The Sun.
London, England, 1839-07-17 00:00:00

say 97,000 places of worship in which the sacrifice
of the new law was daily offered up to the glory
of God, and in expiation of the sins of the
people, for these chantries and chapels had some
one, two, or three priests attached to them. A young
gentleman who is lately become an awful theologian,
Mr. Gladstone of Liverpool, said that nobody knew
that fact excepts me ; he supposed, of course, that what
be did not know nobody else could.—(A laugh.) I
took no notice of the remark at that time, but I now
tell him here, that he will find it not in a Catholic
authority alone, hut I refer him to a Protestant
one, Sir Robert Atkin, the author of the " History of
Gloucestershire," and who, it is said, spent thirty years
of his life in ecmpletiog that great work. Another
`authority is the Rev. Alban Butler, the author of the
" Lives of the Saints,"and for whose authority all whohave
read his works must have A profound respect.—( Hear,
hear.) Even the infidel Gibbon said of it that it was
work of extraordinary merit : that its learning and good
sense was the author's own, its prejudices those of his
profession. I take the compliment even from Gibbon,
and I mention the authority now just to show Mr.
Gladstone that he does not understand the history of
the Catholics, and next to remind you that there was
trot one of the great churches that have been enume-
rated that had not a person in the capacity of
schoolmaster to administer gratuitous instruction
and education to the poor. The Reverend Mr. Sisk
has told you that there were upwards of six
hundred convents. I have a return of them
when they were confiscated by Henry VIII., and I find
they amounted to 150,0001. of our present money ; and
as money was at that time ten times more valuable than
it is now, that made it equal to 1,500,0001. a year. Tee
people of England would have had all that money for
the purposes of education and charity to this day, for
each of these monasteries had schools attached to them.
I am glad I said convents instead of monasteries, for it
reminds me that there were also 400 convents,in which
the nuns had their schools. Besides what was the situa-
tion in which, ducation stood before the Reformation
That was the palmy state of religion, when the foul and
fatal passions of an abominable Monarch stepped in to
overturn it. We are told that—
" Love first taught Henry to be wise,
And Gospel light shone through Boleyn's eyes."

(Laughter.) To be sure, the light did not shine very
long. The unfortunate and ill-fated woman dressed
herself in all her costly ornaments, when she heard of
the death of the sainted Catherine, but before a fortnight
the foal monster had made her a corpse. And the
bigots that assail us, where do they trace the source of
this pious reformation ? Why to the monster who
loved, and then struck to death—to the man who
affected scruples of conscience, and dealt with his wives
as the fabled Bluebeard. Let there be no more said, then,
upon this subject, for it is painful to talk of these enor-
mities and crimes. But I am guilty of no excess—l
talk nothing but silent sober history, and if I were si-
lent, the trumpet of history has already blazoned these
facts to the world.—( Hear, hear.) We are told, for-
sooth, that education belongs to the conscience of the
State. Then Mr. Gladstone has found out that the
State has a conscience. The State's conscience is a
very comical thing.—(A laugh.) First in the reign of
Henry the Eighth, when he got the title of Defender of
the Faith, the State conscience. was Catholic. Then
when he declared himself the head of the Church,
and recognised the Six Articles, which included
the seven Sacraments, the State conscience became a
mongrel thing, half Protestant and half Catholic—half
Protestant, because he threw off the Pope ; and half
Catholic, because he retained the seven Sacraments.
I wish Mr. Gladstone, who is a very clever young man,
was thereto decide what the State conscience then was.
