The National Register.
London, England, 1818-01-18 00:00:00

-(Tatt Artationail toiOtt

No. 519.—V0r.. XL

POLITICAL DISQUISITION.

....sm.--
ON THE LATE MELTING TO CELEBRATE THE
REFORMATION, WITH REMARKS ON THE
CLAIMS OF THE " ROMAN CATHOLICS."

" The Protestants in France bear office in the State, be
" cause, though their religion be different, ♦et they ac-
" knowledge no other King but the King of France. The
" Papisti in England, they most have a King of their own,
" a Pope, that must do something in oar kingdom, therefore
" there is no reason they should enjoy the same privileges.
" Amsterdam admits of ali religions hut Papists, and 'tis upon
" the name nermint. The Pt gists wherever they live, have
" another King at Rome ; all other religions are subject to the
" present State, and have no Prince elsewhere."
SaLDEN'S " Table Talk."

IN our last number we made some observations„
arising out of two Meetings lately held in the metropolis
having for their object the relief of poor distressed Sai-
lors, and others: we come now to notice a little, ano-
ther Meeting of a very different description, held at the
City of London Tavern, on the last day of the Old
Year. On that day a numerous assembly of highly
reputable persons met together at the above place, in
pursuance of public advertisement, for the purpose of
celebrating the Tri-centenary of the Great Reforma-
tion from the errors of Popery, which begun in Ger-
many, under the preachingV Martin Luther, just
three hundred years ago, and %as effected in this coins
try nearjy about the same period. To the liberal mind
it must be a%pleasing source of reflection, that we live
in a day when religious professora,,of various denomi.
catkins, with their Clergy at their head, arc found
meeting and uniting with their brethren of the Esta-
blished Church, to conanemorate an event, fraught'
with the most valuable blessings to the Christian com-
munity at large, and from which they derive not only
the enjoyment of liberty, but all these rights
and privileges which are foundaupon a just know-
ledge of the doctrineS of the Bible; which, as a learned
Judge has observed, form a part of our laws, and which
sacred treasure the Reformation first laid open to man-
kind. By the wise and salutary measures which have
since been adopted from time to time, the Scriptures
are now to be found in the hands of almost every per-
son capable of reading their contents ; and such is the
improved state of society, resulting from that
lielit
which has itemised upon the human mind in consequence
of the Refiirmatiln, that an universal system of educa-
tion prevails, end not only children, hut persons ad-
vanced in years, arc provided with teachers to ena!de
tham to participate in, that divine effulgence, which 1w
tended so much to the, advantage and improvement of
mankind in every Protestant country. The Episcopa- ,
lian, the Anabaptist, the Presbyterian, the Quaker,
may all, with the greatest cordiality, join in an Asso-
ciation of this kind ; fbr, whatever may be their minor
and unimportant distinctions, they alike value the pri-
vileges they derive from the above grand epoch, and
such a Meeting as this, must have the effect of promot-
ing that harmony and brotherly love, which ought to
be found pervading the breasts of Christians of every
denomination.
On this occasion, the Chair was filled by the Duke
of Sussex, and it must have been a pleasing reflection
to his Royal Highness, that in the act in which he was
engaged, he was patronizing a subject which ever lay
near the heart of his Royal Parent—the Religious
Liberties of his People ;—as consideration which ever
induced him to resist any attempted innovation
bearing upon so important a point, either in Church
or State.—lt is well known that his Majesty uni-
formly set his face against those pretendel claims
which have from time to time been set up by the Pa-
pists, A and to which the Le jialatitre has hitherto been,
and we :lave nn doubt ever will be opposed, as incom-
patible not with Religious liberty, but our civil
rigUls, mini ii.c happiness and well-being of society at
larlc.—lt is a truth, as is olverved by " the learned

Our Et ing, onatitution anb /EMU.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 18, 1818.

