^^a^^^mcr ci^t: c^d:^ m^ i-'— i •a •'OCT ^ii.,' '^■^«<5cr^ < C - ...^pp^s^i ^ ^^\a- y ^^Sif^ ^r-- cE> '■C-'^, „^';_.:<"5<'" >IS2- -•^' ^^'tl SSf^<: A3ir^^::i.r«c: *yC.«E - .^^^^^^^^^1^~ -^feffi <-^y ,^ i? mm ^ ^^ *-:'^ ^m :M^ \'^ mm !^^cl. |)s?l.l':^T^mjik kdl -A ni w ■ A A ■-■ ^' ^K-''ci. ■■•14. •''■ Is^^^; 'S^syaEJliPra f\A^^r ^My AniAC»«A«.a "^« f.^ mt*^' ^^^^jS^v'" '■^Lfm''-^'''^^ ..... .A^." . ' AT'-i^'^m 'aaNiiBD' i-^siSP. ^^NM ^' r^^BHK^ Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2008 witii funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation littp://www.arcliive.org/details/fornottakOOreasonsslirericli REASONS FOR NOT TAKING THE TEST NOT CONFORMING TO THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH NOT DESERTING THE ANCIENT FAITH WITH PRELIMINARY AND CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS TOGETHER ^VITH SOME REMARKS ON THE BISHOP OF PETERBOROUGH'S LATE CHARGE, BY JOHN, EARL OF SHREWSBURY SECOND EDITION. LONDON : PRINTED FOR JOSEPH BOOKER, NEW BOND STREET 1828. 6^2^0120 LOAN STACK London :— Printed byC. Richards, St !Maitin's-lane,Charing-cross. TO HIS GRACE M M ^ THE DUKE OF NORFOLK, EARL MARSHALL, S^c. Sfc. 8fc. Conceiving myself called upon to vindicate the religion of my Catholic fellow- countrymen from the virulent calumnies so unwarrantably fixed upon it by the laws of the land, as well as to defend their conduct in their capacity of members of the state, I cannot bring the hasty result of my labours before the Public, in a manner more worthy of the sub- ject, or more agreeable to my own feelings, than by dedicating them to your Grace. The Catholics of this Empire may be justly proud in the reflection that, while they are fellow-sufferers in the same cause with the 801 IV first nobleman in the kingdom, they suffer with one who is more entitled to his rank and ho- nours, by the public and private virtues which adorn him, than by the adventitious circum- stance of hereditary descent, — whose patriotism is only outshone by the noble sacrifice which he offers to the dictates of his conscience, — and whose chief regret in being deprived of the privileges from which he is so unjustly de- barred, arises from the inabihty to employ them for the advantage of his country. 1 have the honour to remain, MY LORD DUKE, With the most sincere respect and esteem. Your Grace's most obedient humble Servant, SHREWSBURY. SiDMOUTH, March 18, 1828. ERRATA. P A.G £. LINE J XXV 6 ixxxii 20 Ixxxiv 10 Ixxxvii 6 cvii lasi cxx 12 147 16 191 17 242 6 248 19 249 7 254 2 270 271 272 7 274 4 278 16 279 3 28'4 10 289 21 290 12 293 17 297 2 298 3 507 5 and 7, for tvas read were. for promiscuoHf< read indiscriminate. for similar read criminal. omit the comma after ev dence. last line, omit as aftr happy. for 28 read 16 ; and line 14, for 73 read 61. for formerly read formally. omit the inverted commas after same. lines from bottom, omit the comma after were. omit which. omit parts; and line 11, put semicolon after Christicns. for writing read wrifinys. lines from bottom, after authority insert ^ to mark the following note at the bottom of tlie page, " See Linyard's Hist, of Enyland," p. 163, Vol. vi. A.to. after infaUibility insert * to indicate the following note at the foot of the page, " See Linyard's History,'' p. 69\, Vol. vii. 4:to. after therefore insert instead of being collected into one fold. for to the God of Truth for another false ivor ship, read for another false tvorship to the God of Truth. omit by its fruits you shall know it. insert after narrowly, — by its fruits you shall know it ; the evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit : do men gather grapes from thorns, or Jigs from thistles! and omit this quotation in the latter part of the same page, for none but such as have, read none ivho hare. for Lord Strafford read Lord Stafford; and line 23, after me insert says Boswell. for at least read of what is concomitant to holiness. for memorial read accomplishment. put semicolon after Apostles. put semicolon after college. for 1000 read 1500. PAGE, 310 LINE. 10 323 14 326 4 327 6 328 10 345 4 346 4 347 24 350 2 351 24 352 9 354 3 358 4 367 2 for it's read her. insert and before to expel. insert her before errors. after interpretation insert of the sacred ivritings. for essence of religion read essence of revealed re- ligion. read, baptism which is now given by infusion, 7vas formerly administered by immersion ; nay, ^c. after all insert that. read, of arriving at a solution of my difficulties, and above all, of acquiring that steadfast faith in the various articles of my religioti, ivithout which. (Sfc. ; and line 26, for acquire, ^c. read obtain amidst such palpable contradictions as are presented by your system. Such are the means, ^c. from bottom, for paradise read the paradise. for division read dissension. for destructions read distractions. lines from bottom, erase No. for writing read writings. between have and defrauded, insert thereby ; and at line 8, insert that ^her finding. 371 4 instead oi judged it should read judged it not ex- pedient that it shotdd. 377 1 for is read be ; and last line, for annotation read quotation. 379 1 for an read some ; and line 2, for this cannot be more clearly done, read, nor can this be more satisfactorily done ; and line 10, aitei' faith read amongst them. 39 1 At the foot of the page insert the following notice : See Origin of Divorces by the Parliament of England, in Lingard, Vol. vii. p. 507. 4to. erase all after alone. for it read is. for it read them. for insult read consult. and 17, put the semicolon after stigma instead ai aher perform, and insert tvhile before the tale. last line, for cane read cone. for the blood read their blood. for beginning read beginnings. for address read redress. for there read these. 397 22 411 24 425 11 432 27 487 16 528 532 5 537 8 543 28 690 6 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. The man who feels no precise and determined steadfastness in his religious belief, is but little suited to comprehend that unhesitating faith which is the pride, as it is the consolation, of a Catholic ; and unconvinced himself, he would only labour in vain in endeavouring to convince others. Receiv- ing his first impressions in a country in which the doctrines of Christianity are become as changeable as the climate, and as various as the productions of the soil, an Englishman is too apt to consider a certainty of faith in any particular system of re- ligion, either as unimportant or unattainable. Amidst the extraordinary diversity by which he is surrounded, he deems it unnecessary to choose, and perhaps dangerous to enquire. He considers many as the dupes of imposture, and others as the victims of fanaticism. His perception of right and wrong, of truth and falsehood, is impaired and blunted by the disorder which reigns around him ; he mistrusts his powers in a voyage of discovery a VI PREFACE TO in which such numbers are wrecked before his eyes ; or, he considers the possession of the prize an inadequate reward for the task of obtaining it. To those who are sunk in apathy and indiffer- ence, I would say, that they are afflicted with the most fatal malady to which the soul of man is exposed ; they have condemned to ignominious contempt the very end for which they were cre- ated. To those who acknowledge the law, but hold it impossible to be fulfilled, I will answer, that they are guilty of impugning the justice of God, and of placing heaven and earth in irrecon- cileable opposition to each other. Both are the effects of the insufficiency of that principle, which, incapable of producing conviction, leads either to indifference or despair; and while the inefficacy of the principle is proved to demonstration by the confusion prevalent amongst those who affect to follow it, the Catholic is preserved in one undevi- ating and tranquil course, by placing himself under the protection of a guide which both lights and cheers him on his way. Thus unhesitatingly fixed in our belief, it is not surprising that we should think lightly, very lightly indeed, of any attempt made to overturn it. There are but two THE SECOND EDITION. Vll methods of attack which can be employed agamst it : the one, an empty, unmeaning declamation, which, taking the place of argument, refutes itself, or rather, evaporates in air ; the other, a gross per- version of facts and reasoning, put together with a degree of disingenuous artifice which no honest man would deign to employ. The former method has been brought into action against the work which I judged it expedient to publish last spring. Having exhausted itself by its own efforts, it nei- ther merits, nor needs, reply. The second has been announced as in preparation; but the pe- riod since the announcement is so long, that it seems very questionable whether it will ever make its appearance. If it should, it requires but little foresight to predict, that it will end, like every other artifice employed to sully our religion, by paying a fresh homage to its truth, in the vanity and im- potence of its attack. If our Religion shrink from the most caustic touch of criticism, it can possess but Httle intrinsic value. — If there be no system of Christianity which can withstand the tests before which all the far-famed philosophy of the ancients has crumbled into atoms, we may boast in vain of its superiority. Vlil PREFACE TO It may delight the mind by the beauty of its mo- rality, and the sublimity of its mysteries, but if it command not our unhesitating assent — if its au- thority be not absolute and paramount — if the law be to be ruled by men, and not men by the law, — we shall soon perceive that while we affect to be obedient to Religion, we are only guided by de- corum ; — that while the lamp of Faith burns dim and languid, the laws of honour are more powerful than the laws of God ; — that we are only Christians by profession, and moralists through a principle of public decency. But if a true religion exist on earth, and a stedfast faith be attainable in Christ- ianity, it cannot be like the philosopher's stone, ever eluding the keenest search. Enquiry will make it our own. The avenues are open; we have only to enter and advance. The sun of knowledge will dissipate the mists from the moun- tain top, and disclose to our enraptured view, the great city of God upon its summit, in pure and cloudless effulgence. We court enquiry.— We are only fearful it will be denied us. For, whatever period be selected for investigation,— whatever point of doctrine be singled out for discussion, — so sure are we to find THE SECOND EDITION. IX evidence of its truth, and so certain to discover the object of our solicitude — the true faith of Christ. In vain do we challenge our opponents to conjure up before us the individuals by whose magic powers the novelties, which are imputed to our religion, were first engrafted upon the pri- mitive faith of Christendom, without any one perceiving the strange exotic foliage which thence- forth appeared upon the ancient indigenous stock. No branch, however small or insignificant, has been lopped off; no tender shoot, blighted by the noxious exhalations of error, has drooped and withered on the parent stem ; whose fall has not been registered in the annals of history. Could then so many and such gigantic plants, sucking like vam.pyres the strength and vigour of the tree of which they had taken such tyrannic hold, para- sites of the most deadly quality, not only attach themselves, but flourish upon the very life-blood of the dishonoured monarch of the woods, and no man tell the tale of their unnatural usurpation ? Was all nature so deeply sunk in apathy and ig- norance, as to be unconscious of the mighty change? Were the human passions become so docile, as to submit without a murmur to these X PREFACE TO new and galling restraints ? Was reason so sub- jugated, as to embrace strange and unheard of mysteries, without even an expression of astonish- ment ? Was every watchman of the Lord slumber- ing at his post, when the angel of darkness came to steal away the body of Faith, and bury it im- pervious to the search of man ? Was there not even one ' sleeping witness' to attest the fact? No, not one ! The mysterious deed was accom- plished by such master-magicians, that no man knew, not even the most wakeful sentinel, who they were, or whence they came, whether In airs from heaven, or blasts from hell. Yet these are paradoxes with which the credulity of mankind is mocked, and their reason insulted, by men who have exalted that reason into a very o-oddess. — They would annihilate, at one fell sweep, every attesting monument, — would obliterate every trace of historic record from the world, — would fill the dreary wilderness they had made, with the creations of their own fancy, and people the re- gions from which they had banished so many sages, saints, and scholars, with mere shadowy phantoms or revolting chimeras. They would apply their flimsy machinery to raze the stately structure of THE SECOND EDITION. XI our religion to the ground, forgetting that, to crown their vain endeavours with success, they must undermine the foundations of Christianity itself. — But the power which preserved our reli- gion in her infancy, when she had, perhaps, even stronger prejudices and passions to contend with than she has at present, and which has brought her triumphantly through the troubles and misfortunes of her manhood, will continue to guide her in her old age, till, having accomplished her destinies upon earth, she returns, pure and spotless, to whence she came — to the bosom of the Divinity. I have ventured, very considerably, to enlarge the present edition, both by the introduction of fresh materials, and by entering more minutely into some of the arguments already advanced. I am still fully aware of the very feeble manner in which I have conducted the cause I have under- taken to advocate ; and, were it not for the very powerful minds of whose assistance I have availed myself, I could hope to make but little impression. But, of the merits of the question itself, I have no mistrust. I must only hope that the poverty of the workmanship does not conceal the richness of the materials ; and that the might of the weapon XU PREFACE. may be measured, rather by the justice of the cause, than by the strength of the arm that wields it. I have frequently referred to a work which has but very lately appeared, and of which it is impos- sible to speak in terms of sufficient praise. I feel conscious that I have offered it violence, and per- haps done it injustice, in the few quotations I have given. A solitary, scanty, and unconnected pas- sage can convey no adequate idea of the merit of an argument, which has been sketched, coloured, and finished, in its minutest details, by the most masterly hand. I hope that the temptation to draw from so rich a mine, but above all an anxious desire to introduce this elegant writer to the acquaintance of my readers, will afford a sufficient excuse for mutilating so perfect a performance. Stuttgardy October \st. 1»28. V Since the date of the above, additional materials of interest, relative to Irish affairs, having been supplied, they will be found in No. XVII. of the Appendix. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS, &c. So many, with much abler pens than mine, have of late years entered the lists of controversy, that I should consider myself only a useless volunteer in the cause, were it not for the peculiar circum- stances in which I find myself placed. Out of more than a hundred English peers of my own rank, I am the only one who refuse the Test which the Legis- lature has thought proper to establish, as the quali- fication for the exercise of constitutional rights. It is an enviable privilege, though one to which a high responsibility is attached, to enjoy a voice in the affairs of the Commonwealth ; to be a guardian over the people's rights, and an instrument for the public good : I therefore consider it a sacred duty to show, why I refuse the exercise of functions so exalted in their character, and so important in their consequences. That such a Test should eve7' have existed, is matter of astonishment ; ^"^ but that it should exist ^"^ This Test is the true-born offspring of that atrocious conspiracy which sacrificed the lives of so many innocent b 11 now, as a measure of high state policy, is beyond all reason and understanding. How the faithful and honourable discharge of the duties of Parlia- ment can be affected more by a belief in Transub- stantiation, than by a belief in Consubstantiation, or by a disbelief in the real presence altogether ; individuals, and which Mr. Fox thus characterizes : "The proceedings on the Popish Plot must always he considered as an indelible disgrace upon the English nation, in which king, parliament, judges, juries, wit- nesses, have all their respective, though certainly not equal, shares. Witnesses of such a character as not to deserve credit in the most trifling cause, upon the most immaterial facts, gave evidence so incredible, or to speak more properly, so impossible to he true, that it ought not to have been believed if it had come from the mouth of Cato ; and upon such evidence from such witnesses, were innocent men condemned to death and executed." We have only to look around us to be satisfied that the same delusion still exists in the minds of many ; — that even those master-spirits who are the enemies of emancipation, are haunted with the same imaginary horrors of Popery ; and that both our doctrine as Christians, and our reputa- tion as subjects, are, to this very day, condemned upon evidence equally incredible and impossible. When this Test was passing the House of Lords, ^' Gunning, bishop of Ely, maintained that the Church of Rome was not idolatrous. The lords did not much mind Gunning's arguments, but passed the hill. And though Gunning had said he could not take that test with a good conscience, yet as soon as the bill was passed, he took it in the crowd with the rest." — Burnet. Ill how a man is less fitted to serve his country, because he acknowledges a spiritual authority in the Bishop of Rome, as the visible head of the Christian Church, than if he believed that authority to belong to the King of England, are paradoxes which no reflecting mind can for an instant entertain. That tlieij who preach, (in conformity with the Doctrine of Christ,) that the kingdom of God is not of this world, and that men are bound to honour and obey their king, and to be subject to the civil power, under pain of damnation ; that they should hold a divided alle- giance, between the spiritual head of their Church, and the lawful authorities of their country, it is pre- posterous and absurd to imagine/*^ No : it cannot (*) Vindicating his church and country from similar accusations, that admirable patriot and exemplary pastor, Dr. Doyle, in his most powerful and most eloquent reply to Dr. Magee, says : — " The Catholic Church is also loyal — but she is loyal through a sense of duty, and because such is the line of conduct prescribed to her by Almighty God. She is devoted to the prince established by divine Providence, not through fear or necessity, but freely and cheerfully ; in every country, and under whatsoever circumstances, she offers up, as is prescribed by St. Paul, prayers and petitions for the king, and for all that are in high station, that all men may lead a quiet and holy life. To impugn the sincerity of her children in this country in praying for the monarch, and bearing towards him the most sincere devotedness of b 2 IV be, that we merit our exclusion, because we con- tinue our submission, in doctrinal points, to the mind and will, is one of the most unworthy deeds of which any j)erson, lay or ecclesiastic, could be guilty. *' The insinuations in the Charge respecting a division of allegiance, and the insecurity of that which we owe and pay to the sovereign of these realms, are slanderous and MALIGNANT. They are founded on no facts, supported by no proof; they are contradicted by every page of our history, by the preambles of divers acts of Parliament, by the statements of our friends, the confessions of our enemies, by the senate and the ministers of the king. I omit our ovv^i oaths of