ROYAL VETO, CONSIDERED; 
 
 AND 
 
 TWO LETTERS, 
 
 BY DETECTOR. 
 
 r.
 
 ROYAL VETO, 
 
 ON THE 
 
 APPOINTMENT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 3(ris|) Boman CatI;oltc ^relac^. 
 
 CONSIDERED, IN A REPLY 
 
 TO THE 
 
 RIGHT REV^- D^- MILNER'S LETTER 
 
 TO A 
 
 FAMISH FMIEST. 
 
 BY AN 
 
 IRISH CATHOLIC CLERGYMAN. 
 
 To which are added. Two Letters on the same Sid)jecf, 
 
 BY DETECTOR. 
 
 LOXDOS ■■ 
 
 PRINTED FOR J. BOOKER, NEW BOND STREET. 
 
 1809.
 
 Reynell, Sons, and Wales, 
 Printers, 21, Piccadilly.
 
 My Lord, 
 
 WITH the moll profound 
 reTpecl for your lordfliip's perfon, and the 
 moft enthufiaftic admiration of your literary 
 abilities, I feel myfelf impelled to offer my 
 fentiments upon your Letter to a Parifh Prielt ; 
 becaufe that letter, though probably not in- 
 tended for the public eye, has yet unfortunately 
 found its way into the public prints, and 
 glances rather feverely at a body of men whom 
 you profefs to efleem; and whom I, in com- 
 mon with thoufands of my country, do moft 
 fmcerely venerate and love — the Roman Ca- 
 tholic Prelates of Ireland. 
 
 In expe6tation, fince the day the above letter 
 was publifhed, that fome of them would come 
 forward to remonftrate with your lordfhip upon
 
 the unkind infinuations thrown out there j as 
 well as upon the unfairnefs of the reafoning, 
 which feems to pervade the entire of this hafty 
 produdion, I reprefTed my own feelings, in 
 the hope that more weighty and more authori- 
 tative reprehenfion from thofe immediately 
 concerned would imprefs your lordfhip with a 
 fenfe of error, and elicit ere now that retracta- 
 tion which Catholic Ireland expefts from you. 
 
 No bifhop, however, has raifed his voice on 
 this occafion : long habituated to the obloquy 
 of enemies, they probably think that filence is 
 a ftill more becoming fhield againll the unin- 
 tentional errors of 2i friend. For my part, my 
 lord, though but a poor parifh prieft, I am ho- 
 noured with the confidence of feveral Catholic 
 Prelates in Ireland, of which confidence I have 
 availed myfelf to obtain the mod accurate in- 
 formation of the general and individual fenti- 
 ments at their laft meeting in Dublin ; as well 
 as at their lefs formal difcuflions, in convivial 
 intercourfe and occafional private communi- 
 cations. 
 
 No relu6lance did I meet in any of my ref- 
 pe8cd friends to fatisfy my curiofity in every 
 particular; I can therefore affure your lord- 
 fhip, that they feel, and deeply too, what you
 
 have unguardedly dropt in ihis letter concern- 
 ing them. Some are fhockcd; others are per- 
 haps fcandalized at it; yet they have not an- 
 
 fwered, nor will they anfwer.- Your lord- 
 
 {hip, I truft, will eftimate to the full the value 
 of that forbearance. My humble notions are 
 lefs refined; I fhall therefore take the liberty, 
 as your letter is before the public, of offering 
 fuch remarks upon it, as juftice and truth fug- 
 ged; walking after your lordfliip through its 
 various paragraphs, in nearly the fame order 
 you yourfelf have thought proper to arrange 
 thera. 
 
 My lord, under the impreOion made upon 
 me by your many mafterly produdions, my 
 furprife, on reading your Letter to a Parifh 
 Prieft, was at leaft as great as that which af- 
 fe6led your lordfliip, when, in the outfet of 
 that letter, you compare the prevailing dif- 
 fatisfaftion of my countrymen in Ireland, with 
 their warm effufions, when they greeted your 
 iirft arrival in this kingdom. 
 
 Viewing you, my lord, as the powerful af- 
 fertor of hiftorical truth in your Letter to a 
 Prebendary ; as the cenfor, the reprover, the 
 filencer of that calumnious mifreprefentation 
 which fo long and fobafely afperfed our tenets.
 
 and our perfons throughout this empire, their 
 gratitude burfl forth not only wherever y'ou 
 appeared, but wherever your name was men- 
 tioned. When you afterwards thought proper 
 to prefent yourfelf to them in another point of 
 view, conceding to the fecular power, as if in 
 the name and by the authority of their bifhops, 
 fuch interference in the appointment of the 
 Irifh Catholic Prelacy, as in their mind muft 
 entail inevitable deftru6lion upon their reli- 
 gion in Ireland; when they beheld you, more- 
 over, ftrenuoufly advocating this hated mea- 
 fure, and defcending to explanations of your 
 language and condu6l fo much beneath their 
 notions of your candour; they were hurt my 
 lord — you fhould not be furprifed at it — they 
 were mortified, difappointed. 
 
 Your lord (hip thinks proper to confole your- 
 felf in the perfuafion that all this proceeds 
 from a principle of orthodoxy ; that the hearts 
 indeed of your former friends are right ; but 
 their heads are not a little wrong. I bow, my 
 lord, moft fubmiffively to this Englifli com- 
 pliment, but I hope to convince your lordfhip 
 before I take my leave, that we are fully war- 
 ranted to return it to you word for word, and 
 with more force and propriety.
 
 Think not however, my lord, that your for- 
 mer friends entertain the flighted fufpicion of 
 vour orthodoxy : a reference to your learned, 
 pious, or controverfial works, was fuperfluous; 
 thefe friends were and are convinced of your 
 lordfhip's inviolable attachment to the purity 
 of the Catholic faith ; but they are alfo con- 
 vinced, that the reditude of your heart has not 
 fccured you in the prefent cafe from a moft 
 eccentric aberration. A mortal wound may 
 be inflicted by the hand of him who would 
 not aim the blow : a man may a8: wrong and 
 intend right. The blow once efFeclually fl:ruck, 
 it is of little confequence to the Catholics of 
 Ireland, whether it was dealt by a real friend 
 or by an infidious enemy; whether by Dr. 
 Milner br by Sir John Throckmorton, or T. 
 M'Kenna or Peter Plymley; with this dif- 
 ference however, that the writers who preceded 
 your lordfiiip in this difaftrous fpeculation, 
 were almofl; totally overlooked, or compara- 
 tively infignificant on the fame lift with their 
 truly learned favourite. Dr. Milner. 
 
 The pofitive unreftritled interference fo 
 flippantly conceded by fuch broad-minded 
 Catholics, being utterly unprecedented in the 
 atlual circumftances, carried reje6lion in its 
 front: no Pope would ever fanOion what he
 
 8 
 
 muft deem with you, unlawful and rchifmatica!. 
 But your lordfhip's propolal of a negative and 
 reftrifted interference, befides being legally 
 impra61icable (as Mr. Clinch has demonftrated) 
 is fo fraught with unfitnefs, (pardon the ex- 
 preffionj and eventual mifchief, that I am af- 
 toniflied how a man of your lordfhip's great 
 abilities and profeffed fentiments could feru 
 oufly attempt to recommend it. 
 
 Our illuftrious countryman, Edmund Burke, 
 •whofe declaration upon this fubje6l you car- 
 ried in your pocket-book, I prefume, as an 
 unanfwerable argument, knew Ireland too 
 well to think, that a theological diftinftion be- 
 tween pofitive and negative interference, as 
 li'kely to be afted upon here, would obviate the 
 evils which his impartiality felt, and his elo- 
 quence deplored as the probable refult of it. 
 
 He faid not only, that "never were the 
 numbers of one religious fetlfit to appoint the 
 pallors to another," but "that thofe who have no 
 regard for their welfare, will not appoint fuch 
 as are proper." He faid, "that favourable as 
 the adminiftraiion then was, it was a great deal 
 to fuppofe, they would appoint bifliops for the 
 Roman Catholic Church of Ireland, with a re- 
 ligious regard to our advantage : perhaps, faid
 
 9 
 
 he, they cannot, perhaps they dare not, do 
 fo. And if the fuperior power were always in 
 a difpofition to aft confcientioufly in this mat- 
 ter, for ihofe with whom that power is at vari- 
 ance, has it the capacity and means of doing 
 this ? How can the lord lieutenant (and we 
 may fay a fortiori, how can the King) form the 
 lead idea of their merits, fo as to difcern which 
 of the Popifh clergy is fit to be made a bifhop. 
 It cannot be, the idea is ridiculous. He will 
 hand them over to lord lieutenants of counties ; 
 juftices of peace, and other perfons, who, for 
 the purpofe of vexing and turning to derifion 
 this miferable people, will pick out the word 
 and mofh obnoxious they can find amongft the 
 clergy to fet over the reft ; informers, tale- 
 bearers, perverfe and obftinate men, flatterers, 
 who turn their back upon their flock, to court 
 the proteftant gentlemen of the country, will 
 be the objects of preferment." 
 
 All thefe evils you fay, refulting from a po- 
 fitive interference, are avoided by the nega- 
 tive or Veto. 
 » 
 
 My lord, you are convinced, that as bad Ca- 
 tholic bifhops, men ignorant, unprincipled, 
 immoral, are the moft efficient inftruments in 
 the hands of an anticatholic government for 
 
 B
 
 10 
 
 the overthrow of the Catholic faith; fuch men 
 ■would, of coLirfe, be preferred for the hierar- 
 chy in Ireland: and though the government 
 Ihould not have any other power than that of 
 reje6ting, we are warranted to fuppofe, they 
 will continue to rejeft, while pious, zeal- 
 ous, learned or exemplary clergymen are pre- 
 fented to them. The reflriction, relied on by 
 your lordfhip, mud prove, I fear, but a cob- 
 web obftacle. You would limit the exercife 
 of this negative to twice, thrice, or four times, 
 which you are pleafed to call a reafonable 
 number; and admit no fpecies of objetlion 
 againft our candidates, except merely an avow- 
 al of a well grounded fufpicion oj their loyalty. 
 
 If your reafonable number^ my lord, is to ex- 
 tend to four feleftions, it will go to the rejeft- 
 ing of twelve R. C. clergymen on every va- 
 cancy ; but as fo many, qualified for the mitre, 
 are not to be found in any diocefe of the king- 
 dom, I mull fuppofe that your reafonable num- 
 ber does not exceed four priefts ; and then it 
 would appear, that confining the executive 
 to the folitary exception of difloyahy, you will 
 not even allow it, upon that ground, to rejeQ 
 any greater number than four; you will (land 
 firmly upon the threfliold of the fifth excep-
 
 11 
 
 lion, and there flnit the door in his Majefty's 
 face; though the very fame implements which 
 threw the difqualifying dirt of fufpicion upon 
 four (hall be equally well charged, and equal- 
 ly well wielded to bedaub a fixth, a twelfth, 
 era twentieth, until the unexceptionable toad- 
 eater, the immoral booby, or the bon didbk 
 fliall be brought forward for the comfort and 
 the edification of his Catholic brethren in Ire- 
 land. 
 
 Should the bifhops refufe to recommend this 
 prieft lor confecration to the Holy See, fhall 
 not they, m their turn, be required to fubftan- 
 tiate their objeftions, and to prove them regu- 
 larly in a court of law ? Will no fcandal refuU 
 from thisy nor any danger to the Irilh Catho- 
 lic Church ? 
 
 Again, my lord, (hould you, in the teeth of 
 all probability, fucceed in confining the ope- 
 ration of this negative to four clergymen, I 
 muft beg leave to remind your lordfhip, that 
 a great majority of Roman Catholic Sees in 
 Ireland cannot furnifli more than three priefts 
 really fit for the prelacy ; and that therefore 
 to reft in a government fo notorioufly hoftile 
 to our religion, a power of rejefting three men 
 in every diocefe of this kingdom, felefted by
 
 12 
 
 the befl qualified judges, as mofl able by their 
 learning, piety, and zeal, to promote the inter- 
 cfts of Catholicity, is alone a tremendous evil; 
 opening a wide door to the appointment of 
 unfit men, and to the ultimate deflruftion of 
 the Catholic faith among us. But you will never 
 fucceed in an attempt to confine the operation 
 of this negative; for the Crown, in virtue of 
 its ecclefiaflical headfhip, will then affert as its 
 right what in your prefent ftipulation you would 
 fet down as a concejfion. 
 
