The Sun.
London, England, 1851-03-25 00:00:00

THE SUN,

was, however, that no offence had been meant or could
have been meant by the authors of the chenee. Cardinal
Wiseman had solemnly declared that ho had not pub-
lished those documents, and he did not know how they
had reached the public press in this country. But the
documents had been eagerly caught up and made the
basis of a violent religious agitation. In his appeal to
the people of England, Dr. Wiseman had also expressed
the deep regret he should feel at having given offence to
any portion of his fellow-countrymen. What had been
the object of the change which had been so much com-
plained of? Its object had been to establish fur the
Roman Catholics in this country a free national
hierarchy; and let him tell them that Roman Catholics
in England, with the spirit of independence which they
possessed in common with the rest of their fellow-coun-
trymen, wished to have for their religious liberty some
better security than the establishment of vicars-apostolic,
who were the mere creatures and nominees of that
individual wham the First Minister of the Crown would
designate as a foreign prince. That distinguished prelate,
the late Dr. Doyle, Roman Catholic Bishop of
Kildare and Leighlin, had laid down the proper view
to be taken on that subject. Dr. Doyle had stated
in the course of his evidence before a Parliamentary
Committee that there was a material difference between
a vicar-apostolic and a bishop, because a vicar-apostolic
was dependent on the will of the See of Rome; he could
he removed at the pleasure of the Pope; the faculties
which he exercised could bo restricted, limited, or modi-
fi.d; " but that," continued Dr. Doyle, "is nut the case
with us bishops; we cannot be removed at pleasure; our
rights are defined from the Gospel and the canon law;
defined as well as those of the Pope himself; we cannot
be obliged to do anything at the mere good-will or plea-
sure of a Pope." Now, that was the independence
which he (Mr. Sadleir) trusted would never be surren-
dered either by the laity or clergy of the Roman Catholic
Church in these kingdoms. That independence had
lately been conferred by the liberality of Pope Pius IX.
on the Roman Catholics of England; and that independ-
ence they would never, he earnestly hoped, surrender.
The Honourable Gentleman had spoken of the small
number of Roman Catholics in this country. But
it should not be forgotten that there was a large
and a daily increasing Irish Roman Ca-
tholic population in Englund ; and many of those
people employed as labourers in great public works
had hitherto been left lamentably destitute of religious
instruction. He had himself received letters from Irish
Roman Catholics employed on railways in this country,
earnestly supplicating him to use his influence with the
secretaries of companies, for the purpose of obtaining fur
them a removal to some district where they could assist
at the rites and ceremonies of their religion, and ex-
pressing their readiness in that case to take half the
amount of wages they had previously obtained. But it
had been said that that measure had been called fur by
public opinion. Now, he had reason to know that there
were multitudes of Protestant clergymen, both in this
conntry and in Ireland, who looked with the utmost scorn
and contempt at the hubbub which had convulsed this
country. He should, however, take that opportunity of
frankly acknowledging that he did not think the appoint-
ment of a cardinal in England had been at all called for.
He should also admit that the language used in those I
Papal de cuments had displayed gross ignorance of the
feelings and prejudices of the English people; and he held
that every man ought as much as possible to shape his
conduct so as to defer to the religious feelings of his fel-
low-citizens. He should further say that so far as the
feeling of the people of this country upon the subject
evinced an opposition to foreign aggression and a deter-
mination to resist the interference of a foreign power in
their temporal concerns, he respected that feeling, and
he believed that it was natural and honourable to them.
But the majority of the speeches delivered in favour of
that Bill seemed to him to be better adapted for the audi-
ences which usually attended conventicler, than for a
grave and deliberative assembly like the House of Com-
mons. The Roman Catholics had been accused by the
Noble Lord of a blind obedience to the Pope. But they
paid him no such obedience, and the calumny was one
which had long ago been refuted. The Noble Lord had
further said that the establishment of a hierarchy had
not been called for by the Roman Catholic laity of this
country. lie should like, however, to kuowthe Noble Lord's
authority for that statement. He (Mr. S.) believed that
the Roman Catholics of this country, as freemen and as
Englishmen, desired the establishment of a hierarchy
among them. The Noble Lord had also stated that the
Roman Catholic laity were anxious for this Bill as a
protection against the intolerance of their own clergy.
