The Sun.
London, England, 1828-06-28 00:00:00

prove abortive. They cannot suceee'd, for if the
proposed settlement proceed on the admitted prin-
ciple that " the Catholics are to be permitted the
free profession and exercise,of their religion in all its
integrity," and that its existence in this shape,is at
the same time sought to be weakened or counte-
racted, under the,pretence'or gtiarding.against..pipal,
encroachment, goodlaitli is wanted, and die parties
treating can never arrive at a satisfabebry adjustment.
1 would therefore presume to submit to your
Grace, that if the existence of the Catholic religion
in Ireland be an object of apprehension, or a danger
to be guarded against, it ought to be met fairly, and
considered upon its ' own merit's; .or let the Pro-
selytizing Societies he reinforced, •Or a second ern-
sade organited and employed against it; but let not
the danger supposed to arise from it be confounded
with the 'encroachments or apprehended dangers
from the See of Rome, with which in reality it has
no connection.

I know this religion is hated gratuitously by some,
and your GraCe has on a late occasion witnessed the
excess and folly into which a person of high station
has been betrayed in yielding to the zeal which ani-
mated him against it. You have heard another, of a
widely different character and mind, endeavouring to
conciliate prejudice by indulging in remarks upon
this religion wally unworthy of his talents and his
wisdom. You have heard it said " that the Irish
once had a Christianity pure and undefiled, but
which afterwards Norman English oVerlaid with su-
perstition." It should have been said, "that pre-
vious to the arrival of the English, and for centuries
before their coming, the' Irish Chnich'Was perfectly
independent, thoagh in occasional communication,
and uninterrupted communion with the See of Rome,
but that the luMber of the Decretals, the tithes and
all that was odious and burdensome in papal power
and clerical dominion were of Norman English im-
portation, and as to superstition that "it is an ex-
crescence of our rude nature ratherthan of religion, but
an excrescence from which no church or nation ever
was exempt." To men labouring under supersti-
tion may be applied the saying of the Poet, •
Nemo nam sine vitiis nascitur
Optimus est qui. minimis urgetur.
What one man calls-religion, another calls ceremony,
whilst a third designates it "superstition." Where
the extreme begins or the mean ends, whether in
belief or practice, a wise ritin will not pretend to
determine, and he who looks at human nature pass-
ing through ages, like sand through a time glass,
may abound in his own sense, but will not pretend
to tix a standard to which 'mankind must conform
under the penalty of losing their reputation. One
thing hoWever is certain, additions made to the es-
sential practices of true religion, and which may be
designated " superstitions," are not so noxious in
themselves as that casuistry which would trifle with
the name of God, and call him to witness what is
true only by implication,• or in a sense inconsistent
with the words we utter.

But to return to the subject under consideration.
That the state of the Catholic Church in Ireland,
or rather the attitude and movements of those who
belong to it, excite strong apprehensions is evident,
but in my poor opinion a_thorough knowledge of our
position, good. faith, and, conciliatory disposition,
such as ought to exist between the inhabitants of the
same country, and the subjects .of the same King,
are alone necessary to remove those apprehensions
and bring all our unhappy differences to a satisfac-
tory adjustment. - •
It may appear to your Grace, as it does. to many
others, that the Catholic Church in Irelandought to

be paralyzed by inducing the Pope to co-operate in
placing the appointment-of her Bishops in the hands
of the King, whilst the arraugemententered into for
that purpose would be designated, •" a security
against papal power or encroachment." But this
would be a proceeding inconsistent with good faith,
equity, or any of those principles whereby freemen
should be, •governed or their hearts united'in affec-
tion to the•threne, leaving out of view the anomaly
of a Protestant Governmenti. calling in the uid of
the Pope to assist them in' ulling. down the liberties,
whether civil or'religious, of their own subjects. I
would say to those _who.cherish such views, "be
generous to the Irish—Spare the Constitutionde
not indulge your jealousy of us-to the enslavement
of our Priesthood—the King does not require the
patronage of our Church=he cannot understand her
interests, nor be a Protestant and be anxious to
promote them. Leave us a free people—let us exert
all our energies, and if you confide in our oaths,
which have never bean violated, or in our honour,
which has never been tarnished, you will not have

hereafter to repent -of your own generosity, or to
complain of our ingratitude. You may, by imposing
bonds upon us, remove the alarm felt by some timid
Churchmen, but you will give a death-blow to free-
dom in Iceland, and indict upon-our common Chris-
tianity the deepest wouud. The Catholics of Ire-
land excite apprehension They do and justly, for
they are numerous, poWerful, and discontented; but
let them be admitted fully and freely to all the bless-
ings of the Constitution, and if their hearts be of
flesh, if they have -children and love them, if they
have property and value it, if they have law and pri-
vilege and prize them, if -they have a country and
almost adore it, they will be among the best, the
most loyal, the most devoted subjects in the realm.
The Pope to them would be almost unknown or
unthought of ; but their country, their laws, their
religioN, and the Government which promoted their
interests and watched over their. welfare, would en-
gross all their respect-and all theirnffection."
It is thus, may it please your Grace, that' the
danger from the
.growth of the Catholic religion in
Ireland, which danger, fear, or fanaticism, alone has
created, should be provided against, and not by
measures founded upon false pretences—measures
having for their object to weaken and disturb our
Church, whilst it was virtually or expressly stipu-
lated that she should be left free to struggle against
all the difficulties with which, in her humble state,
she must always and necessarily be encompassed.
But then, it may be asked, is nothing to be done to
secure the Constitution in Church and State against
the danger to arise from papal encroachment ? Yes,
these encroachments are to be even still more effec-
tually shut out than they are at present, by closing
up the only channel through which, by possibility,
they might- operate. The State is already perfectly
secure against them ; but I. would be anxious to see
the Catholics of Ireland equally secure. At present,
and for the whole of the last century, they have not
been molested; but they are liable to inconvenience,.
and even to be vexed and troubled by the Pope,
whilst he holds in his hands, as he now does, the
unqualified right of appointing Bishops' to the Ca-
tholie Church in Ireland. My object would be to
have the' right of electing those Bishops vested in
those who have the-most' direct and immediate inte-
rest in their appointment, and by an arrangement
which would effectually exclude all foreign influence
or encroachment—providing at once for the interest
of the Irish Catholics, and satisfying those Pro-
testants who are still so weak-minded or misinformed
as to entertain apprehension of the Papal power.
liow a measure of this kind could- be' effected,
appears to most people a question difficult of solu-
tion. It is difficult, without doubt, but the diffi-
culty arises, not from the nature of the thing itself,
but from the state of distrust and alienation in
which the Catholics are kept by the. Govern-
ment—Were the Government to. act frankly
and cordially with the Catholic Clergy and
people, and availed themselves of the support to
be thus obtained, propose to the Pope an arrange-
meet, having for its object to render the Catholic
Church in Ireland more national, and the appoint-
ment of its Prelates entirely domestic, there is little
doubt but such a proposal properly urged would be
acceded to.

An arrangement of th:s sort by which the Pope
would agree to vest in some one of the Irish Catho-
lic Prelates such power in matters of conscience and
ecclesiastical discipline as is now exercised by some
congregations of Cardinals 'in Rome, or such as has
often been committed to Legates of the holy See,
and which would .also authorise some persons or
body of persons to elect native Clergymen to the