The Sun.
London, England, 1835-09-18 00:00:00

6,:*-; IRISH ITINERANTS.

The following Letter was received on the 14th
iustant, by a gentleman in Worcester, in answer to an
application made by him to the Catholic Archbish4p
.of Dublin, for information on the points &Wed to by
Dr. Murray. We need hardly state ttiat it is a valu-
able document at this time, wheh so much pains are
taken by the Exeter Hall -mountebanks to sow dissen-
byon between Protestants and Catholics :
" Mountjoy-square, Dublin, Sept. 12, 1835.
" Sir—ln reply to your letter of the Bth instant, l< beg
to say, that the itinerant sowers of discord to whom you
allude do well to carry their calumnies to a distance, where
detection is not easy ; here they could nave no chance of
success. They do not themselves believe, and awl. could
-not here get any one to believe, that I ant an -abettor of
persecution. Doctrines of that description were attributed
tr. me in London, on the ground that I directed the publi-
cation of the now celebrated Doctor Dens' Theology,
'which advocates the justice of punishing by temporal penal-
ties the crime of heresy, not, however, by private autho-
rity, but according to law ; a doctrine which, at the time
he wrote, was unfortunately acted on in all the states of
Claistendom, Protestant England not excepted. I de-
ailed, however, among other things, that I directed the
publication' of the work, and asserted that it was a mere
speculation in trade of a bookseller, who undertook it at
his own risk. 1 never said, as you seem to have heard,
that I did not permit it ; for I would think it very unjusti-
fiable to interfere the fair speculation of a bookseller
on the probable profits of a work, which, taken as a whole,
is a valuable compilation, though it may contain some ob-
jectionable opinions, which, however, in the present state
of society, are practically harmless. Of this nature is his
opinion regarding the punishment of heresy. This doctrine,
as far as regards any practical effects resulting' from it, is
everywhere losing ground. The spirit of toleration is ra-
pidly on the advance. The Catholic States of Poland and
Hungary were among the foremost to lead the way. Ire-
land, under Queen Mary, had previously set them the ex-
ample. The States which embraced the Protestant Refor-
mation, urged on by the first reformers, carried intolerance
to a frightful extent ; and the tenacity with which they
clung to it so long should make the professors of that reli-
gion exceedingly cautious in advancing charges of into against the professors of any other. Wb:.,over wishes
to compare Protestant with Catholic inte],erance, will be
enabled to do so by reading the 49th -fetter in Dr. Mil
ner's End of Religious Controvers", and the 4th of the
same author's letters to a Preber,,tary.
" But it is said that the wrJfk of Dens was dedicated to
me ; that the publisher -,,ass it was undertaken with my
approbation, and that lAerefore in my letter to Lord Mel-
bourne, I must have, told a falsehood, when I said that I
did not direct tike publication of it" Surely there is no
contradiction i a these two statements. Allowing that what
the publish ;r says in commendation of his work is true—
allowing 'that I assented to his plan, surely it does not follow
that it was undertaken at my instance, or that I directed
the publication of it.' That was the original charge that
was brought against me ; and that is the charge which I
denied, and do still deny.
" As to the abstraction of the dedication from some of
the copies, I know nothing whatever about it. In the
copy which I possess it is very conspicuous. I cannot but
feel obliged to the publisher for the compliment which he
thus Intended to pay me ; but I do not on that account
consider myself bound to adopt all the opinions of his
author. There is no similar author that has any authority
whatever for the support of his opinions beyond what is
derived from the arguments which he employs ; and all the
reasons that Dens could adduce in support of intolerant
opinions are utterly inoperative against that solemn oath
taken by the Catholic clergy and laity of Ireland, as pre-
scribed by the Act 33d George 111., chap. 21.
"' I, A B, do swear that I do abjure, condemn, and de-
test, as unchristian and impious, the principle, that it is law-
ful to murder, destroy, or in any wise injure any person
whatsoever, for or under pretence of being a heretic."
" my calumniators some very sagacious persons
endeavoured to place my actions in contradiction with my
declarations, by asserting that I was one of a meeting of
Bishops held in Dublin in 1808, which meeting is said to
have agreed that Dens' complete Body of Thology was
the best book on the subject that could be republished.'
" Whether or not such an episcopal declaration was
made, I never heard, except through the publisher's adver-
tisement ; but it is at all events quite clear, that if it was, I at
least could have had no participation in it ; for I was not
then a bishop, but engaged in the duties of the morn meri-
torious office of a working curate. Observe now the kind
of proof by which it is sought to connect me with this
meeting. In 1826 my name is found among the Irish
Bishops, disavowing certain intolerant and anti-social doc-
trines, and therefore it is assumed that I must have been
,en years before among the supposed episcopal ap-
provers Dens' Complete Body of Theology ! Is it not
wise in these calumniators, wlien they wish to circulate
their impostures, to go to a distance from home ?
" I have the honour to be, Sir,
" Your obedient servant,
"N D. MURRAY."