The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-09-27 00:00:00

TIM LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

" Complete Body. of Theology" of Peter Dens.
(Here we omit an abstract of the evidence by which it is
clearly established that this infamous work was published by the
authority of the Roman Catholic hierarchy of Ireland, as wellas
a very able summary of its most attrocious contents. Our
apology for this omission is that the abyove points have already
been well elucidated by the London newspaper press.)
111. That to the last edition of " Dens' neology," printed
in 183'2, there was appended, to quote the booksellers' adver-
tisement, " an additional volume, now for the first time an-
nexed, containing encyclical letters of the sovereign pontiffs, as
also the constitutions of Benedict the Fourteenth, in which he
has defined questions formerly controverted among divines, and
wherein he has decided subjects principally regarding moral
theology, in which the more difficult questions, which Dens has
only touched on, or may not have sufficiently elucidated, are
considered at great length. The supplementary matter above
referred to has been added with the sanction and approbation
of his Grace the must Rev. Dr. Murray."
And to this last statement, so plainly and distinctly made,
agrees the account given by the Rev. Mr. Wood, chaplain or
secretary to Dr. Murray, who, in answer to the charge brought
against -Dr. Murray, of having sanctioned and approved the
"'Theology of Peter Dens," rests his defence mainly on this
point, that it was not to Dens' work in general, but only, or at
least especially, to the eighth volume, that the approbation of
Dr. Murray was intended to apply. He says in his letter, pub-
lished iu the newspapers—
" When the new edition of Dens' was nearly ready to issue
from the press it was suggested to Mr. Coyne that a volume,
not at all by Dens, as the advertisement in the 'Directory'
clearly shows, would prove a useful supplement to the forth-
coming work. Dr. Murray was already aware of the value of
the information contained in the proposed supplementary
volume. He gave his sanction to the publication, without
reference to Dens' or any other work.
* •

Of what, then, does this volume consist? It consists chiefly of
certain decisions of Popes and Councils, on controverted ques-
tions of morals and discipline. Now, it is a clear and unques-
tionable doctrine of the Romish Church that when such decisions
of the Pope are not protested against by the Prelates of the
Church they become of authoritative obligation. Aud, at
,all
events, it must be admitted, that decisions of this kind, expressly
adopted and put forward by the Romish Bishops in any country,
for the guidance" of their Clergy, may be fairly taken to
convey a just and clear idea of the doctrines actually held by
those Bishops in that country. Here, then, as we have Papal
decrees and decisions, not only not protested against, but ac-
tually promulgated and approved by the Prelates of Ireland, it
follows that they must be taken to be established as of actual
force and authority on all the Roman Catholics of Ireland.
Now their tenor and bearing is of the following character:—
I. It is laid down as a principle resting on the highest au-
thority that all the forfeited property in Ireland, whether civil
or ecclesiastical, belongs, and ought to be restored to, its original

