The Sun.
London, England, 1825-05-13 00:00:00

FOR. THE SUN.

ANSWER. to a LETTER., signed " A CATHOLIC," and
addressed to P. V. K., which appeared in THE Sux of
the 16th, on the CATHOLIC QUESTION.
EDITOR—'Phis Catholic sagely observes,
that he suspects me to be the author of .a
Pamphlet, entitled, " An Address to both
Houses of Parliament, on the Catholic Question,
&c. by a Pupil of Vicessimus Knox, and print-
ed by Hatchard anal Son ;" and why does he sus-
.pect me ? because I sign myself P. V. K.
I had chosen for my signature " O'C." I sup-
pose these letters would have been given to
Mr. O'Connell ; that is to say, if the sentiments
contained in them coincided with that gentleman's.
The" Catholic" to whose communication I have
just alluded, says," I dare say the author of the
" above-mentioned pamphlet thinks his reasoning
" excellent, but he is only a pupil." Allow me to
inform this " wise Catholic," that all (save the
blind) are greatly obliged to their pupils; and if
he had made a proper use of his, and impartially
perused the pamphlet which has excited his ire,
he might, perchance, have derived benefit there-
from : but he says,—" it is full of arguments, in
'.which he can see no solidity." To prove the
reverse, I will quote two short passages from that
pamphlet ; it states, that 44 when a change will
" be self-evidently no improvement, it were,
" surely, something worse than folly to desire its
" accomplishment ; so, likewise, when a change
" can do no good, but may .do some harm, t°
" strive focits fulfiltnent, is equally an act of
" the greatest folly that can be imagined."—Let
me ask, is it not thus that the Catholics and their
supporters 'act ? Again, this pamphlet informs
us, that Mr. O'Gorman, in his appeal, mentioned
some of the punishments of the Penal Code ; it
then goes on to say, that these punishments, as
they are called, " are mere restrictions) and lie"
(O'Gorman) 44 does not state, accurately, the
" reasons why these restrictions were ever en-
" acted ; 'no, they are industriously waited
" they were nothing more than these,--da
" roasting, the baking, the grilling of Protest-
ants,--hecause they were • hot Roman Ca'
tholics!!! Is there no solidity in this
how would this " Catholic" like to be used aS
the unoffending Protestants of those days ? lie
says, too, there are questions in that pamphlet
which are not answered, and gives the following
as an example :-44 What would those few Ca.-
tholics do towards alleviating the distressed
Irish ?" The few Catholics here mentioned are
those who would obtain more pOwer by the con=
cesllon of their claims. A few lines after the
last quoted questions is given the reason why it
is not answered, which is. this :—They (the Ca"
tolics) say, that being invested with more power,
will restore Ireland to a state of tranquillity-
" Now," continues time paniphlet 46 that any one
" who allows himself to be governed by his
" two chief Magistrates of man—reason—an"
" common sense—can, for a moment, harbour
" such an extraordinary idea, is surely an. insult
"to the understanding." The following will,
perhaps, be a more satisfactory answer to poor
correspondent, at the saute time, that 'it answer,
one of his three questions, namely, 6' Why • will
not the admission of a few into that assembly %IWO
makes the laws by which the Catholics are go:
verned be of service to the Irish ?" The cause.ot
distress, in Ireland, is the want of employment for
the lower orders of that nation. I should be glad
to know, how the limited number that will be
possessed of more power, by having their claims
granted, can be capable of giving employment t°
the poor ? they cannot : for it is-the landlords_
_,
and the landlords only, that can rescue Pelona_
from her present misery, by giving work to the
poorer classes, and it is too well known to re:
quire proof, that if people are not properly, they
will be ImPttorsKtY employed.—The next cluel
lion is this :—" Why does the desire of politifa
46 power impeach the justice of the law Which
prevents the Catholics from possessing this
" power t" Since it is a law which restrains tn;
Catholics) it is the act of desiring more Pe"
that impeaches its justice ; and that it 15081 /L
have shewn above, in a quotation fromtn.e
pamphlet, when speaking of O'Gorman.--His.
third mad ,last question is," 'Why should g";
" Catholics be admitted to legislate, as well •
" Dissenters, under whatever denomination they
5
" may be ?" The religion of the. Dissent?" I,
not so greatly at variance with the Established
Church :—they invoke not the Virgin Mary's.;
the other Saints they believe, not in the pr
ia
tended miracles of the nineteenth ceutury,--...
fact, they are, generally speaking,a quiet,Tear.,
able, rational people; and if theirreligion
any sensations alien to the doctrine of the
Protestant Church, it is that of melancholy, which
is much more apt to injure the subject it in"''
ences, than any other. The culture of the under-
standing is the best method for propagating _to
Christian religion, in purity, (as the experience
of the middle ages evidently shows, that vvne
learning was ,neglected and ,despised,' the d 1.1:
trines•of Christianity were corrupted
orated) it is the. bast means for rendering tact.
Prince honoured, the Legislator justly commend
ed for his prudent wisdom, and the people haPP,,Y.;
for mental culture, besides. strengthening
g'ie
reasoning faculty, has no incoasidorable inieue.he
in humanizing the feelings and meliorating the
harsh disposition ; consequently, barbarism and
superstition, no longer find their habitation in. the
human breast tenable. And now Sir, I r wePr
your Correspondent, " A CA.THOLJC," is au"'
ed to his, and your readers satisfaction, by
v•
Rarnsgate, April 18, 1825. • and dete.he

** This letter was unluckily mislaid, or it
should have found an earlier insertion. We have
private reasons for not inserting the poetical letter
from this Col respondent.

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