The Sun.
London, England, 1851-03-18 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, MARCH 18, 1851.

and anv other country? I❑ Roman Catholic countries,
Itom in Catholic archbishops and bishops exercised
powers not merely spiritual, their appointment proceeded
from, or at least was rallied by, the temporal .Sovereign
of the State. But, agaio, he found in the rescript this
passage :
" But in the sacred government of clergy and laity, and
in all other things appertaining unto the pastoral office, tb,
archbishops and bishops of England will henceforward en-
joy all the rights and faculties which the other Catholic
archbishops and bishops of other nations, according to the
common ordinances of the sacred canons and apostolic con
stitutioss, use, and may use; and are equally bound by the
obligations which bind the other archbishops. and bishops
according to the same common discipline of the Catholic
Church. And whatever regulations, either itt the ancient

system of the Anglican churches or in the subsequent mis-
sionary state, may have been in force either by special c0,.-
stitutions or privileges or peculiar customs, will now hence-
forth carry no right nor obligation ; and in order that no
doubt may remain on this point, we, by the plenitude of our
apostolic authority, repeal and abrogate all ,power whatso-
ever of imposing obligation or confefring ,right, in those
peculiar constitutions and privileges of whatever kind they
may be, and in all customs, by whomsoever, or at whatever
more ancient or immemorial time brougl4 in. Hence it
will for the future be solely competent for the archbishop
and bishops of England to distinguish whit things belong
to the executions of the common ecclesi4tical law, and
what, according to the common discipline of the church, is
intrusted to the authority of the bishops."
Was there not to be seen in that passage elidence of giving

to the episcopacy power besides and beyontthat which was
purely spiritual? There might, for exantele„be a Roman
Catholic priest holding a certain chapel, and having the
spiritual care of the Roman Catholics in fat district, and
appointed to it before the new Roman Catholic bishops in
this country had received their appointrients. Under the
authority which the Pope gave such prieits might be sus-
pended—they might be excommunicated;' but, supposing a
priest merely suspended, even that paw would be giving
to the Roman Catholic hierarchy not onlia a spiritual, but
an ecclesiastical and civil status with variess rights and pri-
vilege., of a temporal kind. If they attempted to deprive a
priest of a cure of souls and a chapel wide temporal advan-
tages attached to it, he might appeal to the courts of law in
this country to enable him to enforce hit rights. And the
rights which Lord Mansfield held to beloreg to the Protestant
Dissenters would then belong to Roman Catholic priests ;
thus a court of law would be brought' into conflict with
what was called the spiritual sutsdiction of the
Church of Rome, for that epiritua jurisdiction was
manifestly at variance with the law sf England. Now,
he used this argument for the purpole of showing that
so far as a Roman Catholic bishop exere:sed a spiritual juris-
diction, it was a quasi civil jurisdiction and something be-
yond a spiritual jurisdiction—a privilege which could not be
given to any man but by the law of the land; such powers
and privileges could only come from the authority of the-law
or from the favour of the Sovereign. Then they were told
that this being a Protestant country, 110, man Catholic eccle-
siastics would not submit to any authority excepting that of
the Supreme Pontiff; but supposing Celt, were so conceded
for the purpose of argument, and for that purpose only,—
suppose that this country was hound to give them all that I
was desired, it did not follow that hecau.se the law of this
country did not allow a case such as lee had been supposing, ,
the law of Rome would not permit it He begged to refer
the House for a moment to what otheesProtestant States of
Europe had done. In those the Popeeonceded the question
of the appointment of a bishop to a v ey, great extent; and
it appeared to him, that in the recen y-altered state of the ,
law of this country negotiations migh have been opened be-
tween England and the See of Rome tot the purpose of placing
us on the same footing as other Protetant States of Europe.
