The Statesman.
London, England, 1815-10-18 00:00:00

THE
ADDRESS AND R NSTRA NCB. ,
OF THE ROMAN tATHOLICII OF IREI.ANDI TO
HIS HOLINESS POPE. tltIS vll.
ItztoLTEn UPOSI.AT tliElit, AGGIVEGATE lieritTl4O,'HELd
THE CITY OF DUiLIV, AUG. 29, 1815.
Sir THOMAS ESMONDE. Bart. io tae Chair.

MOST lint.* FATHEit,—We, the Roman Catholic
people of Ireland, most humbly approach your Holi-
ness, imploring, for five millions of faithful children,
the Apostolical Benediction.
We desire, Most Holy Father, to wickets Your
Holiness in respectful and unreserved terats ; that
so, your Holiness may be perfectly informed of our
fears, our desires, and our determinations.
We deem it necessary, Most'lls'sly Father, to re.
mind the Sovereign Pontiff of our Church, of our pe.
culiar claims to his protection and support ;_for we
cannot, for a moment, imagine, that your Holiness
it unmindful of the constancy and devotion manifest-
ed towards the Holy See by the Roman Catholics of
Ireland, in despite of the most sanguinary and unre.
hotting persecution that eier aggrieved a Christian
people.
We cannot, hosieter, abstain from reminding our
Most Holy Fathers that although the persecution
which we and our incettors endured, star uotorioutt-
' ly and avowedly inflicted upon us, on account of
our adherence to, and• connection with, the Holy.
See ; nevertheless, the Reiman Catholioe of Ireland
never solicited the predecessors of your Holiness, at •
any period of that persecution, to alter, in the
slightest degree, that connections or make any modi-
fication of the existing discilptitie of utir Holy Church,
to obtain for the Roman Cathollcs of Ireland the'
repeal, or mitigation of those cruel'lmes whicb pre.
scribed them.
With sentimeoti of most sinceta sorrow vie base'
• heard, that, notwithstanding the,;anifost'h 'manifest*.
tions of oar spiritual atitiehrkett to the Holy See, it
hai.plessed your Holiness to (emir a commie which
would. enable a Protestant Government. to
which
the appointment of our Prelates, aga
intt the
Catholic voice of Ireland has protested, sod evert'
will protest, with one accord. No spiritual grOundi
are alleged for (he proposed alteration in our Eccle..
elastic-el System. It is not pretended that it would
advance the interests of religion, Or improve the
morality of the Catholic people Of Ireland. On the
contrary, it is proposed, in opposition to the well.,
known end declared opinions of our Spiritual
Guides, and is offered at an exchange or. barter
for some temporal aid or concession. it there.
fore becomes our duty, as Catholics& 1 s !Oct',
to states in most explicit terms, , It
upon it.
It is considered right to assent yodr tes, in.
the first instance, that although the Peoid.dAws,
which were framed for the oppression of the canto.
tics of I reland, have been considerably relaxed gar.
ing the reign of our present most gracious Sovereign...
nevertheless, the hostility to our Holy Religion cons
tinees to exist in full force; and every artifice- Is;
practised, and every indicement'heid outs to sedates
the Isiah Catholic from the practice and profession of
his religion. Rewards are given to every Catholic
Clergyman who apostatizes from his faith; publics
schools and hospitals are maintained at great expestee,
in is hich hostility to the creed and character of Ito.
man Catholics constitutes tie, first principle. of in.
struction ; Commissioners are appointed to prevent
'Catholic Institutions receiving any benefit from the
donations of pious persons; Societies are established,
under the favour of our Rulers, for proselytizing the
Catholic poor—and bribes offered and ,risen to Ca.
tholic parents, for the purchase of their children's
faith ; at the same time that every effort of bribery
and corruption is exerted, to influence Roman Ca-
tholic schoolmasters to seduce Roman Catholic
children, entrusted to their care, from an attachment
to their Creed. Every Member of the Legislature,
every Minister of the Goternment, every Judge of
the land, every superior Naval, Military, or Civil
Officer, and almost every indialual in dila' sta-
tion is obliged to swear, and has actually sworn, in
the following words, 'viz. I do solemnly and
sincerely, in the presence of God, profess, testify,
and declare, that I do believe, that in the Sacrament
of the Lord's Supper there is not any transubstantia-
tion of the elements of bread and wine into the body
and blood of Christ, at or after the Consecration
thereof, by oily person whatsoever; and that the •
Invocation or Adoration of the Virgin Mary, or
any other Saint, and the Sacrifice of the Ma-s, as
they are now used in the Church of Home, are su-
perstitious and idolatrous ; and I do solemnly, in the
presence of Cod, profess, testify, and declare, that
do make this declaration, and every part thereof,
in the plain and ordinary sense of the words read
unto me, as they are commonly understood by Eng.
lish Protestants, without any evasion, equirocetion,
or mental reservation whatsoever, and without any
dispensation already granted me for this purpose, by
the Pope, or any authority or person whatsoever, or
oithout any hope of any such dispensation from
any person or authority whatsoever, or without
thinking that I son or can be acquitted hs.fore
Gal or man, or absolved of this declaration, or any
part thereof, although the Pope, or any other person
or persona, or power whatsoever, should dispense
with or annul the same, or declare that it was null

and void from the beginning."
It k to persons,who have taken these offensive oaths
of hostility against our Holy Religion, that we are
now required, Most Holy Father, to confide the selec-
tion and appointment of the Prelates of our Church,
and thus the efforts of persecution having been found
unsuccessful, it is now sought to accomplish, by 'in-
trigue, the destruction of that Church, whose pre-
eminent perfection has excited the jealousy and the
hatred of our ri ligious opponents.
We cannot sultisr ourselves to suppose that your
Holiness would, knowingly, sanclifin pernicious
a inessure ; for, it is our decided convie.ion, that
any such concession to our Proteitant PiiAce, or to
his Protestant Ministers, of a right to interfere, di-

redly or indireetly, in the appuintmel t of our Pre-
lates, would inevitably destroy the C..thulic Religion
in Ireland. Its first consequence would be a geoe.
ral indignant revolt against the framers or flowers
of the detested system, without regard to rank oe
station ; and it is not difficult to imagine that so la-
mentable a breach would lead to such a state of dls.
trust and dinatisfaction as tnight.end in the dissola.