allegiance, which are incompatible with a division of allegiance, because I cannot submit to vindi- cate myself or my fellow-countrymen from the imputation of perjury. It is the grossest insult which men were ever condemned to endure." But, says the Bishop of St. David's, " they [Roman Catholics] are incapable of the allegiance, which is due from subjects to their sovereign. My Lords, they are incapable of that allegiance, because they are bound by a contrary allegiance to a foreign sovereign." — (Speech of Dr. Thomas Burgess, Bkhop of St. David's, delivered on the 9th July, 1823, and published by the Right Reverend prelate himself ! ! ) My only reply to Dr. Burgess is, that his assertion is false, calumnious, and insulting. But to what a condition are we reduced ! we not only stvear a true and perfect al- legiance, but we swear it in much stronger terms than any Protestant in the kingdom, than the Bishop of St. David's himself. That oath is framed by the legislature, is ac- authority of the ancient Church of Christendom, instead of transferring it to one of more modern cepted by the sovereign, and quahfies us for the service of the state. Yet, a peer of parHament is suffered with im- punity, and in the face of the whole world, to impeach other peers of parliament, of bearing no true allegiance to their sovereign, though the sovereign himself has ratified that allegiance hy Ms acceptance of it, — to accuse them of having called the Almighty to witness, that they would do that which they were incapable of doing, — in truth, to arraign them both of perjury and of treason, — of the highest crimes before God and man. Was ever outrage like this ? But this, and much more than this, are we compelled to endure. This same Bishop of St. David's (since translated to the bishopric of Salisbury, doubtless for the merit of having composed the Catechism from which the follow- ing dogma is taken) emphatically avows, that, in his in- fallible judgment, no man can be a Protestant, whatever he may profess to be, who does not knoav it to be true that the ivorship of the Church of Rome is idolatrous. That the Bishop of St. David's should know that to be true of us, which we know to be false of ourselves — that he should swear that to be true of us, which we ivould swear to he false of ourselves, is not so much to be won- dered at, because. ...but even against the Bishop of St. David's I will not condescend to employ the weapon of retaliation which he has thrust into my hand. But if his Protestantism depend upon his knowledge of the truth of that WHICH IS POSITIVELY, AND ABSOLUTELY, AND NOTORIOUSLY FALSE ; and if the sincerity of his alle- giance can only be ascertained by his ahjtiration of the spi- ritual authority of the head of the Christian Church; I envy vi date (for she also demands our submission) ; nor, because in a country in which a hundred different him neither his principles as a Protestant, nor his profes- sion of fidelity as a subject. But let us hear his own words : Q. " What is Protestantism ? " A. " The abjuration of Popery, and the exclusiofi of Papists from all power, ecclesiastical or civil." Q. " Is it any hardship on Protestants to make the de- claration against Transubstantiation and the invocation of Saints ? " A. " No : Because if they are really Protestants, they are so, on this very principle, that the worship of the Church of Rome is unscriptural, superstitious, and idola- trous." Q. " Is it any objection to the declaration, that many Protestants, who are called upon to make it, do not know enough of the subject to be satisfied of the truth of the declaration I " A. "No : Because no one can be a Protestant on prin- ciple, who is not satisfied of the truth of the declaration ; and if he is a Protestant on principle, there can be no hardship in making a declaration, which he knows to be true, and, as an avowed Protestant, \\e professes to believe." Q. " Is it any objection to the declaration, that many Protestants, who are called upon to make it, do not con- sider the worship of the Church of Rome to be idolatrous,^ and may therefore think the declaration an unfounded calumny ? " A. "If they think the declaration an unfounded ca- lumny, and hold the worship of the Church of Rome not to be idolatrous, they are not Protestants, whatever they may profess to be ; and the objection does not apply to them." Vll sects have found an unmolested footing, we choose to believe one code of religious tenets in preference Q. " Can we, then, consider the declaration as unne- cessary, in respect of the Papists, or hard on Protestants ?" A. " It is neither unnecessary as to the Papists, because the experience of the past shews that former laws were insufficient without it ; nor can it be any hardship on the Protestants, because if they are Protestants, on principle, they know it to be true, and, as avowed Protestants,j>9ro/«?55 to believe it ; and which, if they do not believe, they belie their Protestant profession." Q. " How may we co-operate with the laws for prevent- ing the growth of Popery ?" A. " By exposing the false pretensions, the errors, the evils, and the interests of Popery ; and by doing what the laws require us to do for its prevention." Q. " What do the laws require us to do for this pur- pose .?" A. " Certain solemn days are set apart for commemo- rating the plots and conspiracies of Popery against our Church, and our deliverance from them, &c." — (The Pro- testanfs Catechism, by Thomas Burgess, Bishop of St. David's. Fourth Edit. pp. 216, 242, 250.) Now, if to our Catholic Catechisms, we were to attach the following Appendix, to edify our catechumens with a specimen of the Christian charity of a Protestant divine, we should only be delineating with accuracy the conduct and principles of many of our revilers, and exhibiting a true portrait of the Bishop of St. David's " Protestant's Catechism," painted with his own colours. Q. What is Protestantism? A. The abjuration of Popery, and the exclusion of Papists from all power, ecclesiastical or civil. Vlll to another ; nor because, in spite of calumny and proscription, we continue to profess a Christianity Q. How are we to abjure Popery ? A. By falsifying history* — by boldly maintaining the assertion of that which is false, under pretence that it is the proof of that which is true ; by framing such fictitious doctrines for the Papists as they abhor and detest, — for their Church is so pure, that without this, we should have nothing to allege against them ; — by calumny and misre- presentation in every shape and of every hue ; by denying that which is true, and believing that which is false ; by accusing Papists of crimes which they never committed, and punishing them for trespasses of which they never dreamt ; by swearing that we knoiv their doctrines to be superstitious and idolatrous, though they believe the same gospel that we do, and though they most solemnly aver that they hold superstition and idolatry in the same abhor- rence and detestation as ourselves. Q. How are we to exclude Papists from all j)ower, ecclesiastical or civil. A. By tyranny, oppression, and injustice ; by scornfully refusing them all civil rights ; by declaring them to be incapable of fulfilling the duties of good subjects, though they have ever been remarkable for their loyalty to their king, and their services to their country ; by pretending that they desire to overthrow the constitution which they are so justly proud of having inherited from their ances- * See Examination of certain opinions of the Right Rev. Dr. Burgess, &c. ; Dr. Lingard's TractSf p. Sol, &c. " Forgery — I bkish for the honour of Protestantism while I write it — seems to be pecuhar to the reformed ; I look in vain for one of those accursed outrages of imposition among the disciples of Popery."— Dr. Whitaher. ** The Protestants seem to have thought, (says Hume) that no truth should be told of Papists." IX which has been the admiration of all ages, and of all nations, and which is still the prevailing religion of civilized man/'^ It cannot be, that, in this free and tors — by carefully excluding them from that inheritance — by accepting of their services when we want them, and rejecting them, unrequited, when we have no farther need of them — by working them like beasts of burden in all hard, dangerous, and laborious occupations, and suffering true Protestants alone to be their task-masters — ^by keep- ing all the good things, both of this world and the next, for ourselves — by leaving nothing for Papists but poverty, misery, and exclusion for their treasons here, and damna- tion for their superstition and idolatry hereafter — by so ex- citing the execration of the whole country against them, that Englishmen shall again rank Papistry where it stood but a few years back in our Statute Book, with treason and with murder. Q. How may we co-operate with the laws for prevent- ing the growth of popery? A. By the same means by which we are to abjure Popery, and to exclude Papists from all power, ecclesias- tical or civil. Q. What do the laws require us to do for this purpose? A. Certain solemn days are set apart for worshipping the God of Charity and Truth with falsehood, calumny, and detraction upon our lips ! ! ! (See the Service for the 5th of November in the Book of Common Prayer; and tlie real History of the Gunpowder Plot, in Lord Castlemain's Catholique Apology, (1674), Milner's Letters to a Prebend- ary , and Lingard's History of England.) ^"■^ Speaking of the religious belief of a Catholic, the faithful and elegant historian of his country, Dr. Lingard, says : " His belief is not the belief of a single nation, nor X enlightened country, we are not equally at liberty with others, tc enjoy the common prerogative of the Reformation, and to interpret Scripture at our will. There is no reason in such things. We must look to other causes, to account for that delusion of which we have been so long the victims ; which imprints a stain upon our country ; which makes us a bye-word among the nations of the earth, and converts the pride and glory we would gladly che- rish, even as the degraded members of a free state, into feelings of shame and indignation. We consider ourselves, in common with a hundred millions of our Roman Catholic brethren in Europe, the growth of a few years. It is the belief of the great majority of Christians. It is, aud for centuries has been, the belief of learned and polished nations ; the belief of scholars, philosophers, and divines ; of generals, states- men, and princes. Proudly as I may think of my own country, I cannot yet persuade myself that intellectual excellence is exclusively confined to this island; and when I look on the continent, and view the populous nations which there profess the Catholic faith — when I look back into past ages and behold millions of men, during a long series of generations, reckoning it as their pride and their happiness, I can smile at the invectives of its adversaries, and despise the disgrace which is heaped upon it here." " Catholicity, which has been this night the subject of so much abuse, has been the belief of the most extensive and enlightened nations in Europe ; and of the most il- lustrious characters that ever did honour to the n*ame of XI to possess as strong intellectual faculties, as clear a judgment, and as upright intentions, as anybody of Protestants in the world : it is, therefore, the more wounding to our feelings to be treated as an ignorant, a worthless, and an unprincipled race, which we must be, if we are the just objects of the incapacities to which we are subjected by law, — and such as every member of the Legislature calls God to witness that he believes us to be, — the abettors of superstitious and idolatrous doctrines. The Catholic Peer is defrauded of his hereditary rights; the Catholic commoner of the opportunities which wealth or talent might afford him to serve his country, in situations of honour and of trust ; — the professional man, of those objects of lawful ambition, which are the incentives and the rewards of a long life of toil and labour ; — the freeholder, of the exercise of that qualification which is as dear to Mm, at the proudest distinction is to the most exalted personage ; — all are deprived " of their fair chances in the lottery of life, and con- demned hourly to the innumerable slights that wait upon political inferiority/^^ A painful sense man." — Speech of Lord Hutchinson in the House of Lords, May 10, 1805. (rf) « ^vVe take from them every object of honourable ambition ; we doom them to the martyrdom, as far as our laws have power to inflict it, of popular scorn from the cradle to the grave ; we leave them a separate class, with- Xll of implied criminality, which is more galling to a well-constituted mind, than any corporeal suffer- ing," is constantly present to our imaginations ; we carry the mark of Cain upon our forehead ; we drink the waters of bitterness in our journey through the desert ; and though some of our fet- ters have been removed, the dishonourable traces which they imprinted, still remain, to bear false evidence against us. We know it to be an incontestable truth, that the main edifice of the constitution of this country was the work of Catholic valour, talent, and per- severance; and yet we are doomed to be strangers to its benefits ; to hear the principle proclaimed and acted upon, every day, that Catholics are only known to the Constitution for the purposes of pains and penalties ; ^*^ and that it is just and lawful to de- out one public occupation or one aspiring hope, in the midst of a busy and ardent-spirited people.'' — (Lord Nu- gent's Plain Statement, &c.) (''^ Witness, amongst others, the decisions, in 1825, of the Lords in council, upon the claims of the British Ca- tholics for the restoration of their confiscated property, by which, though the money was actually paid by the Gov ernment of France, it was not permitted to reach its destination, under the plea that it would be employed in superstitious uses. It has since passed into a much more serviceable channel, forming a large item of the mysterious £250,000 which lately found its way, so opportunely, into Xlll spoil us, in the land of our forefathers, of that sacred and glorious inheritance, which they so solemnly bequeathed, as his birth-right, to every free-born Englishman. We are worse than aliens in our native land, inasmuch as that an alien is under the protec- tion of equal law, which we are not. If an alien be a delinquent, or a presumed delinquent, he is entitled to a trial by his peers, and half of those peers are his own countrymen, and of his own religion ; whereas, our delinquency, imaginary as it is, is tried by men who have no fellow-feeling with us, and who convict us, upon evidence, collected, produced, and attested by themselves. We are condemned to endure the stings of insult and calumny, frequently without either the opportunity of reply, or the hope of redress by law. We are denied the privilege of the meanest malefactor, that of being confronted with our accusers. We are excluded from the places in which the most galling and most influential of the calumnies pronounced against us are uttered ; and, if we dare to answer them elsewhere, our calumniators may sit in judgment upon us, and punish our audacity with imprisonment ! ! When the country calls forth the Roman Ca- tholic in her defence, his blood flows as freely the hands of the Commissioners of Woods and Forests. For a fair statement of this grievance, see Appendix, No. I XIV as that of his Protestant companion in arms ; when our treasure is demanded, we give it in the same proportion as our more favoured fellow-subjects : but, when we ask for the same rewards, the same honours, the same privileges, the same rights, — we are repulsed with reproaches ; we are rejected, as the refuse of a state which, but for her Roman Catholic subjects, might long since have been annihilated. Yes, it was Cathohc blood which kept the ark of the country afloat in the deluge of perils from which we have but lately emerged, and in which, be it remembered, we may so soon be plunged again. ''^ — What must be the natural consequences of such outrageous injustice, but to wean our affections, — not from our country, — for our country we must ever love and cherish, out of respect and veneration for the memory of our ancestors, — ])ut from the government and institutions under which we are doomed to live ? But we are weary of proclaiming our griev- ances : — suffice it to say, that we are treated with an inhumanity and injustice, such as I hope clearly proves, (and for the honour of human nature be it ^^^ If, ]3revioiis to any one engagement during the late glorious though disastrous war, either by sea or land, the Catholic soldiers or sailors had been withdrawn, no vic- tory would ever have been obtained. Without Irish bravery and Irish blood, neither Nelson nor Wellington had ever worn a laurel. XV spoken,) that our oppressors have neither any knowledge of us, or of our suffermgs, of our prin- ciples, or of our services. We must look to other causes for such a state of things, than a mere love of oppression and cruelty in our rulers. It is ignorance and prejudice, faction and interest, which alone can uphold such a system of absurdity and tyranny. For faction and interest there can be no excuse, save the darkness with which these passions overspread the mind ; neither is a volun- tary and cherished ignorance less culpable in men, who use it as a weapon to inflict pains and penalties on millions of their innocent fellow-sub- jects. — When an umpire is appointed to decide upon the most trivial affair between man and man, does he ever presume to do so, without a full and fair inquiry ? Would he not consider it a flagrant injustice, to come to a decision upon partial or insuflicient evidence? Yet here is a case, involving not only the well-being and pros- perity of the whole empire, but, in a more intimate manner, affecting the rights, the properties, the reputation of seven millions of people ; and yet both deliberative branches of the legislature, — almost without hesitation, certainly without adequate knowledge, or mature examination, — pronounce a verdict of guilty. It is wholly impossible, it is ut- terly inconsistent with the exercise of their rational faculties, that they can have duly weighed and XVI examined the question, and yet come to the decision v/hich they do. The evidence is now so clear, so fully before the world, that whoever, in spite of it, shall shut his eyes to the light of justice, we must pronounce to stand convicted of an inveterate hardening of the heart, and a palpable blinding of the understanding. We must then conclude, that it is only by ignorance and prejudice, by faction and interest, that men are governed in this matter. My object, therefore, is, as far as my humble endeavours may extend, to warn the thinking por- tion of the community from being misled by those false and malignant spirits who are so busy to poison the public mind against us ; who dress us up in a hideous garb, and put upon us all sorts of deformities of their own invention, till people be- lieve us to be any thing but what, I trust, we really are. Likewise would I guard them against the injustice which we are doomed to suffer from ignorance and credulity; an injustice of which we have, perhaps, the most reason to complain, because it is the easiest to rectify. — While every other spe- cies of learning is pursuing a rapid and triumphant career — while the press teems, almost daily, with authenticated expositions of our doctrine — and while v/ell-informed Catholics are to be met with at every corner, ready to give evidence of our faith, is it not too much to be reduced to the alternative, of being either neglected as unworthy of attention. XVll or of seeing our tenets and our conduct studied only in the writings of our adversaries ?