—(A laugh.) I recollect seeing a caricature of the late
Duke of York, who was born Bishop of Osnaburgb,
dressed in the lawn sleeves and mitre of a prelate, and
on the other side a cocked hat, and the uniform of a
field officer.—(Great laughter.) Such, I suppose, would
have been the State conscience of that part of the reign of
Henry VIII. Then came Edward VI., who threw
overboard the Six Articles, and introduced forty-two
instead of them. Poor child, he was as Calvinistic as
could be desired, for h.s masters were Calvinists. He
passed away, and was followed by the unfortunate
Mary ; and would to God we could blot her name out
of the History of England. I know some palliatives
have been offered for the rebellions and insurrections by
which she was assailed ; but I enter upon no defence of
her—she persecuted and left a stain upon Catholicity
in England, which it is impossible to wipe away, even
with our tears.—( Hear, hear.) But recollect that
it was a Spanish friar, Cardinal and Archbishop of
Canterbury, who opposed the bloody Statute—
Doo Alphonso De Castrea, who was the confessor of
Philip. He preached a sermon in the presence of the
King and Queen, denouncing the persecution as incon-
sistent. with the spirit, and even the text, of Holy
Writ ; and so powerful was it, that he actually de-
layed the issuing of the edict for over five weeks, and
he then fled England ; and this Spanish friar was the
man who sacrificed his Coart interest to his conscience.
—(Cheers.) Then came the reign of Queen Elizabeth ;
and what was the State conscience then ? I don't know
what was the domestic consci‘ tice—( A laugh)—but I
know that she had great worldly glory. I have seen
her in history, and in those pageants, when,
having got the people cf Engl aid surrounding
her, and the leading gentry her slaves, while the test
of Europe was incapale of touching her flag wherever
it flew. I know all this, and I know that female
reigns are often the most triumphant—(Hear)—and I
trust we are at the beginning of one now.—(Loud and
continued cheering.) But I have followed Elizabeth to
the bed of sickness and death, and I have seen that
mighty monarch afraid to go kick to the bed from
whence she had fled for a week, because she imagined
that there was fire and flames there instead of bed
e!othes, and I have seen her spending the lest
four days of her life in an agony, I hope of
repentance, but I know of terror and of bitterness.
Oa, the State conscience varied from 42 to 39 Articles,
for three of them were sent to the winds, and more of
them were altered during that reign, as the phantasy of
the Queen dictated during foreign threats and domestic
dissensions—all was unstable—the only thing in which
she was consistent being her persecution of the Catholics.
Then came the driveller James 1., who was half Papist
and half Protestant ; and then Charles I. What was his
State conscience? I believe if he had not been in-
volved in misfortunes he would not have erred much,
for he was good natured. 'Charles 11. persecuted the
Protest lets. But turning froth these matters, I ask you
scriou: ly if you once lay down the principle that education
is to be guarded and regulated by the State conscience
;Is it is called, what would become of England ?
(llcer, hear.) Has not almost every State conscience
varied up and down like the keys of a piano, and must
not the public ha-mony be disturbed by these discordant
movements of the State conscience, which is thrust for-
ward as if it had a body to be killed, or a soul to be
damned ?—( Hear, and laughter.) I have shown you
that in Catholic times education has abounded ; and I
have shown you that since the Reformation it has
shrunk acd dwindled away. At Oxford they plundered
the libraries of the Bishop of Durham, and the
B:shop of Worcester. What has become of them ?
There was cot a book remaining, except one or two
bought up by a grocer, who had better taste than the
Reformation Society, and who preserved them for lite-
ralure, so that they remain relics of antiquity. If be-
fore the Reformation education existed in the land, the
funds for that education were taken away at the Re-
ormation. Ti e State and the Church were alike ne-1
gligent of education. Have we not then a right to
cone forward and to claim for all—not for Catholics
alone, but for the Protestant Dissenters—for every
class—the right to be free from the control of the State,
in the :management of their religious: education ?