possessors.
" Real property taken by an enemy in an unjust war, sup-
pose by pirates, infidels, heretics, &c., even if it be bought by
the faithful. ought to be restored to its proper owner, no price
being exacted from the same; which formerly was decreed by
the Congregation de Propaganda Fide, in the year 1630, whose
opinion Benedict'XlV admits in his epistle to H. Nicholas Ler-.
cars, the secretary of the same congregation. (Bullarium,
torn. iii., No. 57.)"—Dens's Theology, vol. viii., p. 176.
And on consulting the epistle of Benedict XIV., thus referred
to, we find it therein declared,
• " That Roman catholics themselves, who may have purchased
such property, are equally bound with others to make restitu-
tion, (though they might naturally look for the exercise of the
pope's dispensing power in their favour;) ' For,' says the pope,
. when the faithful buy estates formerly belonging to catholics,
and taken from them by heretics in an unjust war, the will of
the original possessors cannot be presumed to acquiesce.'
And, ' who buy lands seized by unjust invaders are
bound to restore them without any force.' And, ' Finally,
conventions and treaties entered into between lay catholic
princes and the heterodox, as to the possession and detentionof
the property of the church, are disallowed by the apostolic
church.' "—Epi.vt. of Bend. XIV to Nich. Lercari.
2. The punishment of heretics, and their total extirpation, is
asserted in this eighth volume, under the sanction of Dr. Mur-
ray, to be an unquestionable duty and obligation resting on all
holding any authority in the Romish church. And the terms
in which this duty is prescribed, and the decrees upon which it
is founded, are exceeded in strength and explicitness by none
in the whole annals of that persecuting church. For instance,
it is pronounced that " heretics, or those suspected of heresy, or
Jews, who, after their baptism have relapsed into apostacy,
can be dragged by the inquisitors out of a church."—Dens,
vol. viii. p. 88.
" The bishop is bound, even in places where the office of the
holy inquisition ia-in foice, to take sedulous care that he should
purge the diocese entrusted to him from heretics, and if he shall
find any he ought to take care that he shall not hinder the in-
quisitors of the faith from discharging their office."—Dens,
vol. viii., p. 82.
The authenticity and general reception of the famous bull of
Pope Urban VIII., entitled " Bulla Csenw Domini," has been
often denied by Roman Catholics, Its leading passage with
reference to heretics is as follows:
" We excommunicate and anathematize, on the part of the
Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, also by the au-
thority of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own,
all Hussites, Wickliffites, Lutherans, Zuinglians, Calvanists,
Huguenots, Anabaptists, Trinitarians, and apostates from the
Christian faith, and all and singular other heretics, under what-
soever name they be included, and of whatsoever sect they be,
and those who believe them, receive them from these, and ge-
nerally all defenders of them. And all persons knowingly
reading, retaining, or printing their books containing heresy; or
treating of religion without our authority, and that of the Apos-
tolical Chair, or in any mode defending them, for any cause,
publicly or privately, under any pretence or colour whatso-
ever; also all schismatics and those who pertinaciously with-
draw themselves or recede from our obedience and that of the
'Roman Pontiff for the time being."
' Now this very bull, the reception of which in Ireland has
been so frequently denied, is, in this supplementary volume,
quoted no fewer than ten times, at pages 74, 82, 83, 84, 98, 99,
101, &c., as one of the canon laws generally received and ac-
knowledged by the whole Church I
Several other bulls of the most persecuting character are also
referred to in a similar manner, as one of Benedict XIII.,
1725 ; of Clement XII., 1734; and of Benedict XIV. 1750 and
1751; all of which expressly recognise the use of torture.
3. But the most remarkable circumstance remains to be stated.
The doctrine is expressly laid down at p. 82-3 of this supple-
mentary volume, that
" The Bishop is bound, even in places where the office of the
Holy Inquisition is in force, to take sedulous care that he should
purge the diocese entrusted to him from heretics, and if he shall
find any he ought to visit him with canonical punishments."—
Dens. vol. viii., p. 82.
But the authority quoted for this doctrine is as follows :
" ha in tract De Synodo," 1. 7, c. 32, &c.
The dere.), are thus referred, by his book—put forth under the
sanction of Dr. Murray, to the " Treatise of Benedict XIV. de
Synodo." And, at the page referred to we find the following
passage:—
" Among the chief care of the pastoral office is diligently to
watch, lest any error contrary to the orthodox doctrine may
creep into his diocese, which the Apostle clearly expresseS (0
Tim. iii., and Titus i.;) hence no one can doubt but it chiefly
belongs to the bishop to inquire as to heretics, and to punish
severely, with canonical punishments, those whom he shall find
petinacious in their errors.'-
"And that we may not waste our time in illustrating a. subject
which is undonbted among all it will be abundantly sufficient to
allege one sanction of Innocent 111.,,in the 4th General Council q/'
Lateran, A. D., 1215, in the 3d canon of which, ' De Heretics,'
the bishops are ordered every year, either by themselves or by
their archdeacon, t.. go round their own dioceses, and sedulously
to investigate if any one infected with heretical contagion lies
concealed in it : but it is decreed in the same place that those
who are slothful and negligent in expurging the diocese commit-
ted to them from this heretical plague as being guilty of a
weighty crime, and be disposed from their office."
Here, then, is the third canon of the fourth council of
Lateran, A. D. 1215, expressly brought into view ; it being
adduced by Pope Benedict XIV., as "abundantly sufficient"
to establish the doctrine in question, and that sanction of
Benedict being thus referred to, without any exception or limi-
tation, by the compilers of this eighth volume, put forward
under the sanction and approbation of Dr. Murray. Now, what
is the tenor of that canon ? It is as follows:
" We excommunicate and anathematize every heresy which
exalteth itself -against this holy, orthodox, and catholic faith,
which we have set forth above ; condemning all heretics, by
whatsoever names they may he recognized; who have, indeed,
diverse faces, but their tails are bound together, for they make
agreement in the same folly.
" Let such persons, when condemned, be left to the secular
powers who may be present, or to their officers, to be punished in
a fitting manner; those who are of the clergy being first degra-
ded from their orders; so that the goods of such condemned
persons, being laymen, shall be confiscated; but in the case of
clerks be applied to the churches from which they receive their
stipends." .
- •

