Star.
London, England, 1828-11-13 00:00:00

BRUNSWICK CLUBS.

MEETING AT LEEDS TO FORM A BRUNSWICK
CLUB.
A ?fleeting was held at the Music Hall on Monday,
at which between three and four hundred Gentlemen
were present, to consider the propriety of forming a
Brunswick Constitutional Club.
The MAYOR having been called to the Chair, ad giessed
the meeting.' They were all aware, 'he said, of the re•
ports which had gone forth to the, world, and which
were now entitled to some notice, as they had beer. al-
lowed to remain uncontradicted—that it was the inten-
tion of Government to legislate with respect to the Ro-,
man Catholics, and to admit members of that body to
seats in the Houses of Lords and Commons. This had
?eery naturally excited a considerable degree of alarm
through the country, and Brunswick Clubs were esta-
blished to counteract, if possible, this dangerous intoad
on the Constitution. It was said that it was desirable
to settle the question; but how could it be settled ex•
cept by the restoration of Popery to its former dominat-
ing influence? ;he could assure them that it was
not a seat in Parliament which could satisfy the Ca-
tholics ; for what wt uld it avail their cause to obtain
Only seats in the Peers' House for a few Catholic Lords,
and the return of a few Catholic Members to Parlia-
'went? B it it would be of great consequence for them
to have the Rom in Catholic Religion ingrafted on the
State—(Hear, hear). To counteract so dangerous an
innovation on the Constitution, let those whom he then
•addressed imitate the example of their brethren in other
pairs of the country, and form an Association for the
support of the Constitution—(Cheers). Let theirs be
not one of aggression, but one purely defensive.—.
Their great object should be to watch the Roman Ca-
tholic question, and to use every Constitutional endea-
your to preveht the Catholics from coming into power
—(Hear, hear).
Mr. Alderman HALL said, that the numerous and
respectable assemblage around him would wipe away
any stain which might attach to them horn any seem•
ing indifference with respect to those most important
interests. When they saw those who should be the
defenders of the Constitution give way as cowards, and
'ready to surrender the citadel to the enemy, it was
• time that the friends of that Constitution should act.
and take measures for preserving that which now ap•
• peared to be in so much danger—(Hear, hear). He,
• for one, had the greatest confidence in the NOble Duke
at the head of the Administration, and in many of his
'colleagues; but they could not shut their ears to what
was‘satil, Or their eyes to what was passing before them,
and if they attended to these, they must believe that it
was the intention in certain high quarters to propose
some change by which Catholics were to be admitted
•• into 'Parliament on certain conditions which were to be
named ; and when they saw this, they would not dis-
charge their conscientious duty if they did not come
for ward and publicly state their opinions, and prevent
by every constitutional means ancient principles Irons
being sactificed to modern expedients—(Cheers). To
talk of pacifying Ireland by means -of emancipation
was nonsense. The condition of Ireland required other
semedie.. She required attention to her general, and
• not her private wan's ; she required a resturati.oi of the
kind relations between landlord and tenant; she wanted
the application of Et.glish capital to call into action her
• great national resource-, by ;thick her hardy sons might
• find employment. By th,•se means, and not by sending
a few of her liters to the Lord', or bet Catholic Gentry
to the Commons, would the state of that country be
improved, and its inhabitants rescued from their pre-
• sert impoveristed condition—(Heat). 'He then moved,
" That an AssoCiation be now formed, Which shall be called
; The Leeds Brunswick Constitutional Association ; and that every
limber shall, on admission, sign the annexed Declaration."
..DECLARATION OF THE LEEDS BRUNSWICK CON-
STITUTIONAL ASSOCIATION:
" We, the undersigned, being deeply impressed with the bless-
Ir., we enjoy under theliritish Constitution, as by law established
