The Sun.
London, England, 1821-02-26 00:00:00

FOR THE SUN.

POLITICAL REMARKS.

" We have, 15!Jaever, sheivn In our last by a
concatenation of liistOrical factSyjthat scgiir from
Despotism being4n6o.4raged by.,tlre piineiples of
Catholicism, they essentially. operated to put down
an intolerant spirit, and preserve that equilibrium
of power which is necessary in 'a free and consti-
tutional form of Government."
Ma. EDITOR—This assertion, quoted from THE
CATHOLIC ADVDC.I.Tk of Sunday last, is not only
impudent, but completely .false. That it very
cunningly has attempted, in the number it alludes
to, by the manner In which it has.arranged its
arguments, to turn the tables on the 'Protestants,
Ido not deny. It may be best for the interest
of the Catholics thus to blind the uninformed part
of the.peOple of this Country, who 'can " only
read and- write;" nor is such" practice novel in
countries where the Popish religion chiefly pre-
vails.. Bilt I will supply genuine historical facts,
ungarbled or perverted, and from accounts too
published by themselves, that shall strip their
assertion of the assumed semblance of truth ; and
they may be denied, but not by honest proof cow-
tra dieted. 'The intolerant spirit, then, coniplaiiiej
of by: the Catholic' Advocate, 'was the cry of
" No Persecution,and Liberty of ConscienCe and
Religion." This spirit' became universal' through
England, and overpOWered'the Popish Tyranny
that then existed.; . consequently -it bad 'oh that
account become intolerant since it was irresistible,
and effected the-object for which it conterided.
It was justified by the:previous extortions, perse:
cutions, and massacres committed "by the. Agents
of.Popery, that aroused this spirit-to action; con-
sequently, since these cruelties-had been' sornani.:
fold when Protestantism first became triumphant,
it, in the frailty to which our- nature is liable, in
rOenge, punished its former oppressors the. Pa-
pists. Therefore, it is wilful misrepresentation
to state that persecutions were first-committed by
the propagators of Christianity, and that those
ledi. to the persecutions by the Papists afterwards
on the Protestants. Had Popery- possessed any,
one conciliating, doctrine, it might have existed
in unabated vigour.to. this day ; but it never had,
and is just.the same now as ever. The laws exe.
cuted in the days when, Popery had the' ascen
dancy are everlasting records against it, and pre-
sently we shall refer to :them; but first, I request
the attention
.of your Readers to the following'
remarks upon -the Catholic Claims :---
"By a Raman Catholic is not Meant man Who. doesnot "re-
cognise his own-prineipies, however intelligent "and respectable
lie may be ; but by this denomination is intended a person:who is
BONA FIDE allonym eatlialfc: And in Order to forM a cor-
rect judgment on this point, we must carefully, separate every
thing that is local, temporary, andadventitiolici and confine our
inquiry to -what is essential tOhis heing, as a conscientious mem-
ber of the Roman Catholic Church.- For what is -essential to
such a character in any age or nation, is essential in every age and
in every nation, and under allpossiblecircumstances: Eire (says
the Authoryl am .obliged to Iliad the same ground which. has
been so Often trod befote-4 antitoti,ge qucStions to which no 116;
skive answer has been given by any authority to which the great.
btitly of the Roman Catholics subMit, ac decisive.
"Does the conscientious Roman Catholic belieVe in thainfid-
libilityrof the Catholic Church, ?,..!Thisbelief he avows` with un-
blushingiconfidence, amidst the-broad day-light of modern il-
lumination ; and in this infallibility lie gloriegns the7elistingui sh-
.
ing character aids communion. - t 4 this God4ilteat:-
tribute, vested.? ThwCouncils of Consfanceind:Bi-sit have de,
termined, that it is vested in. gencral.Counclls.'snmmbried bk the
Holy Pontiff, and.over which licliiesides, either in person or by
hiA legates, To. every Decrec enacted -by these CoUncils and
sanctioned by this antboiity; the Church of dove bows with 'fin.,
pllcit faith and obedience. :But the gz:cat Literan-Ct*ioncil hatli
decreed, and the,dicreeshave been confirmed by the Succeeding
General. Councils of Ragik•Ciiristanee and Trent", That all
engagements entered into' -ivithlrcretics, though sanctioned by.
aUaath,:are nullities in fifetriselves, and that the POPE may de-
pose Kings, absolve their subjects:froth the Oath of Allegiance,
and give . away their Kingdoms.' This Decrw, stamped with
infalibilitf,, must. remrdn in fdiceso londas there. is a Protes-
tant Prince in Enrafief yea, "so long as there is a MOnareh in the
-world whose Religion and.. Government are hostile to . the arro-
.
gantassumption of.the Ronnisfi Hierarchy. Yi7e are told; in.
deed, that the Catholic's of, the . present :day detest, abhor, and

