The Sun.
London, England, 1825-05-16 00:00:00

LETTER

TO 7 HM
Cs MN T HONOURAELE THE EARL OF ELIX)N.

trust I may, without offence, address your
'h.hrdship upon a Bill, which has just passed through one House
iiia.favOlie of what is called Catholic Emancipation, and is likely
se MOD to come before the other !louse, over which your Lord-
ibis) presides, with such peace to yourself and satisfaction to
etas country. Upon a subject so interesting to all orders, not
say as a public but a private interest, penetrating in its conse-
nhaeseees into the very bosom of their families, most men seem
slew -to be conversing round their tables with that freedom
---womb has long been the glory ofplimen, and with feelings
• yrevortion to their seal for welfare of the Church and
-teat.
eitsupening to converse upon it with a legal friend the other
lay. a some eminence in his profession, and, as a private man,
It Ole most affable and conciliatory temper, I was glad to find
rent he continued of the same opinion which he had expressed
te h erne ago, only the more confirmed by the evidence before
ese• venerable Honour, and by the occurrences ever since.—
• r his sanction I venture to offer to your Lordship's conei-
siessit;ma the scheme which, in the balance of his hopes and
feast. upon a question so important, he proposes as most likely
vo lesnove the- apprehensions of the most zealous and conscien-
tious Protestant, and to conciliate the Roman Catholic,
wire is to be conciliated, than all the securities which
-13 1111/ or can be offered, and which appear to him any
thieg but securities under the present circumstances.—As
as edeoeitte for the roost comprehensive toleration, and for
the fair participation of all his fellow Christians and fellow
subjects in the rights and privileges of this United Kingdom,
ke would rejoice to see the spirit which may be said to have
arisen is the reign of his late Majesty, and seems to be ad-
vancing in its career under the present, extend to so consi-
desable a portion of the empire, as the Roman Catholics,
who even imagine themselves to be excluded, without reason,
from the full and entire blessings of the Union. At the same
sinie, as a Protestant, alive to all the dangers which may arise
from an unqualified concession, he is reluctant to admit them
without certain restrictions and exceptions. Of course, by a
law as unalterable as that of the Medes and Persians, the
Throne is to be held for ever sacred and inaccessible to all but
Protestants. To keep it pure and unpolluted from even a
chance of heretical contamination, they who approach .the
nearest to the Throne must also be Protestants. No Catholic
should at any time be eligible to your high and distinguished
office, or to that honour which you share in- common with the
other Members of the Honourable Privy Council, who must
likewise, upon the same principle, be all without exception
Protestants. They, as familiar friends, and walking together
in counsel with his Majesty, ought not to be disturbed in their
harmony and friendship by any conflict of religious opinions
—the most deadly of all conflicts ; and the High Chancellor,
as Keeper of his Conscience, should never be permitted to
usurp that dominion over it, which every good Catholic must
be at all times anxious to attain. Such intimate friends and
counsellors of Ca3sar, like his wife, ought to be as free as pos-
sible from every the least suspicion. Nor, should they
be exposed by temptations, to which they must yield in
proportion to their conscience, by the very force of
their own religious persuasion, to.interfere with the oath
which lie takes at his coronation, or with the pure Protestant
Faith upon which the Royal House of Brunswick holds the
sceptre, and the people have so long enjoyed under its sway—
blessings so pre-eminent both in Church and State.
That these, however, may be preserved inviolate, it is neces-
sary to impose another restriction upon the Roman Catholics,
to quell the apprehensions which have been expressed in so
many of the petitions presented against their claims ; but that
persevering body, if once they are admitted into Parliament, .
should be able by such means of art as, however they may be
despised by others, appear natural to them, as sanctified by the
end, to gain the ascendancy, which they are taught to regard as
a right divine of their religion. Under this predominant in-
fluence, however inconsiderable they might be at first, in com-
parison with the Protestants in both Houses, they yet might
be able by their artifice and intrigue to succeed in passing a
statute to repeal all obstacles to their promotion, even to those
high honours which are proposed still to be denied to them, till
at length by their peculiar zeal, in what they are apt to
imagine the cause of Heaven itself, they may arrive at the
highest of all honours, and, like the Popes whom they are
so ready to follow, while they profess that their kingdom is
not of this world, strive to make this world their kingdom,
and aim to be Princes and Governors in the land. To guard
against this danger, was Mr. Robertson's suggestion to declare
the Catholics ineligible to represent any place in England
or itcotlaud, leaving them free to represent Irish counties
or boroughs, and to sit and vote in the House of Lords. And
this he proposed as a temporary expedient, or a sort of trial,
bow far the 'lrish Catholic Members would be able to be
trusted ; and at a subsequent period, if the Popish influence
were not too strong, to let in the representation of Great Bri-
tain. But, perhaps, the most effectual and satisfactory scheme
to both parties, at least to those Members of either, who in-
dulge not in extremes, would be to allow to the Roman Catho-
hes a free admission at once into both Houses—only with this
proviso, that no one of them, on any account, shall be per-
mitted to vote, or even speak, upon a question which relates,
directly or indirectly, to the rights and interests of the Church.
To this there appears to be only one objection, which must
be fatal to the- theory, as far as it can be proved, that it will
not be easy at all times to put it into practice : the Church and
State are so blended, as not always to allow of a clear distinc-
teen between the rights -and interests of the one and of the
other. This is a part of the subject, therefore, which must
be left to the decision of those who are qualified, like
Y"r Lordship, for such distinctions : if the measure is
good in general, it ought not to be defeated on ac-
insuot of a few particulars which may be corrected, asj
they arise on the spur of the occasion, by the deliberative
wisdom of Parliament. Dr. -Doyle, with his " towering in-
tellect," can draw a clear line of demarkation even between the
tostrporal and spiritual power of the Pope—a line which is by
no mesas so clearly defined to common understandings as the
boundary is of the concerns is the Church and in the State.
As long as TOUT Lordship lives, this boundary can never be
mistaken is one. House, at least, and the Rubicon can never
be past as long as you adhere to the principleh which you have
for so long and glorious a career maintained—of deliberating
maturely that you may be more prompt in action. Others,
'orb° rush to the battle with the temerity of the raw recruit, may
coil this system of deliberation an unnecessary display of
doubts and scruples, but the valour of the veteran in the ger.
vice is ever accompanied with discretion, and the finer shades
et' difference which escape the vulgar gaze are obvious in their
gust proportions to the microscopic eye of the philosopher,
which has been so Asi` exercised to its benefit. It is to that
discernment that the mob* are new looking up for a guide in
tilde momentous crisis—whey it may bp decided in the small