^^^ The (•^^ "I beheve that there are few subjects on which so many opponents are to be met with, of that very numerous class who think themselves justified in feeling strongly without enquiring deeply, who acquiesce in unexamined statements merely to fortify their own preconceived sense of the case, and who are ever recurring to defences a thou- sand times overthrown, and now, by universal consent of all well-informed persons, abandoned, merely because the fact of the discomfiture and surrender may have escaped their not very extensive research, or may have lost its place in their not very impartial memory. This is a seri- ous difficulty, because with such persons it is not easy to determine at what precise period of the controversy to begin. There is, however,"another class with whom it is impossible to deal : the mere shouters of " No Popery ;" those who, without the desire of enquiry, or the capacity of reasoning, think that they see their interest or their honour bound up in a determination never to doubt any early, or accidental, or careless, impressions, to which by habit they consider themselves pledged. Such we can only leave to rejoice in their own conclusions, unques- tioned and undisturbed, withdrawing ourselves from all dispute with them, as we should from the attempt to go through a proposition in mathematics with a person to whom the admission of an axiom appears to be matter of too hazardous generosity, and who accordingly, while ex- pressing his readiness to listen to proof, feels that he owes it to his cause to refuse every preliminary concession on which a pi'oof can by possibility turn. Until they shall c XVlll errors of the generality of mankind may, it is hoped, be extenuated, as arising from prejudices carefully instilled into the infant mind, fostered through every stage of education, and perhaps matured by subsequent habits of indifference in religious matters, or at least by a neglect of all further inquiry ; but for men who profess to make have done what they never will do, — until they shall have enlightened themselves on the history, not of their own country only, but of some other parts of modern Europe ; — until they shall have learned what the penal laws were, and what they are now ; — until they shall know the story and condition of the Roman Catholics in this empire, and of Protestants in others ; — they must be content to be chal- lenged as Jurors to pass upon this Question. Nay, more, — they must, till then, absolutely abstain from all cus- tomary expressions of vituperation against the Papists, on pain of convicting themselves of possessing less than they ought of common honesty, or less than most men would be thought to possess of common discretion." Lord Nugent' s most excellent Statement, S;c. in Support of the Political Claims of the Roman Catholics. Hookham, 1826. The virulent abuse of that portion of the public press which is opposed to emancipation, as well in England as in Ireland, is an irritating and never-failing insult which we are daily condemned to endure, and is one of the most grievous of all our penal inflictions. As long as it is the support of that system which oppresses us, so long shall we be its victims ; but the cause which produces it being removed, it will vanish with all our other disabilities. XIX accurate research and profound study the basis of every opinion which they deliver to the world — men of reputed learning and of extensive literary fame— there can be no palliation, when, in the face of the strongest historical evidence, they are guilty of deliberately advancing the most gross and unfounded calumnies against their Catholic fellow-countrymen. Amongst the many to whom these imputations apply, there is no one who offends more conspi- cuously than Dr. Southey. The glaring misrepre- sentations of Catholic history and Catholic doc- trine which constitute the principal ingredients of his " Book of the Church," though so ably exposed by Dr. Milner, Mr. Butler, and others, continue to glitter through every subsequent edition, and to diffuse their pestilential influence among the public ; and that^ too, at a moment when the most calm and unprejudiced consideration of the great question of the policy of establishing religious tests for the qualification to political privileges, is become necessary, certainly for the strength and stability of the country, and perhaps for the very existence of social order in the empire. The fact is now fully established by long experience and in- controvertible evidence, that no permanent peace and tranquillity can exist in Ireland under the pre- sent system of religious warfare and political op- c 2 XX pression/"^ Whatever, therefore, does not directly tend to advance that consummation so ardently desired by every friend of justice and humanity, and of the general prosperity of the State, cannot be too sincerely and too strongly deprecated. But v^hat shall we say of him, who endeavours by the most extensive circulation of the most atrocious and most unfounded calumnies, not only to oppose a barrier to the tide of peace and good will which, sometime back, appeared to be so happily setting in upon the countr}^ but, by wounding and irritat- ing the feelings of those who are already harassed almost beyond endurance, as w ell as by ahenating the friends of toleration by the false picture he draws of those whom they were endeavouring to relieve, thus augments a disunion which it should be the object of every honest man to close. I will not weary the reader by citing instances of some of the most ungenerous calumnies that ever appeared in print, but will refer him to pp. 7 and 14 of Milner's '' Strictures on Dr. Southey's Book of the Church," and to pp. 214, 253, &c. 280, (^) See Mr. Shiel's temperate but eloquent speech, on moving an Address to his Majesty on Lord Sidmouth's letter of the 23rd Sept. 1821, Appendix,No. II. ; together with a few other documents illustrative of the state of Ireland, in Appendix, No. VI. XXI 284, 319, &c. of Mr. Butler's " Book of the R. C. Church/' and to p. 49 of the '' Memoirs of Capt. Rock.'"^^^ There he may behokl a Christian author, under pretence of promoting the cause of truth, rehearsing the most unfounded and antiquated falsehoods, a thousand and a thousand times re- futed, against infinitely the most numerous deno- mination of Christians in the world ; and, in spite of the most incontestable evidence, he will see him so wedded to his error, so enamoured of his ca- lumnies, as obstinately to adhere to the impositions which he seems so happy to drag forth from their merited oblivion, and once more to employ for the (^'^ It is astonishing that a work of such transcendant merit as this undoubtedly is, should have produced so little effect. But even unrivalled genius, allied with un- compromising patriotism, and shedding fresh brilHancy on the cause of Truth and Justice, is no match against interested bigotry. The fabrication here noticed by the admirable author of the " Memoirs of Captain Rock," was even too gross for Dr. Southey, who, on discovering his mistake, omitted it in his 2nd edition. As to Dr. Southey's VmcUdse, it is really too contempti- ble to notice, being a complete farrago of folly and mis- representation, and only one slander defended by another; cajoling his readers with the most senseless trash, alto- gether beneath the notice of any honourable mind, and the very publication of which is a stain upon the litera- ture of the country. XXll oppression of his fellow-countrymen and fellow- Christians. In the Protestant Canton dii Vaud, in Switzer- land, such is the tyrannical intolerance of the government, that the Catholic clergyman is not permitted, under pain of dismissal, to explain, even in private, the articles of his religion to any one of a different persuasion, who may apply to him for that purpose. This may, perhaps, well enough answer the object of insuring a monopoly to Pro- testantism ; but, tyrannical as it is, it is a much more charitable scheme than that adopted by Dr. Southey, who, apparently with the same views, has done all in his power to contrive, not that the people of England should be kept in ignorance of Catholic doctrine, in his acceptation of the term, but that they should learn it only through the mis- representations and calumnies of his " Book of the Church." However easily and triumphantly the calumniator may be refuted, the poison is diffused through a thousand channels through which the antidote never makes its way ; and, like his fellow- labourer in the same vineyard. Dr. Tomline, he has never the justice to retract his errors, and disabuse his readers of the unworthy prejudices which he has been the means of fostering in their minds against us. But, to speak truth, and to render justice, is not the object of the ascendancy faction; and, in violating both, they are acting XXlll upon the doctrines so falsely imputed to Catholics, of keeping no faith with heretics, and of sanctifying the means by the end, when the defence of their Church is in question. ^'^ Another example of extreme injustice towards his Catholic fellow-countrymen is presented to us by the Bishop of Winchester ; that prelate ought certainly to have given himself the trouble of ascertaining that what he asserted was true, or he should have abstained from those assertions alto- gether. Ignorance, in a case like this, is no (i) « Xhe furious men," says Dr. Doyle, ^' who now agi- tate this country, seem to know that the sword of the law could not have been drawn, or if drawn, could not have been wielded with such deadly effect against the holy and ancient religion of these islands, if that religion had not first been decried, abused, and maligned, until it appeared to the multitude a very moral monster. ' From the sole of its foot,' like its founder, * to the top of its head, there was no soundness in it ;' it was buffetted, abused, spit upon ; it was covered with a mantle of derision ; it was scourged and drenched with vinegar and gall ; the waters of affliction entered into its very soul ; and it was when thus disfigured by a clamorous rabble, and seemingly abandoned by God, that the bigots and the fanatics cried out to the agents of the law and of the sword — ' Away with it, away with it.' " — (t(cply to Dr. MageeJ I most earnestly recommend this little work to every dispassionate reader; for argument and eloquence it stands unrivalled. XXIV excuse ; no criminal escapes the punishment of the la\\% upon the ground that he knew not that he was infringing it. The Bishop has been guilty of many gross and unfounded calumnies upon the Ca- tholic world/^^ and though he has been long called upon to prove his assertions, or to retract the slanders so detrimental to the happiness and pros- perity of so many millions of his fellow-subjects, — though a Christian bishop, bound by the com- mon laws of morality to repair the injuries which he may inflict upon his neighbour in his character ^^^ See the Libel contained in Dr. Tomline's " Life of Mr. Pitt," stated and refuted in Mr. Butler's " Book of the Roman CathoHc Church," p. 137;— a libel which charges us with doctrines subversive of civil government, and hostile to every principle of civilized society and Chris- tian morality; — doctrines which we have over and over again refuted upon the most authentic evidence, and dis- claimed upon oath. Such a libel would entitle any but a proscribed race to redress at law against such slander and defamation. See also some very just observations on the calumnies of Dr. Tomline, in a note to Dr. Fletcher's " Comparative View," p. 15, and where this acute and learned writer is led to remark, " However, be the reason what it may, this fact is certain, — that the Protestant clergy, in their assaults of the Catholic religion, misrepresent it ' cruelly.' It has no generous adversaries. I do not even know one (and I have read the works of multitudes of them) who combats it, either with the charity of the Christian, or with the politeness of the gentleman." XXV and reputation, — yet finding that he is unable to accomplish the former, he has neither the charity, the justice, nor the magnanimity to do the latter.-'- Controversy should always be conducted with the utmost moderation ; all harsh and offensive ex- pressions should be carefully avoided, and nothing advanced in the way of insolent triumph. But what is the controversy to which these rules apply? a calm discussion of the argume?its bearing on the question in debate, — accompanied with a sincere endeavour to elucidate the truth, and to avoid all irritating and irrelevant matter. — But how does the controversy of the Ministers of the Church of England with Roman Catholics, partake of this character? Instead of displaying the meek spirit ('^ Since the above was written, the bishop has been summoned before the bar of Divine Justice, leaving be- hind him £200,000 as the fruit of his episcopal labours. What would William of Wykham have thought of this ? or even his Protestant predecessor, Dr. Andrews ? I do not hereby impute blame to the Bishop of Winchester, but notice the circumstance merely to show the injustice of that system of ecclesiastical discipline, which allows the surplus revenues of the church to be perverted from their true purposes of repairing and embellishing the temples of God, and of satisfying the necessities of the poor ; thus imposing a tax upon the people for whose benefit those revenues were originally granted, equal in amount to the revenues so misappropriated. XXVI of Christianity, it is full of rancour and malignity ; instead of a calm, sober search after truth, it is a violent exposition of all the atrocious calumnies and falsehoods heaped upon us through three centuries of persecution. It is, in fine, no contro- versy at all ; but a marshalling of all sorts of acri- monious invective, in the face of the strongest historical evidence, and often in absolute contra- diction to the principles of those v, ho impugn us. — Can the laws of fair controversy be applicable to such a system, (for a mere system it is become,) which vilifies and calumniates Catholics, in order to preserve the monopoly of political privileges now in possession of Protestants? — In mere matters of opinion in religion, much diversity is permitted, and must necessarily exist : in matters of faith and of fact, much discussion may sometimes be neces- sary, to dispel the darkness in which obscure and uninformed writers may have involved them, and to remove the difficulties with which prejudice and impiety may have encumbered them : — but to take up accusations which come only from adversaries, to receive every fact with the distortions put upon it by calumny, is to play the character of a partizan who carries on a warfare for the purposes of de- struction, and who thereby places himself out of the protection of the law, and is, as it were, only to be repelled by force. What, I will ask, can be dearer to an Englishman XXVll than his constitutional rights, rights secured (I cannot say to Jiim, but to the Protestant subjects of this nation) by his Catholic ancestors, the wise and spirited framers of Magna Charta, of trial by jury, and the representative system? and what can be more iniquitous than to defraud him of those rights, because Dr, Southey chooses to call him idolatrous and superstitious. Let a Poet-Laureate of England, a Prebendary of Durham, or a Bishop of Winchester proclaim us to be idolaters, and a hundred and twenty millions of intellectual beings, endowed with will, memory, and understanding, — occupying the most civilized portions of the globe, — justly priding themselves upon the purity of their religion, and on the entire direction of their worship to the only One, True, Holy, Eternal, and Immutable God, hurl back the accusation with indignant defiance ! If these associates in the work of libel be incapable of reflecting a ray of that light which is breaking in so fast upon the world, and if they have not the generosity to do us justice by advocating the cause of truth, at least let them cease their calumny; and in a very short time prejudice will subside, bigotry will resign her sway, and the triumph of civil and religious liberty will be, at length, achieved. The last debate upon the Catholic question fur- nished a lamentable instance of misrepresentation in a quarter from which it was least expected. It XXVlll was asserted, with much parade of solemn and momentous accusation against the most unim- peachable prelacy in the world, that they were guilty of the most audacious impiety in cancelling a precept from the Decalogue ; and it was at least insinuated, that they did so in order to flatter their favourite propensities to idolatry. Mr. Peel, for this purpose, quoted from an abridgment of our catechism, in which, as a purely elementary work, the heads only of each commandment are given, when he could easily have found a hundred others in which they are recited at full length; one even being produced in the house that very night. As to the ridiculous charge of curtailing the commandments, by dividing them as we do, it is utterly without foundation. We give the first and second together, and divide the last into two. The consequence is, that, in an abridgment, the heads only being given, what Protestants con- sider the second commandment is omitted; but then it must be remembered that this second command- ment is merely an explanation of the first, and necessarily comprised in it in substance. It is astonishing that a man of Mr. Peel's character and reputation for fair dealing, should condescend to use misrepresentation when he finds argument fail him. But it only shews the extent of his delu- sion, and how fitted his mind is to receive impres- sions contrary to truth, reason, and common sense. XXIX when his favourite prejudices are to be cherished. If that delusion only affected the individual, we should lament it, without presuming to correct him; but when the delusion of an individual stands between the happiness of millions, and that indi- vidual is the champion of a party opposed to the best interests of the empire, then indeed it is a delusion which ought to be exposed to the whole world. {m' a ^g know that the Decalogue consisted of ten commandments ; we find in it foifrteen precejjts ; the ques- tion is, how they are to be reduced into the ten classes which form the ten commandments? In the Hebrew and other oriental versions, and in the early Vulgates, there is no classification of the ten commandments : how they should be classed, was an early subject of dispute in the Christian Church. St. Augustin recommended the clas- sification now used by the Catholic Church : from his time till the Reformation it was generally adopted. The early reformers made a new division of the precepts, by separating the first commandment from the second, and blending the ninth and tenth into one; but the Decalogue remained the same. " This was fully explained by Dr. Lingard on the Bur- ham Controversy, and by the Irish Prelates in the examina- tions before the Comt7iittee on Irish Affairs. How then can the charge be now gravely made?" — Extract from the Catholic Miscellany for May, 1827. " In the division of the Decalogue, the Christian Churches are not agreed. That of England, and the whole of the Calvinists, with Josephus, make two distinct XXX I will cite another illustration in point, both as a proof of the blind fury of our opponents, and of the ignorance to which it is to be attributed ; and as enabhng me to present to the reader an eloquent and argumentative appeal to his fellow-country- men, from my valued friend and relative, the pre- sent secretary to the British Catholic Association. — See Appendix, No. III. Neither can I refrain from referring the reader to precepts of verses 3 and 7, Exodus, xx. ; whereas, the Roman Catholics, and the Lutherans, divide with Saint Austin, and make one commandment, of what the former make two; but to keep the number of ten, they spht what in the other division is deemed the ninth. Every one who looks into Walton's Polyglott may see that the command not to make sculptilia, neqiie omnem similitudi' nem, 4'c. neqzie adorare ea, is retained in the Latin Vul- gate ; and surely, as to the division, it is of so little im- portance, that we may wonder it ever could beget a co7i- troversy. In the English church, not a single word is said about the interdict to the Jews against making or wor- shipping graven images. Nor, through the whole of our Catechism, is there amj caution introduced against the practice of the Chnrch of Rome. I am not then warranted in arraigning the sincerity of the Roman belief, or the uprightness of their intentions, at all events. I should be ASHAMED of urging against them any false accusations of disingenuous omission, or unauthorized arrangement in the Decalogue."