 The Judges of the Land will interpret the 
 law accordingly, and they will interpret it, 
 and make it fpeak againft you. In a concern 
 of fuch importance, they will not acknow- 
 ledge in you a power to reftrain the executive 
 to one fingle fpecies of exception. Where the 
 eflablifhment prefumes not to reflrift in fuch 
 a way, a religion barely tolerated will not be 
 allowed that privilege. 
 
 Should it here be pleaded, that appointment 
 to the prelacy, being a fpiritual concern, it 
 cannot confcientioufly be conceded by Roman 
 Catholics to an anti-catholic executive, nor be 
 rcafonably expected from them, you will be 
 inftantly anfwered, that by this negative con- 
 troul, eflential as it will then be called, to the
 
 13 
 
 well-being and fecurity of the ftate, the Crown 
 does not appoint to your prelacy ; it only af- 
 ferts a right which you yourfelf have admitted, 
 of ftating the civil difqualifications of the man 
 you thought proper to feleft for this fpiritual 
 dignity, and of reje6ting him accordingly, 
 
 Nerther will you fucceed in compelling the 
 Crown to fpecify its proper objeBions. But 
 if, for the purpofe of carrying this point qui- 
 etly at prefent, our mailers fhall agree to limit 
 interference to the fingle point of loyalty ; be 
 pleafed to obferve, that loyalty, by general ac- 
 ceptation in Ireland, is a word of molt exten- 
 five import ; a compound of fuch multiplied 
 ingredients, that Catholic zeal, Catholic piety. 
 Catholic eloquence and learning, &c. may be 
 pronounced incompatible with it ; and be 
 therefore very efficient grounds for repelling 
 from the prelacy thofe very ecclefiaftics, whom 
 the genuine fpirit of enlightened Catholicity 
 would feled out of hundreds for that exalted 
 truft. 
 
 Tell us not now, my lord, that we are mad 
 or wrongheaded, if we reprobate, as alarm- 
 ingly dangerous to our church, that eventful 
 tender you would fo placidly make to our an- 
 ti-catholic legiflature; to be entwined around
 
 14 
 
 the fceptre of our anti-catholic King. Once 
 granted, it can never be recalled; once emerged 
 in the prerogative, it will ever be above our 
 controul. The unbending rigour of the law 
 difdains our little gratuitous interpretations. 
 
 But Bernard Clinch's mafterly arguments 
 muft filence for ever all cavilling upon the 
 fubjeft. That Catholic lawyer, whofe talents 
 and literary acquirements, though of firft rate 
 magnitude, are not, as yet, fufficiently known 
 or appreciated by his Catholic countrymen, 
 has, in his late admirable pamphlet, An En- 
 quiry, Sc. 6?6\ incontrovertibly fhewn, that the 
 projefted conceffion of a negative interference 
 fhall neceffarily be declared a right; which, 
 though dormant, or inoperative heretofore, 
 muft, if once thus eftabliflied, quicken into the 
 moft vigorous energy, as an unalienable pre- 
 rogative of his Majefty's Crown. 
 
 Mr. Clinch, after emphatically reminding 
 us, my lord, that the relation in which the Ro- 
 man Catholic hierarchy o f Ireland ftands 
 towards his Majefty's prerogative and perfon, 
 is (ingle in the hiftory of C hriftendom ; and 
 fo far from having a precedent or parallel, is in 
 direft contradiftion to every precedent; he 
 goes on to (hew, and does (hew moft ably;
 
 15 
 
 that by the fingle definition oFthe King's ecclefi- 
 artic headihip, as given in one of the thirty-nine 
 Articles, the Roman Catholic religion of Eng- 
 land was deftroyed; and fhall then the fame 
 headfhip, operating more direftly upon the Ca- 
 tholic religion of Ireland, and combined with 
 the law, be now held forth to us as really in- 
 noxious ! ! ! 
 
 Whatever might have been the fource of 
 papal fupremacy, it is certain, that the affump- 
 tion of this authority by the kings of England, 
 the rights appendant to it, and the offices veil- 
 ed in the Crown thereby, are now the law and 
 conftitution ; that is, the rule of adion, and the 
 governing fpirit; the will of the fovereign, 
 and the tenure of fovereignty. 
 
 Wherever, according to Mr. Clinch, a con- 
 ftitution is recognized, the contra8ing parties 
 are fovereignly independent of each other in 
 the compaft; and their relative obligations 
 muft depend upon its ftability. 
 
 "Whatever is admitted to benefits in afubfift- 
 ing conftitution, without fuch independence, 
 or fhare in the mafs of its fovereignty, may 
 be enfranchifed indeed, yet is only tolerated: 
 and if it be fecured from oppreftion, that fecu-
 
 16 .^ 
 
 rity raufl ilFue from fomething extrinfick to the 
 conftitutionj and perhaps dangerous." 
 
 "Now the conflitution of England compre- 
 hends its church and its temporal ftate ; and 
 the kingly office extends to both." 
 
 " Let us fee what the ecclefiaftical headfhip 
 imports, and whatitexafts of the firft Magif- 
 irate. Firft of all, there is but one church 
 known to the conflitution, and this church is 
 a true one, in the eye of fundimental law ; 
 that is, not only legal and eftablifhed, but fa- 
 cred: By the aft of our union, the church of 
 Ireland is eftablifhed into one, with the 
 church of England, for ever. 
 
 "Secondly — The fupreme hcadPnip of this one 
 legal, acknowledged, and facred church, for 
 the conftitution, is declared to be annexed to 
 the Crown infeparably. To it, of right, be- 
 longs and muft belong all jurifdiction, which 
 the Pope or any fpiritual perfon did, or could 
 lawfully exercife ; and all papal authority for- 
 merly held or praBifed by the bifliops of 
 Rome, was an ufurpation upon the indefeafi- 
 ble right of the Crown. 
 
 "Thirdly — The King is bound to defend the
 
 17 
 
 above points by three diftin6l and fupreme ob- 
 ligations ; by that of defending his legal in- 
 heritance; by that of upholding, favouring, 
 and chcrifhing his own true Church; by that 
 of a folemn oath, which is the only bond of 
 fidelity that can be demanded between inde- 
 pendent contracting parties. 
 
 "From thefe pofitionsit follows, and it has 
 been declared to be the law, that his Ma- 
 jefty is bound by a right and obligation para- 
 mount, to difcountenance all foreign, alien, 
 and other religions. The caufe is become at 
 prefent extremely fimple; and if left to the 
 common fenfe of any fair dealing individual, 
 would not be fuffered to go farther than this 
 brief and decifive ftatement. The King mufl 
 adminifter all powers beftowed on him, ac- 
 cording to his conftitutional duty." 
 
 " This duty, in ecclefiaftical matters, ex- 
 prefsly binds him to confider one church as 
 facred, and all ecclefiaftical jurifdi6lion to be 
 flowing from his own property, and our church 
 authority to be effentially and everlaftingly 
 an ufiirpation upon himfelf, and upon the true 
 church eftabliflied. If, therefore, any con- 
 troul be appointed by ftatute or by private 
 Tiegociation, upon thefe conftitutional duties
 
 18 
 
 and titles, mufl it not be ancillary and fubfer- 
 vient to thefe duties? If any controul over 
 our religion, which Hands in oppohtion to the 
 King's, be given to his Majefty, will he ufe 
 this controul impartially, as between the two 
 churches? In other words, will his Majefty 
 dilinherit his crown? Will he furrender his 
 church? Will he forget his oath; or, will he 
 ufe this controul in difcouragement of the Ca- 
 tholic religion ? If any man thinks he will 
 not, I confefs myfelf at a lofs for words to 
 extol his faith; but let him beware of dif- 
 clofing fuch his faith. To believe in this 
 cafe, may be nothing worfe than fatuity ; to 
 teach it, would be to ftriUe at the conftitu- 
 tional props of his Majefty's throne. Let then 
 a ftatute-emancipation be fuppofed as ample 
 as you will ; that is, let every difqualification 
 which, by ftatute law, or by legal praftice ad- 
 vancing the remedial feverity of law, exifts 
 againft us, be fuppofed away. I will go far- 
 ther, and I will fuppofe that the acl requiring 
 the King to join in communion with the church 
 of England, and excluding Catholics from the 
 crown, are now repealed ; but let only the bafis 
 of the conftitution remain as before the ab- 
 dication of James II. In this hypothefis let 
 a negative controul upon the office of our 
 priefthood be given to the King; firft, by the
 
 19 
 
 agreement of our bifliops, and fecondly, by 
 the confirmation of law. 
 
 " The queftion will be, in what right and 
 under what limitations his Majefty will hence- 
 forth hold this negative power? And what I 
 maintain is, that he will hold and exercife it 
 in right of his crown, and as a portion of ec- 
 clefiaftical headfliip, whatever had been the 
 private meaning, or even the exprefs declara- 
 tion of thefe prelates who made the furrender. 
 For it is a ground and maxim, efpecially in 
 the Englifh law, that whenever a pofreffion is 
 obtained under a title or agreement which the 
 law would have defeated, by him who Ihews 
 forth a prior and larger title, the perfon fo ob- 
 taining poITeflion. is reinftated by the law in his 
 antient eftate, and the recent acquifition af- 
 furaes all the qualities of the better title, al- 
 though this latter have been kept in fufpenfe 
 by a length of ufurped poffeflion. 
 
 *< This principle, though rarely quoted, is 
 yet of moft vigorous authority ; and refts upon 
 analogies that predominate over the fpirit of 
 Englifh didributive and legiflative juftice. 
 Neither can the perfon fo reflored by the law, 
 refufe the privilege it offers, where the conti- 
 nuity of title is an advantage to thofe who fuc-
 
 20 
 
 reed him. The allowance of a negative right 
 o the King, by Roman Catholics, will ap- 
 proximate their relations of duty to that of 
 Proteftants who admit the eccleliaftical head- 
 fhips. It will give to his Majefty fomething 
 withheld by Catholics, yet fettled on him by 
 the conftitution. Let the Catholics be as ob- 
 ilinate as they pleafe in terming it a gift^ it 
 will and muft be accepted as a recognition ; and 
 when poiTeffed, it will be held and exercifed 
 under the elder and more beneficial title of 
 the King's indefeafible prerogative; for the 
 iTioft excellent dignity of the King cannot com- 
 promife its rights — much lefs can it be at va- 
 riance with itfelf. It cannot rule the church 
 eftablifhed, in virtue of a regal fupremacy 
 over both dates, and controul our church at 
 the fame time under a voluntary appoint- 
 ment, which, if binding, would falfify the title 
 by which that very church eftabliflied is fub- 
 mitted to the crown. 
 
 " This reafoning I confidently offer to any 
 fenfible reader; to any legal underflanding ; 
 to any Reverend Judge. I fay, that while the 
 conftitution upholds the fupremacy over all 
 eftates; while the conftitution upholds one 
 church, and ignores every other religious 
 eftabliftiment; a negative right given to the
 
 21 
 
 King is a vile foliciling of Catholics to apof- 
 tacy." 
 
 Be not offended, my lord, if with fuch con- 
 fequences in profpe6t, we proclaim danger, in 
 utter difregard of imputation upon our heads 
 or our hearts. I muft alfo take the liberty of 
 reminding your lordfliip, that you are (till in 
 error, when you affert, that in a6ling as you 
 have here done, you only follow theRomanCa- 
 tholic Prelates of Ireland in what you choofc 
 to call their folemn refolution of 1799. 
 
 My lord, it is not only an error, but fome- 
 what inexcufable, to confound, as you affe6l 
 to do, the Irifli Catholic Prelacy with thofe 
 truftees of Maynooth, who adopted the refo- 
 lutions dated January 15th, 16th, and lyth, 
 1799: becaufe you were fully apprifed, while 
 you were writing to the Parifh Prieft, that this 
 tranfaftion of the truftees had taken place, 
 not only without the concurrence, but abfo- 
 lutely without the knowledge of the Catholic 
 bifhops of Ireland. It is a fa6l, that the great 
 majority of them had never feen thefe refolu- 
 tions until their late meeting in Dublin ; and 
 that fome had not even heard of them. More- 
 over, in that meeting, to obviate any future 
 miftakesj it was found expedient to remind
 
 their Metropolitans, that thefe latter had no 
 manner of jurifdiftion over their Suffragans, 
 except in the particular cafes fpecified by the 
 Canon law ; which notice having been re- 
 peatedly given on fome late previous occa- 
 iions, was explicitly acquiefced in. If there- 
 fore metropolitans were incompetent, without 
 fpecial appointment, to fpeak for the Irifli 
 Catholic Prelacy, much lefs competent were 
 the truflees of Maynooth College : and con- 
 lequently, whoever, like your lordfliip, may 
 choofe to hold the Irifli Catholic Prelacy 
 bound by the unauthorized concefTions of 
 thofe truftees, is not more reafonable in that 
 opinion, than if he were to deem a kingdom 
 refponfible for the a6l of a corporation, or a 
 corporation, for the unfanclioned act of a few^ 
 who may belong to it. 
 