We are compelled to omit much of the quotation, which is
quite in unison with the two passages we have given. The fol-
lowing passage is eminently characteristic:—
" Moreover, let no man be obliged to answer him in any matter,
but let him be compelled to answer others. If, haply, he be a
judge, let his sentence have no force, nor let any causes be
brought for his hearing; if he be an advocate let not his plead-
ing be admitted ; if a notary let the instruments drawn up by
him be invalid, and be condemned with their damned author;
and we charge that the same be observed in-similar cases. ,Dut
if he be a clerk let him be deposed from every office and bene-
tice, that where there is the greatest fault the greatest vengeance
may he exercised.
Thus tn this volume, especially put forth under Dr. Murray's
sanction, in order, as the advertisement expressly states, to
"define questions forinerly controverted," And to "decide the
more difficult questions which Dens had onty touched on, we
find a distinct reco,nition of the very worst decrees of the
darkest ages of popery, which are therein referred to as consti-
tuting the canon law of the Romish church in the present day.
Wherever, therefore; we turn—whether to authorised edition
of the Bible, issued under episcopal patronage ; or to a " Body
of Theology," selected arid recommended to the Clergy for their
"mast secure guidance;"
or to a supplemental volume annexed
to that " Theology," for the purpose of correcting its errors
and supplying its omissions; in short, to whatever quarter we
turn for a genuine and voluntary expression of their real senti-
ments and views we invariably fiud the Romish Prelates of Ire-
land asserting and inculcating the principle that the extermina-
tion of heretics is a sacred duty, and that power is given by God
himself to the Romish Priesthood over the persons, the pro-
perties, and the lives heretics, alias Protestants, which power
thus clearly fully este-
of necessary
nothing but their own sense of th erpendzency andponlipcyossfairtys
exercise can be allowed to controul. •
And now the committee, in closing this review, will suggest
consequence,ob n, l9y hedtwo
n fromferen th
ces wohicfahetsapear to frollylow,
First—The absurdity of placing any reliance on the profes-
sions or declarations of Roman Catholic leaders themselves as
to their real views and principles; especially when made under
the influence of political motives. To give an instance or two
of the fallacious character of such professions, it may be ob-
served--
I. That Dr. Doyle stated upon oath before the House of
Lords, in 1825, that " the bull in Ccenae Domini is not in force,
nor ever was in force in Ireland; and yet, in this eighth
volume of " Dens," issued under Dr. Murray's sanction, and
mad a conference-book for the Clergy of the pi-twice of Lninster
by Dr. Doyle himself, in conjunction with other Bishops, in
1831, this very hull is quoted no fewer than ten times, as one of
the established law of the whole Romish Church!
.i
2. Before the same committee of the House of Lords Mr.
O'Connell was examined with reference to the expectation of a
resumption of the forfeited estates in Ireland by the Roman
Catholic and the Romish Church. And he there declared that
"the title was gone out of the church," and that a principal
ground of safety lay in this, that many Roman Catholics had
themselves become possessed of such estates. Yet here we find,
in this work, presented to the Romish clergy of Ire, and by all
their prelates for their-more "secure guidance," and put forth,
with a full knowledge of its contents, by Dr. Murray, that real
property taken by heretics in an unjust war, even if bought by
the faithful, must be restored without any price; that no pre-
scription of time can vitiate the claim, and that all conventions

entered into for the detention of such property are disallowed by
the Apostolic chair.
3. ft was solemnly declared by Dr. Murray himself before a
committee of the House of Commons, on May 19, 1525, that
" the third canon of the fourth Council of Lateran has no au-
thority whatever in any part W.' christendom ; it never had any
authority in these countries; and it was made for a particular
-purpose, which has long since ceased." Yet in this eighth volume,
appended to " Dens" with Dr. Murray's own sanction, and
with a full knowledge of its contents, the clergy are referred to
a decision of Pope Benedict XIV., touching the extermination
of heretics, which decision is thus justified by that Pope :—" It
will be abundantly styficient to allege one sanction of Innocent
HI., in the fourth General Council of Lateran, in the third
canon of which, De Hereticis, the Bishops are ordered," &c. &c.
4. The whole body of the Romish Bishops of Ireland, in their
solemn declaration, published in 1826, aver that " they detest,
as " unchristian and impious, the belief that-it is lawful to mur-
der or destroy any person or persons whatever, for or undor
pretence of their being heretics." Yet, in the "Theology" of
Dens, recommended by these same Bishops to their clergy, for
their more secure guidance, there are found these passages,
without any protest or exception whatever :
" Are heretics justly punished with death ?
" St. Thomas answers-22d quest. 11, art. 3, in corp.—" Yes,
because forgers of money or other disturbers of the State are
justly punished with death, therefore also heretics, who are for-
gets of the faith, and, as experience testifies, grievously disturb
the State.'