— Parr'5 Characters of C J. Fox, vol. ii. page 129. XXXI another and a very flagrant instance of misrepre- sentation, from the mouth of a distinguished mem- ber of the upper House, which, though of ancient date, I consider to be of very considerable impor- tance, as tending to exemplify the dispositions of mind of those individuals in the legislature, who have so long succeeded in making us the victims of their delusion. — See Appendix, No. IV. Emancipation is no longer a question between two parties in the state : ^"^ it is a question between (w) «xhis question had, within the last twenty years, risen from a state of comparative insignificance to one of para- mount importance. It was now the question of the empire ; the question which divided the people as well as the Par- liament; a question which had not only divided, but had broken up, and would break up, Cabinets and Administra- tions. Look at the eifects of the Penal Laws in this country ; they had destroyed that friendly intercourse and those social habits which were, perhaps, not less essential to private and domestic comfort, than to the well-being of the community at large. They kept up a perpetual ex- citation and ferment in the public mind — they rendered property insecure — they prevented the introduction of capital sufficient to develope the great and hitherto dor- mant resources of this fine and fertile country. And to their operation alone could be attributed those occasional bursts of public commotion, which are produced by rapa- city and oppression on the one hand, and by poverty and despair on the other." (Extract from Lord Killeen's excellent speech at the public dinner, so deservedly given to that patriotic noble- man, by the friends of civil and religious liberty.) XXXll two nations; — the one struggling for its Iii)Cities, — the other endeavouring to rivet the chains of slavery and oppression. This is a contest going on, and which will go on, in the very heart of the British empire, and between two people not very unequally balanced, in either physical or moral force ; and is it to be supposed that this struggle is never to pro- duce any thing but angry murmurs and irritated feelings r^ ^"^ Nothing can be finer than the present dispositions of the whole Irish people. Mankind never exhibited a more noble instance of zeal tempered with discretion ; and of suffering sanctified by patience, God grant that such dispositions may last as long as the occasion which produces them ! But their own history, and the history of the whole world tells us, and warm us while it tells us, that there are circumstances beyond which patience will not endure, and tyranny will goad on to desperation. May heaven avert so dreadful a calamity ! The following prayer, proffered by a whole nation smarting under a cruel and unjust infliction, is a noble and decisive answer to the calumnies of our enemies, and a sublime panegyric upon the religion of the people who offer it : — " O Almighty and most merciful God, in whose hands are the hearts and designs of men ; prostrate before thy altar, we humbly and earnestly beseech thee to look down with an eye of pity upon the long continued sufferings, the unmerited privations, and severe legal enactments, under which the Catholic population of these realms are still unrelentingly doomed to complain. Our own indi- vidual transgressions against thy law, have, doubtless, XXXlll When every other nation in Europe, in which a difference of religion exists, has cemented its power, justly drawn down upon us those heavy inflictions. Against the state, however, we have not transgressed. An invio- lable attachment to the faith once delivered to the saints, is the only state crime we can he charged with — that un- changeable faith professed at this day hy the great majority of thy Christian people ; but such fidelity to thy sacred deposit, instead of being criminal in thy sight, O Lord, furnishes us on the contrary, we firmly hope, with a stronger claim upon thy mercies. Thou hast declared those blessed who shall suffer persecution for justice' sake. We are now suffering for it. We are suffering, and alas ! have long suffered, Avith patience, under the influence of religion, as our ancestors have suffered. — They have generously preferred thy law, O Lord, to every earthly consideration; their examj)]e, we trust, has not been unavailing ; and with thy divine assistance we are fully determined never, upon any account, or under any penal pressure whatsoever, to relinquish any one article of our holy religion. Graciously hear us, then, O merciful God ; vouchsafe, in thy infinite goodness, to enlighten our So- vereign, his Ministers, and the British Legislature ; that they may at length more justly appreciate our ill-requited fidelity, and adopt such prudent and wholesome councils as will unite every denomination of our fellow-subjects in one general bond of mutual charity, unshaken loyalty, and universal peace ; thus securing the stability of the throne, and effectually promoting the happiness of the people : through Jesus Christ thy beloved Son, who with Thee and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, one God, world without end. Amen." d XXXIV and concentrated the affections of its people, by the most enlarged system of religious toleration, it is certainly most extraordinary that we, who pretend to be the wisest and the most liberal of all, should alone continue a policy, which divides instead of uniting, which irritates instead of con- ciliating, and which weakens where it ought to strengthen. — That, in England alone,^^^ that far- famed garden of liberty, the baneful weed of intol- erance should flourish in such rank luxuriance ; — in England, where a hundred different religions have found their w ay, and where there is no limit to the intrusion of new ones, — that 07ie reli- gion alone should be proscribed, and that the mother of the religion of the state, the foundress of all her institutions, and the nurse of all her liber- ties, is an enigma which no ingenuity can solve, unless we ascribe it to the effect of consummate bigotry. Our intolerant legislators of England, like the former noblesse of France, are endeavouring to ^^^ Even Italy and Spain are no exceptions to the present happy diffusion of religious freedom throughout the world; for, in those countries, there are no Protestants. If there were, there can be no doubt but they would be treated with the same liberality, justice, and equality, which they now experience in every other Catholic state ; whereas a British subject, being a native of these Islands, is the only individual upon earth, upon whom the profession of Catholicity is a penalty and a reproach. XXXV continue their monopoly of privileges, at the risk of subverting the social institutions of the country, and of dismembering the empire.^""^ And this is the end to which the enemies of Great Britain are so anxiously looking. — In France it was said, (how- ever absurd the idea,) that the defeat of the bills for our relief, in 1825, v/as owing to a combined scheme of the Jacobins of both countries, who, foreseeing that the settlement of this great question would for ever consolidate the power of England, were, therefore, determined to exert themselves for ^"^^ Another and striking instance of such a disposition is to be found in the obstinate refusal of the House of Peers to make any efficient amendment in the present disgraceful state of the game laws ; laws which are rapidly converting- the whole country into one great arena of crime, and producing consequences at which every mind must shudder. The fate of the last bill on this subject was a complete burlesque on legislation. After the question had been vehemently agitated for many years — after re- peated attempts and repeated failures — after fighting its way with extreme difficulty to a certain point, its ephe- meral success was suddenly arrested by the magic power of seveji noble lords ; the division being, content six, not-content, seven 1 ! ! N. B. Another session has elapsed, and though, through the very laudable efforts of some distinguished members of the House, the subject has excited an unusual degree of attention, yet the attempt to remedy the evil has met with a similar fate to all those which have preceded it. d 2 XXXVl its discomfiture.— To attach credit to this idea, a report was circulated, and which was actually used as an argument against the measure, by at least one member of the House of Commons, that the main object of the Catholics was the restoration of the forfeited property, now in the hands of both clergy and laity. This opinion was much strength- ened by the indemnity granted to a class of men, somewhat similarly circumstanced with the dispos- sessed Irish. Others attributed the defeat of the measure, or, in other words, the blind intolerance of the majority of the House of Peers, to the secret agency of the Holy Alliance, which aims at nothing more sincerely than the humiliation of England; and which seeks an example, in the tyrannical conduct of our government towards her Catholic subjects, for the slavish principles by which tliei/ are guided towards their own people, and the whole world. This opinion, in its turn, was strengthened by the happy allusion to this view of the case, in the manly, convincing, and brilliant speech of the ever-to-be -lamented and intrepid Canning ; a speech which has endeared and immortalized his memory, in the heart and mind of almost every Catholic in the empire. — On the other hand, the liberals, who looked to nothing but the well-being of both countries, la- mented, most sincerely, the failure of this great covenant of concihation, not only because it was a XXXVll sad example of tyranny, but because it might, at no distant period, serve as a precedent for tlieir own government to enact a series of penal statutes against the Protestants of France, under the plaus- ible pretence of disaffection to the reigning dynasty. In this view of the question, they were supported by the sometimes misguided zeal of the present royal family, and by the well-known fact, that the Pro- testants were never sincerely attached to any government that has ever ruled in France, save that of Napoleon. Thus, in whatever point of view it was considered, it was looked upon as a policy fraught with evil of the blackest die. — Napoleon is reported to have said ; Lafamille des Bourhons est la jilus intolercmte de la terre : however this may have been, it is certainly not so now ; the present king of France,^"^ with all his ('') If we compare the late speech of the King of France with that of the King of England, and do not blush at the contrast, the spirit of Englishmen is not in us. Compare also the oath required of a legislator in France with the Test exacted amongst us. While a Frenchman swears allegiance to his king, fidelity to the constitution, and a determination to do his duty to his country — an EngHshman is thought better qualified for the functions of a senator, by swearing a libel on millions of his fellow- subjects, and ^proscription against an extinct and departed race. For the performance of his duty to his country, no pledge is required of him ; but unless he knows and swears a Catholic to be an idolator, he can have no pretensions to legislative wisdom or integrity. XXXVlll zeal for Catholicity, having given full security to his dissenting subjects, by swearing in his corona- tion oath, (and it presents rather an extraordinary contrast,) to give equal rights to his Protestant thousands, while the king of England, upon a similar occasion, is supposed by some to swear eternal proscription against his Catholic millionsS"^ And what, in the event of the continuance of this system of proscription, is to be the ultimate fate of these millions ? With the prospect of England before them, happy, prosperous, and tranquil, (that is, seen as it appears to tlieni) because governed by equal laws, and in the possession of equal rights, — shall they be condemned to gaze for ever upon this blooming land of promise, and ^"^ It is a very singular circumstance, and highly worthy of remark, that precisely at the same moment in which the government of Catholic France is driven from its post, because it is not liberal enough, the ministers of Protestant England are removed from the councils of their sovereign, because they are too liberal for the age ! ! For this, after all, seems to be the truth. — Neither may it be unfair to observe, that, while the Catholic hierachy of France have lately displayed their wisdom and virtue, by refusing the political privileges with which their sove- reign was desirous of investing them, there is no instance upon record, in which the Protestant hierarchy of England have ever evinced a distaste for the power and possessions which have fallen to their lot. XXXIX yet be always doomed to linger in the desert? Are they to be eternally consigned to pauperism, and coerced by military law? Are they to be always told, that they are unworthy to be received as members of the state ; that to participate in the general prosperity of the commonwealth, is too great a blessing for them? — that they shall be for ever accounted as aliens and outcasts, — that their only inheritance shall be, from one generation to another, to be hewers of wood and drawers of water? — Oh ! the shame and the disgrace of England, to allow her bigotry to place her in such a situation, that perhaps the best and only hope of one third of her people, is to look for the v/eakness and humiliation of their oppressors : — for the day of England's prosperity, has never yet been a day of grace or justice to Ireland. The hour of atone- ment, however, has not yet past/^'^ In the name of heaven, let it not be neglected. — May the timely ^^^ Neither is the degrading system carried on in Ireland, under the name oi Reformation,YikQ\j to mend the matter; a system of immoral, unprincipled, and corrupting persecu- tion, practised upon a half-starved population, '^ beginning with the child in the cradle, and only ending with the aged and forlorn, upon the bed of death." — Good God ! where have these lords and ladies, prelates and parsons, these Apostles of Ireland's reformation, where have they learned that charity consists in bribing a man to peijury xl and happy settlement of this great question (in com- mon with other important amendments in our sys- and apostacy — to sell his birth-right for a mess of pottage — to commit crimes that cry to heaven for vengeance, and lose his soul for the sake of saving a starving body for a few years of misery and infamy ! We see that these, and these only, are the fruits of this fanaticism, since every day brings back these converts of the Reformation ; not one in twenty remaining obstinate in his apostacy. But the people of England know little or nothing of all this. Almost all that the London papers ever tell us of Ireland, is, that a riot or a murder has been committed, and that nu- merous and notable conversions are daily made to Pro- testantism : but any, who will take the trouble to inform themselves, through the medium of the Irish papers, will see how false and exaggerated are the statements made in England. — How much more good might Parliament do, by spending a few thousands a year in a liberal system of education in Ireland, than by lavishing the same sums in charter-house grants, on the principle of excluding the great body of the people from the benefits of education. Do they think to achieve, by such means as these, what the long continued efforts of the most horrible system of destruction that ever disgraced the character of civilized man, were incapable of accomplishing } History, " which is philosophy teaching by example," tells us, that the monsters whom regenerated England employed to govern Ireland, have mown down whole generations of Papists at a stroke, ravaging the field with fire and sword, in the liopeful expectation that a harvest of Protestants would arise : when lo and behold ! in lieu of Protestantism, xli tern of government) cement together every portion of the empire, in eternal union, and elevate us Popery springs up again, — but only to be cut down once more, and to be cast again into the lire. Still the crop of Protestants never once grew up : the land was obstinate and intractable ; and, in spite of every new system of ex- perimental cultivation, has continued as barren of Protes- tantism, and as fertile of Popery, ever since. Practically convinced of the utter vanity of their attempt, let them at length rather endeavour to make them good and faithful subjects, than bad and dangerous Christians. There is a passage in the very brilliant speech of Mr. Shiel, upon occasion of a foul conspiracy against the cha- racter of a Catholic Priest, which was got up last year, I think in the county of Cavan, and which is so much to my purpose, that I will take leave to transcribe it. After observing, that in no other country but miserable and wretched Ireland, would any set of men have embarked in such an adventure, and after painting in strong and feeling terms the calamitous condition to which religious dissension had reduced the whole island, from which it has entirely banished that perfect amity in which Catholics and Protestants live together in foreign states, he proceeds to say : " Let calumny do its worst, it will not detach the people from their clergy. They are too closely bound by mutual sufferings ever to be rent asunder. Their piety, their simplicity, their meekness, and their very dependance upon their flocks, have endeared them beyond the power of our modern reformers to tear them from each other. And if the effort were successful, what would be gained } In Heaven's name, where is the benefit to be obtained by xlii higher upon the pinnacle of glory, happiness, and prosperity, than any Christian nation has ever yet attained to. shaking- the creed of the people? You laugh at them because they believe in Transubstantiation. Suppose you teach them to reject it, are you sure that they will stop where you think it proper ? Is there any ne plus ultra of incredulity where they will stand and pause ? Is not a man's faith a dangerous thing to tamper with ? Touch one mysteiy, and the whole fabric of religion may crumble into dust. — Protestant reformers ! have a care, lest you should go beyond your intents, and precipitate seven millions of the Irish people into infidelity. The shining heights of faith are contiguous to the dark and deep gulfs of in- credulity, and a Roman Catholic passes into the Deist by a single step. Do you want to make a nation of philo- sophers?"