
Here, again, his linice's rteullection deceives him ; for we macre.,
in oppiaition to this deliberate declaration on his part, that no de-
f.P.!ve iwooh had been placed before the public; nay more, that no
pea.) whatever, decisive or otherwise, as before the public ;
nor can any such be niched to by him, unless, indeed, he mein*
to rest his fame upon that falsified repudiated, and disavowed
statement attributed to the *OMNI. The Host Rev. Prelate states,
that the moot decisive proofs (using the plural number) " have ban;
placed before the public ;'• and, as there most, if' this assertion be
be. at least, two such proofs, we may put the statement at-
tributed to the sexton entirely out of the case, and call upon his
ir to naive nit) other poxif, if he can.
_ _

Vim will pleast:toolpit:rve, that the )woofs which we have hitherto
&Mined in support of our petition, and in defence of our characters,
wry,. publitiked sane months before the Archbishop of Dublin, the
ilishop of Limerick, aid the parochial clergy of Dublin, put forth
their ststements ; the former alleging that he " never heard," and
she latter, that it never came to their " knowledge " that any Us.
tbolic Prie,t officiated in the same manner a% was done at St. Kr.

. . .
on the 11th September ; at the lame time, that every one of
must have real Isle. Illake's statement, in the letters above
r itsrred to, that •• such is, and has been, the practice of (!atholic
Cl.agyinen in Ireland, since tit,: enactment of the Penal Code ! !"
It r shall now insert further evidence in support of our defence
against those assailants; and, in the first place, we beg leave to
insiat the two following revolutions, adopted at a meeting of the
f!.uholic Clergy of lyuldin, on Friday the Ind inst., the Most Rev.
Pr. array, their Ani:bishop, in the Chair, and subscribed by the
names of si nwrilstas of that respected order, who profess
Ii c:r williittnicia to %%Mal.' their dtvlaratiun by the solemn sanction
at their oaths upon anrlawful mansion.
That in every rase in which we have been present at the inter-
view of CatMilica in Protestant church-yards. within the city of
Dublin, the inimitable practice, until the late unfortunate interrup-
tom in st. Kevin's, was, that one of the Clergy recited at the Frame
a form of payer for the soul of the deceased . • that the remaining
Ckirgy, if more than one wet,: present, stud sometimes the laity,
joined in the responses to this player ; and that, during the recital
of it, bath the Catholic Clergy and laity remained with their heads
oncaremd, its a way that would be likely to attract the notice of all
present.

•• That we hare the moat unquestionable ground fur asserting,
cod we do hereby assert, in the must positive manner, that, at the
funeral of the late Mr. irArcy. In September last, nothing what-
ever was attempted by any Catholic Clergyman, which wag either
in substance or hi form damn( from our usual practice on similar
oteciiiins ; oral that, attic the most diligent inquiry, we have not
barn able to di•icorer that any attempt was made at St. Mary's to
devinte from the wore uniform practice."

A. we arc unwilling to trespass further on your columns this day,
we noon beg your permission to conclude our proofs and observa-
tions in another letter. We shall therefore confine ourselves for
the prefect to • single reference to one of the inaccuracies of the
Right Rey. Prelate, the Lord Ilisho of limerick, who has been
pleased t. volunteer his hostility agalr.st its. It is represented to
Live bet!: stated "9 Lor&hip thati '• In that putt of Ireland
viler,. al.! Human :alltolie religion mutt lar.!ely prevails, thmsouth,
ei-;•fs No Noopi”.:•aut reepteting the rites of I:serial."
agrun :—" 1 he Clergy of the Estsblishod Church earner: the,
• 0: christian modtvaeiou, even to the neglect of a positive
duty. They o:minted to perform what by law they were
m•aad to perft•mt. " SN4'l has berm the hniairsal spirit In 1.64
p." Now. the fact is directly the reverse. There were only
Mo.• ecei,i.nts in all Ireland upon which the " unplessant feelings
(14 the items): ('utholios) respecting the rites of 'Weird," were es.
übd ; a .•1 three ultimo: (being tome than one halt of the whole)
it that very part of Ireland. .• the ),outts." viz. at Cork,
11.111:, at liatheormuck. tc. Ira Ortobtr, end as
Litnetick, in the Lord Bishop's own See and place of residence, a
few weeks sp.; theism!, of which cached mom "impleasam fret.
*es" than all the rest that hail occurred in Ireland, Mr this simple
reason, th.tt a military force, armed with fixed bayonets. was
brought into the Cburch.yaad by the •• (lergyutan of the lists.
I.lulled Church." 14'e remain, Ae.
JA3IES EI)I4'ARI) I)EI'ERRUE•
tkie of the gee Relegates who pre.
:tented the Petition of the Catholics
oaf Ireland to his late Majesty, at
141. James's, Jan. 17, .17113.
April To, 1821. ENEAS kIACDON NELL.

