The Sun.
London, England, 1817-04-03 00:00:00

IRIS!! CATHOLICS.

It is much to be lamented, -that few persons
are well informed on the subject of the Catholic
claims, and that very erroneous opinions are en-
tertained thereon, though it is of vital importance
to the interest of the British Empire. It was
stated in the House of Commons last Session
of Parliament, that in some Popish States on the
Continent, and particularly in Franck, Protes-
tants were admitted to seats in the Legislature,
anti to the confidential offices in the Executive
Government ; and it bus been therefore inferred,
that the Irish Roman Catholics may be allowed
an equal participation of privileges with their Prn-
testant fel!ow-subjects, without endangering the
Constittitit,
..or the .lives and property of the
latteritnit I hope to prove that this is a delusion.
In my lust letter I proved, that 03, the fundit,
mental 'canons of the Romish Church, which are
.deelared to be infallible rind immutable, treason
to a Protestant-State is prescribed as a religions
duty to its Votaries, who are absolved from their
oaths of allegiance to it, and that by them they
are assured of a full remission of _sins, for pion-
dering and destroying heretics: low Protestants
are taught by their creed, which is derived solely
from the Holy Scriptures, Christian charity,
brotherlylove, forgiveness of injuries, and per-
fect fidelity,ftnd obedience to the Government, of
what ~religlous persuasion snow. It is hence
evident, that Protestants may with the utmost
safety to a,Popish State be:admitted, in the moat
unlimited manner, to all civil privileges and po-
litical powers.; but the tenets of the Roman
Catholic Church, and their practical effects under
Protestant Governments, evince beyond contra-
diction that' its votaries cannot be entitled to the
sane COafidellee under them.

Henry IV, of France, the father of his people,
was so conscious of -the pure morals of Prntes►
tants, and of their:fidelity to every State, that he
ordered Thuitaus, President of the Parliament of
Paris, and Ganglion, Chancellor of Navarre, in
the year 1598, to frame the Edict of Nantes ; by
rjrieyypltestants were admitted to all the civil
and pnlitictillitivilege of the State.7'l4nr:this act
of justice and humanity, he was excommunicated
by the Pope, who absolved his subjects rmn their
oath of allegiance, and in consequence of this he
tell a prey to the dagger of all assassin. Henry 111.
his predecessor, because instead of persecuting,
he protected his Protestant subjects,' was exeunt-
ninnicated ea a favourer of heretics, by Pope- Six-
toil V. who absolved his subjects from their oath
of allegiance to him, which led Friar Clement to
murder him. The States General of France as-
sembled in the year 1613, alarmed at the'assassl-
nation of two successive Monarchs, in consequence
cif- Papal nitsndates, the Commons, or tiers elat,
made a tieilitration,-tlest no person on-.earth had a
power to deprive the King of his CyoWn, or to
abinlye his subjects from their oaths of allegiance,
and they made a law, that, in future, the Dept*.
ties of the States General, and nil persons holding
any -civil offices or ecclesiastical benefices under,
the State; should take a test oath of that purport.
The day after this excellent law passed in the
Commons, the chamber of the clergy resounded
with exclamations of " all i lost,' some wicked
heretics have obtained admission into the assembly
of the Commons, in order to overthrow our reli-
gion." In short, •the clergy- prevailed on the
Court arid the assembly of the Nobles, to re-
-lect this 'salutary law, so necessary for pre.
serving 'the safety, 11)e dignity, and independ-
ence of :the State ; and their triumph was so
great, and their rancour such, that they per-
suaded the Court 'to iMpt iSOTI the .person. who
printed it at theiristanee of the Commons. The
joy of Pope Paul wits extravaeint on the oc-
casion, for he sent twri briefs to the Nobility and
Clergy, in which be praised," their zeal, wisdom
and piety, for the warru interest which they had
taken in the cause of their religion and the Holy
Sec." Thereafter will find.all this detailed in the
second volume of LeVassor's History at the reign
of Louis XIII. Villiers, a Frenchman, in his ex-
. cellent ;Essiry on the Spirit and Influence of the
Reformation, published in France, in the year
1802, is decidedly of opinion, that if the French
Government had confirmed by law this plerlge.of
illegiance and fidelity to. the State, it would, by
. .
ch*ekisig. the' usurped power of the Pope, have
prevented the civil wars.which ensued, and which
wee.,iirointped die wanton and cruel r ersecu-'

don of the Prote,stants, in direct viaation of the
Edict of Nantes, and the expulsion of nearly a
million of thenr, on its revocation. Villiers is
also of opinion; that that salutary test law would
have averted the dreadful Revolution which took
place in the eighteenth century, and which, like
a direct visitation of the Almighty, overturned
the Throne, an►i involved in its ruin the Nobility
and Clergy who.successfully,opposed its adoption.