* The Catholics, who are styled the enemies of education, oppressed and impoverished as they are, have at this mo- ment 420,000 children under tuition, in schools esta- blished and supported by voluntary contribution ; and happy I am to say, that many liberal and humane Pro- testants have most handsomely seconded their exertions by grants of land, as well as of money ;t and, in return, * For some account of the new reformation in Ireland, see Appendix, No. V., for extracts from Mr. Ensor's Letters, a writer who has strongly and faithfully depicted the folly and im- piety of a system, of the workings of which, he has been himself a witness. t The Duke of Devonshire is a noble example of liberality in this respect, having lately, amongst a hundred other similar dona- tions, given an acre of land and six hundred pounds, to erect a xliii God knows how far we are from such a situation at present ! And amongst the numerous evils the children of Protestants are educated indiscriminately with Catholics, and this without any attempt at prose- lytism, the religious instruction heing given separately. Many of these schools are supported hy a religious order of lay brothers, not uncommon upon the continent, but lately introduced into Ireland by Dr. Doyle and other prelates. The sole intent of this society is the education of the poor ; and those who are not engaged in teaching, maintain themselves by manual labour ; yet all assistance from Government is refused them, while large sums are lavished upon places where, when a school-house is erected, no scholars can be found to occupy it. Extracts from the Catholic Journal. PROGRESS OF LIBERALITY. The following letters will be read with unmixed satis- faction. The Rev. Mr. Nicholson, to whom these letters were addressed, is in London, collecting subscriptions for a Catholic Cathedral, and Free Catholic Schools, to be erected at Tuam : — " My dear Sir, " Mansfield-st,, June 30, 1828. " I have had the pleasure of receiving your letter rela- Catholic Chapel, at Dungarvon. Felix faustumque sit, tarn donanti quam accipienti! Lord Donoughmorehas given £100, and a site for a new chapel, in the parish of Grange, near Clonmel. — The Hon. Robert Chal- oner laid the first stone of a new chapel at Tomacork, county Wexford, and contributed £20 towards the building. — A new chapel is to be erected in the parish of Kilfeacle, county Tipperary, towards which Lord Llandaff has contributed £100. — The Hon. Robert King, M. P. for Roscommon, lias subscribed five pounds towards the Roman Catholic Cathedral building at Tuam. xliv that afflict us, there is none greater than the mise- rable condition of Ireland, which will, in part, be tive to your mission, for the purpose of collecting funds for the completion of your projected Cathedral at Tuam. I assure you that I am most anxious to ]3romote it; and as the law compels the Catholics to pay for the erection of Protestant places of worship, I think that the least we Protestants ought to do, is to subscribe largely and wil- lingly towards the completion of Catholic churches. I must candidly own, that I regret that no portion out of the very large sums levied on the Catholic population of Ireland, is ap23lied to building places of worship for that religious communion ; but as such is not the case, I again repeat that we ought to make it up out of our private purses. '^ I have so many duties to fulfil in my own immediate neighbourhood, that it exhausts most of my resources ; I shall, however, be most happy to offer a subscription of one hundred guineas towards the objects of your mission. I had intended to have paid it by four annual instalments ; but as I am anxious that the building may proceed ra- pidly, 1 beg to inclose you a cheque on Messrs. Latouche's for my second instalment, and will next year pay my third and fourth. Wishing you every success in the ob- ject of your undertaking, which, I must say, I think ought to be one of especial interest to every Connaught man, " I remain, with much esteem, " My dear Sir, your faithful servant, " SLIGO." " The Rev. F. J. Nicholson, 39, Gloucester-street, Queen- square." " Dear Sir, " Norwich, July 23, 1828. " It will afford me a very sincere pleasure to have an xlv seen in the following extract from a printed cir- cular, dated Mansion House, Dublin, Jan. 17, 1828. opportunity of cultivating your acquaintance and friend- ship, at any time and any place ; and during the course of next winter, (if I live so long) I shall probably have this opportunity, should you then be in London, where I propose to fix myself from the 1st of November to the 1st of May. " With respect to the appeal of that highly-gifted and exemplary prelate, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Tuam, to ^ the People of England ;' there is not, I trust, a single individual among us, under whatever denomina- tion of Christians he may come, who will not readily ad- mit that an appeal from such a man, upon such an occa- sion, is entitled to the earnest attention and the cordial support of every one who has at heart either private hap- piness or public prosperity ; and in a more especial man- ner of eveiy fviend to unhappy, injured Ireland. Coming, as I certainly do, under the latter description, it grieves me much not to have it in my power to evince the since- rity of my sentiments in a more efi'ectual manner than by requesting your acceptance of the enclosed trifle, which his Grace will be so good as to consider as a mark of my personal regard for him, and of my attachment to the great cause of general education, and of public religious instruction, whether in church or chapel. '^ Believe me, dear Sir, " Sincerely your's, &c. " H. NORWICH." " The Rev. Francis J. Nicholson, 39, Gloucester-street, Queen-square, London. " Sir, " Castle Dawson, Ireland, July 25, 1828. " Your letter of the 19th followed me here, and as I did xlvi " The present distressed and impoverished state of the country having given occasion to the con- not receive it till this morning, you must excuse me for not having answered it before. " The contents are highly satisfactory, and I most sin- cerely hope that you may get a good subscription for your chapel. I shall have great pleasure in becoming a sub- scriber in the sum oftwenty pounds, and I will give direc- tion to pay that sum to your credit into the Branch of the Provincial Bank of Ireland at Galway. " In sending you this subscription, I can only say that I am doing an act most gratifying to my own private feelings, in which I never will allow political opinions to be mixed up. In the evidence given before the Com- mittee, in the year 1825, by Dr. Kelly, I was very much struck, and I will add, distressed at the account which he gave of the miserable condition of the places of worship for the Roman Catholics in his diocese ; and in recalling that evidence to my mind, I derive a pleasure from think- ing that I am humbly contributing my mite to aid praise- worthy endeavours to provide suitable places of worship of our common Father. " Amidst the political tempests which agitate our un- fortunate country, there is at least some consolation in finding that Protestants and Roman Catholics, opposers and supporters of the question, can find one point in which they can agree and unite, and which may lead to a better state of feeling, namely, in the cause of charity ; and of showing homage to the Divine Being, to whom, in common, we all owe every thing. It is with such im- pressions that I now offer you my small assistance, and I need only add, that I have the greater pleasure in giving xlvii vening of a public meeting in this city, in order to devise measures for endeavouring to avert the it, on account of the very becoming and praiseworthy manner in which you have asked it. " I have the honour to be, Sir, " Your most obedient servant, " GEORGE R. DAWSON." " The Rev. F. J. Nicholson, 39, Gloucester-street, Queen-square, London. We feel great pleasure in adding an extract from a let- ter addressed to the Rev. Mr. Nicholson, by His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, enclosing a subscription of ten pounds ; as also a letter to the same purport from a celebrated dissenting minister : — " Kensington Palace, August 6, 1828. " I have perused with considerable interest, the letter which you addressed me on the 16th of July. " It affords me great satisfaction to learn, that the dis- trict of Ireland immediately under your care, has conti- nued in a comparatively tranquil state. One of the most important duties of the teachers of religion, after provid- ing for the happiness of their flocks in a future state, is the regulation of their conduct in this world, by circulat- ing the principles of obedience and subordination to the laws of the country under which they live, thereby be- coming the firmest support to the throne and the consti- tution. " As I am convinced that education, combined with re- ligion, must materially contribute to so desirable an object, xlviii consequences that must result from its continu- ance, &c. &c., I hope that your presence and in- I feel great pleasure in contributing my mite towards the support of your schools. Were I a richer man, I woidd do more ; and therefore, my good will must make amends for what my poverty prevents me from doing. I am sa- tisfied in my own mind, that a good Roman Catholic will always be as firm a supporter of our constitution, as any other of His Majesty's subjects, under whatever denomi- nation he may come. With regard to the compliment you have so kindly paid me, believe me, when I assure you, that my happiness as w^ell as my remuneration, con- sists in the conviction that I am, and can be, of use to my fellow-subjects. " I am, '* With consideration and esteem for your '^ personal character, "■ Your very sincere well-wisher, " AUGUSTUS FREDERICK." " My dear Sir, "Hackney, August 16, 1828. " On my return from a tour in Wales, I find your in- teresting, but too flattering letter ; and I am anxious in my reply to suggest, as I have done, the reason of my long silence. " Most cordially do I welcome, and most gladly do I return, all your expressions of christian brotherly love. Had this been from the beginning the language of the Ministers of the Gospel of peace and salvation, how dif- ferent at this day would have been the state of the church and the state of the world 1 " My name cannot avail you in your labour of love, but I cheerfully give my mite towards the scheme of educa- xlix fluence will not be wanting on this occasion to aid in devising and promoting such measures as shall be deemed most effectual towards rescuing the country from its present alarming condition, and for rendering its resources available towards the improvement of the great body of the people, and the prosperity of the empire at large." — Such was the alarming condition of Ireland on the 17th of January, yet on the 29th it was wholly unknown to his Majesty's ministers. For it is not to be supposed that such a state of things should be known to exist, and yet no notice be taken of it in the speech from the throne. As if foreboding inefficacy to their prayers, instead of applying to parliament for assistance in their distress, and appealing to the wisdom and good feeling of the legislature, they seem to throw themselves in despair upon the charity of individuals ! Parlia- tion patronised by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Tuam, in a manner so worthy of his station and character. May God Almighty prosper this and every j)lan, whether amongst Catholics or Protestants, for the promotion of true knowledge and genuine piety. " I hope we shall some day be known to each other personally, and in the mean time, I pray you to believe, that " I am, my dear Sir, " Your Christian friend and brother, " ROBERT APSLAND." " The Rev. F. J. Nicholson, 39, Gloucester-street, Queen-square, London." e 1 ment has devised one scheme of emigration after another — has expended thousands in charter-school grants, and thousands in the draining of bogs; but misery still reigns predominant, and threatens, as it would appear, the very existence of the country. But parliament is to do no more : the efforts of individuals are to supply those of the great council of the nation. The administration of public affairs is to be a sinecure in regard to Ireland. She is to be abandoned in her greatest need to the frantic reign of Bible Societies, of reformation crusaders, and perjured conspirators. She is to be given over to a malevolent faction, which '' like a raging lion, goeth about seeking whom it may devour ;" which not only preys, but gorges upon its victims ; a faction against which innocence is no protection, and a verdict of not guilty is no acquittal : and to brighten her prospects for the future, her avowed and determined enemies are placed at the head of the Government in Eng- land! Good God! when will the folly of our rulers cease ? They drive the people into wretch- edness by a long continued system of mal-adminis- tration, and then insult and mock them in their af- flictions by the most obstinate and contemptuous silence. It is both sending them the sword, and giving them the arm to wield it \^'^^ Till the Catho- (q) When Scanderberg sent his sword to Mahomet II. lie peasant be taught to regard the law as his pro- tector, by finding himself on an equality with his Protestant neighbour — till all cause of irri- tation be removed, and the spirit of bigotry be laid, by rescinding all penal distinctions — no per- manent tranquillity can be expected ; and till tran- quillity be established on a solid basis, to invite the investment of capital for the employment of the people, Ireland will be poor, and wretched, and miserable. It is a well known fact that, during the discussions upon the Catholic claims, in 1825, very large sums of money were only waiting for the security which the final settlement of that great question would afford, to be immediately embarked for Ireland. It has probably been lent to Mexico, and been lost; for in the present situation of things, our surplus capital finds a readier channel for in- vestment in the remotest corners of the world, and upon the most shallow security, than in calling into action the fertile but latent resources of our own immediate provinces. Those yearly droves of ragged and hungry peasants — a faint portrait of the still greater misery they leave behind — who traverse the country in search of a precarious sub- sistence, ought to speak more feelingly to the at the request of that monarch, Mahomet returned it, say- ing, that though he had sent him his scymetar, he had not sent him the arm that wielded it, e2 Hi minds of Englishmen than they do/'^>' In wretch- edness they outvie those " Papists of the East/' ^^^ Nothing can be more unjust than the outcry raised against the Irish labourers who have followed their land- lords into this country, to seek for that employment here, which the absence of these, their natural protectors, has prevented them from obtaining at home. Surely, it is but reasonable that they should be allowed to partake of the benefits dispensed amongst the people of England by their absentee countrymen, especially when it is considered that it is by the labour of these very men that the incomes thus expended have been raised. Besides, much of the food consumed by the English labourer is the produce of Ireland, and it is unjust to complain because the Irish peasant comes to eat here what, but for the unnatural union of the two countries, he would be able to enjoy at home. Independent of which, the necessaries of life would be much scarcer, and consequently much dearer to the English labourer, were it not for the supply afforded him from the superabundant produce of Ireland. But the spirit which actuates this feeling of hostility amongst the peasantry of England, to the poor, wandering, expatriated sons of Erin, is the same which has ever governed the higher classes in their treatment of that unhappy cotmtry • To say nothing of days long since gone by, the bare memory of which harrows up the very soul, let us cast a glance at the history of times so recent as to be within the recollection of all, and when neither ignorance, nor bar- barism, nor any fancied provocation to vengeance can plead an excuse, or even offer a palliation, for the wrongs we have inflicted. No details are requisite to illustrate liii the very Greeks themselves, without being equally fortunate in attracting the compassion or good- the picture : the shades are so deep, and the general gloom which pervades the whole piece is so profound, as to be visible to all : goaded into rebellion by the wily policy of a wicked and ambitious minister, then terrified by the atrocities committed in her subjugation, she was inveigled into a renunciation of her rights, and a resignation of her independence. While thus captivated by bribes, overawed by threats, and deceived by promises, in an evil hour did she consent to throw herself upon the mercy of her relent- less master. She has never ceased to rej^ent her folly ; for she has been a slave instead of a handmaid, — a servile dependant instead of an honourable partner. Though full seven and twenty years have elapsed, since ber mar- riage articles were signed, and she became legally betrothed to her imperious lord, during which period she has ever most religiously comported herself as a dutiful and sub- missive consort, she has never yet been permitted to solemnize her nuptials but by mourning and by sorrow. As the note of gladness has never yet dwelt upon her ear, nor happiness ever settled on her brow, neither has she yet been decked in her bridal di*ess, nor partaken of her bridal banquet. The fruits of a happy union have never yet appeared; neither was it to be expected that they should ; for there was too much of fraud and violence necessary to effectuate the marriage contract, — there was too wide a departure from the principles upon which alone a happy alliance could be founded, ever to allow her to look to other consequences than those which have rendered this union so abortive of good, and so prolific of evil liv will of the nation/'^ The Greek dies nobly in the field, and his death is sweetened with the compas- Being only a union of words and not of hearts, — of force and not of affection, — deficient in all those qualities requi- site for a lawful marriage, she has just cause to demand a dissolution of that tie, which could only have heen valid and effectual by the free consent of the contracting par- ties, and by the strict fulfilment of the stipulated condi- tions. Let those conditions be fulfilled, and the union may still be happily consummated. ^'-^ " But why do I mention these things, and what have we to do with the Greeks? What, are we not Greeks also — western Greeks— f cheers J — and has not a sort of Turkish rule oppressed us also, and trodden on our rights, and robbed us of our national glory, and prosperity, and security, and made us a bye-word amongst the other na- tions of Europe, and but I con-ect myself; — the Greek was not always under the blighting shadow of his op- pressor. Tliere were islands, which I have visited, where Greeks governed Greeks; and though ill-governed, no doubt, were at least their own governors, and ruled and obeyed after their own will, and for their own interests and use. The pacha came once a year, took his tythe, and church-rate, and cess, and then went home to sleep in his bar am, till the appointed season for the spoil or the contri- bution should come once more. But with us the Turk has been always present, at our fire-side, beside our chamber- grate, by the cradle of our children, on the grave of our fa- thers ; within us, above us, about us ; every where we have met the persecutor ; at the very altar, where, with a blasphe- my not to be endured by modern civilization, he interposed Iv sionate regard of the whole civilized world — while the victim of English bigotry pines out a miser- able existence, or sinks under the slow but deadly poison of disease and famine, with scarcely a heart to lament him/'^ If we steel ourselves to every his cruel arm between man and his God, and drove back the afflicted victim from the only consolation which was left him, the communication of his sufferings to the Father of the injured, and the Judge of the oppressor. — (loud cheers.) — Such, sir, we have been : but in one point only we have over Greece a very glorious advantage ; our struggle is not one of brutal or physical force ; not one of a fleshly and coarse arm — ^but one not less of might and power ; an arm which is of the spirit and of the mind, — an arm which is wielded by the intelligence, and morality, and constitu- tional vigour of an unanimous people ; — an arm of which indeed we are proud ; temper, discretion, open and gene- rous warfare, by every honest means, against all that is narrow, and exclusive, and selfish amongst mankind. — The fates of the nation are not in the hands of the drivelling torturers of the last century ; the bad genius of '98 is, I thank God, for ever exorcised from the land. — Against the cries of the orgies of Dublin, I give you a glorious talisman — let our watch-word be, not blood, but peace to all men — civil and religious liberty all over the world. — (Loud and long continued cheering. J — Mr. Wyse's speech at the dinner of Munster. ^'^ It is not intended to depreciate the generosity of, perhaps, a large portion of the people of England, in the succour they have so often given to arrest the ravages of Ivi sentiment of compassion for the sufferings of Ireland, as they regard herself, let our own in- terests, at least, excite us to reflect upon the consequences to us. In