The conciliatory Prime Minister seemed to think that
he had interfered to keep the peace between the Roman
Catholic clergy and laity. Now that appeared to him
(Mr. Sadleir) to be a most extraordinary assumption on
the part of the Noble Lord. He should add, that a
Minister of State could not possibly commit a greater
error than by saying or doing anything which could
lead to a diminution of those feelings of attachment,
fidelity, and confidence which happily bound together
the Roman Catholic clergy and laity in these kingdoms.
He felt convinced that as a body the Romsn Catholics
of England not only did not call for that Bill, but that
they abhorred the principle upon which it proceeded.
The Noble Lord had alluded to the conduct of the Pope
in selecting Dr. Cullen to fill the primatial chair in Ire-
land, and to the course taken by the Synod of Thurles.
He (Mr.Sadleir) should, therefore, briefly refer to those
subjects. The appointment of Dr. Cullen—whom the
Hon. and Learned Member stigmatised as an Italian
monk—had been made the subject of censure. But
what was the mode in which such appointments were
made? On the death of an archbishop in Ireland, either
one or two months after, the Catholic parochial clergy
select throe names to he 1,,,,•nn,0-nonrinel to
the Holy See. It es-. always nes practice for the bishops
of the province to consider the three names, and express
their opinion with reference to the respective merits of
the individuals, and upon that the Holy See proceeded
to nominate to the vacancy. On the death of Dr.
Crolly, the predecessor of Dr. Cullen, as primate,
the parochial clergy of the archdiocese of Armagh
selected three names, and the bishops of the province
assembled to consult as to the relative merits of the
three individuals, but could not agree as to the recom-
mendation which they should make. In this unusual
state of things it was the manifest duty of the Holy See
to make such a selection as would not give to any party
an unseemly triumph; to make a selection in accordance
with the national feeling of the Irish Roman Catholics,
and consistent with the independence of the national
Church. He was not at liberty to state in Parliament
the pains taken by the Holy See to make such a selec-
tion, but he was at liberty to say that greater efforts
could not have been used to ascertain the feelings of the
Irish hierarchy, or those of the most eminent and influ-
ential members of the Catholic laity. And who was the
man selected ultimately; who was Dr. Callen? The
Hon. and Learned Member for Southampton had called
him an Italian monk; but ho was a native of Ireland,
and to his certain knowledge had a large and more in-
fluential circle of relations than any other member of
the Catholic hierarchy, having received his earliest
education in the county of Kildare, then proceeding to
college at Carlow, and afterwards to the Continent to
complete his theological studies. Then they found him
chosen to preside over the Irish ecclesiastical estab-
lishment at Rome—a position always held by some
distinguished Irishman, and one in which he acted as
the accredited agent at Rome of the Catholic hierarchy
in Ireland, and that hierarchy had always evinced a jus•
tifiable jealously of anything approximating to ecclesias-
tical aggression from Rome. Much had been said as to
the attitude assumed by the Synod of Thurles with re-
spect to the educational scheme of the Government. He
was most anxious to see the system of education pre-
scribed for the Queen's Colleges flourish and expand in
Ireland.—(Hear, hear.) But in the same propor-
tion as his anxiety for their success was his regret that
the innocent blundering of the Government had failed
to compose those differencesand allay those doubts which
had prevented
tn
been.
from
Tbeing a s
disapproval usefulon
they otherwise might
the part of the Holy See was somewhat qualified; for
thteheQuheieenra'sreChoyllewgeevse adsivaidt
edprien-
os itepniwnt constituted.
s andtitli the disapprovalod w. w were Butroef their differences
antdo
tbilee,r
amjhoosveidt ?
By an appeal to a superior authority,
bishops
was the Holy See.