( Hear, hear, and Cheers.) Have not the Catholics
a right to demand this ? How many are we? We
sue 7,000,000 in Ireland.—(Cheers.) They shy we
are at least 2,000,000 in Great Britain. I believe that
is not exaggerated. In Liverpool we are 100,000 ; in
Manchester, 70 or 80,000 ; however, say only a mil-
lion and a half—we are 8,500,000. What other per-
suasion has so many attached to it ? Not the Pres-
ba tcrian, they are only 3,000,000 ; not the Wesleyan
Methodists, they are but 1,000.000 ; not the Esta-
blished Church, they have but 7,000,000. And when
one talks of the Established Church, I know a most
respectable family in Dublin, stated to belong to the
Established Church—the eldest daughter frequents the
D,,rbyites (we understood) ; the other the Calvinists ;
the third the Established Church—the ,father does not
go anywhere—reminding me of Paddy's description of
a " bitter good Protestant,"(which in Ireland means an
Orangeman)—" He ates meat of a Friday—hates the
Papists—and goes nowhere of a Sunday."—(Laughter
and cheers.) Have not we a fair claim for our propor-
tion of the State education aid ? Look to the institutions
valuable to the present generation, and tell me which
you do not owe to your Catholic ancestors ? Is it the
judicial system ? Catholics instituted the Sheriffs,
(which by the bye were originally elective)—the County
Courts—the Magistracy, who in Catholic times were
none of them paid, and there were none of those
forms interposed which now render it so
difficult to punish a Magistrate for 'exceeding his duty.
Tl:e Catholic Magistrates must have been right, in form
and substance, ere he could have touched the hair of an
Englishman's head. There were then no station-houses
to trundle people into for nothing.—(Laughter and
cheers.) The Catholic Magistrates' laws were rigorous
e lough fcr the State, at the same time perfectly pre-
tectiTo; to the people. Above all, Catholics established
the trial by jury—the only natural and effective pro-
tection of the British people.__( Cheers.) Our English
Catholic ancestors, too, formed our hereditary mo-
narchy, and introduced the principle of representation, not
nominal, but real, representation. Our Catholic ancestors
it was, who built our churches,—and filled our church-
yards,—and
ancestorsour swplhenn did
introducedcathedral s
Chit
s,t
ittnsvi
tass,
our Catholic
among us—(Loud cheers)—our Catholic ancestors gave
us all that is valuable in law—all that islinerwfennrtnd the f
social frame—all that is ennobling in t
God—Christianity itself was brought into this
counptrov
by a poor monk. Oh, we owe all to our Catholic ancestors 1
(Immense cheering) and, forsooth, these John

Wesleyites come out upea us and say we shall not be
educated ! It. is the old spirit still alive. Oh !do
you know how your Catholic ancestors were perse-
cuted ? How there were penal laws for not going to.
Protestant churches, and for not having their children
baptised by Protestant clergymen, and against the hus-
band, when the wife went to mass,—and against the
father who sent his child abroad for education—
and how then was the gallows and the scaffold'
erected for them,—and the cutting up alive, and the
embowelling before death,—and the tearing the hearts
of the still writhing victims ! Oh let me give
you one instance—it is that of John Houghton.
This holy prior was the first person who was publicly
executed during the arbitrary reign of Henry VIII., for
refusing to take the oath of Supremacy, as framed by
the King and Parliament. He was, together with Fa-
ther Humphrey Middlemore, the procurator, ordered to
he immediately confined in the Tower p:ieon, where they
lay for one month. . . • At
this juncture, Robert Lawrence, the worthy prior of
Beau Ville, arrived in London, and within two days
more, Augustine Webster, a monk of Shene, and prior
of the house of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin
Mary, also visited the metropolis They
were shortly after brought to their trial before
Cromwell, Doctor Latimer, &c. On the 29th of
April sentence of death was passed against them in
the usual form. They were then sent back again to
prison, where they remained five days before they were
executed, during which time they suffered inconceivable
hardships. On the 4th May, 1535, they were taken
from the Tower, and placed on hurdles at full length
on their backs. Dr. Reynolds, and the Vicar of
Th;atleworth, now Isleworth, were :Aso in like manner
drawn with them to the place of execution. Upon
their arrival at Tyburn, the holy prior Houghton
was first taken from off the hurdle ; the execu-
tioner then knelt down and asked his . for-
giveness ; he kindly embraced him, and offered
up his prayers for hint, and also for every one
