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TH URSSD.

A' EV

LETTER OF WILMOT HORTON, ESQ. TO THE

[PRICE SEVENPENCE.

ELECTORS OF NEWCASTLE•UNDER-LIME
_,.w..__.

and every part thereof, in the plain and ordinary scnte
of the words of their oath, without any evasion, equivo-
cation, or mental reservation whatsoever, and without
any dispensation aheady granted by the Pope, or any
authority of the See of Rome, or any person o hatsoevet ,
and without thinking they are or can be acquitted be`ore
Goo or man, or absolved of this declaration, or any
part thereof, although the Pope, or any persons in au-
thority whatsoever, shall dispense with or annul the
same, or declare that it was null and void from the be-
ginning! After this full, explicit, and sworn declare-
tron, we are utterly at a loss to conceive on what possible
ground we could be justly charged with bearing towards
our Most Gracious Sovereign only a divided allegiance."
The Roman Catholic Bishops of Iceland have net, it
will be observed, made any declaration with respect
to the cbliga ion of an oath. This I do not impute to
them as a fault, bat I do as an omission, because the
opinions relsec ing the obligation of an oath are, infects
the key-stone on which the whole principle of resistance
to the Roman Catholic claims must depend. I beg,
however, to declare, that I, for one, can perfectly under-
stand an unwillingness to resort to a formal ezpos:tion
lof an opinion to maintain the contrary, which is an
,admission wl ich itself distpuelifies a man from entering
into civil society at all; but I am glad to find that it is
introduced in the declaration of the English Roman Ca•
tholies, because it prevents the possible expression of that
suspicion which may yet lurk in the minds of some met.
The declaration of the English Roman Catholics rn
this subject is so satisfactory, so full, and so unequivocal,
is, in my opinion, to justify the ma'ntenance of a civil
action against any person absolutely denying the inte-
grity and good faith of the parties in making it; and
upon this, as well as other points of presumed Roman
Catholic belief, I confess that I sl ould be glad to try
the verdict of an English Protestant Jury, as to the fact,
whether a Catholic is to be belies;ed upon his oath, with
respect to the doctrines which ate contained in these
declarations, as contrasted with those which are imputed
to Mm by many persons, who will not relax their im-
putations in deference to any disclaimer, however solemn
and conclusive. I am aware that it might be difficult
to prove a civil injury sustained under an imputation of
erroneous and uticbrisCan opinions in any special in..
stance: and that, therefore, it must be an aggravated
case that would bring any charge of this sort within the
scope of a civil prosecution ; but, on the other hand,
think it is impossible to maintain that the collective
body of the Roman Catholics are not injured by the
dogmatical imputation to them of opinions, which the
imputing party could not be prepared to abjure more
readily and entirely than the party against shunt the
imputation is unhesitatingly made.
There is another point of extreme importance, as cons
netted with the civil part of the question upon which
the declarations of the Roman Catholic Bishops,
both of Great Britain and of Ireland, are in my opinion
completely satisfactory. I mean the imputed or alleged
claim of the Ronson Catholics to the property of the
Church Establishment in England and Ireland; or to
any other property which may have been forfeited by
Roman Catholics in former days. On this point I beg
also to refer yr u to my letter to the Duke of bli.rfolk,
in which the subject is considered in detail. The Rn.
man Catholic Bishops of Ireland say_" the Catholics
of Ireland, far from claiming any right or title to for-
feit lands, resulting froth any right, title, or juiciest,
which their ancestors might have had therein, declare,
upon oath, that they will defend to the utmost of their
power the settlement and arrangement of property in
this country, u established by the laws now in being."
They also " disclaim, disavow, and solemnly abjure,
any intention to subvert the present Church Establish-
ment, for the purpose of substituting a Catholic Estab-
lishment in its stead. And further, they swear that they
will not exercise any privil.-ge to which they are or may
be entitled, to disturb and weaken the Protestant reli-
gion and Protestant Government in Ireland."
The English Roman Catholic Btshops declare as fol-
lows :—" British Catholics are charged with entertain-
ing a pretended right to the property of the Established
Church in England. We consider such a charge to be
totally wi.hout fonniation. We declare that we enter-
tain no pretension to such a claim. We regard all the
revenues and temporalities of the Church Establish-
ment as the property of chase on whom they are settled
by the laws of the land. We disclaim any tight, title, or
pretension, with regard to the same."
There is only one other point to which, in accordance
pith the limitation which I have laid down, I hold it
necessary to refer yeti. viz. the question about keeping
faith with heretics. Upon this subject, the English
Roman Catholic Bishops make the following declara-
tion :—Catholics are charged with holding the principle
that they are bound to keep faith with heretics. As
Catholics, we hold, and we declare, that all Catholics
are bound by the law of nature, and. by the law of re.
vealed religion, to ob erve the duties of fidelity and
justice to all men, without any exception of persons,
and without any distinction of nation or religion..-
British Catholics have solemnly sworn that they reject
and detest that unchristian aad impious principle that
faith is net to be kept with heretics or infidels. After
this, the imputation of their holding this principle can-
not but be felt by them as grievously injurious to their
reli4ious and moral character."
'llse Irish Roman Catholic Bishops state, that " the
Catholics of Ireland not only do not believe, but they
declare upon oath that they detest, as uncbristiau and
impious, the belief that it is lawful to murder or destroy
any person or persons whatsoever, for or under the
pretence of their being heretics ; and also the pi ncirle
that no faith is to be kept with heretics. They further
declare on oath their belief that no act in itself unjust,
immoral, or wicked, can ever be justified or excused, by
or under the pretence or colour that it was don-, either
for the good of the Church, or in obedience to any
ecclesiastical power whatsoever : that it is not an article
of the Catholic faith,neithetroaobreethyeayntyheorareteorreinreitqsuokv.edn
to believe that the Pope is infallible; and that they do
not hold themselves bound
nature immoral, though the Pope or any ecclesiastical
power should issue or direct such an rider, but, on the
contrary, that it would be sinful in them to pay any
respect or obehence thereto."
I have tip toques( you to read these declarations, in
the tone and teml.et in -which you are invited to do so