proportion as Ireland is poor, so will England be the victim of that po- verty. Hitherto the voice of Ireland has been heard only in the distance ; she now comes in person to tell us of her afflictions ; she sends forth her people like swarms of locusts upon the land, to devour and to make sterile : wherever she bends her course, famine and misery are attendants in her train ; the original proprietors are dispos- sessed, or sink to the same level of wretchedness with the miserable intruders. Such has frequently been the result, to a greater or a less extent, in all those districts which have been more immediately the rendezvous of the Irish emigrants ; the poor rates having, in many instances, absolutely exceeded the whole rental of the property on which they were levied. Though the consequences to other parts of the kingdom have been less perceptible, they have been every where real and considerable. famine amongst the poor of Ireland. The hand of indi- vidual charity has been bountiful, and has met with a proportionate return of gratitude. But, as a nation, we perpetuate those scenes of misery by blinding ourselves to their causes, and while we apply the balsam with one hand, we open the wound again with the other. Ivii The evil is one which, under the present system of government in Ireland, must not only exist, but must necessarily increase ; and who shall say whether it will terminate before the whole of Eng- land be consigned to the same dreadful condition of miserable poverty, to which she has so woefully contributed to reduce that unhappy country? It is now nearly a month, since the distressed and impo- verished state of Ireland has rendered her condition alarming ; and though this has been officially an- nounced for the same period, it does not yet appear to have attracted the notice of the legislature, or even of the English journals. Pteally to judge from the contents of our public press, the details of a fashionable party, the birth of some unnatural monster among the animal creation, or even the flowering of a primrose in January, is of more im- portance to the people of England, than are the most vital interests of the sister island, the pos- session of which has alone elevated us above the rank of secondary nations, by furnishing us with almost unlimited resources — by supplying half our navy, and more than half our army/"'' ^"^ Since the above was written, nearly another twelve- month has elapsed, duiing Avhich circumstances have occurred, which will, at length, force the situation of Ire- land upon the attention both of the government and the people of England, and which prove more strongly than Iviii I hope a few words may be permitted me (and I speak them with all due respect) to the Right Rev. ever the absolute necessity of bringing to a final and happy adjustment, that question which still agitates one country, and still paralyses the other. The war which is actually raging, and the rumours of others, are sufficient to convince any but an obstinate and imbecile government of the policy of marshalling our resources, and husbanding our strength ; while the late events in Clare have exhibited, in all its energy, the power with which the enemies of emancipation have to contend. That that power must prove irresistible is certain 5 if it lead to good, they who brought it into action have all the merit and all the glory ; but if to evil, they who have unjustly, unconstitutionally, and wickedly opposed it, though they will share the mis- fortune with others, v/ill alone be burthened with all the responsibility and all the dishonour. They who cry vio- lence against O'Connell and Shiel, and shelter themselves in their intolerance under the disingenuous pretext of turbulence on the part of those whom they are pleased to style the Irish demagogues, would they support emancipa- tion upon any terms or under any circumstances ? There are men who knov/ nothing of Catholicity but what they have learnt from the Protestant's Catechism — who know nothing of Ireland but what they glean from the liberal and en- lightened columns of the Standard, or Dublin Evening- Mail ; — men who allow themselves to be carried away by a spirit of vengeance, and who, in their pride and obsti- nacy, are ready to sacrifice millions of their fellow crea- tures to the fancied guilt of a few individuals. They call for passive submission to their tyranny ; words of sweet- lix Bench of Bishops, — Gratitude alone should induce them to act differently from what they do ; for ness for their insolence ; gratitude for their injustice. It is their will and pleasure, that what is now demanded as a right shall be sued for as a boon, — that we should learn to speak with honied lips, — that instead of holding our- selves erect, we should crawl upon the earth. They tell us that, when we are less eager in the pursuit, and when our relish for freedom is less keen, or, in other words, when we are become abject in our slavery, — silent under unmerited reproach, and willing victims at the shrine of bigotry; — when that blessed day shall arrive, which they know full well will never come ; — theji it is that, in their hypocrisy, they say, that the light of liberality shall shine in upon them ; — that, when tamed into servility by misfor- tune, we are unfitted for any noble deed or any honourable employment, that then, forsooth, they will put us into possession of all our desires, having first deprived us of every capacity to enjoy them ; — that then they will open to us the paths of fame, when we are so crippled as to be unable to advance in them. " Cease to agitate, and perhaps something may be done," is the language of him who governs the politics of the day. I do not accuse the Duke of Wellington of such views as those I have just described, much less of such a disposition of mind ; I trust his soul is too noble ever to have harboured such ideas; but being constrained by circumstances, and obliged to humour a party, he is com- pelled to use expressions which, with little meaning in themselves, may be so construed as to chime in with the opinions and conduct of men whom he is not at liberty to Ix they have certainly never yet repaid the obligation under which they were placed by the votes of the offend, and who are thereby honoured and supported in their miserable policy and their paltry subterfuges. Let us refer to what passed at the anniversaiy dinner at Derry, and let us judge to which party the accusation of outrageous violence should attach. The violence of the Catholics is a violence of zeal in the cause of justice and of right — a violence of wholesome indignation against the tyranny which oppresses them — a violent desire to emancipate their country from the evils that afflict her. But the men of Derry are outrageous, because the reign of bigotry is drawing to a close — because the tyrannical ascendancy which they have enjoyed for centuries, is about to be overthrown — because their monopoly of liberty, of political power, of the sweets of dominion, of all that men hold most dear in civil life, is to be broken down — because those, who have a right to be their equals, are to be raised to a level, and only to a level, with themselves — because one of their own brotherhood, more wise and more honest than the rest, has done himself immortal honour, by yield- ing to circumstances, instead of clinging, with obstinate bigotry and selfishness, to a cause, which, if allowed to run its course, instead of leading to a continuance of those delights which they are so reluctant to share with others, must inevitably bring ruin on themselves, together with the rest of the empire. This, and this only, is their apo- logy for calling for the blood of the peoj^le ! If such language as was heard at Derry, had ever been delivered in the Catholic Association, with a numerous body of armed men to echo it back, what invectives would Ixi 26 Catholic Peers, who, in 1 661, united in restoring them to their seats in the Legislature (from which the persecuted sectaries had driven them,) nor requited the good offices they had previously received from the Catholic Peerage, in 1641. No greater proof than these facts present, can be given of the sincerity of those professions which we make, in case of justice being done us, to rank ourselves amongst the constitutional supporters of the established church ; and yet, she opposes eman- cipation, to secure her temporalities ! One while, she argues that Catholics will thrive so fast on freedom, that they will overrun the whole empire. it not have called forth, what horror would it not have excited ! The cry of rebellion would have sounded from one end of the kingdom to the other ; the w^hole power of government would have been invoked to stifle the mon- ster in its birth ! — But it is well that the Orangemen of the North have unmasked themselves. They exhibit to the world the vitiating principle of that unhallowed cause with which they are identified, and prove themselves the true originals of those startling and terrific portraits, which we now perceive to have been sketched without exaggeration by the Catholic leaders. From being our most dangerous enemies, we may in future consider them as our best friends. N. B. For a few illustrations, hastily collected from the public journals, of the actual condition of things in Ire- land, see Appendix, No. VI. Ix they have certainly never yet repaid the obligation under which they were placed by the votes of the offend, and who are thereby honoured and supported in their miserable policy and their paltry subterfug-es. Let us refer to what passed at the anniversaiy dinner at Derry, and let us judge to which party the accusation of outrageous violence should attach. The violence of the Catholics is a violence of zeal in the cause of justice and of right — a violence of wholesome indignation against the tyranny which oppresses them — a violent desire to emancipate their country from the evils that afflict her. But the men of Deny are outrageous, because the reign of bigotry is drawing to a close — because the tyrannical ascendancy which they have enjoyed for centuries, is about to be overthrown — because their monopoly of liberty, of political power, of the sweets of dominion, of all that men hold most dear in civil life, is to be broken down — because those, who have a right to be their equals, are to be raised to a level, and oidij to a level, with themselves — because one of their own brotherhood, more wise and more honest than the rest, has done himself immortal honour, by yield- ing to circumstances, instead of clinging, with obstinate bigotry and selfishness, to a cause, which, if allowed to run its course, instead of leading to a continuance of those delights which they are so reluctant to share with others, must inevitably bring ruin on themselves, together with the rest of the empire. This, and this only, is their apo- logy for calling for the blood of the people ! If such language as was heard at Derry, had ever been delivered in the Catholic Association, with a numerous bodv of armed men to echo it back, what invectives would Ixi 26 Catholic Peers, who, in 1 661, united in restoring them to their seats in the Legislature (from which the persecuted sectaries had driven them,) nor requited the good offices they had previously- received from the Catholic Peerage, in 1641. No greater proof than these facts present, can be given of the sincerity of those professions which we make, in case of justice being done us, to rank ourselves amongst the constitutional supporters of the established church ; and yet, she opposes eman- cipation, to secure her temporalities ! One while, she argues that Catholics will thrive so fast on freedom, that they will overrun the whole empire. it not have called forth, what horror would it not have excited ! The cry of rebellion would have sounded from one end of the kingdom to the other ; the whole power of government would have been invoked to stifle the mon- ster in its birth ! — But it is well that the Orangemen of the North have unmasked themselves. They exhibit to the world the vitiating principle of that unhallowed cause with which they are identified, and prove themselves the true oiiginals of those startling and terrific portraits, which we now perceive to have been sketched without exaggeration by the Catholic leaders. From being our most dangerous enemies, we may in future consider them as our best friends. N. B. For a few illustrations, hastily collected from the public journals, of the actual condition of things in Ire- land, see Appendix, No. VI. Ixii If so. Protestantism, deep-rooted as it is, must indeed be a meagre plant, to be expelled the soil by a new half-starved comer. Others say, the Catholics thrive well enough as it is. True : they do so : they gain in wealth, in numbers, in import- ance daily ; and, in proportion as they thrive, so do they become more discontented with their political situation. — Every day, their condemnation weighs more heavily upon them ; the object which they seek becomes of more value, in proportion to their increasing capacity to enjoy it ; and every day their exertions will be redoubled, with the power they possess, towards obtaining the redress of their grievances, and the objects of their lawful ambition. In any case, emancipation must and willbe achieved, and better in peace and quiet, than in war and tumult — better in the day of prosperity, than in the hour of distress. Thank heaven ! the time is past when the system of persecution by which we are oppressed, was pursued to its full extent ; but though its power is broken and enfeebled, its spirit is not yet fled. We still suffer directly in our privileges and our rights, and even in our for- tunes -/'^ while our reputation, both as subjects ^'^ Witness the double land tax. — I am most happy in this opportunity of publicly testifying the sense which the Catholics of England must ever entertain of the very handsome manner in which Mr. Bankes has come forward to reheve his fellow-countrymen from this very oppressive Ixiii and as Christians, is still loaded with the defama- tion of nearly three centuries. If the State seeks for protection from such measures, she cannot find it : she is only erecting a barrier against her best friends. If the Church looks for defence from such weapons, she only combats against herself, by alien- ating the good opinion of those who would other- wise be sincere in supporting her. The Protestant is now the Established Church. Let her rest satisfied with this advantage. It gives her all the splendour, and power, and influence of worldly state, with the largest ecclesiastical reve- nues in Christendom to support them ; thus insur- ing her as complete an ascendancy over every other religion as can with justice be desired. But if her prelates and ministers provoke the exposure of her errors — of the false principles on w hich she separated from the Church of Rome, and of the iniquity in which she was cradled — by calumniating the religion of those whom they have dispossessed, tax ; but, notwithstanding all his efforts, and though the paramount injustice of the thing has long been acknow- ledged on all hands, and an act of Parliament w^as passed, in 1791, to relieve us from the burden (but which unfor- tunately proved inefficient for its purpose), it is still per- mitted to continue from year to year, as a proof of the little attention paid to Catholic affairs, and the little interest excited by our grievances. Ixiv and by continuing against them a system of un- merited condemnation, as well as against all who dissent from them; theij themselves are answer- able for the consequences. The firebrand with which they are still desolating the victims of their bigotry and their fears, may be hurled back into their own quarters, and the golden harvest which they are now reaping in such abundance, may be blasted and destroyed for ever ! The Church of England should ever recollect, that she has already once fallen in conflict with her enemies ; and perhaps it would be well for the Sovereign to remember, that the monarch fell too : she has seen her hierarchy destroyed, her benefices usurped, and her religion reduced in its turn to the melancholy condition of a persecuted sect/*^ And is she not fearful of a second contest ? Can she hear that one half of her followers have deserted, and not tremble lest they should raise r*; a I went to London," says Evelyn, in bis Memoirs, " to receive the blessed Sacrament, the first time the Church of England was reduced to a chamber and con- venticle, so sharp was the persecution. The parish churches were filled with sectaries of all sorts, blasphemous and ignorant mechanics usurping the pulpits every where. Dr. Wilde preached in a private house in Fleet-street, where we had a great meeting of zealous Christians, who were generally much more devout and religious than in our greatest prosperity." Ixv the standard against her? Is it not folly — is it not madness^ to learn these tidings, and not cease to irritate and offend? While she has yet the power to give — before she loses the ability to refuse, let her shew herself worthy of her cause, by her generosity, her justice, and her wisdom : let her doff the blood-stained armour of persecu- tion, and clothe herself in the spotless garments of clemency and moderation, and, like a meek and humble disciple of Christ, let her meet her ene- mies with the kiss of peace, and inscribe on her standards. Good will to all men. Clemency and moderation will attach a large and zealous body to her interests. We should support her, — not as a church possessing purity of doctrine, but as a teacher of good morals, and as a member of the great edifice of the constitution. Conciliation is her best and only resource : let her desist from her miserable and petty persecution of the dissen- ters, and her vigorous and determined warfare against the Catholics.