As the law now now stood on our stttute-book that might
he done.—(Hear, hear.) He would ask was there anything
to prevent the Sovereign of this: country establishing
diplomatic relations with the Pope, riasmuch as an Act had
already been passed for that purpose 21 If the Roman Catho-
lics wanted to have any important thanges made, why did
they not come to Parliament for that , purpose? If they
sought legitimate objects, they shouie pursue them by legal
and constitutional means, and not thy what was called an
insult, though he would not apply to it that term, because
he did not think that any insult wasintemZed ; but what he
maintained was that they had no rig 4 to any civil or tern-
poral jurisdiction; and he did net now inquire whether
that was their object or not; hit rather regarded the
, tendency and probable effect of thee. proceedings. He did
.
not care whether it was intended or not. He looked to I
the result, and he found that. whatever the intention, the
result had been the evasion of the privileges and prerogatives'
of the Sovereign, and an invasion off_ the liberties of a free
and independen't kingdom. The vicars-apostolic had no
enforce the canon law.
sees, no dioceses, and no authority t' j They had nothing but the situp jurisdiction over the
3
members of their own faith. It Ted said that the Roman
Catholic religion absolutely required the establishment of a
regularly constituted hierarchy. Bat no one had established
this position. The Earl of Arundsi, and Sun ey had indeed
said that certain irregularities .whiff . had taken place ren-
dered the appointment of the new bishops necessary. How
far the Noble Earl had stated this of his own knowledge be
did not kuow. But according to the, experience of us all,
the life and conduct of the Romanatholic clergy had been
) exemplary in the extreme—(Chee—and no one had heard
of irregularities on their part.—( .ar. ) Dr. Wiseman let
the truth out. He said the Cs ' ol.cs required a regular
bierarchy because they wanted to introduce the canon law,
and they could not do that as long is they had vicars-apos-
tolic. Dr. Wiseman said nothing of the discipline of the
Church.—(Hear.) Now, had the Roman Catholic religion
declined under the government of vicars-apostolic? The
Papal brief recited, on the contrary, that the members of
the faithful were daily increasing,;and that the Church in
England was in a most prosperous condition. It was clear
that what was wanted was the canon law and synodical
action.—(Cheers.) Did any one desire to see archbishops
and bishops looking to R ,me as tae fountain of jurisdiction,
aid, sitting side by side with the Imperial Parliament,
provincial synods appointed by the see of Rome? lie did
not. We had seen enough of that in the sister country. He
could not forget the Synod of Ihurles—(Cheers)—or the
way in which that synod of ecclesiastics had set itself
in opposition to the enactments, of this and the other Hous
of Parliament. The large sums toted for the establishment
of colleges in Ireland had been received with universal satis-
faction by the gentlemen and laity of Ireland.—(No, no,
and cheers.) But it happened that the see of Rome had
sent to Ireland, and placed in the great archbishopric of Ar-
magh an ecclesiastic who, though an Irishman by name,
was really an Italian monk. Dr.
Cullen was sent to Ireland
by the Pope to prevent the estabishment of these colleges.
Mr. MAURICE O'CONNE-IL—Dr. Crolly was arch-
bishop when the Act was passed for establishing these col-
leges.
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL believed Dr. Crolly was an
assenting party to the passing of the Act.—(Cheers.) But
he unfortunately died, and war succeeded by Dr. Cullen,
who, though an Irishman by nine's,- was to all intents and
purposes an Italian monk. In difiance of the usages of the
Irish Roman Catholic Church Dr. Cullen was elected.
(Oh, oh, and cheers.) The established usage was that the
clergy should send three names tie
the election of the Pope. They Rome upon a vacancy for
e Were also in the habit of
writing against one name the
other dignior, and against the Word diqnus, against the
third dignissimus, which
:'last was usually appointed by the Pope. The Irish clergy
'sent those three names, but thl Pope passed by them all,
and, violating the established image and practice of the
Church, sent Dr. Cullen to IrelanA as Archbishop of Armagh.
—(Cheers.) Dr. Cullen had never exercised pastoral juris-
diction in Ireland before. H
summoned the synod of
Thurles, and, by his casting vote
S
,decided that the Roman
Catholics should not adopt the colleges which were being
established under the provisioni of the Act of Parliament.
