The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-10-16 00:00:00

PROGRESS OF POPERY.—=In a recent' nimiber of tlut

Stockport- Advertiser there appeared an ,eltract)frohva
private journal, containing an account of a Popirsh•rnis4.
sionary meeting at Rome, which affordA a strong';dor:'
roborative proof -of the ceaseleSs and indefatigable t
forts now making by the Church of Rome to regainifee
ascendancy in various Protestant States of -EUrope.
One of the speakers, who delivered the result of his
missionary labours in England, tifus speaksDfOe -atitthr •
which is now so prevalent among the ProteStattiyaudl
through which the Papists have-been enabled to .-caVry:bt%
their prbselyting system with s'ir)
Jesuit missionary speaks of Stockport in the folloWink:

.erms:—
" A very favourable circumstance,"•he Said, "to be nri.ii#edl .-
here is, that all opposition from the heretics, has long
There is none. In fact, the feeling of those who ate attaches
to the principles of the party now in power in England is one•
of decided preference for the true church to the system of,S,ki.r.
ritual error there established."
After detailing the operations of the mission, "and --
scribing the limprovement of the chapel at Stoapor
and giving the number of Protestant (!) Childien who,
passed through the school, the Jesuit missionary On--
. ;i,nsito,.. • -
tinued • s
"The heretics subscribed towards the erilargemenl ot-fhe
church, and some of those who were employed inftinitilintit
returned to the bosom of the church, an example.whicp„ thete
was great reason to suppose would be soon folloWetfbv one Or
two others of influence in the town. 'Some beim vnirinedlto
stations of confidence, and are thus increasing their influence.;
others have obtained seats of honour in the 'local courts 'frir
the governtnent of the town; and the priest,assarethine-that
to be a member of the holy (Roman) catholic church.„so.far
front being regarded as a matter of distrust and jealeusy as
formerly, is now taken to be a sufficient qualifleatintildi the
duties of any public office, not excluding those whielkareyo,
fleeted with their heretical institutions; and in exercising
which, opportunities are afforded which they will ote,dAy
know how to improve. The extent of their. iniluenconay be
seen in the fact that, at the celebration of the Queen's coro-
nation, the (Roman) Catholics succeeded in placing-their'ehil-
dren next in order after those of the establishment, and:before
all the other heretics." In conclusion, he. assured his de
lighted auditors, that "in the event of another suCh
the (Roman) Catholics shall take precedence of elltittlers
throughout the empire; for if a persevering and ueanimou&
struggle on their part can effect it (and what can't it effect?) • .
its sceptre shall not long be.withbeld by a .professed heretic, -
but shall be placed again at the disposal of the, hOly church,
and the undoubted supremacy of Christ's virar'apbstrilic bu
earth be established throughout those islands:"

Such is the language employed at Rome to-describe
the prospects of Popery in England. 7, Such .arethe
schemes which the liberal pro-Popish journals 'of ,li-
verpool, and of England generally, are. labouring,to
carry into effect. Is this, then, a. time, we venture,to.
ask when Protestants should, rest upon their. artnso.in-
different to the issue of the mighty .struggle-
progress ? Is it not the bounden duty,ol' everyone
who loves the best interests of his.country,to, exercise
the utmost vigilance in endeavouring to stem thelood
which threatens once more to spread!ovet the. whole