compass of one 13111—whetber the generations to tome are to be
Protestants or Papists.

In the mean time, may I trust to your Lordship's well known
indulgence and good humour, not to consider this suggestion of
a humble individual a.,4 too great a liberty upon a subject where
all, from the highest to the lowest; have so dear and sacred an
interest at stake. • AM ICUS ET INIIIIICORUM.

From the LONDON GAZETTE, May I=i:

Whitehall, May 11, 1825.
The King has been pleased to direct letters patent to be pas-
sed under the Great Seal of that part of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, called Ireland, granting to the
Right Honourable Sir Benjamin Bloomfield, Knight Grand
Cress of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, and to the
heirs male of his body lawfully begotten, the dignity of a Ba-
ron of that part of the said United Kingdom called Ireland, by
the name, style, and title of Baron Bloomfield, of Oakhampton
and Redwood, in the county of Tipperary.

Crown-Office, 211(ly 14-
M EMBE It returned to serve in this present Parliament;
Borough of Beeralston.—The Honourable Percy Ashburn-
barn, of his Majesty's Grenadier Guards, in the ZOOM of the
Honourable Henry I'ercy, deceased.

CIRCUITS OF THE COMMISSIONERS FOR RELIEF

OF INSOLVENT DEBTORS.
SUMMER CIRCUITS, 1825.

MIDLAND CIRCUIT.-11. R. Reynold's, Esq. Chief Cotd-
rnissioner.
Hertfardahire--at Hertford, Monday, June 20.
Essex—at Chelmsford, Tuesday, June 21 ;, at Colchester,
Wednesday, June 22.
Suffolk--at Ipswich and Borough, Thursday, ,Tune 23 ; at Bury
St. Edmunds and Borough, Saturday, June 2b.
Norfolk—at Yarmouth, Tuesday, June 28; at Norwich and
City, Thursday, June 30; at Lynn, Illonday..lttry, 4.
Cambridgeshire—at Ely, Wednesday, July 6 ; at Cambridge
and Town, Thursday, July 7.
Northamptonshire—at Peterborough, Saturday, July 9.
Huntingdonshire—at Huntingdon, Monday, July 11.
Bedfordshire—at Bedford, Thursday, July 14.
Northamptonshire—at Northampton, Saturday, July 16.
Leicestershire—at Leicester, Monday, July 18.
Staffordshire—at Lichfield, Wednesday, July 20. •
Shropshire—at Shrewsbury, Thursday, July 21.
Staffordshire--at Stafford, Saturday, July 23.
Warwickshire—at Coventry, Wednesday, July 27 ; at War-
wick, Thursday, July 28.
Buckinghamshire—at Aylesbury, Tuesday, Aug. 2.
NORTHERN CIRCITIT.—J. G. Harris, Esq. Commissioner.
Rutlandshire, at Oakham, Monday, June 13.
Nottinghamshire, at Nottingham and Town, Tuesday, June 14.
Derbyshire, at Derby and Borough,- Thursday, June 16.
Lincolnshire, at Lincoln and City, Saturday, June 18.
Yorkshire, at Wakefield, Mondy, June 20 ; at Kingston-upon-
Hull, Saturday, June 25 ; at York and City, Monday, June
,°7 • at Northallerton, Thursday, June 30.
-
Durham, at Durham, Friday, July 1.
Northumberland, at Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Town, Mon-
day, July 4; at Berwick-on-Tweed, Wednesday, July 6.
Cumberland, at. Carlisle, Thursday, July 7.
Westmorland, at Kendal, Saturday, July 9.
Lancashire, at Lancaster, Monday, July 11; at Liverpool,

Tuesday, July 19.
Cheshire, at Chester and City, Friday, Jully 22.
SOUTHERN CIRCUIT—W. J. Law, Esq., Commissioner.
Berkshire—at Reading and Borough, Monday, June 13.
Oxtbrdshire—at Oxford and City, Tuesday, June 14.
Gloucestershire—at Gloucester and City, Thursday, June If,.
Worcestershire—at Worcester and City, Saturday, June 11.
Herefordshire—at Hereford and City, Monday, June 20.
Monmouthshire—at Monmouth, \1 ednesday, June 22.
Somersetshire—at Bristol, Friday, June 24 ; at Bath, Mon-
day, June 27; at Taunton, Wednesday, June 29.
Devonshire—at Exeter and City, Friday, July 1.
Cornwall—at Bodmin, Monday, July 4.
Devonshire—at Plymouth, Wednesday, July 6.
Dorsetshire —at Dorchester, Saturday, July 9.
Wiltshire—at it;alisbury, Monday, July 11.
Hampshire—at Winchester, Wednesday, July 13 ; at South-
_ .

ampton, Thursday. July 14. ..
Sussex—at Horsham, Saturday, July lfl.
Kent—at Dover, Tuesday, July 19; at Maidstone, Thursday,
July 21.