The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-06-08 00:00:00

Political Romatiisur is the detailed and ingenious appli-
cation of this principle to the utmost practicable extent.
Give up this principle, and the whole system of Romanism
crumbles to the ground ; the Pontiff is no longer Christ's
vicar—the head is gone, and the body is dead. On the

other hand, maintain this principle, and intolerance, ex-
terminating intolerence, must be co-extensive with since-
rity. If this principle he correct, it is as plainly and
imperatively the duty of Romanists to destroy heretics
against their Lord the Pope as it will be the duty of the
risen saints to destroy the enemies of their Lord and
Saviour. _

In support of this principle scripture is quoted, and
facts typical of God's judgments, at the last, are cited as

. .
examples for the Church's imitation now.
Thus the notes to the Douay Bible and Blemish Testa-
ment are constructed. Referring to an ecclesiastical

judgment recorded in DeuteronomiXvii, the writer says—
" Here we see what authority God was pleased to give
to the Church guides of the Old Testament, in deciding
without appeal all controversies relating to the law, pro-
mising that they should not err therein, and punishing
with death such as proudly refused to obey their decisions:
and surely he has not done less for the Church guides of
the New Testament."—Dortay note.
That is, God has not done less than invest the Church
guides of the New Testament with authority to punish
with death such as proudly refuse to obey their decisions !
_ _And again, on our Lord's Parable of the Tares in St.

Matt. xiii., the annotator says—
" The good must tolerate the evil, when it is so strong
that it cannot be redressed without danger and disturb-

ance of the whole Church, and commit the matter to
God's judgment in the latter day : otherwise, where ill
men, be they heretics or other malefactors, may be pu-
nished or suppressed without disturl•ance and hazard of
the good, they may, and ought by public authority, either
spiritual or temporal, to be chastised or executed."—
Rhemish note.

It should be noted and remembered, that these, and
such as these, are notes of authority in the only version
of the Holy Scriptures which the Church of Rome will

allow to be circulated amongst her people.
It will be observed, therefore, that this is not the rash,
hasty outburst of an individual in an evil moment of ex-
citement of temper; but it is the legalised decision of
general councils argued out in class books, and reference

books used in Romish seminaries for the instruction of
Romish ecclesiastics.

It is the deliberate judgment of the Church of Rome,
solemnly recorded and never rescinded, that where it can

be done' with present safety to Rornanists themselves,

heretics of all kinds ought to be chastised in various ways,
and where found refractory and obstinate, that they ought

to he put to death.
I hold in my hand a digest of the laws made against
heresy and heretics by the acknowledged authorities of
the Church of Rome. It was compiled by Dr. Whitby,

and not references only, but extracts, are here givenfrom

the original documents. I shall not inflict many extracts
upon you, but I must read the instructive classification of the
laws heregivenunder certain heads. First: Laws made for
the preservation of the members of the Roman Church
from falling into what they call heresy. These include
provisions binding all males at fourteen, and all females
at twelve years of age, to abjure all heresy, by a solemn
oath. Also, provisions requiring all governors of castles,
consuls, and other authorities, to take a similar oath
against heresy, on receiving their appointments. Second ;
Laws made for the discovery and apprehension of here-