Selden" whose words we have quoted, that " wherever
the Papists live, they have another King at Rome."
We certainly can have no objection to their obtaining
all the privileges, and immunities which that King can
bestow, but the Members of our legislature will, we
trust, ever bear in mind the many woeful examples
which our history affords, of the consequences result-
ing from a power lodged in such hands, before they
proceed to make any alteration in the law as it now
stands with respect to the adherents and followers of
the Romish Church. The subject of the " Catholic
Claims," as they are called, bears a peculiar relavency
to a consideration of the meeting now under our notice.
That freedom of opinion in Religion, which we inherit.
from the Reformation, and a toleration of the Papists to
the extent they demand, are perfectly incompatible. The
followers of the Church of Rome, do not in any Coun-
try where their Religion prevails, allow this toleration
to an Englishman, or to a Protestant of uny nation.—
The establishment of a Church for the use of the Bri-
tish residents at Libon, has lately been noticed as a
singular instance of tolerance in a " Catholic" Go.
vernment ;—a Government, by the bye, which holds
its existence through the valour of British arms, and
and it was doubtless out of pure gratitude that the Re-
ligierz in Portugal, have, for the first time, winked at
a proceeding so directly in opposition to their general
principle .—After this, we have no doubt that the Pa-
pists in this counfry, will not fail to, boast still more
*boot the liberally of," the tathoties of the present day,!:
Who have even condescended to permit the English, in a
country they have rescued from a foreign yoke,
to worship their God in a way accordant to the dictates
of their conscience. This is trial, a wonderful conces-
sion on the part of the Roman " Catholics" of Portugal,
and will not fail to be made the ntostof by their brethren
of the same fold in this Country, whenever the question
of their claims shall be again brought before Podia-
meat.

To the advocates of the claims urged by these peo-
ple, we would put the following plaia question :—Will
your friends, the " Catholics," grant generally to all
Protestants in Popish countries, the same toleration,
the same privileges, which themselves already enjoy
under the Protestant Government in England ? When
they agree to this, their claims will, doubtless, find a
greater number of 'advocates, and perhaps be entitled
to further consideration than they have hitherto de,
served.—But, the cause of that Church is rapidly de-
clining, the eyes of the world have long been open to its
juggling tricks, its hollow pretensions. Man rind in the
present day are too enlightened to be led astray by the
dark-lanthona of Popish infidlibillity. We, therefore,
can have no doubt, that the same spirit which led our
early reformors to throw off the yoke of Papal tyranny,
will induce their descendants, in the present day, to
oppose the least inroad or innovation which these peo-
ple may yet have in view ; fir were they once to ob-
tain that power in the State, which is evidently their
aim and object (as they already possess religious free-
d:an to the fullest extent), adieu to all those bless-
ings which we deri?:e from the REFonmaTtom—f.tre-
well to the civil liberties; of Englishmen, which would
inevitably become absorbed in the darkest abyss of
slavery and intolerance—that the vilest system of
priestcraft, could possibly imagine or devise.

• The word Papist, will sound harsh to the cars of some, the
softer appdlation ROIRdN t'atholie being now generally in use; but
as the former is the term by which thaw people arc designated in our
Statutes and Ilistorical !tweeds, and as we are not willing to allow
their peetensh' to reitholickn, we trii:t v..,2 may be excu:.eil in a
i„d;leetion for ‘La7li:,g persons as well a; things by their right
•

COURT MoURNING.—Strohn CHANor.—The
tikes place this day ; aud
change of Conn Mourning
in another fortnight (Sunday, Feb. I), the it„l,t, agree_
ably to thc notice alreatly bsuctl, oe3 out of Mourning;
making WI duration three mouths.

l'+

Pales 91d

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

FR4NCE.

PARIII, Jar:At—The Committee chosen from among the
members of tbs. French Academy to make a report to the
Minister of the Interior icspectiig the re-organization of the
French theatres, have finished their labour. It is said that
they propose to establish a sit ond Theatre Francois, a se-
cond Theatre d'Opern Comique, and not to allow more than
one theatre for vaudevilles. sail two theatres fur melodrames.
"On the 30th of December, het ervess7 :sad I o'clock the
morning, was found dead tu his elm ober, the Count de Witt-
genstein, Colonel of the Legion of Elohenlobe, in garrison at
Valence. This officer blew out his brains with a pistol, rlairg-
ed with several balls. A few moments before he exec-isle:l
his purpose, he gave some directimis to Ills domestic with his
customary vainness. The motive of this desperate act is not
known.