The Sun.
London, England, 1818-01-21 00:00:00

LEa"rER

Mr. EDIT(' R,—Every sentence of this most ex-
traordinary Document, which I have felt it to be
my duty to bring before the Public!, terms with
e,i;'euce of the daring and undisguised attempts
cif the Irish Papists to subvert the Protestant Con-
toitnt ton of these Itealnts ! The art first brought
to perfection by that Arch Innovator VOLTAIRE,

and hence so suecesstnlly adopted, by the advocates
of licentious -Opposition tt, existin,g •Establish-
ments, by which a new Nomenclature is afforded,
and the means supplied of undermining virtue and
patriotism, by an assumption and appropriation of
words and phrases, hithcrto confined to their true
and legitimate meaning, has enabled the most
bigotcd Slaves to the domination of Rome,
to make their 'approaches against The Con-
stitution, as the advocates of Freedom, and
the asserters of popular Rights ! To this system—

to this perversion of tet ms and misapplica-
tion of sentiment, Europe is indebted for that
,ttipentlons and barbarian irruption which has
itbakew her to the Base, and more or less con-
vulsed every (ratter of the world. Under the
one tern of LIBERALITY, now the attlibute
0f high character, fine feeling, and Christian cha-
rity, more confusi between right and wrong,
more subversion -of high principle, more mischief,
more intolerance, more brutal violence, and more

sanguinary excesses, have presented theuiselves on
the Theatre of civilized Society, than tinder any
of the avowed and stigmatized principles of open
violence and hostility, which such Society at once
rejects with contempt and abhorrence. The thirst
of plunder—an appetency for the Rights and Pas-
s ssions of others—Sedition, Conspiracy anti

Rebellion, are protruded and displayed to Public

view., under the general profession of PATRIOTISM !
The declared verdict of Guilt by the Juries of the
" Country, against a Patriot of this Order, is pro-
claimed to be OPPcesstoN An acquittak, under

circumstances of intimidation or corruption, the
TRIUMPII or LIBERTY, though the delinquent ac-
knowledge his a:l4 pubicly avow —his con-
trition !—Not a• Meeting of these profligate and
,a!)andoned CATALINES occurs, in which, pointing

to the destruction of all that is great and vene-

table in the State, bequeathed to us by our Fore-
fathers, of the Throne, the Laws and the Cott-

stitution, their assertion of ti)eir LOYALTY 18 not
impudently made—not a Society of these,mongt el
Citizens of the World is Called together at a
Tavern, to sap and undermine the several orders-
of the State, and to present the model of the
French Revolution to the sanguinary hopes of
their dupes and followers, without the suspicious
artd extremest professions of love for THS CON-
STITUTION ! Thus, Sir, those voluntary Si ties ott
-the threshold of the Vatcan—the sons of those
who deluged their Country with the blood of
Protestants, when-their Coadjutors, the Puritans,
had brought fling CHARLKS to the Block, and
opened the way to their Emancipation; ‘‘hose
E-I,;,;sarks, during the long Reign Of ELIZABETH,
v‘ere year after year employed to assassinate that

truly Protestant Princess, under, as regular a Pupal

,4bsoiution; who, during the afflicting Reign of
CTIAZLES were Jesuits and Puritans united, and

who, struggling after the Restoration to iegain

thair Ascendancy, mustered t heir forces, and under

the doable ageru g of Rome and France had nearly

carried the object of their (loafing ambition—who
thus found Ciniity by their Country, and sentenced
Bever again to be entrusted with the Poi,vca of

doing ltrm—whose very sentence of condemna-

don %vas the first security ever obtained for

and

the permanency of the Constitution,,
«•as the foundation stone of it; these men'

Sir, have now the hardihood, in the face of

hislory,, of experience and of truth, to stand

tonvm d, not to solicit for favour, not to

peti!ion, for grace, not to ask for oblivion,

not to proclaim repentence or to promise amend-
ment, but in a tone of menace, and in a, daring

.210t1 Ludy defence of their ancestors ,and their

Chorch., to avow their contempt and hatred of

CiJustitut ion, us " unjust and unwise," to pub-
,

I their determination of never conforming to it,

od to colorer t;,eir cluinz to have it revolutionized,

in order to t entice it to the standard which THEY
ant(bl.! enemies 61- the Constitution consider to
be the ItlCasllTe of THEIR' RIGHTS. I would call

your wtentron, Sir, And that of your Readers to
one short sentence, of whit!) I have grossly Ibis-
cAlculAted its ituportance, if you do not at once
perceive all the characteristics which I have in my
e ,rre9ondence brought forward respecting the
toodt, Sclieult.R, awl revolutionary utodc,s of
1,0,,2,u-i4e, a ( pied !ry the enemies of Good Older

and the hist;tutions of the connfry :—" We
" do not pretend to AN ASCENDANCY over any par-
" lion of our fellow sidv.eets ; the enjoyment of
" EQUAL RIGHTS CONSTITUTRS THE EXTENT OF