 But here, let us more particularly examine 
 this tranfaftion of the truftees. In 1799, when 
 the horrors of the preceding year had fcarcely 
 fubfided, when diftruft and jealoufy, and fuf- 
 picion and mifreprefentation, and fallehood 
 and calumny, were in adive employment, the 
 then government thought proper to prefent a 
 project, not in an open ollenfible way to our 
 body at large, but, as it were, at a back-ftairs 
 door to one or two of our ecclefiaftical fupe-
 
 23 , 
 
 riors ; viz. of providing a competent mainte- 
 nance or temporalities for thc^Roman Catholic 
 hierarchy in Ireland, provided that in return 
 a certain interference of the crown in the 
 appointment of the Roman Catholic bifhops, 
 mioht be admitted. 
 
 o 
 
 The pretext was to exclude the difloyal ; as 
 if the aftual Catholic eleftors were difpofcd 
 to promote to this dignity exceptionable men. 
 Though the truftees muft have thoroughly felt 
 the infult implied in this propofal ; though the 
 diftruftful ingenuity of illiberal legiflation had 
 been long framing for them, and was a8ual!y 
 tendering to them oaths of the moll revolting 
 texture ; though their confcience bore teiti- 
 mony to the purity of their fentiments upon 
 the point of allegiance; and though their 
 condu6l had palfed untainted through the in- 
 quifitorial ordeal of the fecret committee, they 
 filently fubmitted to this new humiliation ; 
 and willing to believe that loyalty was really 
 the obje£l, as it v;as feemingly the pretext of 
 the propofed interference, they gave, as their 
 private opinion, that fuch interference, under 
 certain fixed reftriftions, might fafely be con- 
 ceded. I fay their private opinion, becaufe 
 they had no commiffion or authority whatever 
 to deliver anv other; and becaufe, as they
 
 24 
 
 then exprefsly declared, nothing decifive could 
 be done in this bufinefs without the exprefs 
 concurrence of the Holy See. 
 
 The circumftance appendant to the above 
 refolution of the truftees in 1799, viz. its 
 having been oftenfibly founded upon a govern- 
 ment propofal of pecuniary provifion for the 
 bifliops, is without doubt, a aioft unfeemly 
 one; and, as your lordfliip remarks, mull 
 afford a fpecious argument to their detra£lors, 
 for charging them with having then conceded, 
 in contemplation of wages, what is now with- 
 held, as incompatible with the fafety of the Ca- 
 tholic faith. But, my lord, when you pointed to 
 the probability of fuchan afperfion, you ought 
 not to have overlooked another circumftance, 
 ■which fully proves that pecuniary conhderation 
 was by no means their obje6l. You well know, 
 that when this lure had been propofed to them, 
 unconnefted with Catholic emancipation, they 
 peremptorily refufed it, determined to link 
 their fortunes infeparably with thofe of their 
 community, and to rife or fall with the Irilh 
 Catholic people. They declared to the Mi- 
 nifterof the day, that whenever the legiflature 
 in its wifdom fliould think proper to admit the 
 Catholic population of Ireland within the pale 
 of the Conftitution, the bifliops would then
 
 25 
 
 thankfully receive whatever provifion might be 
 offered for them; but until that day fhould 
 come, they would hold to their precarious de- 
 pendancc upon the bounty of their own 
 people. 
 
 Mr. Secretary Cook can vouch for the truth 
 of what is here ftated : he was pleafed at the 
 time to exprcfs his regret at their determina- 
 tion, in a long interview with one of them 
 whom you moil efleem : and Mr. Parnel has 
 proclaimed his fenfe of their fpirit on that oc- 
 cafion by praying, that their God may blefs 
 them for it. But the probability is, that the 
 men then in power had as little idea as Mr. 
 Perceval now has, of appropriating a hngle 
 fhilling to the fupport of the Catholic Clergy : 
 laughing m their fleeve at the credulity of their 
 Right Reverend Dupes, and utterly abandon- 
 ing this ill-poifed negociation, they dexteroufly 
 obtained a datum, as they hoped, for fome 
 future contingency; and thus difmiffing their 
 
 lordfhips, the matter fell to the ground, 1 
 
 wifli it had continued under foot. 
 
 Mr. Grattan, however, whofe exertions in 
 behalf of Ireland, its Catholics I truft, in fpite 
 of thofe who would blame him, will ever 
 gratefully remember, thought proper to take 
 
 D
 
 26 
 
 it up, and exhibit it fo confpicuoufly, but in 
 fo new a light, that Catholicity was electrified, 
 and even your lordfhip was thunderftruck. 
 Af:er all this, how anxioufly did I enquire for 
 the Note you received from the Sacred Con- 
 gregation, and which you fo ingenuoufly pro- 
 mifed to lay before the bifhops, to prove to 
 them that your opinion upon this point was 
 fupported by the implied confent of their 
 Eminences. The authority of the Sacred Con- 
 gregation being of the greateft weight through- 
 out the Catholic Church, were it as much in 
 favour of the Veto as your lordfhip gave us to 
 expeft, would go very far indeed to exonerate 
 you of blame, and to reconcile the difcon- 
 tented; but what does it really fay ? This Note 
 begins by declaring, "That Dr, Milner's letter 
 upon this fubjeft, addreffed to the Sacred Con- 
 gregation, has excited in their Eminences the 
 very fame apprehenfions expreffed by that Pre- 
 late himfelfj who confiders the time of de- 
 ciding, in parliament, the fortunes of the Ca- 
 tholics, as the moft dangerous to the purity 
 and exiftence of our religion, that has oc- 
 curred fince the period of the Reformation ; 
 nor is it doing an injuftice to a Proteftant 
 Government, to fufpeft that the projected 
 meafure has no other tendency." — This com- 
 mencement, my lordj mtift naturally excite n
 
 27 
 
 wifli that your lordfliip had alfo thought pro- 
 per to favour the Prelates with a copy of the 
 Letter written by you to the Sacred Congrega- 
 tion, expreflive of apprehenfions which you 
 now feem to condemn as unfounded, while en- 
 tertained by the Catholics of Ireland. 
 
 With regard to the pecuniary provifion then 
 in contemplation for our clerical body, the 
 Note declares " the Vicars Apoftolic, and the 
 Catholic Bifhops of the empire, muft lay afide 
 every idea of their temporal interefts, that 
 their hearts be not weakened fo far as to induce 
 their confent to any thing prejudicial to the 
 interefts of religion." The Note then gives 
 credit to Dr. Milner for having raanifefted this 
 difintereftednefs throughout the entire of his 
 Letter; but at the fame time declares, that it 
 confiders all the propofals upon this fubjeft, 
 fubmitted to the Sacred Congregation by Dr. 
 Milner, as replete with the moft ferious dif- 
 ficulties. The fcheme of allowing penfions, 
 &c. it utterly reprobates, adverting to the 
 condemnation of the fame plan when it had 
 been propofed for Corfica by England, and 
 for the French Clergy by France. 
 
 With regard to the influence required by 
 the civil power in the nomination of bifhopsv
 
 28 
 
 ^nd the feveral propofals made for regulating 
 that influence, the Note obferves in the firlt 
 place, that a pofitive nomination can by no 
 means be allowed to a Government whofe 
 religion is different from the Roman Catholic, 
 quoting, in fupport of this peremptory refufal, 
 the declaration of Benedi6l XIV. in his Letter 
 to the Bifhop of Breflaw, dated the i5ih of 
 May, 1748, viz. " That in the entire range of 
 ecclefiaflical hiftory, there does not occur one 
 fingle inftance of a Roman Catholic Bifhop 
 or Abbot having been appointed by a fove- 
 reign of another religion ;" adding, that he nei- 
 ther would nor could confent to introduce a 
 precedent, which befides fcandalifing the 
 whole Catholic world, muft expofe himielf to 
 infamy and execration in this life, and to 
 eternal punifhment hereafter." The Note con- 
 tinues and fays, " that the fame difficulties mufl 
 arife, though the right of appointment were 
 even limited to a clafs of clergymen to be firfl 
 approved of by the bifliops: next comes the 
 paffage in the Note, which could alone have 
 induced your lordfhip to quote its authority in ' 
 favour of your plan ; and here again I appeal 
 to the reader, whether the inclination of their 
 Eminences' mind upon the merits of the ex' 
 c/zf£?m^ interference,' wa« not rather reprobative 
 of that meafure than commendatory. " The
 
 29 
 
 fimplc right of rejefting or excluding would 
 produce fewer inconveniencies, wercit proper- 
 ly limited." 
 
 At bed then, in the judgment of the Sacred 
 Congregation, it is a kjler evil, though under 
 the controul of a proper and efficient limita- 
 tion; which controul however, in all the cir- 
 cumftances of the cafe, is proved to be imprac- 
 ticable, if not rather indeed nugatory; and 
 thus emerging into an abfolute right of rejec- 
 tion, muft, in the judgment of Benedi6t XIV, 
 involve thofe Catholic Prelates, who would 
 procure or abett it, in perpetual infamy and 
 execration. 
 
 This fame Note further obferves, that this 
 right, befide being entirely new, is fraught with 
 confequences beyond the reach of calculation. 
 It then concludes by modellly remonftrating 
 upon the very unfounded jealoufy of the Britifli 
 government upon this head, after the long 
 experience and the reiterated proofs it has had 
 of the anxiety of the Holy See, that perfons fe- 
 leQed for the Roman Catholic Prelacy in Ire- 
 land, fhould not only be unexceptionable to our 
 rulers here, but as much as pofTible plcafing to 
 them ; and refers to a very recent inftance of 
 its fcrupulous caution in this way, as an addi- 
 tional argument of undeviating fincerity.
 
 30 
 
 Upon the entire of this Note, which your 
 lordfhip has thought proper to adduce in fa- 
 vour of the negative, I will rather fuppofe I 
 totally mifconccive its tendency than afcribe 
 to your lordfhip a deliberate attempt to prove 
 a point, by a quotation fo glaringly hoftile to 
 K. The above paflages of the Note will be con- 
 fidered a fufEcient anfwer to the remaining pa- 
 ragraphs of your letter; they prepare us alfo 
 to liften very ferenely to thofe thundering ob- 
 jeftions, which are to explode againfl our pre- 
 lates for their cojifcientious, humble, and firm 
 rejeBion of this exceptionable meafure. 
 
 I cannot however advert to the encouraging 
 privilege held out as annexed to it; namely, 
 that of being permitted to aflc minifters the 
 mieftion-, inftead of guefling, as heretofore, 
 .whether they have heard any thing politically 
 difadvantageous to the charaSler of the pro- 
 pofed candidate* 
 
 If this be a privilege, an amelioration of our 
 prefent condition, it furely is not very envia- 
 ble J fo then our bifhops are to have the ad- 
 vantage of putting the moft worthy ecclefiaf- 
 tiics in every diocefe upon their trial ; and your 
 lordfliip would animate them by the cheering 
 odds of a hundred to one in favour of their
 
 31 
 
 being able to filence obloquy, by proving that 
 their candidates were calumniated. 
 
 My lord, 1 have become grey in Ireland, 
 I have long and diligently infpefted the pro- 
 minent chara61;ers here. I am alfo intimate 
 with many who know thefe characters well, and 
 it is our fettled conviftion; firft, that the 
 above privilege of the Jlurdy qiiejlion will never 
 prevent his Grace — nor my Lord — nor Sir 
 Knight — nor the Doctor, nor their fabaltern 
 Squires, from faying whatever they fancy 
 againft the political character of their Humb- 
 ling block, whether they heard it or not; whe- 
 ther they believe it or not ; and fecondly, that 
 your great odds will be readily taken up by 
 the knowing ones. 
 
 Their hundred to one will be for the afper- 
 fion, and againd the exculpation; they fhall 
 win, and we muft certainly lofe. The con- 
 cluding paragraphs of your lordfliip's letter 
 derive their principal force from afcribing to 
 the Irifli Catholic prelacy, what was merely 
 the individual a8: of the Maynooth tru[tees« 
 
 But had this Letter to a Parifli Priefl: 
 been written fubfequently to the lafl meet- 
 ing in Dublin, you would doubtlefs have dif-
 
 32 
 
 criVinated more accurately. I have good 
 reafon to believe, that you would be quite 
 conipofed upon the point of confiftency, while 
 the Catholic Prelacy of Ireland abjured the 
 il^confidered refolutions of the trvjlees of 
 Maynooth. 
 