roen owuas cadas
taot t
thee Synod
mode
were patiently and caTrehfeulrleyasevoelsghofetha7 variousßom e, cl th
decision
deosf,tahoedlLoolygoS
out. That synod was convened for very different and discipline by which that decision was to be eatrried
ob-
jects from those which the Noble Lord would have led
eesetiownasthper
the House to believe; and if the Noble Lord had read
the syllabus of the 29 or 30 leading subjects for discussion
at the synod, he would see that they did not relate to tem-
poral matters. With regard to the observations which had
been made on the allusion in the address of the synod
to the sufferings
of the p oor he asked w
would not have been disgraced in the eyes of ether y
eir fel-
low-countrymen if
, hthe
they had separated without any allu-
sion to the existence of such fearful wretchedness and
suffering? The Noble Lord at the head of the Govern-
ment bad said that he never read a document more cal-
culated to excite hatred in the minds of the tenantry;
but there was nothing in it more forcible than the touch-
ing address of the Catholic bishops to Lord Clarendon,
in which they appealed to him as the representative of
the Government to take into his anxious consideration
the alarming sufferings of the poor. They were not
rebuked on that occasion, and Lord Clarendon said he
held it to be the first duty of a Government to save the
lives of the people. It was in Ireland that the force and
efficacy of this Bill would be most severely tested, and
he begged to call the attention of the Hon. and Learned
Member for Windsor (Mr. Hatchell) to the opinion of
Mr. O'Hagan, the Queen's Counsel in Ireland, who said
that, as ho understood the discipline of the Roman Ca-
tholic Church in Ireland, the provisions of this Bill
would be wholly inconsistent with the free action and
practical existence of the Roman Catholic hierarchy.
That opinion was corroborated by the opinions of other
distinguished men at the Irish bar. He protested against
the recitals of the preamble, which, incorporated with
the first, and now only section, would give that secttiohne
a potency and operation which it would not otherwise
have, and entitle the statute to be ranked with those
measures which had been described by Burke as
ferocious acts of faction.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. H. BERKELEY regarded the Papal bull as an
aggressive insult on the supremacy of the Queen, whether
temporal or spiritual, and he considered an Act of Par-
liament necessary both to express the opinion of the
people of England and to prevent, if possible, the recur-
rence of the offence. The measure itself was certainly
one of very light construction, and contained not one jot
of religious persecution. The Noble Lord at the head
of the Government had taken a very judicious course,
steering clear of the bigotry of Exeter Hall, and equally
avoiding the doke,far niente course of the Right Hon.
Baronet opposite, the Member for Ripon.—(Hear, heir,
e.ne laughter.) The Church of Rome had been waiting
for tl,e test t;:•11 a with wen moisth neping the'. tile
Church of England would fall into it of her own accord,
and now the Pope had given the tree a shake, hoping to
bring down the unripe fruit.—(Renewed laughter.) No
one could have listened to the first speech of the Noble

LONDON,

Lord the Member for Bath without coming to the con-
clusion that the Papal aggression was owing to Puseyism.
There were two words more met with throughout
England now than any others in the English vocabu-
lary, and those were Puseyism and Popery, and the
first was.even less popular than the last. People, in fact,
looked upon Puseyism as standing in the same
position to Popery as the grub did to the butterfly
—(Laughter.) It was the chrysalis which had nothing
to do hut to cast its skin and expand its wings aed forth-
with it became Popery itself. Looking at the quotation
made by the Noble Lord from the writings of Cardinal
Wiseman, which might bo called Wiseman on Puseyism,
one could not come to any other conclusion than that in
1841 Dr. Wiseman contemplated an union of the Church
of England with the Church of Rome. If Dr. Wiseman
thought so in 1841, what conclusion must he not have
arrived at after seeing the effect for ten years of the en-
couraging symptoms of the disease? They now saw
Sisters of Mercy and Popish attire in their streets, and
wherever the Puseyite fungi had arisen the good old
Protestant terms of morning and evening service had
been changed to matins and vespers. These things
were common in London, and he had seen them in
Bristol—he knew also that they existed in Manchester
and Liverpool. Was it, then, to be wandered at if the
Pope entertained a strong opinion that the English
Church was about to forsake its errors? The Arch-
bishop of Canterbury himself could not have done more,
he hoped he would not do less, under similar circum-
stances, than the Pope had done. Suppose an intimation
was convoyed to Lambeth Palace that in the Roman Ca-
tholic Cathedral of SaGeorge the candlesticks had been re-
moved, the font for holy water overthrown, the mysterious
bell had ceased to ring, and the priests had put away
their splendid lace garments, and adopted surplices,
what conclusion oould the Archbishop of Canterbury
come to but that Dr. Wiseman was fast approaching the
Church of England? and could they blame the Arch-
bishop if he put forth his holy crook, seized Dr. Wise-
man by the red leg, and endeavoured to lug him into
the Protestant sheep- fold ?—(Hear and a laugh.) Thou
look at the manner in which the appointment of these
bishops was received. Dr. Ullathorne, using language
that would be considered almost blasphemous it used
by a Protestant, said, " it would seem as if Christ had
burst a second time from the tomb." But when the
whole country, of all sects and denominations, rose and
expressed its opinion unmistakeably, then the bishops
discovered their mistake and made a humble apology.
