The Sun.
London, England, 1819-04-22 00:00:00

relirions Liberty, Larst upon oar View with all its at-
As, however, this cal never be
the cast so lcng as the Doctrine of Infallibility is maintained,
we can only lament that those who are otherwise every way
calculated to assist their Conotty in 3 Legislative point of
view, must necessarily be excluded front her Councils,
iiiasmnels as they tuaiutairr a Doctrine which would produce
an external iullueoce upon the discussions of her Legislature.
A 11.0111 ii Si Catholic is not allowed to judge for himself—his
lest is the keeper of his conscience ; and he may be obliged,
under particular circumstances, however his better judgment
may iodine him to the contrary, to adhere implicitly to cer-
tain din ections, and to repose his vindication for so doing
upon the jujittiiisi/ity of his Holy Church ! Surely, with prin-
ciples like these, there could not possibly he a Rotaan Catho-
lic Legislature and a Protestant King, or a Protestant King,
and a Roman Catholic Keeper of his Cimseience ?

With respect to General Councils, their authority is cer-
tainly still recognized by the Roman Catholic Body. The
Doctrine of Infallibility, which we have just been consider-
ing, r sts (in some measure) upon these ; but as to the ex-
tent of operation which is given to them by the Ro*san Ca-
tholics of the present day, there may he considerable differ-
ence of opinion. Most sincerely do I believe that several of
the most objectionable Tenets promulgated by these Synods
are not now liohleu. Every one, however, knows, that the
must horrible and persecuting doctrines have been sent forth
to the world in their Decrees, and it is clear from the Oaths
of Supremacy that several of thew were considered to be in
force at the time of the Revolution ; and I could have wished
that instead of general questions having been put to foreign
Universities with respect to this subject, the most objection-
able Declarations which remain upon record had been ex-
pressly specified, and an express Declaration of their being
considered no Longo obligatory haying been insisted upon
bring given by an authority capable of recognition by the
whole Roman Catholic Body s.

However, I ant content with resting my decided opposi-
tion to the Roman Catholic Claims upon their acknowledg-
ment of a foreign jurisdiction—upon their disinclination to
allow the English Crown a Veto upon the appointment of
their Bishops, and upon the general hostility of their Church
to Civil and Religious Liberty. But let me not be misun-
derstood Ido not intend to say, that a t hue may never
come, when, under the influence of an aspiring and design-
ing Pope, aidel by an intrigwing Clergy, an use may not be
made of the Dogma of Infallibility, to recall into action De-
crees at which humanity shudders, and which are now re-
posing in merited oblivion. Enough, however, is new recog-
ilized of these Decrees to shew, that the Roman Catholics,
though our fellow-subjects, profess a Religion hostile to our
own; and which, cial.istently with its own principles, must
always labour at exclusive ascendancy. Enough remain of
them to shew, that every that who professes the Roman Ca-
tholic Religion, must believe every Church except his own to
be schismatical and heretical ; and we need ❑ot recur to au-
cient Councils to know that Toleration is inconsistent with
the principles of the Roman Catholic Religion; since a re-
cent Decree of the present Pope has expressly declared the
fact, and held it out to be as impossible for the Roman Cntbo•
lic Church to ally with the Protestant, as it would be for
Christ to form an alliance with Belial. This was contained
in a Declaration to the French Government, whereby his
Holiness refused his assent to an Ordinance published by
them, on the plea that in that Ordinance certain Sects dis-
wain from the Roman Catholic Church were tolerated.
Indeed any recognition of the authority of these Councils
is incompatible with Enelish ideas of Liberty. The subjects
of this Realm are not bound by any Laws except those made
by its Parliament or its Convocation ; the Decrees of a fo-
reign Assembly (unless they be adopted by England as a part
of her Le.r 7t47)1 scripts') can never be received as Lasys for
Englishmen, and it would be an anomaly indeed, for a
Judge UN a Bench to recognize an authority as binding him
in an Ecclesiastical point of view, which did not equally hind
every subject of that country in which he was an Administra-
tor of Justice I It has always been holden impolitic to lodge
power in the hands of those who are not friendly to the
existing Establishments of the Country in which such power
is to be exercised. This, according to Mr. Hutue, was the
great fault of James II.—" He certainly was deficient in a
" due regard for the Religious Establishment and Ecclesias-
" tical Constitution of Isis country." Mr. Fox, in his His-
tory of the Reign of James, has also adopted this principle;
and with these great authorities before us—the latter of which,
amongst Whigs, [ should conceive would be indisputable;
what a singular feature would be presented to our view, in
a Roman Catholic Judge presiding at the trial of a tithe suit
commenced at the instance of a Protestant Clergyman ?
Would the Learned Judge—indeed could he—forget the De-
crees of the Councils of his Church on such an occasion as
this ? It is true he would be compelled to act according to
the existing Laws, but would he not be placed in a most
painful situation, when charging. a Jury of his country to
find a verdict for a plaintiff, whom, in his consienee, he must
believe had 110 Ecelesiatical right to the matters in litiga-
tion ? In me next Letter, I shall consider the subject of fo-
reign allegiance, as connected with the supposed supremacy
of the Pope, and remain, your's, &c.
April 17, 1819. BRITANNICIIS.

* In 1759, when the Roman Catholics first began to urge
the measure of general concession, Mr. Pitt submitted cer-
tain qmeations to the Universities of Paris, Douay, Louvain,
Alcala, Salamanca, and Valladolid, relative to the Pope's
Power of absolving Subjects from their allegiance, and as to
Catholics keeping faith with Heretics, &c. The Universi-
ties denied that these Dogmas were holden by the then Roman
Catholic Church.

FtkEs.-.--Last night, about I I o'clock, an alsrm-
Mg tire broke out in the house of Mr.
baker, Rosetuary-lane, which, in a short time,
consumed the bakehouse, and considerably da-
maged the bsck part of the dwelling-house. On
the arrival of engines, the flames were ex-
tinguished 'without further damage. This
morning, near one o'clock, anotht•r alarming
fire broke out in the house of Mr. Dudley,
Brown's-row, Mile-end-road, which iu a short
time consumed the interior. On the arrival of
engines and plenty of water, further damage was
prevented.

Yesterday the Grand Jury for the County of
Middlesex found true Bills of Indictment for wil-
ful and corrupt perjury againt five of the prin-
cipal witnet.ses produced in behalt of the Peti-
tioner, who were ex.anined bdare the Select
Committee appointed to try the merits of the
Election for Penryn.