• at the glorious Revolution in 16ns, do hereby declare, that the
principle on which we associate rests on a conviction of the fatal
- consequeuces which would attend the further concession of puli-
, tical power to the Itoman Catholic subjects of this realm ; and
• belug fatly persuaded that if Papists be again allowed to legislate,
' the 'rights ut the Crown and the liberties of People would no
' longer be secure, we pledge ourselves to oppose such concession by
• all tomtit utional means.
• That we oil support his Majesty's Government to the utmost
• of our power, in enforcing -obedience to the laws, and especially in
puttitig, down that pestilent organ of sedition and treason, the Ro-
man Catholic Association, which endeavours to overawe the Go-
vernment of Ireland, has outraged the liberties of the people, and
threatens to spread discord and rebellion through that divided
country.
" That, at the same time we tender our best services to his
Majesty's Government for the acconipli..hment of these important
. objects, we are determined to oppose any attempt which may be
made, either to introduce Papists into Parliament, or, in ayg way
to advance their political power.'
" 'that whil.t for the last thirty years conciliation has been held
forth as the panacea for all the evil. of Ireland, the destruction of
' that portion of the United Kingdom has increased in an exact ratio
with the privileges granted to the Papists; and now, when joy
and gladness, proverity and peace, should, according to the pre-
diction% of a I former conciliators, reign throughout the land, as
the inevitable fruit of the boons which have been successively
granted, that country presents to our view Popish domination ire
its most violent and persecuting character, as despising the laws,.
• insulting the authorities, proscribing individuals, reciting dissension
and hatred amongst men, rending asunder the best interests of so-
ciety, and th ing ruin and Jest:memo to all who shall dare to
• oppose it.
" That the pretensions of the Papists to political power stand
on prteisely the same pounds as the excluded House of Sardinia
and the Bourbons of Fratice dues to the British Throne, and that
, if the one be admitted, the other cannot on principle be denied.
" That to urge our Most Gracious Sovereign to sign any Bill re-
- establishing legislative power in Roman Catholics, would tiring his
own regal title to the succession into jeopanlx—would tend to die.
solve the. compact betweed him andlis peopiewould irritate anti
Jame the Ptomain population' of the United Kingdom, and
would, in all isuinan probitbility,kad to a suite, of bloodshed and
misery, the bate anticipation of which, from past experience, it is
• kerrible to contemplate."
BILNJAMIN SADDLALR, E.A. came f..rwarcl to second
the resolution. He observed that he was not a member
of any political club, but there were times when an
honest man could not remain inactive in affairs which
involved the welfare of his couutrys The pi ".sent Period
. was one ti thote when all which Engliith Pictestants
I.eid molt dear was attacked, and that ftr the purpose
twits destruction—(Hear, heat). In coming forward
n.) tnis occasion, he had no disposition to attack any
man., His wish, and the wishes of those art and hum,
were to act on thvaleffasive. The Association they
let-re about to form wee defensive in its nature and ob-
ject. They were in the enjoyment of invaluable privi-
leges and blessings, and they would show that they
knew their value by a firm and determined union in
their support. Tney would also support and uphold
the G verriment ; and the best suppott that any good
Govanment could elvect would he a union in defence
of the Pi oteptant Cohilitution. It was true that there
olijght be no present danger in this countiy from the
events which were taking place. But was it so in Ire-
, I ini? Were the Protestant brethren in that cou,ory
equally secure? Were they to be kit a prey to the
.oaf at the mr•ment they were looking to their fellow,
Trot -vents in England for that help which they them-
*els,. seet e always ready to give e hen called on ? He
bad had an opportunity of knowing much of the lower
orders of the population of lrelaritl,attdbe would assert,

