The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1845-02-04 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

OATH OF SUPREMACY  " I, A. 8., do swear that I do, from my heart, abhor, detest, and abjure, as impious and heretical, that damnable doctrine and position, that princes excommunicated, or deprived by the Pope, or any authority of the see of Rome, may he deposed or murdered by their subjects, or any other whatsoever. And Ido declare that no foreign prince, person, prelate, state, or potentate, bath, or ought to have, any jurisdiction, power, superiority, pre-eminence, or authority, ecclesiastical or spiritual, within this realm.—So help me God.' " Our purpose in going thus far back is to show that in the re-construction of the British constitution every act passed, and every declaration promulgated, from the period of the Rtformation down to the passing of the Emancipation Act, had a twofold object always in view—the spirit of which pervaded every Protestant law, and every Protestant document—namely, no communion with the Pope —no connexion with his see—eschew both, politically, internationally, and religiously—no conference, no intercourse, no concordat—in fine, no fellowship with Rome.' " By the 7th and Bth Victoria, c. 97 (commonly called the Charitable Bequests Act), s. 15, it is enacted,— " That Roman Catholics shall be enabled by deed or will to make grants, and vest in the commissioners his or their estate, &c., in lands or goods, or chattels. in trust for any archbishop or bishop, in holy orders of the church of Rome, officiating in any district, or having pastoral superintendence of any congregation of persons professing the Roman Catholic religion.'  " And again, in the 17th and 18th sections, the titles and the status of the Roman Catholic prelates are fully recognized and established by law, after the passing of said act. But it is not only that this recognition takes place, but the act provides for priority in the Board of commissioners, and gives to Her Majesty, in Council, the appointment of the Commissioners; and therein, as we have seen, not only the Rornih archbishops and bishops are recognised as such, but appointed to priority and precedence, according to the rank of the same titles in the established church, and placed before peers of the realm and of Parliament.  "Now, let us bear in mind that the oath of supremacy, which we have set out in extenso, is not only in full force of law, but that no Protestant can be sworn as a member of any of the sacred, learned, or military professions— cannot be ordained as a clergyman, called to the bar as a lawyer, or admitted as an attorney—that he cannot hold any office of trust, responsibility, or emolument under the Crown, or be a director of the national banks in either country—that no peer or commoner can take his seat in either house of Parliament—in fine, that no Protestant can, on any occasion, take the oath of allegiance to his Sovereign without swearing : " That no foreign prince, person, prelate, state, or potentate bath, or ought to have, any jurisdiction, power, superiority, pre-eminence, or authority, ecclesiastical or spiritual, within this realm.'  " One word in conclusion :—lf the oath of supremacy cannot longer be conscientiously taken by Protestants— the law pronouncing that in certain cases it is absolutely necessary that it should—let us see the position in which Protestants are placed. There can be no succession of clergymen of the Church of England in Ireland. There can be no members of the professions ; no magistrates ; no Protestants can accept of office under the Crown, or take their seats as representatives of the people; the privilege of electing temporal peers is abolished ; Protestantism is virtually put down ; and the established church actually annihilated ; for, supposing the scruple to be well founded, none but Ronan Catholics can exercise the several functions pertaining to each, for they alone are exempted from taking the oath. " Suppose for a moment that the present apparent movement in Ireland is the result of diplomacy on the one hand, and deceit on the other—we don't say it is—but supposing such a thing possible, what will the people of England say to their Prime Minister for duplicity or ignorance ?''  To