^''^ This would place her ^"^ Happily, since the above was written, the disabili- ties of the Dissenters have been removed ; the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts has been achieved ; one great bulwark of bigotry and intolerance has been thrown down ; and the march of religious freedom has triumph- antly advanced. It has, however, been strenuously in- sisted on, even by some of the boldest advocates of eman- cipation, that the principle of this measure has no con- f Ixvi on a proud pre-eminence, and be unto her a tower of strength ; and if ever hereafter, in the nection or analogy with what is termed the CathoHc question ; hut a cursory analysis of the divisions upon the two cases, will at once overturn this assertion. Out of 237 members of the House of Commons, who voted for the Dissenters, only 23 voted against the Catholics; while out of 193 who voted against the Dissenters, only 24 voted for the Catholics, the greater part of whom were either actually in office, or so connected with Government as not to he considered as free agents when the question of the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts was brought before them. These 24 were in no respect the enemies of religious freedom, but, on the contrary, they stated their opposition to the Dissenters to arise solely from the ap- prehension that the adjustment of their claims might im- pede the more important affair of the emancipation of the Catholics, and the pacification of Ireland. If, therefore, we add these 24 to the 237, we have 261 voices in favour of the Dissenters, out of whom only 23 are to be found who are enemies to general relief from religious disabili- ties. Does not this prove the principle of the votes to have been generally the same in both cases ? In regard of the Irish members it was remarkably so : out of the 33 who voted in favour of the Dissenters, not one voted against the Catholics ; and out of the 21 who voted against the Dissenters, only three (and those known friends of religious freedom, but in office at the time, and therefore necessitated to follow the leader of the adminis- tration) gave their voices for emancipation. It seems difficult to comprehend how there can be a principle ap- Ixvii vicissitudes of things, it should be her fate to fall, she would at least fall with honour and regret ; plicable to the relief of the Dissenters, or what argument it is that can be advanced in their behalf, which will not apply to Catholics with double force. Will those who assert the contrary, avow the motives upon which they acted ? It was said, I believe, that the grievances of the Dissenters were imaginary ; that they only asked to hold that dejure, which they had long enjoyed de facto; and, therefore, that there was no longer any thing to concede. But why, after looking upon the question in so very dif- ferent a light for so many years, did they, all of a sudden, conceive it to be necessary to grant the prayer which they had so long refused ? Why were the Dissenters to have de jure, what they had so long held de facto ? If it were not upon the principle of justice and sound policy ; if it were not upon the principle that civil distinctions on ac- count of religious opinions were incompatible with the spirit of the times, and inimical to the best interest of the country, we must look to some other accounting cause ; and in so doing, we can see nothing to which to ascribe this mighty change, but to the magical effect of a just and powerful intimidation. That ministers, and men who had for years strenuously opposed every adjustment of these claims, should, by the force of a strong majority against them, suddenly discover the propriety of granting dejure, what they had so long declared ought not to be conceded upon that title; and that right reverend and learned prelates, with their attention continually turned to the subject by the very nature of their daily avocations, should only then see for the first time, the guilt of sacri- f2 Ixviii at present she would meet her ruin deservedly and unlamented ; and as long as the question be, lege and profanation in what had so long been passing under their own eyes as a harmless pastime, must be at- tributable to some very novel and all-powerful cause ; a cause which had no immediate connection with the gene- ral question of rehgious liberty. Surely, it was not that they suddenly discovered that the Dissenters were, and ever had been, more exemplary for their loyalty and at- tachment to both king and state, than their Roman Ca- thohc fellow-subjects ! Surely, it w^as not that these re- ligionists had taken a retrograde movement in their doc- trinal belief, and had made approaches towards the 39 articles ! No ; it was the unconquerable spirit of these men that dissipated prejudices, that taught wisdom to folly, and liberality to bigots ; that overwhelmed every opposing power, and rendered resistance fruitless. Such, too, ere long, will be the effect of that formidable and undaunted front which Ireland now presents to her enemies. Hitherto, the ascendancy faction has ever taken a most ungenerous advantage of the tried and deep-rooted integrity and loyalty of the men, whom they are ever ready to vilify as possessed with a spirit of outrage and rebellion, that only seeks for an opportunity to revenge her wrongs. I know of no feature in the whole history of their inso- lence and oppression, which throws a darker shade over their conduct, than this hypocritical denunciation of the existence of a state of things, in which if there had been any truth, they had never dared to pursue their tyranny and injustice to the extremities to which they have done ; or having pursued it, which would not have produced Ixix whether the Church of England shall perish, or seven millions of the king's subjects be emancipated from civil thraldom, we shall not hesitate to ex- claim. Fiat justitia, mat cesium f''^ As the estab- lished religion, like the Greek schism, began by a simple act of separation, so, saving this exception, has she deviated less widely from the parent church than any other, and so, in proportion, will she find the professors of the ancient faith more ready and willing to defend her, when they can do so with advantage to the country, and with honour to themselves : they are now the most numerous of very different consequences. Let them learn, however, that no system of unjustifiable coercion, especially one which offends the sensibilities of a highly-gifted and generous people, can long be pushed to extremities with- out recoiling upon its authors. Though the people of Ireland may not have power to slay and to conqvier, they may yet have strength enough to pull down the temple upon our heads as well as upon their own. A wise government would not provoke them to it. (b) u w^hat is it but the consciousness of injustice, or the innate weakness and inconsistency of any church, which can require in the present times that she be fenced in with laws and terrors, and rendered secure, not by her own truth and virtue, but by the oppression and humili- ation of those who refuse to bow down and worship her like some golden calf Let the church perish that thrives by oppression, and visits with temporal penalties the con- sciences of men ! 1" — (Reply to Dr. Magee.J Ixx her enemies, and may be easily transformed into the most powerful of her friends. But if she is obsti- nately bent upon her present course of injustice, at least let her cease to make us the victims of calumny and misrepresentation ; for it is calumny and mis- representation alone that have reduced us to what we are. As credulity is one of the prevaiHng weaknesses of human nature, it is no wonder that the unjust accusations of our enemies should have been so successful in deceiving; — ^that, while our re- ligion remains pure and untainted as when it ema- nated from the revelations of heaven, it should be condemned by the credulous and the ignorant as superstitious and idolatrous;^'^^ — and that, though we remain as loyal members of the state as when we en- joyed our inheritance in full, we should be regarded as the disaffected and ill-omened of the creation. It is through interested defamation, working upon extravagant fears, that w^e have been brought to this, that almost all who speak of us, deride and insult us — all who write of us, calumniate us — all <^'^ See a few specimens of the hideous calumnies in vogue against us, in the 32nd Letter of The End of Re- ligious Controversy; calumnies which have reached the cottages of the poor as well as the houses of the rich, and which no one can read without blushing to belong to the rehgionofthemenwho propagated them, or to the society of Christians who receive and believe them : and they are still to be met with in almost every publication of the day. Ixxi who read of us, or hear of us, imbibe the poison, and reject the truth. How many, by the abuse of CathoHcity, have paved their road to prefer- ment both in church and state ; and have found ample gain in so disgraceful a traffic. How many prelates have forfeited the title of Christian by their anti-christian illiberality ! How many statesmen have abandoned their dignity and honour by prostituting their talents in the cause of cruel and unjustifiable oppression ! But at the same time that we find many to condemn, it is a pleasure to find others to commend. How illustrious are those many virtuous and patriotic senators, who have scorned to be any thing but the honest advocates of religious toleration ; — how benign amongst his colleagues is that venerable member of the Pre- lacy, who, in the true spirit of a Christian bishop, has ever knov/n how to unite charity and benevo- lence with a dissent in religious tenets — who is now calmly journeying to the grave, eminent in wisdom and virtue, and who, when he is removed from amongst us, will, perhaps, leave Charity to seek in vain for another associate amongst the hierarchy of the establishment.^'^^ Would to God ^'^^ That charitable and benevolent individual, who a few years ago so laudably signalized his zeal, and exerted his talents in the cause of religious unity and peace, also bears most ample and liberal testimony in our favour. '^ By the reflecting members of the Church of England," says this Ixxii that such truly Christian sentiments as this amiable prelate has always professed, were common among his Protestant brethren ; but the reverse is too generally the case ; their judgment is distorted by prejudice, and their charity is converted into ran- cour by the force of falsely conceived opinions both in regard to us and to themselves. They w^eigh with impartiality every thing but Catho- licity. They see others in their true colours, but amiable writer, " who consider themselves a second branch of the Catholic church of Christ, the Church of Rome has never been denied to be of the true church : " and again ; " There is among the Roman Catholics a fixedness in their religious princi^Dles which will have influence ; there is a decided attachment to their faith, which comprises all the genuine doctrines of the gospel ; and amidst the sad di- versity and alarming indiff'erence generally prevailing among Protestants, some consolation may be derived from a hope, that, in reward for the zealous affection of Roman Catholics for their religion, that respectable and numerous body may, under divine providence, become purified from error, and be the honoured means of conveying the true faith to the remotest generations." " I am pained," says the late Dr. Parr, '' by the out- rageous invectives that are thrown out against the Church of Rome ; and I must further confess, that they appear to me not only vmjust, but even inhuman." — "I hope," he says in another place, " to find a better way of showing myself either worthy to live, or fit to die, within the pale of the Church of England, than by insulting Roman Catholics with the opprobrious imputations of superstition and idolatry." Ixxiii they look at Catholics only through a jaundiced medium. They fasten the crimes of individuals upon the whole body^ and the virtues which they are sometimes forced to admit and to admire, they confine to individual merit. Thus, whether we be good or bad — whether we be dark or lightsome, we are always wrong. There is a general perver- sion of opinion against us, and, in the quaint lan- luage of former times, '' no wood comes amiss to make arrows for our destruction."^'^ We are ^^^ The Bishop of Chester (in his Letter to Mr. Butler, 4th edition) observes : " Most sincerely do I wish that religious controversy could always have been carried on in that tone of mildness and moderation which, a few instances only excepted, pervades your answer to Dr. Southey's Book of the Church." — Shortly after, he says : " You have yourself, in strong terms, deprecated the un- fairness of imputing to the principles of a church, the in- dividual obliquities of a few of its members ; " and yet the very next moment, forgetting, in the ardour of his zeal, his own regulations for polemic warfare, he buckles on his armour, seizes the firebrand with one hand and the poisoned arrow with the other, and with slander on his tongue, rushes headlong — not against his antagonist in single combat — but into the midst of the whole camp of the enemy. " It affords, cries the bishop, " a most clear and indubitable evidence, that there is something in the spirit of the Roman Catholic religion which neither time nor experience can alter;" — and with the charitable intention of slandering, he only pronounces an honour- Ixxiv deemed both foolish and criminal for adhering to our religion, in opposition to more modern and able eulogium ! — But increasing in rage as he advances in the conflict, he exclaims, " which contains the germ of intolerance and persecution :" — if the aggressor were here met with " the cruel arms of retaliation," he would be instantly beaten from the field. — Let him, however, proceed in his attack : " Which poisons the fountain of truth!!!" Whatever truth there be in Protestantism, whence does it come ? The Catholic Church most assuredly had the keeping of the fountain of truth for 1500 years before Protestantism was heard of; and sup- posing the poison to have been thrown in only a thou- sand years before, the stream must have been so woefully impregnated, that it is no presumption to surmise that the God of purity and holiness, would have employed more able and less dishonest workmen in its purification than a Luther or a Cranmer, a Henry or an Elizabeth ; who were sure more thoroughly to pollute and embitter, in- stead of restoring, its sweetness and transparency. Like unhandy workmen on a masterj)iece of art, they only de- formed where they pretended to embellish ; like unskilful alchymists, they only tainted what they undertook to purify. They encountered the certain punishment of pre- sumption ; and what in their vanity, their folly, and their impiety, they chose to designate as blemished and conta- minated, was only proved to the world to be more beauti- ful in its form, and more excellent in its quality. That all-consummate work which the hand of God himself had fashioned, was not to be improved by the presumptuous labours of created man. Ixxv more convenient opinions; no credit is given to us for our motives, and we are accused of a dere- But, supposing the fountain to have been poisoned, can the Bishop of Chester tell us who or what effected the miracle of its purification ! If it -mmm not the wonder- working sceptre of an immaculate Henry, was it the fury and impiety of Luther ? If it iwi^not the supremacy of Henry, was it the repeated doctrinal amendments of the child Edward ? If it were not the amendments of Edward, was it the worldly-wise and more deliberate improvements of Elizabeth ? If it were not the forty-two, why should it be the thirty-nine articles ? Is there such magic in numbers ? Is there such virtue in fitful and evanescent doctrine ? — But, the spleen of the Bishop not being yet exhausted, he thus comj)letes the climax of his slander : " which obscures and blunts the most sagacious intellect, and represses the natural movements of a just and ingenu- ous mind ! ! ! " We benighted Catholics being all too blunted to be capable of any reply to this specimen of Protestant acumen, the Bishop surely will not object to our taking an auxiliary into pay, from his own ranks, to fight this intellectual battle for us ; to do so, would be to oppose the natural movements of a just and ingenuous mind. " But I must here confine myself (says our auxiliary) to this charge against the Catholic religion, of being unfa- vourable to genius, talent, and, in short, to the powers of the mind. Those who put forward this piece of rare impu- dence, do not favour us with reasons for believing that the Catholic religion has any such tendency. They content themselves with the bare assertion, not supposing that it admits of any thing like disproof. They look upon it as Ixxvi liction of our duty in seceding from the service of our country, because we will not conform to Pro- assertion against assertion; and, in a question which depends on mere hardness of mouth, they know that their triumph is secure. But this is a question that does admit oi proof, and a very good proof too. The " Reformation," in England, was preity nearly completed hy the year 1600. By that time, all the "monkish ignorance and super- stition" were swept away. The monasteries were all pretty nearly knocked down ; young Saint Edward's people had robbed all the altars ; and the ' virgin ' queen had put the finishing hand to the pillage. So that all was, in 1600, become as Protestant as heart could wish. Very well : the kingdom of France remained buried in '' monkish ignorance and superstition" until the year 1787 : that is to say, 187 years after happy England had stood in a blaze of Pro- testant light ! Now then, if we carefully examine into the number of men remarkable for great powers of mind, men famed for their knowledge or genius ; if we carefully examine into the number of such men produced hj France in these 187 years, and the number of such men produced hy Efiyland, Scotland and Ireland, dming the same i^eriod; if we do this, we shall get at a pretty good foundation for judging of the effects of the two religions with regard to their influence on knowledge, genius, and what is gener- ally called learning. " But how are we to ascertain these numbers } Very well. I shall refer to a work which has a place in every good library in the kingdom ; I mean, the " Universal Historical, Critical, and Bibliographical Dic- tionary." This work, which is every where received as ixxvii testantism. Though the presumption is both un- charitable and unjust, yet too many imagine that authority as to facts, contains lists of persons of all nations celebrated for their published works. But, then, to have a place in these lists, the person must have been really distinguished; his or her works must have been considered as worthy of universal notice. From these lists I shall take my numbers, as before proposed. It will not be neces- sary to go into all the arts and sciences : eight or nine will be sufficient. It may be as well, perhaps, to take the Italians as well as the French ; for we all know that they were living in most shocking ' monkish ignorance and superstition ;' and that they, poor, unfortunate and unplun- dered souls, are so living unto this very day ! " Here, then, is the statement ; and you have only to observe, that the figures represent the number of persons who were famous for the art or science opposite the name of which the figures are placed. The period is, from the year 1600 to 1787, during which period France was under what young George Rose calls the * dark despotism of the Catholic Church,' and what Blackstone calls " monkish ignorance and superstition;'' and, during the same period, these islands were in a blaze of light, sent forth by Luther, Cranmer,Knox, and their followers. Here, then, is the statement : — England, Scotland, and Ireland. France. Italy. Writers on Law 6 51 9 Mathematicians 17 52 15 Physicians and Surgeons .... 13 72 21 Writers on Natural History • • 6 33 11 Historians 21 139 22 Dramatic Writers 19 &Q 6 Ixxviii we remain firm to the ancient faith, merely through a blind attachment to the prejudices of education England, Scotland, and Ireland. France. Italy. Grammarians 7 42 2 Poets 38 157 34 Painters 5 - 64 • 44 132 676 164 " Here is that very ' scale,' which a modest Scotch writer spoke of the other day, when he told the public, that, ' Throughout Europe Protestants rank higher in the scale of Intellect than Catholics, and that Catholics in the neighbourhood of Protestants are more intellectual than those at a distance from them.' This is a fine spe- cimen of upstart Protestant impudence. The above ' scaW is, however, a complete answer to it. Allow one third more to the French on account of their superior 23oj)ulousness, and then there will remain to them 451 to our 132 ! So that they had, man for man, three and a half times as much intellect as we, though they were buried all the while in * monkish ignorance and superstition,' and though they had no Protestant neighbours to catch the intellect from ! Even the Italians surpass us in this rivalship for intellect; for their population is not equal to that of which we boast, and their number of men of mind considerably exceeds that of ours. But, do I not, all this while, misunderstand this matter ? And, by intel- lect, does not the Scotchman mean the capacity to make, not books and pictures, but checks, bills, bonds, exchequer- bills, inimitable notes, and the like ? Does he not mean loan-jobbing and stock-jobbing, insurance-booking, annui- ties at ten per cent., kite-flying, and all the ' intellectuaV Ixxix and parentage ; that we are content to sacrifice our country's good to an obstinate perversity of proceedings of 'Change Alley? Ah ! in that case, I con- fess that he is right. On this scale Protestants do rank high indeed r — History of the Protestant Reformation, p. 17. As to the charge of the Catholic religion being opposed to " the natural movements of a just and ingenuous mind," I will only reply through another and a very eminent auxiliary, that " Catholicity has been the belief of the most illustrious characters that ever did honour to the name of man," and leave the bishop to seek the solution of his problem where and how he may. I refer not to the long catalogue of saints, of martyrs, and of apostles ; to men who, at the risk of their lives, and with the sacri- fice of every temporal comfort, have carried the light of the gospel to all the nations of the known world : — I refer not to a More, a Fisher, a Boromeo, a Turenne, a Fene- lon : — I refer not to those hundreds of individuals, who, in every Catholic province of the universe, devote every faculty with which God has blessed them, to the sublime occupation of doing deeds of charity to mankind : — I refer not to them ; for / am too blunted to see, and the Bishop is too enlightened to believe, that all these were, or are Roman Catholics. With the Bishop's permission, however, I will say one word more in my own person. This is not the place, neither is it my province, to follow the right reverend pre- late into the arena of polemic history. Mr. Bvitler's reply being entirely out of print, I have been unable to procure a copy of it, and therefore know not whether that gentleman Ixxx mind, and are only resolute in maintaining our- selves to be right, because it might appear degrad- has triumphantly refuted the Bishop's historical assertions, as I am sure he is so capable of doing ; but which it was not necessary that he should do, as they have long since been ably confuted by others. I will, however, observe in passing, that Dr. Blomfield's annotations upon the creed of Pius IV. would shame the meanest tyro in theology ; — that his application of the decree of the Council of Constance relative to Huss, is wholly and entirely per- verted; — that he every where confounds discipline with doctrine, and doctrine with discipline ;— that he cites the opinions of councils without waiting to discuss their va- lidity, or without distinguishing the unratified decisions of an unauthorized few, from the authenticated decrees of an oecumenical assembly of the pastors of the church. As long as the Bishop's historical facts rest only upon his ipse dixit, the ipse dixit of any other man is as good to refute them : but, satis superque. My object has been to show that his Lordship can some- times convert the sword of the spirit into a sword of steel; and that, neither the fire-brand nor the poisoned arrow are weapons so entirely disused by ministers of the establish- ment, as he would wish us to suppose. (The Bishop refers his readers to " A comparative view of the Churches of England and Rome."