abjure such principles. What ! an honest Roman Catholic di.

test, abhor, and .abjnre theinfallibility of his own Church
Surely this heresy—it is. ProtestintiSm ; - crimes

thousands of individuals have been massacred, Ring

"dOitts thrown into convulsions, and :Provinces drenched-in blood.
Catholics either believe in the infallibilityof their. Church or
they do not.: If they: believe it, they are. bound by its decrees.-L-

If they do not, .why do they declare they belivve it, and abide in
her communion ? - - '

«_Do not conscientious Catholics believe that salvation' is -Cori
Anctt ftiihose who are within the file of-their- osCn communion.

thit all otligrft 4rei.l2?...st;ltc_of Tg.probatitin Xlas:dockrine
ia'not-a.collateral branch but a radical principle' of Ali& Crei:tl,

istablisTled by their most celeintal.colirkeilsor confirrnmi by
their. most dititniAed:..lu.,heritiEs :and :nioderni-
sanetrone .by all ranki. arid ordiar....,froJn the .'POntife to the
meanest. Menai-cant,. and 4.yoryecl,4 theAtnaniniou voice of the'
M hole body,_,Whnt are Ole 4akttrali: the necessary: conseqnenCes
reinitini from, this eapitai:axticle- of their faith ? That they qe:"..
. -, .

timid by obligations of all others the most their'
fidelity to God, by their zeal for the pfosperitY of the Church';

hi:their:love to one another as fellow heirs of the Kingdoin

.faf7licayFn ; and by their benevolence and cornpassiOn to " their
feklpv: creatures, to employ all the means within their power to
,extirpate heresy and schism, and to allure or forCe men into

that communion where alone saliation can be obtalneA. Will

1 .. . .
,ript_this doctrine,. in connection with othersstill'mor'e obnoxious
•Which I shall presently mention, go to sanction all the horrid

practices which disgraie the history of their artelStprs, when

the extirpation of hereiy,rand the welfare.Of theirChtkreLy*re
-the -.objects*to be •acconiplislied ? 1114::theY not, appqlt 'and
justly appeal,-to their treasons and` rebellions, their plots and

niassacies, their -anathemas atid.inquisitions, the
_blood they

have shed, and the instruments of toiture they haVe invented,

"the:ungitied shrieks and Mingled laMhs of. their victims, and

*soy, c Behold our love for God ; behold.our love for Min.—

'"What-jare'the tortures of the. )3otly to the. Salvation of the Soul,
to which those tortures are subservient ? What,are he pains
r •

and-. penalties we indict to the flames of Well, whiCh these
p. Ij4 Aticl-penaltiep_ are intended ,to prevent, and-from whieh
they_ are mercifully designed to deliver. You object to us what.

weeltee. in our highest. lory.! Let us hear the ith Cotiiieil or

toledo Cart. 3. 4 We, the Holy:Counciltiirotrtulge this Sett;.
teiice",or decree pleasing 49. God, that whoever -hereafter 'shall

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