 You would have alfo learned, that our me- 
 tropolitans are not acknowledged the efficient 
 reprefentatives of the Catholic Prelacy of Ire- 
 land; they themfelves are now fully con- 
 vinced that they are not fo acknowledged. 
 
 Hence, when they refolved that your lord- 
 fhip fliould be requefted to aft for them, when 
 neceffary, at the feat of government; this 
 agency was limited to fuch inftruftions as you 
 fliould occafionally receive from the metropo- 
 litans in concurrence with their fuffragans re- 
 fpe£lively. But there are few things in this 
 Letter to a Parifii Prieft, apparently at leaft, 
 more irreconcilable with your acknowledged 
 abilities and found judgment, than the (trefs 
 you lay upon the circumftances of a friendly 
 adminiftraiion. as one faving condition of the 
 kingly interference now under difcuffion ; be- 
 caufe every fuch adminiftration is removable 
 at pleafure ; whereas the propofed ccffion once 
 made, and duly incorporated in the law, re-
 
 S3 
 
 mains there folidly eftablifhed; and being be- 
 fide jealoufiy reftridive of an invidious, for- 
 fworn church, is likely to continue for ever 
 unchanged, though not abfolutely unchange- 
 able. If the advantage expefted from the 
 friendfhip of an adminiftration, is to confift in 
 the conciliatory fpirit that fhall dictate our 
 epifcopal ftatute, andfofien down all its ena6l- 
 ments to the tone of our fondefl hopes; I will 
 afk with a very fenfible writer in a late Water- 
 ford newfpaper, firft, whether fuch a concilia- 
 tory fpirit is likely to predominate in the men 
 of that expelled day, more than it now does in 
 a Grenviile, a Ponfonby, or a Grattan, whofe 
 friendfhip you had nearly forfeited by your 
 objefting to an unrcJiriEied, pojitive interference : 
 and will afk in the next place, whether the 
 condefcending leniency of the fame fiatute will 
 not at leaft ena6l as much, as you yourfelf are 
 at prefent ready to concede to it. Be the 
 fubftance and the form as mild as an anti-ca- 
 thclic government can be expefted to make 
 them, their operation mull be formidable to 
 the Catholic religion in Ireland. 
 
 It has been, I conceive, fully proved in 
 the prefent reply ; and the Note of the Sacred 
 Congregation moil imprelfively indicates a cor- 
 refponding appreheniion. Your lordfhip well 
 
 £
 
 34 
 
 knows how different the afpe8: of the fame' 
 thing fliall be in theory and in pra61ice. In a 
 word, to bind ourfelves unneceffarily by a 
 permanent law of mod dangerous import, in 
 reHance upon the friendftip of the then ad- 
 miniftration, is little lefs prudent than the aft 
 of my unfufpefting countryman, who agreed 
 to be fent to jail, upon hearing of the turn- 
 key's good-nature, 
 
 I will now hope, that when your lordfliip 
 fliall have reconfidered this matter; when you 
 fhall have difpaffionately weighed the many 
 ferious difficulties and awful confequences 
 involved in it, as they are felt at prefcnt by 
 the entire Catholic bodv, both clergy and laity 
 of Ireland; you will incline to confider this 
 general alarm as fomething more important 
 than a traiihent ebullition of ignorance; a 
 maddened outcry, which you would have the 
 clergy put down by enlightening the people. 
 
 My lord, I muif fuppofe, that if in the 
 refulgent repofitory of your own learned per- 
 fuafives, your lordfhip had any more brilliant 
 arguments than thofe which emblazon your 
 Letter to a Paiifli Prieft, they would have 
 flaflied conviftion on the minds of your con- 
 freres, during your feveral difcuffions with
 
 35 
 
 them in the metropolis; or be exhibited in 
 fupplementary publications fmce your return 
 to England : but the fatt is, that though our 
 prelates always liflened to you, as you well 
 deferve, with animated attention, not a fingle 
 argument was adduced by you of different 
 import, or of more cogency than your letter 
 had already furnifhed: and that letter, my 
 lord, I can confidently affure you, has not 
 convinced them; but on the contrary, by 
 urging to inveftigation, has moft decidedly 
 fixed them in the contrary fentiment. Your 
 lordfliip, I am certain, would fcorn the eccle- 
 fialtic, who fhould convey inftru6tionj either 
 moral or political, to his congregation, in 
 direft oppofition to the di6lates of confcience. 
 To enlighten them therefore in the way you 
 recommend, that is, to argue them into acqui- 
 efcence in a fch^me unequivocally reprobated 
 by their bifhops and their clergy, would be 
 equally imprafticable and dangerous. Ano- 
 ther very obvious confideration muft render 
 fuch an enterprize now utterly hopelefs. 
 
 You well know, my lord, that minifters and 
 ftatefmen, in very unwife difregard of the 
 fpirit of our conftitution, which would inva- 
 riably exhibit the firft Magiftrate to his people 
 in the moll endearing point of view, have
 
 36 
 
 fcrupled not, to hold him out to the population 
 of Ireland as the determined, the almoft irre- 
 concilable enemy to their religion; and the 
 infuperable obftacle in the way of their poli- 
 tical expe6tance. Such grating denunciations, 
 fo long, fo authoritatively and fo repeatedly 
 made, were but too well calculated to imprint 
 themfelves deeply, if not indelibly upon the 
 hearts of the profcribed ; and muft, by courfe 
 of nature, totally indifpofe them againft all 
 and every eccleliaftical fuperior prefenting 
 himfelf from that quarter. 
 
 Here it is my duty to ftop — politics are not 
 my fphere 3 but as God is my judge, I know 
 hot of any correftive under Heaven fo likely 
 to counteraft and gradually to wear ofF that 
 impreffion, as the genuine fpirit of the Catho- 
 lic religion, which diftates charitable forgive- 
 nefs under every provocation, and confcien- 
 tious fubmiffion to the eftablifhed powers ; 
 identifying the voice of falutary law with the 
 voice of God himfelf, and threatening, in his 
 name, rebellious refiftance with affured dam- 
 nation. Yes, I loudly repeat it, the very beft 
 fupport of domeftic peace in Ireland, is that 
 very religion which our fhort-fighted bigots 
 would fo zealoufly extirpate.
 
 37 
 
 I fi^all not trefpafs on the reader's patience 
 by adverting, at any length, to an imputatio* 
 which was probably fabricated for Dr. Milner, 
 by fome daring incendiary ; viz. that our 
 prelates, in their refiflance to the Veto, were 
 influenced by, and muft have yielded to, the 
 fuggeftions of an Antianglican party in Ireland, 
 It is furely impoffible that an infinuation fo 
 grofsly harfii, fo injurioufly uncharitable, 
 could have ever dropt from his pen; and 
 therefore the fuppofed copy or copies of his 
 Letter to a diftinguifhed Senator, wherein that 
 infinuation appears, can be nothing more than 
 the officious inference of fome hafty tranfcri- 
 ber, embodying his own malignant furmife 
 with the context of his original. Affuredly 
 the reafon^ here affigned for their diffent are 
 cogent enough to account for it, without con- 
 juring up an ideal influence, which, far from 
 being exerted, never came in contact with 
 that truly independent and refpe6lable body. 
 
 And thefe reafons too, while they account 
 for the oppofition of our bilhops, do alfo, in 
 the judgment of every impartial man, mod 
 amply juftify that oppofition. Confidering 
 themfelves, as they are warranted to do, the 
 Judges of Catholic DoQrine, and charged 
 upon the mfponfibility of their own fouls.
 
 38 
 
 with mentioning in their feveral congregations 
 the purity of the Catholic faith, they muft 
 have felt it an imperious duty to difcounte- 
 nance and to refill; any meafure which, upon 
 the grounds here flated, appeared fo fraught 
 with mifchief to that facred depofit. Tempo- 
 ral advantage, and even life, in the eflimation 
 of every true Catholic, dill more of every 
 Catholic Bifliop, are of no value in competi- 
 tion with the integrity of Divine faith. Death 
 for that, is gain indeed ! the abfolution of 
 martyrdom, and pledge of the eternal inhe-» 
 ritance. 
 
 It cannot then be too much to hope that 
 Dr. Milner, fo diftinguifhed a luminary in the 
 Catholic world, fo zealous a preacher, fo able 
 a defender of the treafuje entrufted to him, 
 will as it were, now rile above himfelf, by 
 nobly foregoing a fentiment which he had ra- 
 ther haftily taken up; and perceiving, on ma- 
 turer confideration, thofe dangers which had 
 efcaped his firft view of the fubjeft, he will 
 inftantly place himfelf on the fide of his bre- 
 thren who would guard againft thofe dangers, 
 and prefent his own fhield, if neceffary, with 
 theirs : the threatened fliafts will then fall 
 harmlefs. Your lordfhip appears thorough- 
 ly fenfible of what great importance to
 
 39 
 
 the Catholic Body of the Empire, is iheir 
 complete union. In that alone their ftrength, 
 whatever it may be, mofl indubitably confifts. 
 It is peculiarly incumbent on their fpiritual 
 guides, dill more by their example than by 
 their inftruftions, to inculcate this harmony; 
 and hence muft have proceeded that laudable 
 anxiety with which you deprecated any thing 
 like divifion among them. But your fears 
 upon that point, as far as the Irifli Catholic 
 bifhops and their clergy, with the great bulk 
 of their laity are concerned, have, we thank 
 God, no foundation. You, yourfelf, witnefTed 
 the unanimity of their prelates, and more than 
 once you expreffed your glowing admiration 
 of it, when you lafl addreffed them at D'Ar- 
 cey's hotel.. That day, when you honoured 
 them with your company, and were returning 
 thanks for their attentions to you, you did not 
 hefitate to declare, that you confidered it the 
 proudeft day, or, in your corrected expref- 
 fion, the moft gratifying you ever enjoyed. 
 You contemplated with rapture what you were 
 pleafed, at the time, to denominate the moft 
 refpeftable portion, perhaps, of the entire 
 Chriftian Church; alluding, no doubt, to the 
 honourable and edifying attachment to their 
 faith, exhibited during centuries of hardfhip 
 by the Ron^an Catholic hierarchy of Ireland,
 
 40 
 
 You avowed yourfelf particularly charmed 
 with the fraternal union of that venerable af- 
 fembly, and you concluded by affuring them, 
 that as they had in the Refolution of that day 
 appointed you their Agent, you would always 
 abide inviolably by their inftru6lions. 
 
 Thefe minute circumftances I recall to your 
 lordlhip's recolleQion, in order to obtain your 
 co-operation in the good work of reconciling to 
 the decifion of their prelates, certain refpec- 
 table individuals of the higher claffes of our 
 communion in Ireland, and the generality of 
 them in England, who, I perceive with grief, 
 are exerting themfelves, though ineffeftually, 
 to countera6l that great defideration. 
 
 When an obfcure, infignificant individual, 
 like myfelf, can have no pretenfions to a hear- 
 ing from fuch gentry, a perfonage of jour lite- 
 rary rank and facred chara61er, may command 
 attention. But it is not for me to fugged to 
 Dr. Milner hov/ he is to fpeak on an occafion 
 like the prefent. 1 barely figure to my mind 
 what might, in part at leall, be faid by him ; 
 and what, if conveyed by the mafterly force 
 of his eloquence, would certainly conciliate 
 the difcontented, and impart that general una- 
 ^iimity, which as much as any thing elfe at this
 
 41 
 
 awful crifis, is likely to benefit the Empire 
 and ourfelves. — But more, I may without pre- 
 fumption, exprefs a wifh that he fubmit to 
 their ferious confideration the following 
 queries : 
 
 ift. If leading men in adminiftration, have 
 officially declared that they take their ftand at 
 the Union, and will never agree to anyexten- 
 fion of the privileges at that time enjoyed by 
 Roman Catholics; what authority have we 
 for fuppofing that a conceffion on our part 
 of the propofed interference, will certainly ob- 
 tain for us the emancipation we defire. 
 
 2d. Though a pofitive nomination to the 
 Roman Catholic Prelacy, by an Anti-catho- 
 lic Executive, be, according to Benedi£l XIV. 
 equally unprecedented and inadmiflible; are 
 we warranted to expeft, after what our bell 
 and moft enlightened friends in Parliament re- 
 quire of us in this matter, that any thing fhort 
 of a pojitive nomination will fatisfy. 
 