~.

' },

that if they were not kept in ignorance and superstition.
they would be as moral and industrious a set of people
as those of any country he could name—Wear, heart
Bat, instead of having their generous minds well di-
rected, they were put po'sely kept in ignorance that they
might be made the more fit tools in the hands of those,
who were their self-eleJted leader. .let them have
Scripture et!ucation, let the Sacred Volume be circu-
lated as widely amongst them as possible—and let the
Catholic Association, that great pest of the country, be
put down, and the happiest effects for its prosperity
would be the consequence.
Mr. Alderman SADLER, after adverting to the civil
and political blessings which had accrued to England
from the Reformation, expressed his regret that the de-
scendants and followers of some of the brightest orna-
ments of the Dissenters should be found at the present
day advocating so dangerous a principle as the intro-
duction rf 11 man Catholics to the highest privileges
of the Constitution. He then went on to' quote from
the writings o' a Dissenter (Fuler). an Advice and Opia
nion on the subject of Po,ery.••." Abhor Popery and be
eminent in your zeal against it. Rome is that Amelek
with whom GOD will never make peace, neither should
we. It was Queen Elizabeth's motto—' No peace with
Spain;' and it should be ours—' No peace with Rome'
My dear countrymen, I beseech you be not deceived with
vain words, suffer not yourselves to be circumvented
by a stratagem of the enemy; let not prejudices and
discontents which they endeavour to beget and f. ment
in you again t all your real friends, cause and of you to
fall in with the design and interest of your enemies; k
is a dangerous thing to comply with that interest which
GOD bath engaged himself against, and. as sure as
CHRIST sits at the tight hand of Iris FATHER, shall be
destroyed; and wh it cause you .have to abhor Popery
you will see by that time I have shown you that it is a
false, bloody, and blasphemous religion." . ••••
" Pcor England hath had an experience of Popish
cruelty; so hat's Leland too, in one of whose provinces
one hundred and fifty thousand Protestants were mas-
sacred by them in the late rebellion. Popish cruelty
spares none—pities none." This, said Mr. Sadler, is
the opinion of. a Dissenter held in high estimation
among that b' dy, and wchaving escaped horn the great
thraldom of Pops! y,. 1 hope we shall keep ourselves
free, and still cherish and maintain all that is dear and
precinus amongst us—(Tremendous cheers).
As the CHAIRMAN was about its put the Resolution
and the Declaration to the Meeting, Mr. JOHN TALBOT
rose and said—" I think that declaration is seditious, if
it is not treasonable"—(Loud laughter). On being put,
they were carried against a minority of four indisiduals
among 400. •
Mr. ATKINSON next addressed the Meeting. and ob-
served that be was then beta& n sixty and seventy years
old. He then proceeded to state that he had spent ten
years in Ireland, and could speak from some experiences
of the state of that ct untry. Much benefit had no
doubt been derived to many of the inhabitants from the
extensive circulation a the Scriptures; bet it was still
a melancholy t;uth that the dangerous opinions and
doctrines of the Ron.ish Church were still held by the
great mass of the Roman Catholics in that country. He
had seen the Catholic Convention, the Catholic B iard,
and the Cstholic Ass, ciat;on, as they had succeeded one
another, and almost at every meeting of those bodies
one of their first acts was to endeavour ts explain away
the speeches of some of their own members, who at pre-
.vious meetings had let out a little too much of what
they did not wish to have
,generally avowed, and the
explanation they generally gave was, that their honour-
able brother member had not meant what he said—
(Loud laughter). On one of those occasions a Dr.
Dromrole had let out a little too much. He stated
broadly and unequivocally, that the colleges, and the
churches, and the church lands, all belonged to the
Catholics by right, and that they would have them.—
This was considered as going too far *for the time, and
accordingly, at the next meeting of the 800 d, it was 'I
openly asserted that the Doctor had nut meant-what he
said—(Cheers). But the Doctor was too tar gone in his
seal for the cause to have his statement contradicted,
and he openly declared that he had meant all he said,
and he re-asserted. his former opinions—(Cheers and
laughter). A mine sprung, under the Board could not
have caused a greater " blow up amongst them—
(Laughter). • In fact, all that Catholics wanted in all
they had done for the last twenty years, was a restora-
tion of those good things for which Doctor Dromgoole
had sighed. This was proved by their recent conduct.
Were they not employed in marshalling their forces in
large bands of thousands, until the Protestants dated
them to the field, and offered to put them down with
out the assistance of Government? And then came
Daniel O'Connell with his proclamation, calling on his
men to disperse and keep quiet—(Cheets and laughter).
Mr. Atkinson then went into a long, detail of the air°.
cities which were committed on Protestants by Papists
in the rebellion of 1798. including the statement of the
story of the dreadful burning of 160 Protestants at the
barn at Seullalsogue.
The Rev. G. WHAT (Curate of Leeds) read to the
Meeting some extracts from the• speeches made by the
• Duke i.f Wellington and Mr. Peel in the early part of
lait year, in which they defended their retirement front
office, because they could not support a Government,
the Chief Minister of which was the avowed advocate
of emancipation ; and contended, that with these ex-
amples before them, the Meeting were perfectly justi•
fled in declaring that they would not •support a Go-
vernment favourable to that measure. •