Louis XIV., desirous. of vindicating the dig.
pity and independence of his kingdom rival the
tyranny ,and ambition of the Pope, which had
been so fatal to them, through the instrumentd-
lity of the Clergy, who were his spies and vasStrl4,
convened an Assembly of the Clergy, in the yeas.
1682, and he required them to adopt .the
ing. Decree, 66 that.God_has not given to Pette,
or his successors, any power over the tempt-H.oi-
ties of Princes, nnd that he eannOt depose thern,
or absolve their, subjects Prow _their oa!bs
.allegiance." These doctrines were so reptig.-
»ant to the views and principles of the French
Ecclesiastics, that but thirty-five Bishops
and a few of the interior Clergy, trembling
at she rod of the Tyrant, sanctioned titesit
resolutions, for which they were anathema..
tised by three successive. Popes, who withheld
from the French Prelate& the Bulls necessary to
sanction their functions, so that on the death of
Innocent XII. a great number of them were local.
pecitated, and, on the Romish prineirle, could aet
officiate at the altar. The. Universities of DourtY-
and Louvain joined with the• Holy See in main.
twitting these detestable dogmates, and so did the
Sorbonne, till most of its Doctors were banished,
and.the' remainder, under the influence of fear,
consented to register the. King's Declaration.--r
LOnis's triumph was but short lived, for subdued
by age and reverse of fortune, and yielding to the
influence of two Jesuits, his confessors, be pen-
milted the French- Dithops toveturn to their for=
mer creed, and to recognize the deposing and (HS!.
pensing powers in their Holy Father, In their
letters to him, they condemned and renounced the
proceedings of the assembly convened-by the Xing.
hli -1-4.14-c1.4-o.pa-0443/4.ge
.are tq be found tßibuularlt
History of Louis XfV. Though the Government of
France have boasted that they nominate to all
Btshopricks, and enjoy what are called the liften
tics of the Galilean Chiach, tinder the Concordat
which .passed between Francis I. and Pope Leo
X. tbeir Kings from, the reign.of that illonarcli
inclusive, to the eve of, the French Revolution;
were led by:the Clergy to persecute their PrO-
testant subjects as heretics ; with the exception
of Henry 111, and Henry 1 V. who were assess'.
tinted because they gave them proteetidtL, Louis
XIV. one of the most despotic 'Princes that ever
swayed the French sceptre, was compelled by
his Clergy to recognise the deposing anti dispens...
lug PoWers, and to injure his Kingdom. in
its very vitals, by expelling, from it nearly
a million of his most, loyal and industrious sub,
jests, as heretics. The stingninary and treason.;
able principles which the Irish Papists manifested
in the Rebellion of 1798, prove-that they are by
no means trust-worthy ; and the following Ifni,
dent evinces, that the Holy See ,still claims the
power of deposing Sovereign Princes, anti ,trans.
ferring kingdoms, with which it was invested by
various General Councils, which Ismentioned in
my last letter t tit,e year 1801, the present
Pope peettouneed—a Sentence Of dethronement
against Louis XVIII: the legitiMate successor of
a long race of kings, who had been regarded for
many ages as the eldest suns of the Church, the
founders of all its temporal poser; and the
berathenefactors,lo iihont the Holy See owed:all
its princely possessions. He, at the same time,
placed on his throne, that' sanguinary upstart
Buonaparte, and in 'the name of the immaculate
Jesus, and- with the invocation of tbe,Holy Spi-
rit, consecrated a sceptre, wrested ' from- its legi-
timate sucCessor, by a series cal' find)) atrocities,
flowing from the French Revolution, as never be-
fore stained the annals of buman crimes, or drew
down the curses of heaven 0.11 the humaxt race.
Hear what the learned Dr. O'Cnnor says of. it .;
and he is a liberal and enlightened Roman Cobb.
tie, priest Notwithstanding the oath of
giante by which Roman Catholics Swear,' that
the Pope' has no power over-the temporalities of
states, the Irish, titular bishops, assembled in
synod at 'Dillow, so latet.. the 6th of July 1809,
extolled s lust, tiOlv, and let,itituate, those bulls
.rons`e i:tut which be abiolved sill

