A pamphlet has been publi...
The Times, 1824-01-24T00:00:00

A pamphlet has been puiblished, and wve think an abie one, on the Catholic question, which the auithor professes to treat under a threefold point of view-viz. as it reg,ards religion, history, and policy. We so far l.ffer with him in the outset, thal it is in our judgment excluisively a "political" question, which may be stated in these terms- "Ir: order to prevent the Catlholic priesthood from obtain- "ing such political power in this Empire as might be f turned to the injury o' a l'rotestant Establishment, and "of afree Coasitiutiou., is it necessary to exclude the Ca- r tholic Laity from a share in the Legislature and in " the Government ? "Tliat appears to us the qutestion, and the only one. The admixture of other topics, we dispute not, may serve to enitertain the reader, and in a ccrtain de- gree, and to specific purposes, to instruct him; but they complicate the Catholicquestion, and lay few or no grounds of reasoning by which Parliament could safely determine it. The title chosen by the nuthor is that of " Civil Dis- "abilities on account of Religion, as they exist in England, Scotland, and Ireland, consideredl with reference to the " Christian Dispensation, History, and Policy." In the preface he claims the praise of novelty for his division of the subject, and adds, by the wvay, a rem-nark which is a just, though not a new one,-that the Irish Ca- tholics, who are the loudest in their complaints, are far less affcted by disabilities of any kind than their brethren the Scotch andl English. In a brief notice of this kind it would be a vain attempt to analyze or sum up the arguments by which the author supports his general deci- sion in favour of a removal of the restrictions, or by which he qualifies, nay comubats, some of those wlhich other poli- t;cians have a(dduced on behalf of a similar removal. On one point we heartily concur with him-viz. when he urges a more pure and strenuous discharge of their duties by the Clergy of the Established Church, as one of the most eff'ec- tual rn=.a uc, <e tIia.Iig, cliurcli ^ua o,.we againsct ropery. Some passages towards the close of thepamphlet we subjoin for the gratirication of our readers:- 1" It is not by disabilities that the dangers or the errors of Popety are to be averted or removea The former are to ,be prevented by the ministers of the Established Church faithfully discharging their duties, and particularly by every parish incumbent dischlarging his duties i;i person. The latter are to be removed by difiusing the knowledge of the (loctrities of the Reformed Religion, which, in those parts of Ireland where the English langiuage is not spoken. can be done only by preachers who address their hearers in the Irish tongue. "Disabilities even cause tlhe continuance of the Roman Catholic religion in these kingdoms. The small remnant of Roman Catholics. letA in England and Scotland derive importance in the eyes of each other, even from the fewness of their number. Among tlhem the point of honour operates ?d well as the point of faith. Similar feel. ings prevail in Ireland. We have had much intercourse witl sonie Roman Catholic landed prourietors, in parts of Ireland chiefly Ca- tholic. They have uniformly said to us, that if all disabil ities were removed, they would immediately become Protestarts. But they cannot become so, so long as these disabilities remain, because if they did it would be ascribed to interested or personal motives, and they would lose aU influence, and even character, among their neigh- bours. " The two bills, the titles of which arc subjoined-l passed tlhe House of Commons last sessiOn, but were thrownl out in the House of Lords. *Pe neither approve of the grounlds upon Which they were supported, nor of the grounds upon whiclh they were rejected. It follows, fromn the nature of an incorporate union, even thought it were not so nrovided in the articles, that all thie subjects of the union shall be cqual in respect of privileges. But this principle extends only to imperial and constitutional privileges. The rigbts of corpo. rations, as well as the rights of electors and such like, may be dif- ferent in Ireland from such rights in England, with perfect consis. tency, in so far as regards the Union, the articles of wlhich, in regard to Scotland, even provide that such rights shall continue different there. Our position is, that all disabilities, by reason of religion, are contrary to the precepts of the Gospel, andKehat all restraints which do not apply alike to alI subjects of the samiie cls, are con- trary to thte princilples of sound policy. By acting contrary to such precepts and principles, we have produced inconsistencies which are sure to work consequences hurtful to the boly politic, though their operation may not always be traced. By giving &ie clec'tivefranchise in Ireland to Roman Catholics, but denying to them the right to be elected, we raise this contradiction-namely, that the right of elec- tion implies an unlimited choice of persons possessed of the same civil qualifications; but we have allowed Roman Catholics to be- come possessed of the civil qualification, and deuied to them the civil~ privilege attached to it, enjoyed by other subjects.. Byrestoring the rigbt to hold and acquire lanled property to Roman Catholics, we have enabled them to acquire wealth in land, but hIve denied to tliem the necessary consequence of the acquisition-namely, political influence. " According to our view of the subject, all that with which our' ears have been dinned, both in and out of Parliament, for the last twenty years, upon what has been improperly caUed Catholic Eman- cipation, is beside the question. Upon the score of disabilities, Ire- land has much less cause of complaint than either England or Scot. land. If it be said that fivc-sixths of her population are Roman Catholics, whereas not one in twenty is a Romain Catholic in Great Britain, we answer, upwards of nineteen out of twenty of the po- pulation of Ireland are mere growers of potatoes; and we ask what is it to tlhem, whether they are capable of holding tne offices ex- cepted in the 33d Geo. Il. c. 21. or not ? But it wo.jld be nothing to the whole population of Ireland though these disabilities were removed, so lmng as such statutes as the 21st Geo. II. C. 10. above noticed, remain in force. It is idle and useless to declare, that bis iVajesty's Roman Catholic subjects in Ireland shall be subject to no incapacities or disabilities to which his Majesty's Protestant sub- jects are not liable, unless all the statutes imposing positive regula. tions, which. have the effect of excluding Roman Catholics from corporate and other rights, 6haU be repealed. It is Trorse than use- less-it is mischievous to pretend that tlle convulsions of Ireland are owing to the non-removal of suci disabilities: they are owving to causes, the effects of which would remain though these disabilities were removed, and which can only be repaired by the Operation of time under a wholesome system of government." "& 'A Bill to repeal so much of an Act, passed in the7tli and Bth years of the reign of King WVilliami the Third., asrdlates to administering the Oafh of'Suprernacy to Persons votingat thl Elec- tion of Members of Parliament.' O)rdered to be printed the 23d of hmne, 1823.- Part. Ptp. 4$3. i' ' A Bill for rendering His Mltajesty' -Roman Catholic Subjects in Great Britain, eligible to ccrt.iin Civil Olhces.' *Order~ed to be p?rinted the 24ith ef Juner 1823.~Pap-I. Pap. 487."