then present. After this he was desired to ascend the
ladder, which he immediately did, and was attached to
the gallows by a thick r,:pe, which it was imagined
would not produce strangulation as soon as a thin
cord: ...... At the conclusion of [his]
prayer the ladder was turned on one side, so that the
holy father was suspended from the gallows ; the rope
was almost immediately cut, and he fell to the ground
while yet alive. As he began to revive, they dragged
him to a short distance, and, stripping off his clothes,
commenced the work of butchery ; they ripped him up,
tore his heart and entrails from his body, and threw
them into the fire. The blessed man not only uttered
no complaints in the midst of his torments, but, on the
contrary, prayed incessantly until his' heart was torn
out, and conducted himself with patience, mildness, and
tranquillity more than human. When lie was at tho
point of death, and almost disembowelled, he exclaimed
with fervour—" Most holy Lord Jesus, have mercy
upon me in this hour." And credible persons, who
were present at the execution, have affirmed that
when his heart was extracting, he uttered—" Good
Jesus, what will ye do with my heart ?" and then
expired. His head was separated from his body,
which was afterwards divided into quarters, and thrown
into a cauldron to be purboiled ; these quarters were
again subdivided, and fixed up in different parts of the
city, One arm was nailed to the wall over the entrance
into the monastery ; it soon after fell down and was
carefully concealed by the monks, who buried it in a
cave together with the bloody hair shirt in which he
suffered, and a written account of the circumstances
attending his execution, with the intention of forward-
ing the whole, as soon as any opportunity offered,
to a convent of their order on the continent. Thus
died the good Prior, in the fortv-eight year of
his age, and in the fifth of his Priorship." Is it in
England that these atroities took place ?—(Cries of
" Hear, hear.") Yes, this was the first victim to the
Reformation ; and numbers were executed in the same
manner, both Catholics and Protestants, in the reign of
Henry VIII., Cranmer passing sentence on them all.—
(Loud cries of " Oh, oh.") Here is another instance—
it is that of ten monks of the Charter House (which was
originally a Carthusian Priory)—it is taken from Maurice
Chancey, Arnold Florentius, and other ancient authorities.
After every means which dissimulation, hypocrisy, op-
pression, and cruelty could invent, had been ineffec-
tually resorted to, in order to induce the pious inmates
of the Charter-house to resist the dictates of their con-
sciences, subscribe to the oath of supremacy, and, in
fine, acknowledge the lawfulness of all the King's pro-
ceedings, ten, whom it was judged impolitic to put pub-
licly to death, were dragged, towards the end of May,
1.537, from their convent, and committed close prisoners
to Newgate. Of these three were Priests, Richard
Bird, Thomas Johnson, and Thomas Greens, one was
a Deacon, John Davy ; and six were Lay Brothers,
William Greenwoode, Thomas Scryven, Robert Salt,
Walter Peereson,Thomas Reedyng, and William Horne.
It was the King's intention to destroy them privately,
by severe treatment ; and to effect his purpose they
were confined, with their hands tied behind them, to
the walls of their dungeon ; so that they could in no
way render any service to each other, or even e.a-
s;st themselves. All communication with them was
strictly forbidden, and their prison was rendered insup-
portable by the stench and filth which surrounded
them.

persecuted men were able to bear such inhuman treat-
ment I cannot learn ; but it appears from the following
letter, written by Thomas Bedyll, and addressed to
Cromwell, that several were already dead by the I4th
of June :
" My very good Lord, after my moost hartie commen-
dations, it shall please yor Lordship to understand that the
monks of the Charterhouse here at London, which were
committed to Newgate for traitorous behavor lung time
continued against the King's Grace, be-aimoost dispeched
by th' and of God; as it may appor to you by this b;11 in-
closed. Whereof considering their behavor and the hole
mater, I am not sory, but wolde that al suche as love not
the King's Highness and his worldly honor wer in like
case: . . . . From London, the xiij day June.
" By yor Lordship's, at Commandment,
"THOMAS BEDYLL.
" Tiler be Departed—Brother William Greenwoode,
Rcv. John Davye, Brother Robert Salt, Brother Walter
Peereson,Tht .
r he
even Thomas
at the
Greene.
poyn tc f
detbe—Brother Thomas
Scryven, Brother Thomas Reddyug.
" There by sycke—Rev. Thomas Johnson, Brother
Thomas Redyng.