" This is confirmed, because God in the Old Testament or-
dered the false prophets to be slain; and in Dent. chap. xvii.,
v. 12, it is decreed that if any one will act proudly, and will not
obey the commands of the priest, let him be put to death."
And in the supplementary volume, added to correct the errors
and supply the omissions of " Dens," instead of being warned
against these doctrines, the Clergy are sent to the 3d canon of
the Fourth Canon of Lateran fora decision on this point, which
canon enjoins "the extermination of heretics and the confisca-
tion of their lands!"
Nor can we avoid remarking, in this place, that while the
Romanists are constantly taught that their church " cannot
err," such is the present state of her theology that the whole
body of her bishops in Ireland, meeting for the express pgrpose
of selecting " the best book" on the subject that could be re-
published, as containing " the most secure guidance" fur their
clergy, could find nothing better adapted to this purpose than a
work containing doctrines which they declare that " they de-
test, as unchristian and impious." The conclusion being ine-
vitable, that either their declaration above referred to was in-
sincerely made, or the best book on theology which their church
can produce contains sentiments of an impious and detestable
character!
But the second inference which appears naturally to follow is,
that in every work of an authoritative character.put forth by the
Bishops for the use of their Clergy, these doctrines of extermi-
nation are found, without any qualification or proviso whatever ;
and as the opposite professions of general charity and benevo-
lence are only put forward in certain declarations offered to
Protestant Legislators, with a view to influence their conduct in
favour of the Romish Church, there is every reason to apprehend
that the objects and views, the dispositions and feelings, of the
Roinish Priesthood towards Protestants, are precisely what they
have always been, namely, altogether intolerant and extermi-
nating. Policy may, and obviously does, limit and repress the
manifestations of these feelings by the want of power and the
danger of retaliation; but nothing can be more fully or perfectly
established, than that the very
.same principles which in former
times deluged the Low Countries and the vallies of Piedmont
with blood, which prompted the massacre of St. Bartholomew,
and lighted up the fires of Smithfield, are still kept in store
against the time when a fitting opportunity may arrive for calling
them into exercise, in one, if not in both, of the British islands.
The committee now desire to leave the whole case with the
British public. They have sedulously endeavoured to bring
together the best evidence that was possibly attainable ; and
could once more repeat that, if any more authentic means of
ascertaining the real views and principles of the Romish hier-
archy in Ireland had suggested themsetves, they would willingly
have resorted to them. It will be observed that the whole of
the documents above referred to rest upon the sanction of either
the whole or a considerable portion of the Romish Bishops in
Ireland. It is well known that these Bishops have to English
statesmen and legislators held every different language. But it
must be admitted to be perfectly fair, and only reasonably cau-
tious, to compare professions so made, with tolitical ends dis-
tinctly in view, with the principles actually inculcated, at all
times and under all circumstances, on their own clergy and their
own flocks.
And those principles, if the documents above referred to are
of any validity, are as entirely opposed to their professions of
liberality as light to darkness, or as peace and universal charity
to the extermination of all opposers.
Nor can the reflection be avoided, that the existing circum-
stances of the country give to these facts a more than ordinary
importance. The influence recently obtained, both by the
Romish priesthood of Ireland and by their delegates in parlia-
ment, over the decisions of the legislature and the government
is of the most decided character, and that to an extent which,
some few years back, would have seemed absolutely impossible.
To ascertain, then, the real objects, to the attainment of
which that influence will be directed, most obviously be most
desirable.
And if the documents just quoted do really convey, as the
committee believe that they do, the actual views and principles
now maintained by the ruling powers in the Irish Roman Ca-
tholic church, then, assuredly, nothing can be more clear than
the fact that the comfort and well-being, and even the lives and
properties of the protestants of Ireland stand, at this instant, in
most fearful peril.
To this conclusion the committee cannot avoid coming; while
at the same time they earnestly desire that every reader of this
address would himself examine, both into the facts above ad-
verted to, and also into the correctness of the inferences which
are drawn from them.
By order of the committee,
J. R. PAGE, M.A.
G. H. WOODWARD, Secretaries.
HENRY QUIN,
September 15, 1836.

Rinports.
EAST INDIES, CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, 4•c.