It aapeared to him that there was much less danger
to the Church from open undisguised aggression, than
when they found holy men and women locked in
each other's embraces when they found the Bishop
of Exeter paying domiciliary visit.; to a fair devotee
in the west of England, and passing encomiums,
recommendations, and admiration on the lady
superioress—where ?—among beads and rosaries,
and relics, and crosses, and other symbols of
the Church of Rome. When they saw all that, he would
say that there was danger to the Church of England,
and he regretted to say from the apostacy of her sons.—
(Hear, hear.) The great distinction between the Pro-
testant and the Roman Catholic religion was, that the
Protest ant religion interfered with and supervised the
affairs of the Church, while the Roman Catholic trusted
everything to the priests.—(Hear, hear.) The question
was, had enough been done? The people of England
said no.—(hear, hear.) They called upon the Noble
Lord to act up to the spirit of his letter, and with one
voice they called for a reform of the Church of Eng-
land. Ile did not think this was the time to mince mat-
ters, and he charged the Bishops of London, of Glouces-
ter, and of Exeter, with having a tendency more or less
to the tenets and practices of the Church of Rome. He
saw, looking towards the Speaker's chair, a golden le-
gend emblazoned in the arms of England, "Dieu anion
droit," and he was reminded by it that the present was
the moment for laying party feelings and differences
aside, and for calling on the Ministers of the Crown to
aid them in standing by the Queen in the name of God
and her rights.—(Hear, hear.)
Sir J. YOUNG said the measure proposed by the
Government was opposed by many intelligent and in-
fluential people in that country; and it was opposed by
millions of Roman Catholics in Ireland. Then, with
regard to the other great bodies, the Presbyterians and
the Protestants of Ireland, let the House consider for a
moment what their opinions were. The Hon. Gentle-
man near him, in a maiden speech a few evenings pre-
viously, said that the province of Ulster was unani-
mously in favour of the measure. That might be;
but nothing that had reached him could lead him to the
belief that that statement was well foundedt—(Hear,
hear.) With regard to the organs of public opinion
in that province, he found that the representative
of the opinions of the Presbyterians—a paper of
high commercial character and respectability in Bel-
fast, and the representative of the Protestant Demo-
cracy of Ulster, had both declared against the
present legislation. There had been a large meeting
in the town of Belfast of noblemen and gentlemen who
had struggled against the Emancipation Bill of 1829,
who told the Protestants of Belfast that the same
ruin was pending over the people of England that
had for many years afflicted the Protestants of Ireland.
But, notwithstanding there were 50,000 or 60,000 Pro-
testants in and about Belfast, the room in which the
meeting was held was not at any time half full. Then
let it be observed that the petitions emanating from the
Presbyterians were always drawn up as from the minis-
ters, elders, and congregation ; but it so happened that
not a single petition had been presented in favour of
the measure from a Presbyterian congregation of the
province of Ulster. He believed the general opinion
among that class—and it was coincided in by many Pro-
Laes-ete--aae tn., they looked not with favour, but
with dislike and suspicion on the step that had been
taken by Cardinal VV iceman, or those by wnom no was
instigated ; but they looked with apprehension at the
consequences of the present agitation, and were by no
means in favour of it. His opinion of the step was
fact= vault fieri non dehet. With regard to the mea-
sure itself, as it came originally from the brain of its
author, it could scarcely be looked upon as any addi-
tion to those safeguards which the energies
of the people and tho wisdom of Parliament
had raised around their liberties. Instead of
being a defence, he believed it would be a breach in
those liberties, to which a vast multitude of the people
were opposed. Any measure which did not extinguish
the spirit of opposition was sure to call forth further
opposition. It was impossible to expect that the pre-
sent measure would be effectual to extinguish opposition
If the measure was right the fear of opposition should
not of course prevent them passing it ; bat if it were not
justified by necessity then the attempt to enforce it
would be found to lead to uselesss and exciting contests.