land, and to sweep before it every vestige of that,reli-
gious liberty which is the distinguishing characteristic
of Protestantism ? Should we notTotrie ourselves ft{
our fatal slumbers, and vigorously oppose the.tritim-
pliant march of this insidious enemy? If we.warited
any fresh stimulus to urge the-zeal of the Protestants
of this country to come forward more boldly 'than' ever
in defence of the Established Churoh,we hays it-in the
following powerful statement, which,,,
from the last number of /Packwood's
It is well known that the. „Roman 44,,p1iq, of
England and Scotland took very,,littlepao4l,44-Agi-
tation which brought about the act gOli6
suppression of the rebellion in „1715,whenpsoAnany
Roman Catholic families in the northrof Eulan4),keie'
ruined, and when all the others .very, presekly,.orne•
under the close surveillance of the. gov,ernmetitciery
little indeed was done to disturb the Hariovarrilpo,,,dy-
nasty, save by the deluded but enthusiastic ly~'rst of
the Highlands. But when the bold Rebe11i.0n,014,745
was suppressed, as the former had also been„the. h'ppes
of the House of Stuart fell altogether; andklreAlfunan
Catholics throughout Great Britain beearne. moro-,,and
more attached to the reigning sovereigns, end,thore
anxious to gain confidence by displaying Utr'ir InYtatty
and contentment. Generally, they, t00k,,,, ery4;ttle
part in political strife, and were -alienated, almost
equally from both of the great parliamentary. parties.
When the measure for admitting them'to thedegisla•
tore was taken up by the wings, they for, .a long :time
recommended theniselves and their
.claims chiefly by
refraining from all participation in those democratic
expedients, and that seditious turbulence on which the
Irish entirely relied. At the period of the, French Re-
volution, most of the English and Scotch Roman Ca-
tholics joined the ranks of the alarmists, ands.lcpre-
cated most strenuously the principlevind practices of
their Irish brethren. In many counties4heir influ-
ence, though great, was never exerted;:irt-some it
was given to the tory candidates ; they took very little
interest, hoWever, in the contests ; .they -iattended
Court very little ; they participated sparingly in ,rite
sports and expenses of other country,geutlenien ; and
thus, while their wealth was increasing,,theirfrespjct-
ability and local influence was increasing also. Times
have now altered. The Roman Ctitliotics.~ now fee
clearly their interest in the success of the jiberals, and
therefore, with very few exceptionsobey hayo thrown
their weight into that scale, and have.-.joined in the
projects of Mr.. O'Connell for theadsancernent of their
political power. How great that weight is in Eng-
land alone, we wish now, before prOceedinglyirtirer, to
explain, because it has been too much underrated,and
because froth its having been only lately:_,brintire,ititn
use, it is not generally understood....
" In the peerage, the Roman Catholics number the
Duke of Norfolk, the Earls. of Shrewsbury,,
and Newburgh ; Lords Petre, Stourton, Stafford,,•Vaux•
Arundel, Cliffords, Dormer, and Lovat.;-'iboides,
among the Scotch and Irish peers; who-have,votes in
the election of representatives in the Iniperial paqia-
ment, the Earls of Traquair andlienmore ; Viscount'
Gormanston, Southwell, and Frankfort; Lord Trimel-
stown, Louth, Dunbnyne, and French.. Of,
pecially the peers of Parliament, we need 'scarcely add
that they include some of the most wealthy_ jeciinflu-
ential noblemen in the kingdom. .Among4he.harOnet"
we find the following Roman Catholicsy,nearly-,..a1l °I
whom may be ranked with the _A-Wrest...of Chg.:class t°
which they belong Tlrrci,knortorr,s, Sir. J'
Gerard, Sir T. Stanley, Sir T.:l-laggerston,
Blount, Sir H. Hunlocke,• Sir Wolteley, Sir' 0'
Thitchborne, Sir Clifford- Constable, g.:MirstY°'
Sir F. Vin Cent, Sir T.•Gage;ESir H. Bedinfield,f,_Sirl3'
Wrey, Sir I. Lawspn, Sir
burne, Sir E. VaVasour,&C;;;:and
are many baronets of Ireland, ankS;c44-14• Wight
mention, who profess the same religion., .AgaiPl
the list of the wealthy landed gentry. ot Engrad,,nranY'
very many, are Roman—Catholics
antL(itsi.the'follovv'
ing specimens will shoW to brit readera'tegicint
rious parts of the country) 'some of lliem are an-Ong
the most powerful proprietors in their:reipeCtiY-ec9°ll;
ties. These names of opulent and ancient families ar.
selected from a much larger catalogne.'now-.befote ro-
Salvin, Constable, Maxwell, MitfordiTrafford„Giffal.d
Plowden, Weld, Silvertop, 'Blunt; Stonor,7)(inglit•Vi
Charlton, Canning, Eyton, Howard,of Cortry,44.ow3;:,
of Greystoke, Cary, Chichester, Langdale,' Blundei
Standish, Dalton, Scarisbrick, Hales, Tempest; .VV•11e"
ble, Mornington, Lacy, Bodenhaiu, 'Wright, Phillipsf
Digby, Best, Jones of Llavvartb, Waterton, EcClesto°'
Stapleton, Fitzherbert, Riddell, ClaVering, A"t°!'
Talbot, Strickland, RookwOod;ltialth.St;y, Middletno'
Scudamore, Berkley, Townley, &c. &c.•••-Therewo%i
be no difficulty in naming several in thiS ligt.and,t!'„e
of the baronets above, witiv, landed property to, t"er
amount of £40,000 a-year, andia few everOallo,
incomes. It is therefore-clear that the. Raman Gate
lies of England (fOr to these We :ac•prieseilt.e.°ns.
ourselves) have at their disposalvlk the matins nee
rice
sary to secure for their party greatipoliticalltqafted,
and power. Nor are theselirethis entireltnnglie:evon
It is true that in the House Cornnioni.ithtlibau
Catholics number 'only forty, of whoin-natnore
.this
six are English members'; btit-for rife Sinullness nbl.ered
force it is very easy to account when ivigtern'eni 0,011(..
that there are many Protestants-as Zealonsitio°_,ire ;
of innovation as the Roman eatliolics,,e6triciTly-: •
who are less liable to suspicion; ari&AVhoptlierefore,
not only have better chanceatameleetiith,brit'also are
in Parliament the best tools Popety-ethild
icr}ect: It
is not difficult to 110(1ft-stand: that:the iofluential Bo-
man Catholics of the West Riding are aslyilling to
support Sir George Strickland atk•one °v`n
persuasion ; and it is not very •"inarvellous.4bat the
"liberal" Roman Catholics of Norilintrrhertand sup-
port Lord Howick, who declares for thereibiNiation
OI
the Irish Church, as warmly as they confdl3"sfib_ll);
support any one even of their Wirtireit SeSint.s.e.ll
ntio.
votes of the pseudo-ProteStant*o cif; l[ie
man Catholic are to be exactly the'
same t° l ouse
te Co the
of Commons, common sense ind.l ti
sc
Papists a preference for the
4i••• foq, found,
many of these convenient persians.•iles
of Corm.
there is no necessity. for -ereivklins-ibi‘
'