tics, favourers or abettors of heretics, and such as are
suspected to be inclinable to heresy. These describe the
persons authorised to be active in this work—inquisitors,
archbishops, bishops, and abbots. Also, the powers
given them to require all civil governors and magistrates
to render their assistance in taking and spoiling heretics,
and compelling all the neighbourhood to swear to inquire
after, and if they discover any heretics, to give notice of
them and endeavour to secure them. These laws de-
scribe also the powers given to inquisitors, archbishops,
&c., to require a corporal oath upon the relics of a saint,
or upon a crucifix, from all whom they suspect of heresy,
to answer to questions containing all Roman doctrine ;
and if they refuse to answer, to condemn them as here-
tics. Third: Laws concerning the punishment of here-
tics when discovered. These describe the various punish-
ments : excommunication, confiscation of goods, impri-
sonment, torture, death. They require all kings, em-
perors, and supreme governors, on pain of deposition, to
aid in executing these decrees of the Church.. And they
encourage every member of the Church to aid in this
work, by promising remission of sins, and a great reward
hereafter, to all who fight against and labour to destroy
heretics. A specimen under this third head may be read
without wearying yen. It is a decree of a General Coun-
cil, held under the presidency of the Pope himself, and
therefore invested with all the authority of their assumed
infallibility :—" Let secular powers be admonished and
induced, and, if necessary, compelled, by ecclesiastical
censures, whatsoever offices they bold, that as they desire
to be reputed and held faithful, so they should publicly
set forth on oath, for the defence of this faith, that they
would endeavour, bona fide, to the best of their ability,
to exterminate from the territory subject to their juris-
dietionrall heretics who are branded by the Church ; so
that in some way, whensoever any person shall have been
exalted. to any place of power, whether spiritual or tem-
poral, he may be bound to confirm this order by an oath.
But if any temporal revere being required and admo-
nished by the Church, shall have neglected to purge his
territory from heretical corruption, let him be bound by
the metropolitan, and the other comprovincial bishops,
with the chain of excommunication :. and if he shall con-
temptuously refuse to make satisfaction within a year, let
this be signified to the chief pontiff, that from that time
forth he may declare his subjects free from their allegi-
ance to him, and expose his territory to be seized by
Catholics, who may, without any contradiction, haviuy
exterminaltd the heretics, take possession of it, and
preserve it in the purity of faith, saving the right of the
chief lord, provided only that on this he himself shall not
present any obstacle, nor oppose any impediment."
It would be easy to multiply authorities from popes,
emperors, and kings, provincial and general councils
approved by the Church of Rome. But time would fail,
and, indeed, enough has been said to convince everything
except prejudice, which will not be convinced.
It may be useful, however, to remind you of some of
the better fruits which the world has seen, the produce of
this Upas tree. Intolerance, even to extermination, has
not only been the rule of the judicial tribunals of the
Church of Rome, and defended by her most distinguished
writers;. but has been uniformly and zealously acted
upon, when circumstances permitted. It originated the
crusade against the Albigenses under Simon de Montfort.
It established the infamous inquisition under Dominic,
and led to all the atrocities perpetrated in Spain and
elsewhere against Jews,. Turks, and heretics. It drew the
sword on the eve of St. Bartholemew in Paris, caused
rejoicings at Rome for the inhuman massacre, and aroused
and instigated the murderous dragonnades of Louis XIV.
to hunt and slay the helpless Hugonots like fowl upon the
mountains. In our own country, it fixed the stakes, and
lighted the fires, of which our martyrologist John Fox,
has given such a faithful and frightful catalogue. (Hear..)
Attempts have been made to invalidate the testimony
of Fox, but in vain. " Numerous attacks," says Mr.
Prebendary Soams, " have been levelled at the honest
chronicler of Rome's intolerance, but they have ever
fallen harmless from the assailant's hand."
" I am not ignorant," said the late Dr. Wordsworth,
" of what has been said by Milner, and by his predeces-
sors, Harpsfield, Parsons, and others. But neither his
writings nor theirs have proved, and it never wily be
proved, that John Foxe is not one of the most faithful
and authentic of ail historians. We know too much of
the strength of Foxe's book, and of the weakness of
those of his adversaries, to be further moved by Dr. John
Milner's censures, than to charge them with falsehood.
All the many researches and discoveries of later times, in
regard to historical documents, have only contributed to
place the general fidelity and truth of Foxe's narrative
on a rock which cannot be shaken." (Applause.)
In our own times, whenever Rome can act unchecked,
her intolerance makes it a matter of risk to property and
liberty and life, for a man to exercise Isis own judgment
in the reading of the word of God, and arrive at conclu-
sions unfavourable to the claims of Rome.
The modes in which this intolerance is acted out are
various, adapted to the differing circumstances of the
place and the occasion. Hindered in her coarse by the
opposition of heretics, Rome teaches that all means are
lawful towards the attainment of her great end.
Where force can succeed, it is the simplest, shortest,
and most direct mode. Where force is dangerous, other
means are to be used ; and Rome's choicest writers are
fertile in expedients of fraudulent deception.
In parts of Ireland, force is tolerably safe, and there-
fore force is used. It may be known to many of you that
there is a committee of the House of Commons at present
sitting for the investigation of crime and outrage in
Ireland. Some of the evidence given before that com-
mittee has found its way into the newspapers, and I. will
now read you a few questions and answers as they have
appeared in the Dublin Telegraph, a Roman Catholic
paper. (Hisses.)
Mr. Maxwell Hamilton, Crown Solicitor for the North-
Eastern Circuit, is examined by Mr. Whiteside :
" Mr. Whiteside.—Q. From your knowledge of the
subject, state to the Committee what is the nature of
the Ribbon conspiracy ?—A. A secret society to carry out
particular objects, and, generally speaking, agrarian.
" Q. To early out particular objects, and by what
means ?—A. By physical force.
" Q. Do you mean by murder, if necessary ?—A. Yes.
It generally commences in a beating of the party whom
they want to deter from doing some particular thing, and
if he does not mind that warning, he is generally mur-
dered.
". Q. In the course of your experience have you known
persons who were remarkable for the benevolence of their
characters the victims of such conspiracies ?—A. Yes ; I
think that, generally speaking, the people who are at-
tacked in this way are not persons who may be supposed
to have done anything to deserve it.
" Q. Will you describe to the committee the process by
which a man would be sentenced to death, and how that
sentence would be carried out, as you have heard it
proved ?—A. I understand that the system is, that if a
man thinks he is aggrieved, and wishes to have a person
either murdered or beaten, he goes to the parish master
of the Ribbon Society, and he says he wishes to have a
particular thing done, he names the sum of money which
is to be given for it, and the business of the parish master
is to appoint the persons who are to perpetrate the out-

rage.
" Q. According to the result of your personal observa-
tion, have these descriptions of murder been frequently
committed in daylight ?—A. Latterly almost invariably.
" Q. In your judgment does that arise from the con-
viction, on the part of the murderers, of having the sym-
pathy of the district in which they kill the victims ?—A.
No doubt ; and not only the sympathy but the knowledge
that nobody dare inform against them."

As an illustration, Mr. Hamilton cited the case of a man
named Cargill, who was murdered while mowing in a field.
" Q. What has been, the state of the county Loutb,,ini

last twelve mont

county, from Dro

" Q. A

nded with

Q. What effect do

minds of ti