The Sun.
London, England, 1818-01-17 00:00:00

OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC QUESTION.

yoa THE sUN.

PART HI.

Air. EDITOR,--A Reverend Prelate, in a debate
of this stiblect, quoted a passage from the Com-.
mentaries of Sir -Wtt.t..tANt BLACKSTONE ; but
mistook its ap.Aication, That elegant Compiler,
speaking, in his Fourth Book, of the Isornau Ca-
tholics, said, before the amendment of the law

against them; " the time migi►t pot be very
dis;ant. 1i it might be wise to repeal i 4 1 I re-

striction respectila THEIR RELIGION

'' at lea3t

" until their civir,cooduct should mAe it neces-
sary to revive them." This superior Writer does
not say, that it mig.hthe wise to repeal all re-
Stricrions against their admission into Civil, Mal-
lory, and Nasal Offices of trust and power. The
re;irietioris in respect to their RELIGION were af-
ter Narth removed by Parliament, and the Learned
Judge spake with a prophetic spirit ; yet now, with
a dropsical thirst, they pant for Civil Power.—
Dlore wants more..! Is not this like a pining lover,
who.. to win his mistress, sheds a crocodilian
tear ; and when she yields on dishonourable terms,
•is nn sooner possessed than- expelled Their
thirst for power-is inconsistent. The• Protestant
.Church is part of the Constitution ; and while
they are its enemies they are unworthy of political
cenfidence, as are any other set of men, except
those who are friendly to both. If a National
Church be necessary, their admittance would be
H gross contradiction ; uuless indeed such, or any
other Church be deemed uselesi lumber, and their
members be regardless of all Churches whatso-
ever. If also this be the opinion of the Roman.
Catholics, why do they not renounce the Pope.
the Devil, and all their works They would
then be Kennine Members of the State ; but un-
til
they 're so, their admittance into Civil Power
would breed confusion, and Protestants and Pa..
pisrs would not cordially co-operate, but divide,
and engender animosity. At all events, it is to
be feared, and ought- to be avoided, in a Protes-
tant Kingdom.
Another Gentleman, worthy and learned in the
law, a Roman Catholic, whose zeal outran its
bias, in his Address to the English Protestants,
makes the Papists complain of the Corporation
and Test Acts; whereby they are kept out of
Civil, Military, and Naval employ; but he pur-
posely and designedly overlooks their •conduct,
which obliged the Legislature to pass them, and
an uninformed Reader may thence conclude,_ that
they were marked ourand separated from Protes;
tent subjects for their religion only. No such
thing. The tyranny of papal authority, with all
•its pious frauds, bath been already shewn as they
were practised before the Reformation, and of
papal malignity ever since. Their religions tenets
are slavish, and the abhorrence of Britons, borne,
bred up, and living in freedom. However
softened by time, and ripened into a taste of li-
berty, they nosy no be, however wise it was to
tolerate all.forms of religion distinct from the
established, the English Government' cannot re-
ceive the tender of their service in the army or
nary. Religious faith, as it influences actions,
foments hatred and ill will among those who hold
conflicting opinions ; and liberal minded, as many
Rowan Catholics may be, they adore a Pope,
though a mere man, and bend most abjectly to
Isis dominion ; which is so repugnant to the spirit
of a free people, that to give them a share of power,
.svould he opening the gates to the enemy, without
a surrender on honourable conditions, or letting
in another wooden horse for the destruction of

another Troy.
The Gentleman premised, admits that the
Roman Catholics acknowledge the spiritual supre-
macy of the PoPE, and so far they enjoy a natu-
ral right ; but English Protestants -deny and ab-
jorc it. "[bey only acknowledge it in the
Cnow Is; ; Hot in a Pope, a Bishop, or a Presbyter,
hid) with them would savor of idolatry; and
an amalgamation 'of them might produce corn-
buvion, that would end in explosion. Two so-•
pl'emacies in religiOn, under one free Government,
can never he agreeable to a mixture of votaries in
the King's service, who separately acknowledge
them, and a Protestant Prince, who is sworn to
protect the National Church, might be perplexed
with Roman Catholic servants, who preferring a
Pope and a Maii to the religion of the State, would
be at continued variance with Churchmen, in
contempt of his Mitre, and perhaps his Crown.
The Protestant Dissenters, on the contrary, are
friends to civil liberty. Their conduct alone slid
not bring forth the restraining Laws against the
ItomAn Catholics. No ; they drew the Dissenters
in 0 their vortex. The faith of Roman Catho-
lics is against a ProtesTant Government ; the reli-
glow; scruples of the Dissenters regard the Esta-
Hished Church. They are therefore less ex-
•e:ptionable, as they admit the spirilual and tem-
poral supremacy of the CrOwn, and only separate
trOnt the Ch-urch on a diffcrenc shout its forms,
riles, at ceremonies ; and about its governmen-
t.] lii,liops; instead of I'i esbyters, and its inde
pci4Jeitcy on the State.

(To be Continued in Part IV.)