The Rev. R. FAWCET, in proposing the next Remits.
tion, contended that it was the duty of sincere Protest.
ants to endeavour t.e prevent their religion, which was
pure in its doctrine, tolerant in principle, and universal
in its operation, Irvin being put down, and having one
, set up en its place which abounded in idolatries, super.
stitions, and blasphemies He then moved—
" 2. That. the business of this Association shall be managed by a
Committee, with power to add to their number--such Committer
electing its own Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer, and being
itself elected by the Association annually."
Mr. WRIOHT seconded this motion, which was put
and carried, with only five dissentient voices.
The Rev. B. EDNIONDSON moved—
" That each Member shall, after signing the declaration. pay an
annual subscription not exceeding one guinea, nor less than half-a-
crown, to defray contingent expenses."
This resolution was seconded, put, end carried.
Mr. J. FURBANK, in moving " That the anniversary
of the eesolution shall be always held on the .sth of No.
,ember,~ said, that it the Papists should be admitted
into the Legislatute, it must be under the impression
that their religion and practices w ere changed ; but Le
was one of those who thought with themselves, that,
they were uncharged and unchangeable; but if, for the
sake of argument, they were to admit they were changed,
and were fit, with certain condition•, to be called back
again, must they not admit that the excluded family
sls, uld aLo be recalled, to the Throne? It the principle
was applicable in the one case, was it not applicable to
the other ? If it be just to grant to the Roman Cacho.
tics their claim to sit as Legislators, was it not equilly
just to grant theDuchessrof Modena and her descendants,
and the Bourbons of France, the Cro an of those realms ?

—(Cheers). Concede to the Papists one point, and they
would soon tell them that they had in principle already
conceded ti them the other; for if it were right to cnn•
cede to ibe seven millions, would it not be right 'to con-
cede to Vie individual alt. ? There would be, in short,
nothing but an Act of Parliament handing in the way.
The Gentkman then unwed the above resolution.
Dr. Dolma seconded the motion, which was carried unani
mou.ly.
The ilisoe having left the Chair, thanks were voted him fit
his conduct while in it, and the Meeting separated amidst the
loudest and most enthusiAstle cheering, mingled with shouts of
" Gun save the King."
THE LATE KENT AIEETING.

TO TNT raItrIfOLTIO4 Or TUC COUNTY or uasv.
BROTHES IFITIHOLOINT—You have read, no doubt, the
counter-petition, praying that speedy relief may be given to the
Roman Catholics. - Why, during a discussion of five hours, this
petition wasn't offered to the meeting on Pcnenden Heath; or why
Mr. Hodges proposition, supported by most (I rejoice to add, nut
all) of the Whig !elidess in the county, was not offered, till dark-
ness had nearly frustrated the object of the meeting, it ie needless
to inquire:
" But, Brother Freeholders, I hope that very few of you have
signed this counter petition ; fur it deceives you by stating that
which I unhesitatingly declare to be unfounded in fact.
" It states that • a large portion of the community are excluded
from the benefits of the Constitution by the existing laws, solely nn
account of their religious opinions.' This is incorrect, both as to
the extent of the exclusion, and as to the reason assigned for it
The Roman Catholic% enjoy almost all the benefits of the Constitu-
tion in continuo with all Protestants. From political power they
ate indeed excluded, but not on account of their religious fai hor
opinions. This hacknied assertion has been answered over and over
again; and I little thought that any one could at this day have
asked the Freeholders of Kent to sign their names to a proposition
so absurd.
" While the Protestant yields an entire allegiance to his King
and Constitution, the Roman Catholic acknowledges in a foreign
Potentate a spiritual dominion which has been used in past time.,
and may'again be used, against the liberties of the nation. This,
and the intolerance of his religion, which is unchanged, not in prin-
ciple only. but in practice, where its power is unrestrained, ate the
true and just causes of the reclusion of the Papist from political
power in our free Protestant State.
" Ilaoxitsa FIIIIVOLORKS !—Think boldly for yourselves. Be
guided by your own plain good sense, and I am sure you will re-
ject this counter-petition in the manner which it deserves. Ift.o
live under a Conuitution which secures your domestic comforts,
and which is calculated to give hope, and joy, and vigour, to all
yoor 'good undertakings, which contributes to gladden your hearts
in pi asperity, and to teach you to look for better days in adversity.
It is a eonstituti n under which man may well feel himself to be
that happy being which his Maass in his goodness designed him
to be. It is, in short, a fret and glorious Protestant Constitution.
" And let us not, Freeholders of Kent, be induced to forsake our
duty, and to pot the blessings we enjoy to hazard, under the vain
and delusive hope held forth in the counter petition, that Roman
Catholic Emancipation ' will unite in cordial attachment to the
Constitution all descriptions of his Majesty's subjects.'
" Look at events in lreand, my friends; and as discerning men
and lovers of truth, ask yourselves, can this be?
" 1 remain, brother Freebokiers,
" Your friend and servant,
.4 Nov. 6, 18•;.11.4 " O. GIPPS:"
THE CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE OF ROCHESTER.

DECLARATION