 3d. Is it certain that a negative interference, 
 as likely to be operative, is quite exempt from 
 the mifchrefs involved in a pofitive one ; and 
 which muft prevent every confcientious Ro- 
 man Catholic from acquiefcing in it.
 
 42 
 
 4th. If fuch difcrimination were prafticE^lly 
 afcertainable, what legal fecurity can we have 
 that the compa6l between us and the ftate will 
 be always ftriftly adhered to; when the fpirit 
 of the conftitution muft interpret the law 
 againll us. 
 
 ' 5th. Does prudence or common fenfe autho- 
 rize the Catholic Body, una(l<^ed, to come for- 
 ward to an hoftile adn^iniftration, with a tender 
 of the only valuable they have; when their 
 friends, if in power, would not require this of 
 them ? 
 
 6th. Whereas a ftanding record of the Com- 
 mons'-houfe proclaims, that the inflqence of 
 the Crown has increafed, is increafing, and 
 ought to be diminifhed; is it really promoting 
 the interefts of the Britifh empire, or conci- 
 liating the good-will of our felIov/-fubje6ls at 
 large, to give, by this fingle meafure, a more 
 extended and more weighty preponderance to, 
 that influence, than by any other within the 
 circle of Catholic concelTion, 
 
 7th. However individually refpe6lable thefe 
 Roman Catholics may be, who patronize and 
 advocate thp prefent innovation ; are they not 
 a moft trivial or rather imperceptible minority,.
 
 43 
 
 "uhen oppofed to the Catholic Body in Ireland, 
 who unequivocally reprobate it. 
 
 8th. If in England the Roman Catholic no- 
 bility and gentry are the chief fupport of their 
 religion there; in Ireland that religion is fo 
 diffufed through the population, fo bottomed 
 upon, and fo cherifhed by the lower and the 
 middling clafles of fociety, that a feceding, 
 which God forbid, of the Catholic Arifto- 
 cracy, could make fcarcely a fenfible im- 
 prsflion. 
 
 9th. Is there a parity of reafoning for the 
 Veto, between States where neither Charter- 
 fchools, nor a penal code, nor fevere exclu- 
 fions, aor an organized fyftem of profelytifm 
 are to be found, or even heard of; and a 
 State where all thefe things, invigorated by the 
 very fpirit of the Conftitution, are marfhalled 
 in avowed hoftility againft the Roman Catho- 
 lic religion. 
 
 10th. Are the Irifti Roman Catholic Bifliops, 
 under all the circumftances heretofore ftated, 
 lefs entitled to the character of honeft, upright, 
 and confcientious men, for having withheld 
 their affent from the propofed meafure, than 
 they would be, had they acceded to it ?
 
 44 
 
 Candid anfwers to the above queries will, 
 I truft, contribute not a little to reconcile to 
 their fpiritual fuperiors thofe refpeftable in- 
 dividuals who blamed them for the part they 
 have taken. That part, however, is a decided 
 one; and to obviate any contrary infinuations, 
 it is only neceflary to ftate that Refolution of 
 the Synod, which was unanimoufly adopted 
 for the exprefs purpofe of guarding the Sove- 
 reign Pontiff againft pofTible mifreprefenta- 
 tion, in a matter of fuch vital importance. 
 
 Resolved — " That the four Metropolitans 
 (as foon as conveniently it can be done) do 
 communicate the firft and fecond Refolutions 
 to the Holy See, under their hands and feals." 
 
 Now, my lord, with a long farewell, I with- 
 draw from this very unpleafant difcuffion, de- 
 termined never more to intrude upon your 
 lordfhip, or the public. 
 
 I have the honour to be, 
 My Lord, 
 Your devoted humble fervant, 
 
 An Irish Roman Catholic Clergyman.
 
 45 
 
 THE TWO LETTERS, 
 
 Addressed to the Roman Catholic Clermt 
 and Laity of the Count y of Louth. 
 
 LETTER THE FIRST. 
 
 Gentlemen, 
 Having lately read an anonymous notice, 
 whereby you are invited to meet in Dundalk, 
 on the 6th of December, for the purpofe of 
 declaring your fentiments of approbation and 
 gratitude towards our honed Irifh Bifhops for 
 their late condu6l, I was led, from conjeduring 
 the probable motives of that advertifement, to 
 conjeQ.ure the poffible refiilt of fuch a meet- 
 ing, and I was finally determined to addrefs 
 you in this manner, upon the fingle ground of 
 that intereft, which every Catholic is bound 
 to feel and to avow, in all queftions of im- 
 portant concern and of general danger. If 
 this duty was ever facred, it is imperious at 
 this particular moment, when, over and above 
 the difadvantages of our political fituation, 
 we labour under the contagion of domeftic 
 treachery; when, befides the evils, of degrada- 
 tion, the threatened abandonment of oftenta-
 
 46 
 
 tious friends, and the irkfomenefs of perpe* 
 tual, abjeft, and difregarded fupplication, a 
 fpirit at once impudent and atrocious of con- 
 tempt for the holy bonds of that religion, by 
 which we have hitherto been faved and fhel- 
 tered, has newly arifen from amongft our- 
 felvcs, affefting to be impious, and convi8:ed 
 of being traitorous: when that fpirit, which, 
 in 1792, came forth to blafl: the ripe profpe6l 
 of emancipation, and thus prepared the way 
 for the crimes and (laughter of 1798, reveals 
 itfelf again as the harbinger of another civil 
 war. It then addreffed the Government in the 
 name of Catholic rcfpeBability^ and protefted 
 againft our freedom; it now wifhes to addrefs 
 in the name of Catholic Irreligion^ and to pro- 
 teft againft our Faith, — Its piety, in that year, 
 was to advocate our Chains; its loyalty, in 
 this, is to demolifli our Altars. But our chains 
 will fall, and our altars will ftand, and our 
 traitors will perifh. 
 
 The accufation is heinous I know, and 
 therefore will demand to be made out by evi- 
 dent fafts. It is my intention to recapitulate 
 thofe fa6ls in the progrefs of this letter, but 
 the fubje6l immediately before me is the pro- 
 priety of your meeting, according to the re- 
 queft of that advertifcr. You muft not take 
 offence at the fuppofition on which I proceed.
 
 47 
 
 1 am not poffefled of the comparative ftate 
 of Catholic mind or independence in your 
 county. Were I to judge of either, from an 
 account of proceedings lately publifhed, and 
 confifting of a letter to, and an anfwer from 
 the M. R. Dr. Reilly, I muft eflimate them to 
 be low in the extreme. 
 
 Without adverting to the wickednefs and 
 indecency of fuch a trick, as pra6lifed on an 
 aged, venerable, and unfufpe6ling prelate, and 
 upon a young and delicate lord in the country, 
 that proceeding may pofTibly have been droll 
 enough, though fhamelefs; but yet it gives 
 room to fufpe8, that the Catholics of Louth 
 are not apt to retaliate when jefted upon. It 
 would have been dangerous to try an experi- 
 ment of that fort in this city. A worthy bifhop 
 happens to be in a minority againft his col- 
 leagues, and the difference lay in a fhort com- 
 pafs of words — he wifhed to ufe exijling circum- 
 ^<2wce5, meaning thereby the want of recognition 
 of the Catholic religious fyftem in the ftate, and 
 the imprafticability of procuring, at the pre- 
 fent, a canonical arrangement with the Head 
 of the Church, 
 
 This form of fpcech was objefted to by his 
 colleagues, as tending to miflead, as holding 
 put an encouragement to impure folicita-
 
 48 
 
 tion, and as favouring the views of unprinci- 
 pled nominal Catholics, who ufed the fame 
 form, as a defignation of the prefent Anti-po- 
 pery Miniftry. 
 
 The good prelate yields to higher authority, 
 and to candid fenfe — he confents that his ex- 
 ijling circumjlances fhall be expunged, and wifhes 
 that the amended refolution Ihall pafs unant- 
 
 moufly^ 
 
 Once this was done ; what man of common 
 fenfe would need to be informed, that the pri- 
 vate opinion of this prelate was either null, or 
 that of the affembly : That he, as member of 
 the Catholic Church of Ireland, was bound by 
 the fenfe of the meeting, and was even con- 
 trouled from returning to ufe thofe two equi- 
 vocal terms, unlefs he explained, at leaft, his 
 own meaning. 
 
 But, for your incomparable legipators of the 
 county of Louth, (while I ufe the phrafe I am 
 thoroughly aware that the majority were the 
 dupes of Two^) it was enough that your bifliop 
 was known to have cheriQicd the words exift- 
 ing circumjlances, and therefore, after the meet- 
 ing of prelates had diflolved itfelf, thofe gen- 
 tlemen think it right to interrogate DoBor 
 Reilly about his non opinion on a matter al-
 
 49 
 
 ready decided againft him, and about exijling 
 circum/iances which they knew to be a double 
 entendre. My refpe8 for the Catholic Primate 
 will not permit me to dwell upon other par- 
 culars of his much to be regretted Anfwer, 
 
 If then, gentlemen, you feel neither fcorn 
 nor ridicule, in the exhibition of your county, 
 thus held up to contempt; if you think it fedi- 
 tious to queftionthe found fenfe of any paper, 
 to which a young Nobleman has been entrapped 
 to fet his name; if your oracles, on the quef- 
 tion of Catholic Freedom, are to be thefe alone 
 who are the penfioners at pkafure of an admini- 
 ftration, who keeps you as you are, and who 
 were the penfioners of another adminiftration, 
 that fwelled your rivers with Popilh blood; if 
 a6lors, hooted from the Dublin ftage, are to 
 be now your managers^ on every cafe of ftatc 
 and confcience; above all, if you heartily 
 wifh deftru6lion to the Catholics of Ireland, or 
 care little whether you are deftroyed or not, 
 I would advife you not to meet at Dundalk, 
 for your fhame, and fervitude, and guilt will be 
 proclaimed in the certain viftory and noify 
 triumph o{ yo\iv prejent Catholic rulers. 
 
 But if you are not fo dlfpofed, I beg of you 
 to underftand, from the following recital, the 
 
 G
 
 50 
 
 bufinef^ on which you have been called to af- 
 femble. 
 
 A propofal was lent in 1799 from Lord 
 Cornwallis to the ecclefiaftical truftees of May"- 
 nooth College. This propofal required infor- 
 mation from our bifhops on certain points, 
 which Mr. Pitt thought efTential for fecuring 
 the government, in the cafe of emancipation^ 
 and of giving falaries to our clergy. 
 
 After fome huddled meetings, thefe ecclefiaf- 
 tical truftees were fo far wrought upon by 
 threats and by artifice, as to agree or propofe 
 among other things, the following, concerning 
 the eleftion ofBifliops: that whenever a Ca- 
 tholic See was vacant, the Diocefan Chapters 
 fhould return a name to a certain other body 
 called the Eleftors, whofe Prefident fhould 
 fend up the name to Government; that the 
 perfon fo chofen, if agreeable to Government, 
 fhould have his name and recommendation 
 tranfmitted to the Pope, through the OJfict of 
 the Secretary of State ; that if the candidate was 
 difpleafing, the Government might, within a 
 reafonahle time, and upon reafonahle grounds, re- 
 turn the name to the Elc6lors, who thereupon 
 "Were to proceed to a new ele8ion.
 
 51 
 
 This document purported to be figned by 
 ten Prelates; it is probable that feveral of 
 thefe figned by proxy, and it is certain that 
 nothing further was proceeded upon, in con- 
 fequence of this fcheme. Some indireft offers 
 were afterwards made to our bifliops of a fa- 
 lary to them, without a Catholic emancipation^ but 
 thefe offers were meekly yet decifively re- 
 je6ted. 
 