" OUR roetTicat. ASPIRATIONS !! !"
Now, Sir, if you will observe the very calm
and concise style in which this modest avowal of
their object is btottglii forward, you will At once
perceive that 9 readers out of every 10 might pass it
over without considet ing its import. Every Reso-
lution at a Tavern Dinner is prefaced with some
such declaration, and the car and the eye are be-
come habituated to this sort of verbiage, or jargon,
which is just as applicable to the question at is-
sue, perhaps, as the Bellsnan's Address to his Pa-
rish on Christ was Eve. Litre, indeed, is the
form of words, but applied to a rely different pur-
pose, and covering an object altogether foreign
to them, in their usual acceptatiolL The Tinker
and Tapster who are enlightened by the harangues
of BRANDRETH, HOOPER, WAITHMAN, Of Sir
FRANCIS BURDETT, may talk about equal Rights,
because they really possess and enjoy them, though,
like MoLtEßa's "Bourgeois Gentilhontme," they
do not know it, and are cajoled into a belief that
they still want theca; but equal Rights, as refer-
ab:e to the Roman Catholics, embrace the whole
Question under disenssion, and whilst the one set
of men I have just described are entitled to them,
in virtue of the Constitution, the latter are excluded
from them for the preservation of the Constitution.—
They stand in direct and diametrical opposition
to each other. The one cannot constitutionally
exist with the other. The Rights 01- the People
are incompatible with - the Claims of the Roman
Catholics, thus modestly, and as it were in a pa-
renthesis, concisely set up ! If tile People desire
a NEW CONSTITUTION, let this be expressly un-
derstood ; but we must not permit the game of
the Trojan Horse to be played off under the Bri-
tish Constitution, or suffer our Palladium to be
destroyed by placing it unguarded within reach of
these treacherous Greeks
1 have not yet noticed in this pregnant para-
graph, the nature of the pledge, dismissed in three
words, of their having no pretension to ASCEN-
DANCY.- They assure us they do not pretend to it.
This is all ; but is this all that is intended to be
conveyed to the initiated 9--They do not pretend to
it; bia (and this is an important "but) we DO !
and what is meant by the immediately following
Claim to equal Rights? IVhat but an unequivo-
cal declaration againt the PROTESTANT- ASCEN-
DANCY ! Grant them bat the Powcia to work out
their system, and they will appeal to this very
precious Declaration that their Claim went in a-
mine to the overthrow of the Protestant Ascen-
dancy. The next step would, of course, be the
establishment of Papal Supremacy; anti "what
guarantee shall we have against it ? The simple
avowal, in this very " simple case," as they de-
nominate it, that they do not pretend to it An
ample security to Englishmen truly for the sacrifice
of their Constitution !
Could Mr.- CANNING imagine, when he so far
forgot the Principles of Mr. PITT., as to decline
tht Coutitutional Toast handed 'down from the
Fathers of the Revolution, and uniformly supported
by that Patriot Minister--a Toast constantly in the
list of the IVHIG CLUB, even in its degenerate
days, ancruNTlL itsfinal extinction ; could, I say,
Mr. CANNING have imagined that the pl:do was so
far organized, and the scheme so ripe for publica-
tion, when he was thus called npwn, and subniit-
ted, in deference to the prejudices of the Roman
Catholic Claimants, to throw a shade overtheg,rea

distinguishing feature of the Constitution, or would
he not have spurned at the use thus attempted to
be made of his justly esteemed and respectable
authority to sap and undermine the very vitals of
the Constitution ? Is it that men in pursuit of
some visionary plan, or some favourite scheme of
policy, arc so intent upon the object, that they
exclude all consideration of consequences and con-
tingencies ? Is it possible that a mind like Mr.
CANNING'S can be so riveted upon an abstract
principle- as to prostrate itself before the sugges-
tions of a sect or a party, which has proved itself
inimical, and resolute to oppose all the great lead-
ing and distinctive features of -the Constitution ?
Is it mot sufficient to satisfy, the most liberal feel-
ings of Toleration and Indulgence towards the
prejudices of such persons, that every thing re-
strictive, harsh, or penal, is expunged from oor
Statute Book, without offering up the Statute
Book itself, as the victim to those prejudices ?—ls
any one Civil Right or Privilege denied to the
Papists which the incidence and wisdom of our
Forefathers (who ate our Law and Authority on
all other points) originally consillered necessary to
stifle the germ of any future attempt to give them
PowEE? Are they excluded from arty one advan-
tage from which numerous classes of Protestant
Subjects are not equally.. excluded ? The Clergy,
in a body, are for ever excluded front seats in the
Legilittive Body, and no privilege or resumption