Comala, (261) M'Niel, fm Calcutta, with 1113 ps sapan wood, 2053
bags sugar, 51 bxs 29 chts shellac, 4 hxs silk choppas, 31 bgs coffee, 24
bls raw silk, 40 bxs 22 chts lac dye, 800 hgs rice, 76 chts indigo, 98 hgs
seed lac, 73 bls hides, 340 pkts linseed, 1010 hdls rattans, Order-293
hgs saltpetre, J Bibby and co-92 bgs do, C Fletcher and co-29 bales
raw silk, Cropper, Benson and co-358 bgs linseed, Livingstone & co
—4O bales cotton, 1 box conts unkn, Gillanders and eo-13 bls
1 prcl raw silk, 44 chts indigo, Sands,' urner and co-3 boxes sago, D
Ross-30 chts shellac, 4 chts lac dye, Rawson and co—G Dk

WEST INDIES AND MADEIRA.
Rapid, (232) Davidson, fm Jamaica, with 54 hds I tee 4 brls sugar,
63 tea 20 brls 1 hf brl coffee, 30 t 10 c logwood, 38 t 15 c ebony, W F
Porter and Son-6 hds sugar, 24 tcs 4 brls coffee, J Mulholland and CO
—6 lids sugar, R Addison-47 tea coffee, J B Yates and co-38 hds su-
gar, 16 pas rum, 72 lancewood spars, J Gladstone and co-10 tea coffee
Stewart and Westmorland-1 bg wool, J Adams-5 brls sugar, 1 pkge
saccades, 67 lancewood spars, said Master-23 hds I brl sugar, 49 tea
4 brls coffee, 2 pus rum, 3 jars tamarinds, Order—P Dk
Hesperus, (330) M'Dowal, fin Demerara, with 197 hds 51 tea 19 brls
sugar, 57 pns 25 hds 11 brls rum, J Gladstone co-105 hds 3 tea sugar
C w and 1' Shand-1 lid shrub, 1-hd 1 brl rum, Ihd sugar, Ihd Mad
wine, P Grant-70 hds sugar, 12 pkgs sundries, Order— Dk
Brilliant, (277) Gibson, fm Jamaica, with 275 hds 3 tcs 1 brl sugar,
78 pns rum, 32 tcs 12 brls coffee, 25 cnstrs arrowroot, 16 dry o and c
hides, 13 kgs tamarinds, 32 t logwood, J B Yates and co-8 hds sugar,
J Redmayne —l9 do, 27 pns rum, S Percival-1 brl sugar, 3 kgs tama-
rinds, Order—B Dk
Chatham, (354) Gill, fm Jamaica, with 151 lids 25 tea sugar, 62 pns
rum, 50 t logwood, 120 lancewood spars, 17 bgs pimento, 2 bls sheeps'
wool, 7 urns molasses, J Gladstone and co-217 hds sugar, 42 pns rum,
110 bgs pimento, 22 tcs coffee, C Horsfall & Son-13 tcs coffee, 9 pkgs
presents, Order-41 lids sugar, 13 pns rum, It Bagot-25 tcs coffee, A
Cliffe and Son--G Dk
Dampier, (208) Newlands, jun, fm Jamaica, with 62 tea 2 brls 2 hf
brls 4 cks coffee, Buchanan, Laird and co —8 tcs 4 brls 1 hf brl 4 cks
do, A Hoyes-17 tes 5 brls 2 cks do, J Gladstone and co-17 tea I brl
do, Order-34 tea do, T Hatton, jun-26 tes do, C Horsfall, Son and co
—34 tea 1 csk do, J Hall and co-21 tea 22 brls do, Tory, Ilolt and co
—43 tea 3 brls do, Ferguson, Miller and co—R tea do, Wood and Tory
—9 tcs do, A Savage-6 tcs do, H H Cohen and co-37 tea do, Gibbs,
Bright and co-11 tes do, J and G Campbell and co-1 hd sugar, 1 cse
retd goods, J and G Campbell-1 bx lime, J Gladstone and co-170
hides, C liorsfall, Son and co-5 hds sugar, J Hall and co-31 hds do,
15 pns rum, J Dand-9 t Nicaragua wood, 1 hf brl ginger, Tory, Holt
and co-1 bx arrowroot., Ibx a picture, 34 bgs pimento, 13 pkgs pre-
sents, 22 t 9 c logwood, 25 cedar planks, 25 cedar boards, 12 cedar
scantlings, 6 logs cedar, Order-90 hides, J Famnin-11 canisters ar-
rowroot, J Claypole—P Dk