 And here the celebrated Dr. Milner appears 
 upon the flage: a great man, if talent, cou- 
 rage, perfeverance, and inflexibility of princi- 
 ples and of opinions can make a man fo; he 
 had diftinguiflied himfelf in a fignal manner, 
 in his antiquarian refearches, and in the con- 
 troverfy with Lord Petre, &c. he had defeated 
 Sturges in his letters to a Prebendary; the 
 place of an Apoflolical Vicar in England was 
 empty, and the Rev. John Milner wgs confi- 
 dered a worthy perfon by two of the Englifh 
 milfionary bifhops ; he was oppofed by the 
 Cifalpine fa6lion, which he had combated. — 
 By the Arch Vicar of London, who either 
 feared the confequences of his bold temper, 
 or Ihrunk under the afcendancy of his genius, 
 the intereft of the Englifh Government was 
 borrowed againft his nomination; and it was
 
 52 
 
 fignified to Rome that the appointment of Mil- 
 ner, a polemical charafter, would be diftafte- 
 ful to high authority. The Bifhop of Rome 
 refufed to name him. In this ftate of things 
 the Catholic Archbifliops of Ireland repre- 
 fented the merits and innocence of Dr. Mil- 
 ner to the Pope, and by virtue of this repre- 
 fentation, he was nominated to the place he 
 holds, notwithjlanding the oppojition of Government 
 influence I 
 
 This is the Dr. Milner, who now profeffes 
 to believe, that the moft worthy ought to be fet 
 afide from a bifhopric, if the Irifh Viceroy, 
 who is the beji judge of loyalty, fliould reje6l him! 
 a confident man, and a grateful return ! — 
 Though Irifh bifliops were fully competent to 
 vouch for his fitnefs, whom they never had 
 feen, and on a queflion of loyalty, which 
 Bifhop Milner now thinks muft be difcujfed by 
 the Government on the fpot^ thofe bifhops are 
 not competent to judge on the loyalty of their 
 own Irifh Prieft. 
 
 To return to the fcheme of 1799; — It was 
 fortunate enough, that Mr. Pitt, the propofer 
 of this fcheme, was infmcere. It was well for 
 this country, that the only object of the Mi- 
 nifter had been to fet up a new principle of
 
 53 
 
 divifion on the heart of the country, prepara- 
 tory to the Union. Mr. Pitt might poflTibly 
 have penfioned our clergy, but he would have 
 done it in the fame fpirit, which enlifted the 
 Irifh brigade, and fent off that faithful, gal- 
 lant, invincible body of men to the Weft In- 
 dies. He would have enlifted our clergy, that 
 he might order them on decijive fervice. As to 
 the wording of the fcheme, it appeared to me 
 when I read it, to be a vile, hobbling imita- 
 tion of certain articles in the civil conftitu- 
 tion of the Revolutionary French Clergy, and 
 argued a draftsman, mod entirely ignorant of 
 Catholic difcipline. The Maynooth College 
 Truftees were happy enough to find that their 
 fketcii was not favoured with acceptance. For 
 even fuppofing them to have been free in that 
 negociation, their offer had exceeded not 
 only their epifcopal power, but all ecclefiafti- 
 cal authority whatfoever, as known to Roman 
 Catholics, and of this they foon became fenfi- 
 ble. In the firft place they found, that by al- 
 lowing their recommendations of candidates 
 to pafs through the offices of Government to 
 the head of the Catholic Church, they had re- 
 duced themfelves to the neceflity of corref- 
 ponding through the fame Government, on all 
 matters, which hereafter might be claimed by 
 it, as fit for the ftate to interfere in, and thus
 
 54 
 
 the Communion of Ireland with the Catholic 
 Church, through its firft Bifhop, was impli- 
 citly fubmitted to the difcretion of a party, 
 whofe principles, prejudices, fancy, or malice 
 were equally interefted in abridging the free- 
 dom of fpiritual communication. 
 
 In the fecond place, they had precluded 
 themfelves from obje6ling to any candidate 
 whom the adminiftration might favour; and, 
 to fuppofe that government would wifh to 
 know thefecret hijlory of every candidate, without 
 eventually favouring any one, is a fuppofition 
 that no man of common fenfe will either make 
 or floop to anfwer. Will adminiftration pafs 
 through its own office a remonftrance of Ca- 
 tholic bifhops againji the man, whom adminif- 
 tration has refolved to favour ? Such a thing 
 may happen when EngliOi minifters will furnifti 
 proofs to parliament upon their own impeach- 
 ment. 
 
 In the third place, by means of this projc61ed 
 arrangement, the canonical authority of the 
 head over the members, and the fundamental 
 authority of the Catholic church over all its 
 parts, in matters of eflcntial difcipline and 
 good morals, was completely excluded and 
 annihilated.
 
 55 
 
 The fa6l is plain — for the negocialion leaves 
 nothing to the Holy See upon ^vhich to ex- 
 ercife canonical judgment. The Pope, at the 
 very wimo^^ may grant fpiritual faculties, to uf'e 
 the words of Bifiiop Milner, to the perfon on 
 whom the happy l9t of having found favour 
 with our bifiiops and our Secretary's office had 
 fallen — But if the Pope, fiom certain know- 
 ledge, judges the candidate very unfit, he muft 
 even keep his faculties at home. This molt 
 obvious confequence has, fomchow or other, 
 efcaped the obfervation of Dr. Milner in all 
 his fpeeches and effays on the fubjetl. It 
 fliews with what fteadv attention, and with 
 what depth, he has examined the bufinefs upon 
 which he tells the Irilh Catholics that their 
 heads are wrong. 
 
 But if the government, fays this fchemc, 
 fliould, on proper grounds, and within a rea- 
 fonable time, dilfcnt from the nomination of 
 the Prcfidcnt of the Electors (here we have a new 
 ipecies of hierarchy of the Secretary's ordina- 
 tion) the Eleflors may proceed to a new eleftion; 
 {o they may, if allowed to do fo. They 
 may take another itep, as before, towards the 
 fls.y. But are the Electors authorized to fore- 
 clofe the government, if they fhould confider 
 an unreafonable time that which the govern-
 
 56 
 
 ment diinks reafonable? Who fiiall prefcnbe 
 to the government the limits of its defenfive 
 caution, unkfs the law can do it ? The go- 
 vernment confiders, in this fcheme, the Catho- 
 lic bifhops to be dangerous; fo that the very 
 beft are not to be relied upon. I do not ima- 
 gine the government will be in any great hurry 
 to replace this order of men. If, by delay, 
 they can wear them out, they will be too con- 
 fcientious not to delay on all occafions. 
 
 Archbifhop King has complained that James 
 11. kept the Proteftant Sees vacant. — His ob- 
 jeft, fays the archbifliop, was to deftroy Pro- 
 tertant epifcopacy in this manner. Yet James 
 II. had both the right and good caufe for delay, 
 when he knew that the epifcopal body was con- 
 federated againd his throne. If a proteftant 
 adminiftration, profcflTmg to hold our bifhops 
 a nuifance, canjairly and decently deftroy them by 
 delay, who doubts that they will do fo ? And 
 the fcheme of 1799 allows them to delay on 
 proper grounds, and over and over again on every 
 vacancy. 
 
 But what fixes the feal of iniquity on this 
 bufinefs of 1799 is, that the adminiftration held 
 out a condition, which they full well knew 
 ihey could not perform, and therefore may
 
 57 
 
 truly be judged to have meant never to per- 
 form. In this fcheme, all mention of further 
 relaxation of the penal laws was moft carefully- 
 avoided, and yet the adminiflration undertakes 
 to tranfmit documents, authenticated by the 
 Secretary of State, to Rome. Now, by the 
 provifions of the conflitution, his Majcfty in 
 perfon can neither fend nor receive a letter, 
 meffenger, or meflage, to or from the Pope, 
 and an Officer of State committing fuch an aft 
 would be within the penalties of a Premunire, 
 that is, lofs of all his fubftance, fequeftration 
 of his eftates, and perpetual imprifonment. 
 
 You fliall hear again frorti me before the day 
 •f your meeting. 
 
 Detector. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Gentlemen^ 
 
 You have heard of the fcheme for capturing 
 the Catholic Church of Ireland, as gained from 
 the ten Maynooth Truftees in 1799. You 
 have underftood the grofs deception pra£lifed 
 upon fome of our bilhops, the nullity of the 
 
 H
 
 5S 
 
 compromife itfelF, and the important mifchiefs 
 it would have wrought, if attempted to be en- 
 forced at that time. As an ecclefiaflical tranf- 
 a6lion it was abfolutely and incurably void, 
 as a political negociation it was utterly frau- 
 dulent, as a modification of rights it was an 
 ufurpation upon the Catholic people of Ire- 
 land, and, as it ufurped what was public and 
 facred property, it was not lefs than a com- 
 merce in robbery, and that robbery not lefs 
 than facrilege; for this is the birthright of 
 our baptifm, and the prerogative of our faith 
 in the Catholic church, that we cannot be en- 
 fiaved; wc cannot be transferred nor furrender- 
 ed by any fpiritual authority, to any mixed juris- 
 di6lion, to which we had never fubmitted our 
 confcientious and voluntary obedience. There 
 can be no bifliops v/ithout flocks, nor minif- 
 try without bifliops, nor Catholic church with- 
 out both, infeparably united together. What- 
 ever parts thefe, interrupts thus far the autho- 
 rities which refide in the combination of both, 
 and unconfecrates the church from its immor- 
 tal properties and high-born jurifdi£lion over 
 the mind. This jurifdiftion has one limit 
 clearly defined and eflabliflicd immovably 
 above all doubt — it cannot give fcandal. The 
 totality of bifliops and of priefls throughout 
 the Catholic world have not the power to
 
 59 
 
 cnaQ, teach, or fantlion that which fliail fcan- 
 dalize the Catholic world, and in like manner, 
 but with better reafon, the bifhops of a Catho- 
 lic nation ought and cannot do that which 
 gives fcandal to all their people. Such au- 
 thority would be the privilege of deftruftion, 
 which Chriftianity abhors and abjures. 
 
 Bifhop Milner, I know, has been kind 
 enough to confefs, that his propofal to a Mtmhzr 
 cf Parliament gave fcandal to the Irilh Catho- 
 lics; but he qualifies the acknowledgment in 
 a way that comes with an air of novelty from 
 a bifhop; it gave offence, as he underflood, 
 to the Clergy of the fecond oi'der and to the lower 
 orders of the Laity. Had you, Bifliop Milner, 
 turned your genius, which is formidable, to 
 the perufal of thofe gofpels with which the 
 Church entrufted you, you would have {tzxi 
 that the fcandal to be avoided more than 
 death ; that the only fcandal again ft which the 
 commination of our law-giver directs itfelf, is 
 the fcandal that offends the weak and the fim- 
 ple, that very clafs, and unimportant clafs of 
 men, whom you, in the grandeur of your heart 
 and elevation of your profpefts, fo flauntingly 
 put afide from all interefl or confideration in 
 this argument; you were milled, I fuppofe, by 
 the habitual ideas of your own country. You
 
 60 
 
 knew, that thofe who do not contribute to the 
 poor rates, are not allowed to intrude at vef- 
 try for the eleQion of a churchwarden. You 
 knew, that at the Quarter SeiTions, where 
 very probably you expeft to iii of the quo- 
 rum, they who have no vifible means of live- 
 lihood, are ufually examined, not whether 
 they approve of the new or the old doftrines, 
 but whether they are able-bodied men, and 
 willing to be whipped, or go on board. But 
 in Ireland we have no poor rates, our rates of 
 all defcriptions travel to your country ; I 
 iliould fuppofe for improvement. In return^ 
 we have the imports of civilization and illu- 
 mination, though our city nights are lightlefs, 
 and our flreets impaffable. We get in return 
 wholefome bills, elegant reftriftions, claiTical 
 abufe, and imperial logic. — Good heavens ! 
 Dr. Milner, muft we not be fuppofed to have 
 acquired fome judgment under fo laborious a 
 fyftem of education ? 
 
 But furely the learned Bifliop was not feri- 
 ous in attempting to fl<.ip over the prefumption 
 arifing from the fatls he allows, though he 
 might have forgotten the points of right. The 
 lower orders of Catholics are three millions, 
 of whom three hundred thoufand are able to 
 read and underfland his bcft work. The fe-
 
 61 
 
 cond order of clergy contains more than one 
 thoufand pi lefts, who reprobate his projeft, 
 among whom are not a few but very many, 
 not incompetent to oppofe feverally their opi- 
 nion andjudgment to that of Dr. Milner him- 
 felf. If Dr. Mihier had fuch and fo many 
 adherents to boaft of, it is hardly to be fuf- 
 pe6led that he would overlook fuch evidence 
 in his favour. 
 
 The points of right he has forgotten to con- 
 fider are thefe : — Firft, that in all matters of 
 innovation, beyond the ordinary or peculiar 
 funftions of a bifhop, the afliftance of his 
 council is required, elfe the a6l is informal ; 
 the council is of the fecond order. 
 
 The fecond point is, that thofe lower orders of 
 Catholics are they, who have fupported, de- 
 fended, and protected the Catholic Epifco- 
 pacy for near two hundred and forty years in 
 Ireland, always voluntarily and upon the 
 ground of preference; which preference, pof- 
 feffion and title have been heretofore made 
 good againft attempts of the Court of Rome, 
 under the impreflion of falfe offers, as from 
 the Court of Charles I. to abolifli our Apof- 
 tolical Hierarchy, and fubftitute Vicars Apof- 
 tolical.
 
