The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-03-28 00:00:00

ENGLAND'S PROTESTANTISM.

(From the Record.)
The throne of these kingdoms is Christian and Protes-
tant, by a compact made between the people and the
Sovereign in 1688. The throne being vacated by that
Popish king, James the Second, the lineal succession was
purposedly passed over by the nation, and the present
royal family was placed on the throne, and accepted the
crown on the terms of the Act of Settlement. From that
period no attempt to depart from that compact, as regards
the throne, has been made. The throne has stood in an
attitude of uncompromising hostility towards the see of
Rome. To be truly loyal to the throne, we must be truly
desirous of maintaining the, compact made in 1688. We
should make ourselves familiar with history on this sub-
ject. We should commit the subject of that compact to
memory. The Sovereign cannot be reconciled to the See
of Rome ; nor be reconciled to the Church of Rome ; nor
hold communion with the See of Rome ; nor hold com-
munion with the Church of Rome ; nor profess the Popish
religion ; nor marry a Papist : and positively, the SoVer-
eign must join in communion with the Church of England,
as by law established. To alter that settlement in the
least degree is to commence a work, which may end in re-
moving the throne altogether from its foundations. No
matter how small a portion of the foundation may appear
to be touched, if the least morsel be removed, the work
of destruction will have been begun. Let no man, there-
fore, be permitted to treat Victoria's interchange of Am-
bassadors with the see of Rome as a small matter.

In the year 1829, the Duke of Wellingtoh began
the work of destruction; the support given to him
and his measures by Dr. Phillpotts, introduced that
Clergyman to the see of Exeter. Now, in 1848, we find
these two gentlemen at the same work. It is true the
Bill for Legalizing Diplomatic Relations with Roma-was
not introduced by them ; but the Duke reconciles the
House of Lords to the measure, by suggesting an Amend-
ment which amounts to no more than this,—that the
present laws shall not be broken in upon to any greater
extent than they are broken in upon. The Lords think
they have done a marvellous stroke of policy, at the very
moment they fall with the Duke, as they fell with him
in 1829. They think they are advancing when they are
retreating. Exeter again is repeating his former game.
He smooths the way by informing the House, that Com-
munion with the Church of Rome means communion in
sacred things. He leaves the matter there ;as if there
were no other words in the Act of Settlement. Com-
munion with the See of Rome he passes over. Reconcile-
ment with the See of Rome he passes over. Behind the
Duke and the Bishop men entrench themselves. They
ore great outivoritioo, frioraeL3 of aro Churoia. 'rho Groot
Apostle of falsehood, Newman, wrote a book tolexplana
away the Thirty-nine Articles. He could make them
mean anything or nothing. So those laws which have
intercepted all intercourse with the See of Rome for about
300 years, and in their present form for 160 years, are
suddenly discovered not to mean what they do mean.
Doubts exist as to what is the state of the law, is the
falsehood of 1848.

The new invention to avoid the law, is to talk of the
Court of Rome, instead of the See of Rome ; and the So-
vereign of the Roman States, instead of the Bishop of
Rome, or Pope. This is child's play indeed. If we saw
the Queen and the Pope sitting side by side on a sofa,
should we not send the man to Bedlam, who should come
up and whisper, the Queen is not talking to or smiling on
the Pope, but the Sovereign of the Roman States ? And
what is an ambassador, but the Sovereign ? The Queen
will be in Rome by her ambassador, and the Pope in
England by his. In the face of all the world the two
countries will be reconciled outwardly, and in a manner
which has not been for 300 years, except in Bloody
Mary's days, and for a few months under Popish James
the Second. And to stop all argument on the subject, it
cannot be done without an Act of Parliament. The very
fact that an Act of Parliament is necessary, proves that all
the words to the contrary are but sophistry.
The second reading of the bill is again postponed, and
at present no day is fixed. This will give a fair opportu-
nity for awakening the public. The subject ought to be
forcibly handled in the monthly periodicals.