of the right to sit can be claimed or admitted 1—
Are there not other societies and departments of
the Body Politic who are equally inca-
pable of enjoying the privileges which the
Roman Catholics now
,claim as their portion
of equal Rights ?—As tar as personal freedom and
liberty of conscience are concerned, they have
equal Rights, and these when granted to them
were publicly proclaimed to he the extreme object
of their wishes and desires. They THEN did not
pretend to any share of Legislative Power, or as-
pire to be Of Functionaries of the State.
" They wanted nothing further than redemp.E
lion from the operation of Penal Laws, and
restraints upon Conscience !"—This pledge of
their gratitu:le and moderation is now rudely
withdraw n, and whilst some puny Po'iricians,
whose views are bounded by present objects,
argue, that as so much has been granted, it is •
absurd to withhold the little that remains to be
conceded., they themselves boldly march forward,
regardless of promises or pledges, and demand
their admission to POWER and EQUAL RIGHTS,
(by which. is meant Office and Confront, for it is
else without any meaning) awl attempt to sanc-
tion their Claim by the profession of extreme mo-
deration in not looking to ASCENDANCY !

But surely, Sir, this is sufficient to open the
eyes of the people to what is really intended.
Wen the Penal Laws were in force, (not enforced
be it recollected) and the first appeals of the Ro-
man Catholic Body wete made for their abroga-
" they did not pretend to any further indul-
gence." When they made their next advance,
and did solicit certain indulgencie.3, which were
conceded to them, " they did not pretend" to claim
them as rights, and they professed themselves con-
tented. When Petitions, which assumed the
colour of Demands for the right of Voting at
Elections, were brought forward and granted, they
" did not pretend" that any further concessions
were expected, on the contrary, they themselves,
and their Parliamentary Champions, avowed their
satisfaction, and solemnly pledged themselves again
that they looked for nothing further. But the
Concession was scarcely registered, when the suc-
cess of their former policy encornwred them to
proceed to the last extremity, and to force the
only barrier which remained to preclude their re-
turn to POWER and AUTHORITY ! They no longer
appeal (as I have shewn, And as the important
,Document before us will prove) to the Constitu7
lion,' but ACAINST itL-they are no longer 'Peti-
tioners for Redress, but Rivals for Power ; and
after the experience of the increase of demands
in proportion as Concessions have been made—
after the repeated and rapid breaches of their
pledge to be satisfied in each succeeding stage of
Concession—and after having seen all this pass
within the compass of a single Reign, and before

tiot),

our own eyes, we are expected.,—nay, we are

stigmatized as intolerant and bigoted adherents
to the prejudices of onr Forefathers, for refusing
to throw down the Constitution, to prostrate the
Throne and Altar before the prejudices of men
who are only called upon to shake off the yoke of
Foreign Dominion, and to be obedient to 'the

Laws to which all other subjects are bound to
submit, but who refuse a single Concession or
shadow of Concession on their part. I sly, Sir,
the Loyal and Protestant Opposers of this breach
of our Laws, of our faith to each other, of the
Coronation Oath, and of the Articles of our Union
will' Scotland and with Ireland, are held up to
the fury and indignation of all Philosophical
Statesmen and 'Metaphysical Reviewers, because

they will not plunge into innovations without re-
gard to consequences, tear up the very founda-
tions of society already shaken by the tremendous
convulsion of the French Revolution, and open
every avenue to the Throne, and eventually the
Throve itself, to them Who have, whenever they
possessed THE POINKR, turned it against the People
and the nights of Freemen ; who are themselves
the worst of slaves—willing shies to a Foreign
Despot—and whose Creed is boldly published

and declared to be an hereditary and unhesitating
obedience to the will of a Fallible Man, whom
they clothe with the pretences of Infallibility !
It is to encourage, to foster, to give life and vigour
and power to this Caput Mortuum of their bigot-

ed worship, that we are to make an experiment

ipon the Constitution—and to sacrifice the feel'
ngs, principles, and policy which have raised us
o the highes►. elevation of national glory and pro-

sperity—ever yet granted to mortal men ire a state

of society !

If this be done—then ENGLAND, PROTESTANT
ENGLAND, adieu to hi! thy greatness!—Thou bast

touched thy meridian height; the glory of thy
Fathers shall be obs Cured by the degeneracy of
their Children; and the DAY STAR of LIBERTY
shall fade away from thy view amidst the fumes

of incense offered to bigotry and superstition,

a the ascendant ! !

LANITANC.