 62 
 
 The third point is, that to the lowe?' orders, 
 or, in other words, the Catholic population of 
 Ireland, refufing to obey any revolutionary 
 bifbops, fuch as Dr. Milner would have us 
 obey, the new plan would be inefFeciual ; as 
 no power of Kings or Popes could rightfully 
 fubdue them lo any change of this kind. If 
 any ftruggle enfued, although Dr. Milner 
 himfelf were to enter the lifts, a Pope would 
 more eafily be depofed for attempting to com- 
 pel, than would the Catholics of Ireland be 
 condemned for refifting the penal innovation. 
 
 The meafure of an Union was carried, and no 
 relief for the Catholics. Mr. Pitt, indeed, ad- 
 verted to their emancipation, not as likely to 
 take place, but as a thing, which could be dif- 
 culTed with fafety no where, unlefs in an Im- 
 perial Senate; and which would be always cer- 
 tain of a Jair difpajfionate hearing. The No Po- 
 pery men, we may recolleft, accomplifhed this 
 prediction of Mr. Pitt. The then minifter, 
 (now in Heaven) moreover hinted at the pro- 
 priety of penfioning our clergy. ^\.\i gentle as 
 he was (notwithftanding his principle, that 
 wheat and flour were ammunition.^ and that a na- 
 tion might lawfully be flarved, for the purpofe 
 of reducing an armed party within, that could 
 not be ft^rved) he did not urge the topic.
 
 63 
 
 Soon after the Union, he gave up, or loft his 
 place. During the interregnum of Mr. Adding- 
 ton, we had one infurrettion, and one Lord 
 Redefdale, and a plentiful inundation of Eng- 
 lifh methodifts, all fair youths, with nice hands, 
 bay geldings, and fearching eyes of contempla- 
 tion, whenever a woman, not paft the age of 
 grace, flood to liften. 
 
 It was as dangerous in thofe times for 
 an Irifhman to fay ^^Stuadier" as for a French 
 parrot in the French revolution to whittle "i?^- 
 mocrate." Two pamphlets were written againd 
 a Catholic gentleman, chiefly on the fcore of 
 his profanenefs in that refpe6l. Mr, Pitt re- 
 turns to power, wafhed and purified from all 
 his engagements to the Catholic people, or to 
 their bifliops and priefts. He came in on the 
 condition of abjuring thefe engagements, and 
 died a minifter as he had lived. 
 
 Now, I fubmit to any fair man. Catholic or 
 Proteftant, whether, in the fuppofition that the 
 ecclefiaftical fcheme of 1799, had been, not as 
 it was, the act of ten bifhops at the utmoft, but 
 of the twenty-five Irifh prelates; if it had 
 been eVen acquiefced in by the colleagues of 
 thofe who figned, whereas it was ftudioufly 
 concealed from them — if it had been notified
 
 64^ 
 
 to the firfl: Chriftian bifhop, during whofe cap* 
 tivity in France it was propofed, and to whofe 
 fuccefTor it was not communicated by either or 
 the parties ; if it had been concurred in by the 
 Deans, Chapters, Theologians, and Parifh 
 Priefts of our Church, as it was held fecret 
 from them all ; if it had the approbation of 
 the people, as it was certain of meeting their 
 deteftation ; I fay, if in the formation of this 
 fcheme all thofe requifites had intervened, of 
 vhich every one was wanting, of which the 
 want of any fingle requifite vitiated the inftru- 
 ment, and the want of all rendered it fuper- 
 fluoully void ; when Mr. Pitt, who propofed 
 this fcheme, did voluntarily and wantonly call 
 off that charafter, under which, and by virtue 
 of which alone he feduced that agreement — 
 when Mr. Pitt incapacitated himfelf from ob- 
 taining, by law, the poffibility of a communi- 
 cation with Rome, which was the ground- 
 work of the new modification ; I afk, whether 
 this document did not totally fail of its motive, 
 conditions, fenfe, and parties, fo as to have be* 
 come literally wafte paper ? 
 
 Now Dr. Milncr, in 1808, tells us, that this 
 
 document of 1799 is confidered by our friends 
 
 and enemies in parliament as obligatory upon the hi- 
 
 /Iwps, and he gives us to underfland that fuch
 
 65 
 
 is his own idea. Were Dr. Milner's interefl to 
 beafFefted by an obligation perfe6led under fuch 
 circumftances by one Vicar Apoflolical, and 
 made void as we have ftated, and re-produced, 
 after nine years, by a ftranger, who had found 
 the paper amongft other official rubbifli, he 
 would not, I prefume, betray fuch forgetful- 
 nefs of the elements of fair dealing. 
 
 Still let us allow, in contradiftion to all the 
 evidence lately adduced, that the paper of 1799 
 had been a ferious, honeft, and valid agreement 
 between all the parties interefled ; and let us 
 barely afk the queftion, whether the events 
 which came to light fmce the date of that trans- 
 a6lion, would be not more than fufficient to 
 juftify the Catholic parties to the agreement, 
 in appealing to the immutable fenfe of juftice 
 from the literal obligation of fuch agree- 
 ment. 
 
 In all the fucceffion of minifters, have we dif- 
 covered any thing like a wifh to grant to us 
 the fecure pofTeffion of our religion ? Have our 
 friends even rilked their popularity in the fif* 
 ter ifland, (I mean that very low fhare of ne- 
 gative approbation, to which alone an Irifhman 
 can expeft to rife in England.) by ftepping for- 
 ward in behalf of our confcientious prcju-
 
 66 
 
 dices ? I do not argue merely onthe denial o*f 
 free worfhip in England to our Irifh foldiers. — 
 Let this have been the mifdeed of the No Po- 
 pery men — but even here I will dwell on what 
 efcaped our friends, concerning the validity of 
 laws made in relief of Catholics. 
 
 By the Iiifli law of Catholic Relief, in 1793, 
 our countrymen, in his Majefly's fervice, had 
 gained a right to worfhip the God of their fa- 
 thers ; and in 1806, we are informed by our 
 great parliamentary friends, this right was under- 
 ftood to have been done away! that a new claufe 
 in the Mutiny Bill, or a new provifion by law 
 Avas neceffary to give effe£l to this liberty of 
 Irifh con{<:ience. You knew this fa6t, Bifhop 
 Milner ! and you laboured zealoufly and per- 
 feveringly to cure this mifchief, for which we 
 thank you, notwithftanding the ill fuccefs of 
 your exertions with our friends. 
 
 So then, the document of 1799, figned by ten 
 truflees, though without meaning, though with- 
 out parties, though without free concurrence, 
 though figned by ten prelates out of twenty- 
 five, on the behalf of a Pope, a Church, a Prielt- 
 hood, a Nation, never confulted, never confent- 
 ing, nor likely to confent — though cancelled 
 by the minifler, and cancelled by an official
 
 67 
 
 violation of its only poffible fenfeand import — 
 though abhorred and execrated by us all, this 
 document is to pofTefs an immortal binding 
 force noiwithftanding that Union, which, un- 
 known to us, by the mere efficacy of legal me- 
 taphyfics, explained by Englifh Special Plead- 
 ers, had abrogated the rights of confcience for 
 the Irifh foldier, as foon as he touched on Eng- 
 lifh ground. 
 
 The paper of our ten was as facred and im- 
 perifliable as Shylock's oath in heaven; the paper 
 of our ftatutes, the force of our rights, our le- 
 gal exercife of religion, was repealed by a fic- 
 tion of Englifh law,againft all right, all equity, 
 all precedents, even that of the Spanifh inquifi- 
 tion ! I am not furprifed to think that the men, 
 who have thus expounded the operation of our 
 Union, fliould expound the paper of 1799 as 
 obligatory upon the whole world, for iniquity 
 is very confiflent. 
 
 What I fear and lament as too probable is, 
 that our Englifh Bifhop has a little too much 
 of that patriotic feeling, which, wifhing to take 
 all, and to give nothing, confiders Ireland as 
 incapable of any negotiation unlefs to its own 
 difhonour and lofs, and to the profit of the 
 fifler. — In this latter cafe, Ireland is always
 
 68 
 
 competent to contra6l by any hand, at any 
 time, or any terras, and all fuch contra6ls are 
 irrevocable. 
 
 Let us travel forward — Our friends next 
 proceeded to furnifii us with a rejerve of Mar- 
 tial Law. This fyftem, faid Mr. Grattan, in 
 the Irifh Parliament, when he fpoke there for 
 the lafi time, is to give to Ireland a govern- 
 ment of military force and martial law. This 
 fyftem was revived afterwards, with the ap- 
 plaufe of Mr. Grattan himfelf. He muft have 
 thought it a ftep towards our emancipation. 
 The next ftep towards our emancipation was a 
 new penal law orivhokfome rejlriclion on Popifii 
 education, and to this Bill Mr. Grattan gave 
 his approbation. It has fubjefted all our Po- 
 pifti fchools to the vifitation of the Minifter of 
 each parifh. 
 
 A progreffive fyftem of this kind betrays a 
 great tendency to ufe any power of intermed- 
 dling in our church concerns, if not with par- 
 tiality in our favour, at leaft without a bias to 
 root out our old fuperjlition. Another friend 
 to our emancipation declared himfelf honeftly 
 to incline towards that redrefs of the Catholics, 
 •which Ihould emancipate them from their fpiritual 
 blindnefs.
 
 69 
 
 The Foundling Hofpital is recruited with 
 innocents from the filler country — the Charter- 
 fchools are organized and befomed, that the 
 feven worft fpirits of inveteracy to our mode 
 of belief, might find roomy and fuitable enter- 
 tainment. Our emancipation was flill talked 
 of; it would come, it would come infallibly; 
 thofe preparations were the forerunners of it, 
 though fome tefly and bigoted or melancholy 
 individuals of our communion, confidered this 
 gentle working like the Lilliputian taftics for 
 faftening Gulliver when afleep, with twenty 
 thoufand little packthreads, to the ground. 
 Thofe unhappily fufpicious men thought they 
 could obferve a great patience, on the part of 
 our friends, with regard to our claims, and a 
 confiderable alacrity in the undertaking (jf 
 converting us^ in the mean time, 
 
 Glebe-houfes fet out, churches rebuilt from 
 the ruin of more than a hundred years, Char- 
 ter-fchools put in aBivity, coal-fhip loads of 
 Proteftant children, great fufpicion of the 
 Pope's collufion with Bonaparte, and great 
 apprehenfions of the influence of our bifliops, 
 in organizing a party for the Corfican. But we had 
 nothing at all to fear from ihefe preparations 
 againft us.
 
 70 
 
 -Laft of all came the grand epoch of the Dif- 
 folution of Parliament, and his Majefty's ap- 
 peal to the English Protestants againft an 
 Emancipation. The queftion was now fettled 
 for one reign, which every fubjeft heartily 
 prays may continue long. 
 
 The queftion determined finally, was not that 
 the emancipation can not take place during his 
 Majefty's glorious reign ; for however impro- 
 bable this may be, it is ftill to be allowed that 
 notorious circumftances are tending faft to 
 render fomething of the kind an imperative 
 meafare. 
 
 The queftion determined finally is this : — 
 That the confcience of his Majefty; that the 
 confcience of the Englifti Church Eftabliftied, 
 of the Teaching Bodies, of the Commons, of 
 the Rabble, is decidedly adverfe to the encou- 
 ragement or permanency of the Catholic fyf- 
 tem. Is it to this difcrction, to this confcience, 
 that our religion can be fafely or rationally 
 entrufted? Is the neceftary quantum of loyalty 
 in a Catholic bifhop to be fcanned by that 
 judgment, for which a love or zeal towards 
 the Catholic religion is a high matter of of- 
 fence; for which an indifference to the honour 
 of his faith, to the purity of Catholic princi-
 
 71 
 
 pie, muft be a material recommendation? for 
 which, to be rather negligent of our peculiar 
 forms, rather unreftrained in praftice, rather 
 diftafteful to the bigotted Papift — to be a muz- 
 zled watch-dog, a fawning companion, a hun- 
 ter of levees, a ftranger to the bafe wants of 
 the bafe multitude, muft be fomething like 
 merit, and much more than virtue ? 
 