One is hole—Rev. Bird."--( Hear, hear.)
In the reign of Edward the Vlth., six Anabaptists
Were condemned by the Archbishop • to be burnt to
death—(Hear. hear, hear)—and they were accordingly
executed. In Miss Agnews' admirable work, " Ge-
raldine, a Tale of Conscience,' there is a collection of
penal Acts of Parliament against Catholics, from which
I will quote. " Act passed in.l.s6S—any person re-
conciling another to the Church of Rome, shall hive
judgment, suffer and forfeit as in ease of high treason.
All Jesuists, seminary, and other Priests remaining in
England, or entering the Kingdom after 40 days, shall
for this offence be adjudged as a traitor and shall
suffer, lose and forfeit, as is cases of high treason.
Receiving or relieving such a person shall be felons, :
cud sending money or relief to such penons shall be
punistrable with transportation and forfeiture of pro-
perty. Any one knowing where a Jesuit is, in the king-
dom, and not discovering it, shall furfeit 200 marks."
" Whet a prize they would have to-day" (said the Hon.
and Learned Gentleman, looking expressively towards
a particular part of the platform, whither also the eyes
of the audience were directed, amidst great laughter.)
" Statute passed in 1581.—Any person sa)ing or wil-
fully hearing mass shall forfeit 200 marks, (that
is, 133/. 6s. Bd.) and suffer t.velvemonths' impri-
sonment, and it shall be treason to be re-
conciled to the Romish religion, and all eiders
shall suffer as for misprision of treason." Statute also
passed in 1581—" Any person above the age of 16,
not going to church, or usual place of common prayer,
shall forfeit 201. per month ; and should he absent him-
self still, he shall give sufficient sureties for 2001. for his
good behaviour, aud shall so continue until he conform
himself and come to church. And any schoolmaster
who shall not repair to the Established Church shall
forfeit 10/. per month." Statute in 1587—" Any per-
son not getting his child baptized by a lawful Minister
shall forfeit 100/. The sheriff, or other officer, may
break open any house where Popish recuseants may be."
Statute in 1605—" Any person discovering where Mass
was said, shall have his own pardon, and one-third
of the goods, &c., forfeited by attainder." Statute in
1627—" No child to be sent beyond seas without
licence. Any person sending a child to a Papist semi-
nary beyond seas for instruction shall forfeit 100/, and
such child shall be afterwards incapable of inheriting his
estate, or making any purchase. No person to keep a.
school out of the Universities or. Colleges, unless in the
family of a nobleman of the Established Church, under

penalty of 40s. per day." Statute in 1670—" Any
renon p• rmitting meetings in his house, offices, &c.,
for the exercise of religion, shall forfeit 201. Justices
of the peace, constables, &c. are empowered to break
open doors, &c., where they are informed such meet-
ings may be held." Statute in 1700.—" A reward of
1001. for taking and prosecuting a Popish priest or
bishop, for saying mass, or exercising any of his func-
tions. A Popish priest or bishop saying mass, or keep-
ing a school, shall be adjudged to perpetual imprison-
ment." Note.—" So rigidly were all these laws exe-
cuted, that Lord Scroop was in 1626 accused to the
King for conniving at recusancy, inasmuch as he had
only convicted 1,670 Catholics in the East Ridinc, of
Yorkshire.—(Hear, hear.) These were the laws which
changed the people of England from Catholic to Pro-
testant ; these emaciating and barbarous enactments
were the arguments employed to convince the Catho-
lics.-7(Hear, hear.) Now, hear what Parnell, in his
History of the Irish Catholics, records of them. He
says, "That such was the spirit of toleration, that many
English families, previous to the Reformation, took re.
fucre in Ireland, and enjoyed their opinions without
molestation ; and that the Irish Roman Catholics
were the only sect that ever returned to power
without exercising vangeance."—(Loud cheering.)
Here is the evidence of another Protestant histaria:..
Mr. Taylor, a clever man, and one now connected, I
believe, with one of the Evening Papers in London— ,
the author of the Civil Wars in Ireland--he says,