—(Hear, hear.) That was a greater danger than any
that could be apprehended to their liberties. They had
been told that the doctrines of the Roman Catholic
Church were still the same—that none of them were
abandoned. He dared to say that if any of the Protes-
tants of that country went to a Roman Catholic eccle-
siastic or a Roman Catholic layman, and said that the
spirit of that religion was altered and its doctrines mo-
dified, that they would take itas anything but a compli-
ment.— (" Hear, hear" from the Irish Members.)
What the Roman Catholic religion boasted of,
was the infallibility of her maxims, the unchange-
ableness of her doctrines, and the inflexibleness of
her dogmas. What step then, he asked, ought they to
adopt to meet that ever inflexible opponent? It was not
by measures of restriction—it was not by penal laws.
It was by the cultivation of the arts and the intellect,
by which the consciences would be protected, and under
which that country had grown up to the maturity and
greatness at which she had arrived. What Protestant-
ism boasted of was that it was open, and that it appealed
to the intelligence and reason of the human race. Her
strength lay in free discussion, and whore there was
free debate and the liberty of the press, religious li-
berty was safe. The danger which the Honourable and
Learned Member for the city of Oxford apprehended,
and which he foreshadowed, was the conversion of mul-
titudes of Protestants to the tenets of the Roman Ca-
tholic Church, and their alliance with some despotic
power in the State. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman
referred to a state of things that existed three centuries
ago, and which, he had no doubt, proved fatal to the
liberties of the people in many parts of Europe. The
Noble Lord in the course of his speech had pronounced a
high eulogium on a writer with whom he (Sir J. Young)
was personally unacquainted, but whose works ho had
perused with pleasure, and had quoted his opinions on
that point. He begged also to refer to the opinions
of Sir James Macintosh, who said that two religions,
it was believed, were no more reconcileable than two
governments in a country ; and that recent events
had demonstrated that men could not be taught to throw
off the power of the priests without determining also the
limits of kingly authority. Surely that fallacy had long
been exploded. It had been found that two religions
could flourish side by side, not only with advantage to
each other, but with perfect safety to the State. The
danger was the union of despotic power, apprehensive of
its own safety, with ecclesiastical authority, alike alarmed
for its existence. That was the danger when Alva put
to death heretics as well as rebels in the low countries.

forT h The
thefl ebit e ea mt a
nb et r
for Church, Oxford said h
meaning
thatt a t he e lla d n
those
who o
werefear
attached to it were so from principle, conviction, and
ef
edaurc, awt iho
ant; hbe
euat
Int he eenf,
thhee ad saknegde, r sent. pwp
ho
isei
hn gt
ht he
ye r
he a was ahseanrdo
so much? If the people did not waver, Papacy was
powerless—its power was only exercised over those who
submitted to it. Then again, with regard to the despotic
power of the State, foreign countries had been referred
to in favour of this legislation. But they should con-
sider what were the peculiar circumstances of those
countries. In Spain, before he could tread out the first
spark of nascent reformation, Philip 11. was obliged to
take away the charters and immunities of the corporate
towns, and even in the Italian states its principles pre-
vailed until they fell under the dominion of single indivi-
duals. In Holland, under free institutions, and complete
toleration, the reformation triumphed. In England, under
' free institutions, but without complete toleration, they
all knew what the result had been. What was the les-
sonought to derive from this?—surely it was this,
as they maintained free institutions the
gonscience would be respected. On these
he rested his opposition to the measure.
r thatighttlisseeyo
of
long
the measure was going beyond its pro-
at appeared to him to he their duty was
grounds,pliee r
hoebljc evmainly,
believed
thatl,
v h
to maintain the dignity and respect of the Established
Church, and then to afford to all who dissented from its
doctrines complete toleration.
tolera-
tion was as essential to the safety of the Established
He believed that
Church as it was in accordance with its doctrines. The
Noble Lord told them that if they did not pass the pre-
sent measure they would find themselves at the cons
mencement of an nrduous struggle. He hoped the conces-
sions and alterations that had been made in the measure
t,n days ago would be a sufficient salvo to the honour of
Dr. Wi,einan to induce him to recede, and give the
country pqace. He trusted that would he he de-
precated the continuaece of such a contest. It he thought
the measure was right or just, no fear of agitation or
opposition would prevent his giving it his support. But
he said, let those upon whom the heat and burden of the