 Is it to fuch judgment we could appeal, 
 againft a candidate known to the fox-hunting 
 influence, on the ground of objeBions which, 
 in our fyftem are fatal, and in that fyftem muft 
 be none of inhuman pride, of opprobrious 
 avarice, of fpotted chaftity, of fenfual ftupor? 
 Muft Catholics truft to paftors who have gone 
 through a private ordeal of this fort? They 
 furely would never truft them, and thus ths 
 deftru8:ion of Epifcopacy would follow of ne- 
 ceflity. 
 
 With all this before his eyes, Bifiiop Milner, 
 at the laft hearing of the Catholic Petition, en- 
 gages that the King fhould hold a Veto upon 
 the eledion of our bifhops. Was not this 
 indifcreet? — Add, that it was done without 
 authority — Add, that it was done after Bifhop 
 Milner had confulted the Head of the Church, 
 whether the concejfion could be made, and the Head
 
 72 
 
 ^ 
 
 of the Church had declared in the words of 
 Benedi6t XIV. that " were he to attempt to 
 give effe8: to fuch a power, he would deferve 
 the execracion of the Catholic World." 
 
 But it feems the words of Bifliop Milner 
 have been mifreprefented, and he complains 
 of this injury. — Before we argue upon his 
 words, we mull lay hold of his deeds. He did 
 srant a Veto, it matters not now to what extent. 
 He ftill infifts upon the propriety of his inter- 
 ference; he perfifts in his opinion; he im- 
 peaches as feditious thofe who oppofe it — that 
 is, ALL THE Catholic Bishops, and all the 
 Catholic People of Ireland— that is, he 
 does, as far as in him lies, encourage perfecu- 
 tion againfl; the Chriftian Church, in defence 
 of his own opinion. He fmites the Pope, 
 though the Pope's Vicar Apo/lolical ; he arraigns 
 the Bifhops his Creators, and the Irifh Nation, 
 zvhofe Agent he ftiles himfelf. This is fomething 
 more grievous than a difpute of words. 
 
 However, we will examine his words, as 
 reported by the Right Hon. G. Ponfonby to 
 the Houfe of Commons — " That his Majefty 
 would hold the power of rejeftion, which 
 would amount to a Virtual Nomination, 
 and thus the King would become in JaU the Head 
 of our Church.'*
 
 73 
 
 The good Bifhop abominates the inference 
 of giving 2i fupremacy to the King over our Church ; 
 — He difclaims thefe laft words, and I believe 
 with truth ; he declares he would fhed his 
 blood fooner than agree to or propofe fuch a 
 thing; and from my foul I believe him. But 
 Mr. Ponfonby maintains, that the Bifhop did 
 reprefent the proffered right of rejeBion, as 
 equivalent to a pojitive or virtual power of no- 
 mination, and it is not poffible to think that 
 Mr. Ponfonby deceived himfelf, as it is en- 
 tirely incredible that he would deceive. 
 
 That Mr. Ponfonby might have mifunder- 
 ftood the Ecclejiajlical diftinftion, is granted; 
 becaufe he is a ftranger to our fyftems. It 
 cannot be imagined that he could have aifo 
 miftaken the nature of a power of controut^ as 
 his profeffional habits muft have peculiarly 
 fitted him for colle6ling precife ideas on every 
 fubjeft of the kind. If this be fo, it matters 
 little, except as to the orthodoxy of Dr. Mil- 
 ner, whether he deliberately or imprudently — 
 whether in theory or in practice, he appointed 
 his Majefty to be the Head of our Church; for, 
 that the propofal did carry the confequence, 
 is a matter of intuition. 
 
 Admitting, therefore, the orthodoxy of Dr.
 
 T4 
 
 Milner, and infilling that this fingle point is 
 the only faft mifreprefented, a plain reflec- 
 tion occurs here. If Mr. Ponfonby, a friend^ 
 and one of the beft of our friends, faw the 
 King's fupremacy fo plainly included in the 
 new propofal, as to have confounded the vir- 
 tual meaning with the original offer, is it to 
 be doubted that, in the event of fuch a con- 
 troul being given, it would be exercifed with 
 a view to eftablifh that fupremacy ? 
 
 Another, and an equally ferious matter of 
 refle6lion arifes on the fubjeft. When Mr. 
 Ponfonby affured the Houfe of Commons that 
 we would accede to this virtual Supremacy, 
 was there any loud acclamation in favour of 
 our claims ? Did the offer gain us a fingle vote 
 from the country gentlem.en, from the patrio- 
 tic Burdett, from the No-popery fticklers ?--« 
 Not one. Thus would it be, if we had apof- 
 tatized to a man. This little fa6l fhews the 
 fincerity of objeBions taken from our faith 
 againft our claims. Yet the hypocritical No- 
 popery fcoundrels will tell the world, that but 
 for this, every thing might be done. 
 
 Our bifliops were called upon by the pub- 
 lic voice to declare themfelves. They were 
 charged with the odium and fcandal of what
 
 had paffed in the Imperial Parliament. They 
 met, confulted,^ and without either courting 
 bafe popularity, or fcorning the juft uneafi- 
 nefs of the people, without condemning Dr. 
 Milner, or flattering his plans, they wifely and 
 bravely at once profeffed their loyalty and 
 confefTed their faith, by refolving " that the 
 ancient, irreproachable and canonical method 
 of appointing their colleagues will not be 
 changed; and by undertaking to recommend 
 only fuch candidates as fhall be men of ap- 
 proved loyalty and peaceable demeanour." 
 
 Before the paffing of thefe twoRefolutions,we 
 were advifed by Dr. Milner, in his Letter to an 
 Jrijh Catholic Parijh Priejl^ to leave the fettling 
 of the difpute to our worthy prelates, to whom 
 folely the difcuflion and judgment, as of right 
 belonged, and we were informed that nothing 
 was to be feared fo much, as divijion amongft 
 the biftiops themfelves. The bifhops did ex- 
 amine the queftion, and unanimoufly decided 
 againfl Dr. Milner's plan. This unanimity has 
 proved difaftrous to our bifhops, in Dr. Mil- 
 ner's opinion; for he has recently addrefled 
 an Englifh newfpaper, for the purpofe of in- 
 forming the Englifli public — i. That he had 
 been induced to exped a very different refult 
 from the Irifh meeting, — 2. That the mofl re-
 
 76 
 
 JpeHahle of the prelates were privately in uni- 
 fon with him. Of thefe two aflertions, the 
 firft accounts for his anxious wifh that the 
 bifhops fhould be unanimous ; and the fecond 
 (hews pretty plainly that he does not fcruple 
 to make divijion amongft our bifhops, when- 
 ever they unluckily do not obey his direftions, 
 notwithftanding their fole competence to judge on 
 the point in queftion. He is a clever man, 
 but he ufes too largely the motives of religion, 
 for carrying on his own projefts. 
 
 This, however, is not to be endured in his 
 late Letter — that after his declarations in The 
 Evening Herald, of fcrupulous regard for the 
 confidence repofed in him, he lliould now 
 pretend to divulge confidential reafons of our 
 bifhops given in his hearing, and that thofe 
 reafons fo divulged fhould be either inade- 
 quate, or impertinent, or falfe, or malicious. 
 
 All his pretended reafons are inadequate, 
 and one is remarkably ill-complexioned. The 
 bifhops in his hearing, are /aid to have faid, 
 " we promoted the Union to the utmoft of our 
 power." I believe that feveral of them fpoke 
 well of it, as tending to flop infinite maffacre, 
 and as reprefented to them, by men whofe 
 honour they knew not how to fufpe6l, as the
 
 11 
 
 only hope for Catholics— but as to a6live in- 
 terference, one only of our bifhops interfered, 
 and that perfon was not within Dr, Milners 
 /leaving, during his late vifitation of this Ifland. 
 
 For my part, I did not watch the bifhops 
 with a view to charging my portfolio. But I 
 heard reafons very different from the profane 
 motives, which the Do6lor has laid before his 
 countrymen, and with Dr. Milner's permiffion 
 I will (late them as they occur to me : 
 
 I. The power of nominating Bifliops is de- 
 rived from the King's title, as Head of the 
 Church. — (I. Blackftone). Againft which it 
 occurred — ' If any man profanes the Temple 
 of God,' it is written that ' him will God ex- 
 terminate' — and again it is written, « and He 
 is the Head of the Church' — and again, ' My 
 kingdom is not from this world' — and again, 
 ' He who is not with Me, is againft Me' — and 
 again it is written, ' You have been enfran- 
 chifed at a great price; do not now become 
 the flaves of men' — and again, ' Not you have 
 made choice of Me, but I have chofen you' — 
 and again, ' As my Father fent Me, fo do I 
 fend you' — and again, ' The Kingdom of God 
 is amongft yourfelves' — and again, ' Do not 
 tremble, my fcanty flock ; becaufe it hath been 
 pleafing to my Father to beftow on you a
 
 78 
 
 kingdom' — and again, « And thou haft made 
 us before our God a Kingly Power and a 
 Priefthood' — and again, ' Every Kingdom part- 
 ed againft ilfelf fiiall be brought to defola- 
 tion' — and again, ' Beware of mankind, for 
 they will betray you!' — and again, ' Ourftrug- 
 gle is not with flefh and blood, but with the 
 rulers of everlafting darknefs, and with the 
 fpiritnal things of malice in the higheft places' 
 — and again, ' The animal man knows not the 
 things of God' — and again, ' But I will not be 
 judged by you, nor by any human fummons; 
 the Lord is he who judgeth me' — and again, 
 ' What fellowfliip between light and dark- 
 nefs ?' — and again, ' It hath feemed meet to 
 the Holy Gholl and to Us' — and again, ' The 
 Spirit breathes where it lifteth, fo is every 
 man who is generated and of the Spirit' — and 
 again, ' Hear you what the Spirit fays to the 
 Churches' — and again, ' While they fafted and 
 performed holy funftion, the Holy Spirit faid 
 to them, fet apart for me Paul and Barnabas.' 
 
 2. As to the loyalty of Dr. Milner, when he 
 profeffes, in order to enfure approbation to 
 his plan, that he merely gives to Caefar the 
 things of Caifar, we have brought this man, re- 
 fujing that tribute Jliould be given to Ccejar and 
 every man who makes himfclf King oppojes the title 
 of Ccejar, we have no King imlcfs Ccefar,
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 AA 000 564 034 
 
 79 
 
 3. As to the modified grant of a Veto, it 
 was confidered, that this grant muft be bound- 
 ed, or muft be ruinjous : that it cannot be 
 bounded, for all law is againft th^ limitaiion; 
 there are no parties who can contract with the 
 Irifh Catholic Church, and without a fecurity 
 which may appear durable, no conceffion can 
 be made, as no refumption of the grant coulci be 
 attempted, without certain oppolition and pro- 
 bable deftruQion. 
 
 4. That this grant would cut off the Irifh 
 Church from its communion with the reft of 
 the Catholic world, wherein no conceflion of 
 this nature had ever been heard of. 
 
 5. That it would fcandalize all true C^itho- 
 lics, knowing as they did, the intention of 
 thofe who demanded it. , 
 
 6. That this fcandal and confequent aban. 
 donment would extinguifli the Catholic Reli- 
 gion. 
 
 7. That the controul was unfavourable to 
 morals, whereas our moral code is not known 
 to the Laws or Conftitution. 
 
 8. That this controul would neceflarily over- 
 throw the efficacy of the facramental doftrine 
 of Penance.
 
 80 
 
 g. That the controul would necefTarily de- 
 ftroy.the facramental integrity of marriage. 
 
 .10. That it was without a precedent in the 
 Chriftian Church, and without even a pretext 
 in the country; that confequently it was de- 
 manded for reaions remaining in the know- 
 ledge of the other party, and therefore, for 
 reafonsj hoftile to us and to our Religion. 
 
 ' Thefe reafons may be bad in the eftimation of 
 Dr. Milner; but they are, however, very dif- 
 ferent from thofe he has been pleafed to in- 
 vent. 
 
 The ffiortnefs of time will not fuffer me to 
 proceed; but you have heard enough to ap- 
 prize you of theftate of the queftion. If you 
 meet, may God profper you, and may he ftrike 
 your apoftates either with fhame or with fi- 
 lence. You fliall hear from me again. 
 
 Detector.* 
 
 * The two Lfci-tt;is, l)y Detector, appeared not long since 
 Si-a Dublin Evening Paper, on the occasion of a meeting of 
 ti)e Catholic .Clergy and Laity of I-outh, being convened by 
 an anonvnious advertisement; and from their immediate re- 
 lation to the subject oi" the precedrog Letter, the Authov 
 iias been induced to present them to the Public %vith it. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 Keyr.ell, Sons, and Wales, Printers, 21, Piccadilly