We regret to learn that some commercial failures took
place las: week at Burnley, in this county, of, we fear,
SariOUS import to that ilistrict.—;lfuee.laester erca,
i• 1101. Y ACC. DE N T.—A few days since, as Chas.
Sweet, a tah.sarer employed on the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal,
at Arizintess Point, was, with four others, navigating a boat in the
Severn, owing to the tspitlity of the tide and their unskilfulnens,
the boat wts swamped eat: they were all precipitated into the wa-
ter. Tii: (OW then clung to a large float. but Sweet, an old sailor,
I n and is as well no ntore.--Glooerenrie!ttnal.

LETTER OF GENERAL IrASIIINGTON.

[From the Mats of Lateral

The following letter from General iVashington has not,
we believe, appeared in print before, on this side of the
Atlantic. It exhibits that great man in a More courtly
aspect than we have been accustomed to view him. " Ge-
neral Washington seldom smiles." So rays Thatcher's
(American) Military Journal. The good-nature with
which this letter overflows, would indicate something very
different ; and in point of fact, we believe the General
was by no mans the stern soldier and statesnian he had
been so generally represented. The Mrs. Stockton to
whom the letter is addressed, had transtnitted to i‘'ash-
ington some stanzas complimenting him on his victory
over the British and !Icarian', at Trenton, but expressing,
at the same time, a doubt whether it were consistent with
the rules of Christian rnorality, to indulge in fiction. It
is thus the General replies to her, displaying, amidst all
the serious cares of the battle field, a tlegrts, of complai-
sance and gallantry towards the fair, which would have
done honour to the most chivalric of the linights of the
Round 'Table:—
" Rocky Hill, September 2,171 a.
" You apply to me. my dear madam, for aleteltitien, as though
, I was your father confessor, and as though you had conniiitted a
crime, great in itself, yet in the venial claw You have reasoned
well. for I find myself already disposed to be a very indulgent
ghostly adviser on this occasion; and not s ithstandirg you are the
I • most °Wending soul alive' (thr.t is, if it is a crime to write elegant
poetry), yet if you will come and dine with me on Thursday, and
go through the proper course of penitence which shall be pre.
scribed, t shall strive hard to assist you in expiating dun poetical
trespasses on this side of purgatory. Nay, inure; if it rests with
use to direct your future lactibrations, I shall et/thinly urge you to
a repetition of the same conduct, on purp,:se to show what an ad.
rideable knack you have at confession and refonitation. And so,
without hesitation, I shall venture to command the inure not to be
restrained by ill-grounded timidity, but to go on and prosper.
You see, madam, when once the women have have tempted, us.
and we have tasted the forbidden fruit, there is no such thing as
checking our appetites, whatever the consequence may be. You
will, I dare say, recniqmise our being the genuine do s et-rola:its of
those who are reputed to he our great progenitors.
" Before I came to the more serious conclusion of my letter, I
must beg leave to say a word or two about these line things which
you have heen telling in such harmonious and beautiful numbers.
Fiction is, to be sure, the very life and soul of poetry. All pays
and poetesses have been Indulged in the free and indimputable use
of it time out of mind; and to oblige you to make such an excel.
lest poem on such • subject, without any materials Inn those of
simple reality, would be as cruel as the edict of Pharaoh, which
compelled the children of Israel to manufacture bricks without the
necessary ingredients.
" Thus are you sheltered under the authority of proscription,
and I will not dare to charge Fan with any intentional breach of
the dettalngue, in giving so bright a colouring to the services I have
been enabled to render my country, though I sea not conscious at
any thing more at your bards than what the purest and most dis-
Inter... Need friendship has a right to claim : actuated by which you
will perntit me to thank you in the must affectionate manner, Mr
the kind wishes yen have so happily expressed for me, and the
partner of all my domestic enjoynienta. lie assured we never can
forget our friend at Morten; and that I am, my dear madam, with
every sentiment of friendship and esteem.
" Your must obedient and obliged Servant.
" Mrs. Stockton. " GEO. 'WASHINGTON."

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

CUSTOM-HOUSE, MAT
EXTERED INWARD/.
Vrow Anna, Nagel (l)e !tie, broker), from Rotterdam.
Cecilia 31argaretha, Sli.ilhorg (Molten), from Thaw.
Neutral, Christensen (Mintlie), from ditto.
Petreo and Petersen (Cohen), from Christians.
'Twee lirbrocders, Ilversee (11ofinan), from %Ponta°.
Watson, Watson (Rockland), fmm Lisbon.
Esther, Robinson (Donnionn), from Charleston.
Atalanta, Byrne (De Bie), from Harlingen.
Navy. Bell (Taylor), from Riga.
Isis Hutchinson (Barry), from Fayal.
Chase, Shotton (Hackett), from Bordeaux.