rochmtm from their oaths of allegiance to the
lionrboos, expressly' alienating, not truly the
Crown oT France, bar also the property of all
french ;ort'ists, secular end ecclesisstical, and
dr; vingis np t'reir sees 14 hundred French bishops,
who were gull y of no other crime,.. ahan that of
COllSCiell‘loliS regard for their oaths, and iht;ir
fidelity to their hitter r and this, too, without
stipolating tor any coninensation, without
them a trial, though they demanded it ;
without granting them that which was not detilefl
to the Irish, even by Oliver Cromwell,' any spe-
cies uif capitulation," The noetor (rives Pope
Pius hulk, " it)Oi Chi
,published at, Rome, November 29, and " Ecele-
• •
°sits. Christi," August 1801 ; against which
the bishops thus hurled front their sees, for their
fidelity, appealed. Ihe Doctor teils os, that he
hail the humour of receiving that appeal train the
hauls of ihe late bishop of St. Poi de Leon,
who had it printed and published by Dulau,
Landon, 1801.
The English Vicars-Apostolic feared that the
•priests ruder them wool I :revolt, shocked at this
lunitstront conduct of Pins ; they; therefore,
miler the exatnple of the Irish titular Prelates re-
solved to muzzle them. The boomr then tens
that for that purpose, they'framed a test-
.act iu (avow. of the Pope's inlu llibility, and ap-
proving of Pope Pius Vll.'s conduct ; in .which
they resolved nut to grant facilities to any priest
,%-hO would flirt sign the frill paving propoSititHlS :
•Ir, That they hold rooontruirm a ith his Holiness,
Pope Pins VII.: 2.a1, That they do not believe the
sail Pope to base fallen bob heresy or schism :
jd, That they do not Consider hint. as being tile
author or approver of any heresy ot.schisin." The
-Doctor t, its ns, that all this,was.comaienicated
by the Rev. Dr..Miloer to a French priest, in a
letter, of the of September/ 1811, which let-
ter he haul in his possession. The•ecader W ill see
,all this in 1)r. O'Conor's IliStorical Address, on
. the cidarnities occasioned by foreign influence,
sigoe4Columbanus, Part 11. pages 5 and 313. Dr.
frConor gives some extracts from this etiraordf-
by which he transferred the
Crowo 01'11'1'W:cc from the Bourbonsio Numaparte,
mid be truly observes, " I say apin that the darbest
'ages have not witnessed any Bull so ex traortlinat y
as Some menthere of the Itomish Church
have endeavoured to palliate this blasphemous
procedure by saying, that the i'ope acted tor
'der the influence of fear, and that he 'dared not
✓esist the domineering mandate '
of the tyrant.
But the ,lollowing, incidents prove the "cons vary :
.011 the 29th .of October, 1809, some time befOre
Lis departure from Rome, he convened a eon-
sistory of. the Curdinals,' and informed them,
that be cheerfully and gratefully complied with
the desire of his .beloved Sonin Christ (Napoleon)
to be anointed with 'the`' holy unction, by the
lotnils.i4 his BolineSs c to be placed by the most
littlensti rites, performedlry his Holiness, in the.
• highest rank, to receive the Inrietial Crown, by
• inli,tnn inauguration bv his Ilolingss, impreSsing,
the cc) colony . c ith a character ot eon
callitpi;clown the benediction of Heaven" on tbls
upstart and sanguinary tyrant, whom, be conse-
crated as the zeniatts and pious protector of the
"holy See, who made a merit with the people Of
Egypt, that he was the servant of their Prophet,
who had marched to Rhtne, to ovutthrow the
I'ope, because he had incited the Christians to
inake war against the 11Aometan
The Pope dirt every thing in his power to prove,
that this deed of shame .was the. result ot cool
deliberation, and AS if glorying iu it,, he did his
utmost to peOCIA.IM it to the world, in the most
tistentatious manner. For on the 20th of June,
1)305, some time after hit return to Rot w, he
slain convened a consistory of the Cardinals,
and in his allocation to • them he said; " that he,
the successor of • St. Peter and Vicar of Christ, %cent
to France for the purpose of decorating his be-
loved Son in Christ (Napoleon) with the ensigns
of Impetiel dignity; that he assembled them to
commonkate to them the salutary consentienees,
which, by the blessing of God, have resulted
to him from that jouruey." " What pleasure,
what joy we expesieuced in our first interview
with the Emperor, whose fame has sounded to
the extremities of the world, and whom God has
chosen to restore his true religion." " The cou-
secration and crowning of the Emperor, and of
our most dear daughter Josephine, his august
consort, were celebrated in the most solemn man-
ner." She was the cast off mistress. of Bunts,
the Consul, who prevailed on Nopoleon to marry
her, in consideration of receiving promotion iu the
ormy. The following-itreitlent, strews in a high
degree the folly and inconsistency of all tkeir pro-
cedures. On the lith of July 1807, Louis XVIII.
protested against the usurpation of Buouaparte,
and thongir his-protest 'oppeated in all" the public
printct in Europe, the L'upe proceeded to clown
and anoint the Corsican. Louis XVIII. soon
after his restoration, published an ordinance for a
• solemn thanksgiving in all the churches or the
Archdiocese of Nam, for.the deliverance of Pius
and his happy return to, his Stares ; and
Iris Ifolittess Soon after returned tlie compliment
at Rowe.:
/ will now skew the Reader what doctrines
the present Pope maintained, and what jurisdic-
tion be claimed in his correspondence with Biro-
.flaparte, even 'when lie tivit3 completely lu his
power, fie declaimed against Protestant worship
"as -pregnant with fatal consecinenees, ana uu
friendly to !mina!) happiness," He reproached
the Freneh:GOVt;riltHeitt " for its protection of
heretics, sectaries; and schismatics." He declared
such indulgence to bean alliance between "
sod 13elial, light and darkness, truth and Crl'Or,
blocere piers/ and itnpiety,"
am,l
cost "out of the
ChOrCh.thetO is Ho tle,claitus a light
"to interfere among alf the NratiODS of the earth,
in secular concerns about books,onarriages, bai-
rurdies, dievrees, - cOneents, 1110HasterieS, HMI
o tilts of ailegiance.” also severely condemns
" as replete. with spiritual throw, the socriligious
nuptials of Catholics with Heretics, trl:)ch; dye
says, ure forbidden by the saute laws whieb pro-