Now, was that interference spiritual or ecclesiastical? Did
the people of this country desire to see a synod of this de-
scription sitting in England? Let the House observe that
in our Church we did not permit, the action of convocation,
although it was subject to the control of
the Crown. It was
summoned and presided over by an authority on the part of
the Crown, who had the power to prorogue or to dissolve it,
and in so far as it was composed of bishops and other digni-
taries, appointed by the Crown, a considerable control was
exercised by the Crown over its proceedings. But a synod
of Roman Catholic bishops in this country would be com-
posed of persons over whom the
control, and it would exercise Crown would have no
e power, jurisdiction, and au-
thority in competition, and perhaps in conflict with the
Imperial Legislature.—(Cries of "Hear, hear.") If we
looked abroad did we find these powers and prerogatives ex-
ercised with forbearance ? Look at Belgium, where the
clergy and the State were in conflict upon more subjects
than one—on education among the rest. It was complained
in Belgium that education had been frustrated by the oppo-
sition of the clergy, emanating from the
Court of Rome. In
Sardinia the clergy had made the most immoderate and pre-
posterous pretensions. They had claimed immunity from
the operation of the civil laws, and the Archbishop of Turin
had refused one of the Ministers the sacraments until he had
expressed his deep repentance for the attempt to make eccle-
siastics amenable to the civil laws. Roman Catholics could
not deny, and ecclesiastical history
proved the truth of the
assertion, that the priesthood—not
of the working clergy,
but of the higher order of the Hierarchy _was one of en-
croachment and aggression. What was the intention of this
Bill ? If he turned to the Papal rescript, he found the fol.,
lowing passage :
t. Wherefore. after diligently weighink;
the state of Catho-
licity in England at the time that now
is, and after reflect-
ing
upon the increase which, in various places, is manifest in
the already large number of Catholics, and after considering
how the hindrances which stood in the way of the spreading
of the Catholic faith are daily being removed, we have
judged that the time has come in which the form of eccle-
siasticalin England, which
freely prevails in other countries where no special cause
of the vicars-arostolie.
government may he restored
efelt that
re ufiorrems i
nt
gh et
he xi
st raj ourddgi nmaernyt ministryic
the circumstances
of times and things had rendered the government of the
Catholics of England by vicars-apostolic no longer neces-
sary, and, indeed, that such a change had taken place that
called for the establishment of the ordinary form of episcopal
rule in that kingdom."
These ware to him ominous words. The times aid cir-
cumstances chosen for this act were remarkable. There was
a schism in the Established Church of this country.—
( Hear, hear.) Multitudes, deluded by mediaeval tendencies,
and by a fondness for the picturesque in religion—(A laugh)—
were passing over to that which, if_ not the Roman Catholic
religion, was something uncommonly like it. It was thought
the time had come when a great blow might be struck—
when the contest might be renewed for the prerogatives,
power, advantages, and emoluments of the Church. It was,
therefore, incumbent on the House to be watchful and
wary. Whatever was essential to the exercise of the Roman
Catholic religion, let it be granted, not as a matter of favour,
but of right. But, on the other hand, let them be careful
to allow of no evasion or encroachment upon the law or the
Constitution. lie could not agree with the Hon. and Learned
Member opposite that Par iament ought to wait, and not
to act until the evil became intolerable.--(Hear, hear.) He
said let them take their stand upon the law and Constitu-
tion in the first instance. For in every instance where an
invasion or infraction had once been admitted, it was set up
as a precedent. It was said that the Legislature had per-
mitted the evasion and infraction of the law in Ireland.—
(Hear, hear.) Ireland was undoubtedly an exceptional case.
I.lear, hear, from the Irish Members.) It had a Roman
Catholic population and an established Church which would
not minister to that population.—(Cheers.) It had Roman
Catholic bishops there, by whom the law had been tacitly
evaded. But was there no difference between the manner in
which the law had been evaded in Ireland and evaded in
England? Had there been a cardinal sent to Ireland in flam-
ing attire and wearing the cardinalitial hat to proclaim'the
hulls of the Pope? Yet, because the Government had-al-
lowed the law to be evaded in Ireland, this was put forward
as a reason why no notice should betaken of the evasion of the
law in England. He deeply regretted the necessity of includ-
ing Ireland in this measure. But the state of things had
changed there since the Pope had sent over an ecclesiastic
to govern the country who hid not been nominat. d by the
clergy. What was to hinder him sending over foreign ec-
clesiastics to this country who did not profess to be bound by
our laws, but by the canon law? He had heard it said that
this question ought to have been settled through the inter-
vent.on of the Foreign-office, and that the Noble Lord
(Palmerston) ought to have sent a fleet and an armed
farce to Civita Vecchia. Suppose the question had been
treated in this manner, and that a fleet had bombarded that