GENTLEMEN—Yoe will recollect that, on the 4th of
October, 1825, I pledged myself that, before the period
should arrive when it might be proper that I should
personally claim your suffrages, I would give to every
person within the borough of Newcastle the means of
judging for himself on the subject of what is called
"the Catholic Qu..stinn." I should much regret that
the fulfilment of that pledge (which circumstances have
made it impossible for me to execute at an earlier period)
had been delayed so long, if I thought there was any
extra :rdinary mystery in the subject ; if, in fact, I did
co: think that I could succeed in bringing it before you,
in such a plain and simple form as might render it,
comparatively speaking. a short and easy matter for
you to decide on the adoption or rejection of the pro-
position submitted to you.
After a very attentive examination of the history of
the "Catholic Question," I considved that the best
mode of bringiortisis subject befdie you would be to
obtain a distinct explanatory statement of the doctrines,
and opinions of the It mean Catholics of the present
day, in so f.-r as such doctrines and opinions can be
considered by the most jealous Protestants as calculated
to affe. t the exercise 3t their civil dirties as subjects.—
With reference to such a statement I addressed and
published " A Letter to the Doke of Norfolk," to which I
beg to ici. r you. In that letter I pointed out at length
the advantages! anticipated from a distinct statement of
this nature, both to the Roman Catholics who seek the
boon of admission to all the privileges of the Constitu-
tion, and to the Protestants who deny that boon, from
an apprehension and distrust of the possible conse-
quences which might arise from its concession.
Since the period at which I addressed that letter to
the Duke of Norfolk, two publications have appeared,
which (though I have no authority to state that they
have arisen from th at appeal on my part) have so close
a bearing on that view of the question which I wish
more particularly to investigate, that they appear to
me to have mainly executed the specific purpose which
I considered as so desirable: true of them is entitled,
" A Pastoral Addreis of the Roman Cotholic Arch-
bishops and Bishops, to the Clergy and Laity of their
.Communion throughout Ireland," and is signed by
'thirty Roman Catholic, -Prelates in that country. the
`other is a declaration of the whole 'body of Roman Ca-
tholic Bishops (the Vicars ApOstolic and their c tadju-
tors) in England and Scott and. •
You will find in these decimations a most unquali-
fied and distinct rejection of the authority of the Rpe
in temporal matters, while at the same time there is
the most unequivocal acknowledgment of his authority
in spiritual matters. It therefore becomes of essential
importance to consider the distinction between tempo-
ral and spiritual authority, and, this distinction is laid
down with such precision as to remove doubts from the
mind•of any man who is not disposed to distrust dr.,'
integrity of the, parties making this distinction. It is
also to be observed that these declarations are not the
declarations of the Laity, whose authority on the sub-,
ject of Roman Catholic doctrine, unless it were sanc-
tioned by the opinion of their Clergy, alight be disputed,
although their sincerity Might be admitted ; but solemn
declarations on the part of the highest Roman Catholic
Ecclesiastics within these realms. Nor, again, are they
the declarations of indieiduali, but of a body carrying
with them all the weight inherent in its ccrporate
character.

