Star.
London, England, 1826-06-08 00:00:00

KING, JUNE 8, 1826.

firm any falsehood by an oath, or dispense with any
oath by which a Catholic has confirmed his duty of al-
legiance to his Sovereign, or any obligation of duty or
justice to a third person. He who takes An oath is bound
to observe it, in the obvious meaning of the wot ds,
or in the known meaning of the person to whom it
is sworn."
•
It is possible (though, I trust more than improbable)
that I may be told that, although this statement on the
subject of the obligation of an oath should be itself
confirmed by an oath, doubts may still be entertained
of the veracity of the parties. My only answer to such
an observation is this ; that those who are capable of
making it must in c.msisttncy be prepared nqt only to
renew the penal laws against the W.man Catholics, but
to aggravate those laws by such provisions as may overly
and completely exclude them from the pale of civil
society—in other words. to disfranchise the freeholders
of Ireland,,who are now entitled to vote at elections, to
prevent Catholics from holding commissions in the
army and navy, and above all, to prevent. them from
being allowed to give evidence in Courts of Justice,
either civil or criminal.

If the sacredness of an oath be to be doubted, there
is an end of all hum:in means of cunt, oiling or directing
any class of persons except by Vie most rig d, deter-
mined, and systematic coercion ; but if the sacredness
of the oath of a It.man Catholiz be admitted in general,
it must be admitted in the special instance now under
consideration; and then the only remaining questions
are, first—what opinions are our Roman Catholic fel-
low subjects prepared to confirm by this species of
sanction? and, secondly, Are those opinions such as to
qualify them for a full participation in the privileges of
the Constitution?

An objection of the most general and practical nature
to what is called Catholic emancipation is founded on
the presumed incompatibility of obedience to the Pope,
the spiritual head of the Roman Catholic Church, with
entire allegiance to the Sovereign, to whom entire civil
allegiance is due. If any real doubts can remain in the
mind of any man, with respect to the opinions of the
Roman Catholics upon this subject, I admit that a
strong justification is afforded for the refusal of those
privileges, to a participation in which the Roman Ca-
tholic body never ceases to aspire ; and here again, I
can only transcribe the eighth section of the declaration
of the 'lomat' Catholic Bishops of Great Britain:
" Catholics are charged with dividing their allegi-
ance between their temporal Sovereign and the Pope.
Allegiance relates not to spititual.but to civil duties—
to those temporal tributes and obligations, which the
subject owes to the person of his Sovereign, and to the
authority of the State. By the term spiritual, we here
mean that which in its nature tends directly to a super-
naoural tud, ar is ordained to produce a supernatural
eff,:ct. Thus the office of teaching :Ile doctrines of faith,
the administration of the sacraments, the conferring
and eercising of -jurisdictioo purely ecclesiastical, are
spiritual matters. By the term temporal, we mean that
'which in its nature tends directly to the end of
civil society. Thus the right of making laws for
the civil Government of the State, the administration
of civil justice, the appointment of civil Magis-
trates and Military Officers, are temporal matters.—
The allegiance which Catholics hold to be due, and are
bound to pay to their Sovereign, and to the civil authority
of the State, is perfect and undivided. They do not
divide their allegiance between their Sovereign and any
other power on earth, whether temporal or ecclesiastical.
They acknowledge in the Eovtreign, and in the consti-
tuted Government of these realms, a supreme civil and
temporal authority, which is entirely distinct from, and
totally independent of, the spiritual and ecclesiastical
authority of the Pope, and of the Catholic Church.
Toey declare that neither the Pope nor any other Pie-
late, or ecclesiastical person of t! a Roman Catholic
Church, has, in virtue of his spiritual or ecclesiastical
character, any tight, directly or indirectly, to any civil
or temporal jurisdiction, power, superiority, pre•emi-
nence, or authority, within this realm, nor has any right-
to interfere, directly or indirectly, in the civil Govern-
ment of the United Kingdom, or any part thereof, nor
to oppose in any manner the performance of the civil
duties which are due to his Majesty, his heirs, and sue.
cessor3, froth all or any of his Majesty's subjects, nor to
enforce the performance of any spiritual or ecclesiastical
duty, by any civil or temporal means. They hold
themselves bound in conscier.c: to obey the Civil Ga-
vernasent of this realm, in all things of a temporal and
'Civil name, notwithstanding any dispensation or order
to the contrary, bad, or to be bad, from the Pope, or
any authority of the Church of Rome.—Heace we de-
clare, that by rendering obedience in spiritual matters
to the Pope, Catholics ‘l4 nut withhold any portion of
their allegiance to their King, and that their allegiance
is entire and undivided ; t'ie civil power of the State,
and the spiritual authority of the Catholic Church, being
absolutely distinct, and being never intended by their
Divine Author to interfere or clash with each other.
" Render unto Caesar the things that are Cosies, and
to GOD the things that are Goo's."
I also transcribe the twelfth section of the declaration
of the Roman Catholic Bishops of Ireland, on the sub.
ject of allegiance, which will be found rigidly to csncur '
with the statement of doctrine which I have now quotea,
though not so detailed, and on that account only, in my
opinion, not so satisfactory as the English statement.
"The Catholics of Ireland swear that they will be
faithful and hear true allegiance to our Must Gracious
Sovereign Lord • King George the Fourth ; that they
will maintain, support, and defend, to the utmost of
their power, the succession to the Crown in his Majesty's
family, against any person or persons whatsoever; ut-
terly renouncing and abjuring any obedience or allegi-
ance to any other person, claiming or pretendiug a
.right to the Crown of these realm::—that they renounce,
reject, and abjure the opiMon, that Prince:excommuni-
cated by the Pope and Council, or by any authority
of the See of Rome, or by any authority whatsoever,
may be deposed or murdered by their subjects, or by
any person whatsoever ; and that they 4do not believe
that the P..pe of Rom-, or any other foreign Prince,
Prelate, State, or Potentate, Isiah or ought to have any
temporal or civil jurisdiction, power, superiority, or
pre-eminence, directly or indirectly, within this tealin:
They further solemnly in the presence of Goo, proles,
testify, and declare, that they make this de,.lara ion,