With respect to the doctrinal points of the Roman
Catholic religion which do not bear in any degree upon
the civil conduct of the Roman Catholics, and to the
explanation of those doctrines in the subjoined declara-
tion, lam not prepared to offer any c•:mment. It is
not to be expected that, as a Protestant, Ican concur in
the soundness of the reasoning which is applied in jus •
tification of particular points of the Roman Catholic
faith. It is only where such doctrines interfere with
the exercise of civil duties that my jurisdiction as a
member of the Legislature commences, and that I have
a right to examine before I determine to concede.
I shall, therefore, proceed to shew you that nothing
can be mote satisfactory than the opinions entertained
by the Roman Crthotcr respecting " the obligation of
an oath." I shall next demonstrate that their opinions
upon the civil points of " divided allegiance," " Church
property," 44 faith with heretics,"are so satisfactory, that
it is not fitting that any man, otherwise duly qualified to
'sit in Parliament, or to hold civil offices, should be dis-
qualified by his religion from doing so, provided that
he will be prepared to attest, by his oath, his genuine
accordance in the principles explained in these Resolu-
tions; and, finally, I shall shew, that leaving the ques-
tion untouched, of the entire and absolute independence
of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland, with respect
to the See of Rome, n 3 sort of danger can occur, even
if such independence should not be admitted.
Adore, however, this subject can be approached, it is
possible that a preliminary difficulty may be started.—
Hovfever satisfactory and explicit these declarations may
be in their tone and language, have we (it may be ask-
ed) any cvideice of the genuine and uncompromising
sincerity of die parties who make them ? I would an-
swer, we have that test which is the most perfect that
can be applied in civil scciety—their readiness to con-
firm by their oath this expression of their opinion. I
may then be asked, What is their opinion of an obliga-
tion of an oath ; and I answer this question in the words
of the English Roman Catholic Bishops, in Section 7
of their ,declaration. 41. Catholics ale charged with
holding that they are not bound by any oath ; and that
the Pope can dispense them from all the oaths they
may have taken. We cannot sufficiently express our
astonishment at such a charge. We hold that the obli-
gation of an oath is most sacred ; fort- by an oath,
man calls the Almighty Searcher of Hearts to witness
the sincerity of his conviction of the truth of what he
asserts, and his fidelity in performing the engagement
he makes. Hence, whoever swears falsely, or violates
the lawful engagement he has confirmed by an oath,
not only offends against truth or justice, but against
religion. He is guilty of the enormous crime Of prrjory.
No power in any Pope, or Council, or in any individual
or body of rnms invested with an authority in the Ca-
tholic Church, can make it lawful for a Catholic to con-