— I beg to refer them to Dr. Lin- gard's convincing answer to that publication.) How effectual is example 1 In a charge delivered last year, in the diocese of Chester, and published at the re- quest of the Clergy present, we find the following extract from a bull of the present Pontiff :— " We also, venerable Ixxxi ing to acknowledge ourselves to be wrong. But I should wish it to appear that we have other brethren, conformably to our apostolical duty, exhort you diligently to occupy yourselves by all means to turn away your flock from these dead I tj pastures ; [i. e. the Scriptures translated into the vulgar tongue]." The Archdeacon of Richmond here proves himself a worthy subaltern of his diocesan commander. Nay, we are free to confess that the servant has outdone the master ; if not in the boldness, at least in the impudence of his slander. What will be the astonishment of the reader, when, instead of these deadly pastnres, referring to tJie Scriptures translated into the vulgar tongue, he sees that these expressions relate to what shall be described in the Pontiff's own words : " What shall I say more .? The iniquity of our enemies has so increased, that, besides the deluge of pernicious books, contrary to the faith, it even goes so far as to con- vert to the detriment of religion the Holy Scriptures, which have been given us from above for the general edi- fication. You are not ignorant, venerable brethren, that a society, commonly called the Bible Society, audaciously spreads itself over the whole earth ; and that in contempt of the traditions of the holy fathers, and contrary to the decree of the Council of Trent, it exerts all its efforts, and every means, to translate, or rather to corrupt the holy Scriptures into the vulgar tongue of nations, which gives just cause to fear that the same may happen in all the other translations, as in those aheady known — namely, that we shall find in them a bad interpretation ; instead of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of man, or rather thjB gospel of the devil. Behold, venerable brethren, whither Ixxxii motives for not deserting an ancient cause, a cause in which we have endured so long and so cruel a it tends, ODiittiiig* nothing to accomplish its impious pur- pose ; for it glories, not only in printing its translations, but even in going about to towns and distributing them among the people : sometimes it sells them, and some- times, with perfidious liberality, gives them away." — Rescript oi May 3, 1824. Such are the deadly pastures mentioned in the "Rescript," and not, as the Archdeacon unblushingly asserts, the Scriptures' translated into the vidgar tongue. But such are the extravagant and disgraceful impositions by which the people of this country are dehided, — by which Christianity itself is brought into disrepute, — and by which the rights and characters of innocent men are sacrificed. Is there not, also, some reason for the vigilance and re- strictions of the Bishop of Rome, as to reading the Scrip- ture in the vulgar tongue ? In one of the regulations of the Council of Trent, it is declared as a matter of discipline ; " That since the jw$w«ra^^lowance of the Bible in the vulgar tongue has been proved by experience to do more harm than good, it is determined that a discretionary power should be invested in the curate or confessor, to al- low such versions to be read by those only who would sufi'er no detriment from the reading,but would receive an increase of faith and piety." There has long been an authorized translation of the sacred writings in the Italian language, which till lately was open to every one ; but in consequence of the eager and intrusive circulation of the corrupted translations of the Bible Societies, the restrictions of the Council of Trent, originally framed under similar circum- Ixxxiii martyrdom, than the shame of being branded as apostates; and that, circumstanced as we are, it stances, were again imposed : but the regulations are not binding on the Catholics of this country, nor indeed, do they extend beyond Italy itself. We hav^e every where editions of the bible in every size, from the folio to the duodecimo, and have full liberty to read as we list, with proper dispositions, and a due regard to the annotations annexed for the interpretation thereof In Ireland, the circulation of the Scriptures among the Roman Catholics has been very great, particularly of late years. Two editions of the New Testament are now lying before me, one dated 1821, and the other 1826; the latter is a ste- reotyj^ed and a very cheap edition. It is prefaced by the following approbation of the Archbishops : — " We approve of this stereotyped edition of the New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, being according to the Douay version ; and we authorize Richard Coyne, of Capel Street, Dublin, to print and publish it. " Given at Dublin, December 16, 1825. Patrick Curtis, D.D. &c. Robert Laffan, D.D. &c. Daniel Murray, D.D. &c. Oliver Kelly, D.D. &c. So that though the Pontiff has been pleased to style the Bibles of the Society deadly pastures, yet the salutary food of the word of God, translated into the vulgar tongue, whatever the Archdeacon may say to the contrary, is still freely permitted, with an almost nominal restriction in the Papal States, to the whole of the Christian world. " As to reading the Scriptures in an authorized version, g2 Ixxxiv is both ungenerous and unjust to accuse us of being supine and indifferent to the public interest. In arduous times, in periods of political danger, if a man is not found at his post, he should be able to give a good excuse for his absence. It is this which I profess to undertake : I profess to prove that the fault lies with those who impose the restrictions, not with those who submit to them ; and that, by acting otherwise than as we do, we should only incur the guilt of a ""^^Bff subserviency to our temporal interests, and make a sacrifice both of our honour and our conscience. Such are the motives for the p'lblication of the following rea- sons : they are convincing to me, and I hope they may prove so to others. ^^^ there is no restriction in Ireland ; yet our Bible Mission- aries are continually telling us the contrary ; not that they do not know their assertions to be false, but that they intend their lying speeches to be circulated among the people of England." Extract from a Letter from Dr. Doyle. ^^^ I feel another inducement to this undertaking. Charity urges us to use every reasonable expedient and exertion to do good to others ; to diffuse those blessings which we enjoy ourselves ; to impart a knowledge of the truth which we believe, and bear testimony to the faith we have received from our forefathers. But, to those who believe not in the necessity of any fixed and steadfast faith — who, far from esteeming heresy, Ixxxv As I have written nothing in a spirit of animosity, so I trust none will be offended with that freedom schism, and dissension in matters of religion, as works of the fleshy and suggestions of Satan, allow themselves to be tossed about by every wind of doctrine, heedless whither they are carried ; — to those who peruse the Scriptures, believing what chimes in Avith their ideas, but rejecting what displeases them, (though both the one and the other rest equally upon the same authority, and are often to be found together in the same j)age ;) — to those who, in con- tradiction to the opinion of St. Peter, imagine that none are so little learned as not to be fit interpreters of the law, and expounders of the sacred doctrine, and that all are so wise and stable as to be proof against the enemy of truth, in his endeavours to induce us to wrest the words of God to our own destruction and perdition ; — to those who are unwilling to submit their reason to the ohedience of faith, but are resolved to emancipate themselves altogether from ecclesiastical authority ; upon which resolution, both in theory and in practice, every religious establishment may be said to have been founded, even at the moment of its separation from the parent Church ; to those who have no faith in the promise of Christ, that the Spirit of truth shall abide for ever with his ministers ; to those who take religious faith to be a belief in what requires not the exercise of faith, namely, a belief in what they can com- prehend with their own reason, and see with their own eyes; instead of, what St. Paul terms, the evidence of things which are not seen, and the remedy to that state of intellectual darkness to which original sin had reduced Ixxxvi of discussion which the nature of the subject re- quired : none will be so unjust as to deny us the mankind, (a doctrine itself as inexplicable and incompre- hensible as any that the Almighty has revealed to man, but which, if we do not believe, we are no longer Chris- tians) ; — to those, in fine, who look upon religious faith as a matter of indifference, who, knowing that two contra- dictory propositions cannot both be true, yet fancy that each is equally pleasing to the God of truth, and equally satisfactory as a foundation on which to build that stead- fast faith without which we must he condemned, — who laugh at error as a play-thing with which we may amuse ourselves as long and in what manner we will, without being answerable for the consequences,— and who consider delusion in controverted j)oints as a matter of no impor- tance whatever: — to all such, I am well aware that my Reasons, considered in reference to religion, will appear vain and unmeaning. I address myself to those only who, while they believe in the doctrines of Revelation, are willing to take them in their approved and established sense ; to inquire sin- cerely in what manner they were received in the first ages of the Church, and what authority has been appointed to interpret them ;* and who, while they acknowledge the divinity of our vSaviour, are also ready to believe and follow his Gospel. How can we say we believe in * In the Introduction to Mant's Book of Common Prayer, is the following passage : — " As it is established by ecclesiastical authority, those who separate themselves and set up another form of worship, are schismatics, and consequently are guilty of a grievous sin, which no toleration granted by the civil magistrate can authorize or justify," &c. Ixxxvii right of displaying the motives of our conduct with candour and with truth. Christ, without beHeving in his doctrines ? surely the one is incompatible with the other. It will be seen that I have touched but slightly upon the evidence tending to establish the truths of Catho- licity. I have only done so incidentally ; merely taking advantage of the opportunities afforded for that purpose, in the arguments I have undertaken to advance against some of the doctrines of Protestantism. The controverted points, however, enumerated in the parliamentary oaths, naturally gave a greater scope to that portion of the sub- ject. In undertaking the defence of Catholicity, the dif- ficulty must always be, rather to avoid a redundancy of evidence, than to produce strong and convincing testimony of its truth. The descent, the parentage, and the birth of our religion ; her infancy, her youth, and her age ; her troubles and her misfortunes ; her success and her triumphs : every period of her history, and every event of her lengthened existence : every prophecy of ancient days, and every revelation which accompanied her announce- ment to the world : the wickedness of a few, and the eminent sanctity of numbers of her pastors : the zeal of her friends, and the malignity of her enemies : the perfi- diousness and apostacy of some of her most distinguished champions ; the open revolt of thousands of her own re- bellious children : the learning and the piety of her faith- ful followers; the countless multitudes whom she has ever embraced within her fold : all, in their various and respective ways, proclaim the power and the truth of Catholicity, as well as the fostering care of a superintend- Ixxxviii Much more might have been offered in exculpa- ion ; more reasons adduced, and more objections refuted : but it is not the intention of the writer to enter into a long and elaborate discussion, (that has been often done by abler hands than his ;) it is only hoped that sufficient has been brought for- ward to stimulate inquiry upon a most important, but most perverted or neglected question ; to re- move some, at least, of the causes which keep alive a spirit of hostility towards us ; to do justice to our motives, and to promote unity, peace, and harmony among Christians. Let us indulge the hope, that the nlglit is past, and that the day is at hand; and that the darkness of prejudice may at length be dispelled by the force of the light of truth. Catholics are often accused of seeking the redress of their grievances with intemperance ; but let Protestants fancy themselves in the same circum- ing Providence, that cherishes and marks her as his own. It cannot, therefore, be for want of materials that I have confined myself within such narrow limits, in treating of the Roman Catholic Religion ; but, because it was not necessary for my purpose to say more. If there should be any inconsistency in arguing at one time, upon the ostensible articles of the Church of England, and at another time as if she had no articles at all ; the inconsistency must rest with the Church that places herself in such a predicament, and thereby affords only another proof of her insufficiency. Ixxxix stances in which they have placed us, and if they are not indignant at their wrongs, their sensibilities are little to be envied. Is it imagined that the length and ferocity of the persecution we have endured, have so daunted the spirit and lowered the pride of its devoted victims, that men of high rank and ancient name, — of honourable feeling and of untainted reputation, — that the descendants of many who have deserved well of their country, — that the lineal representatives of the barons of Runymede, will hang their heads and hide their faces, when a vial of slander and defamation is poured out upon them ? Are we to afford credit to the imputation, by silence, or are we to confront our accusers, and repel the slander, to the shame of those who gave it birth ? It is no satisfaction to hear that we are accused as a body, and not as individuals : since, as members of the same reli- gion, we are all so linked together, by that unity of faith which is the very essence of Catholicity, that what is true of the body, is true also of the individual. No man can be a Catholic, who does not hold each doctrine of his Church whole and entire ; — no man can be a Catholic, who rejects one single tenet which the Church has proposed to his belief, as a revelation from heaven. If he does so, he separates himself from the great community of Christians, and ceases to be a Ca- tholic. What the Church teaches as an article of xc faith, we must believe as such; if she holds a doc- trine, we must hold that doctrine also, or we are not Catholics. It is therefore impossible to separate the community from the individual, or the individual from the community. The Church is not an imma- terial being, nor a creature of the imagination, but an immense congregation of individual members, all holding one faith and one baptism ; all united in one fold, under one shepherd. Neither the Pope, nor the college of Cardinals, nor the court of Rome, constitutes the Church, but that immense society of Christians, dispersed throughout the universe, yet bound together by a spiritual obedience to the same supreme but spiritual head of the Christian world.^^'^ As Christians, the various sects by which we are surrounded and assailed, make no impression on us; but, as inen, we are equally influenced by the freedom or despotism of civil governments — we partake, in common with others, of the evils of unjust oppression, or of the benefits of wise and li- beral legislation. I wish, therefore, to be understood to make a distinction between speaking politically, as the degraded member of a free state, with the remembrance of all our wrongs, and the miseries of ^^^ It must always be remembered, that this spiritual head is much more restrained in the exercise of his spi- ritual sovereignty, than are the civil rulers of the freest states in the use of their temporal power. XCl Ireland present to my mind,— and speaking as a Christian, dispassionately discussing a mere point of religious controversy, without reference to its political consequences. In either case, I trust I have advanced nothing in a spirit unbecoming the subject, though I have said much which I am sorry to have been obliged to say. In justice, I might have said much more, I w^ill take this opportunity of stating, that I am confident v^^e are not actuated by any selfish or private views, in thus strenuously and warmly advocating our rights ; but that we look mainly to the general peace and prosperity of the empire; which can never be true to herself, or great in the eyes of foreign states, till she cancels every trace of that barbarous code which has so long disgraced her statute book, and thereby drives that spirit of bigotry from the world, which has chosen England for her last and solitary haunt. REMARKS ON THE BISHOP OF PETER- BOROUGH'S LATE CHARGE. The charge of the Bishop of Peterborough, delivered in July of last year, and printed at the request of his Clergy, having within these few days fallen under my observation, and conceiving it to be a document of importance at this juncture, I beg leave to offer the following observations upon it. XCll The Bishop observes that Roman Catholics are excluded from parliament '' not because they be- lieve in Transubstantiation, but because they who believe in that doctrine, believe also that a foreign Potentate hath or ought to have jurisdiction in the dominions of his Majesty, King George." His Lordship, however, does not show how ihispracfical 2)rhici2jle, as he calls it, affects the allegiance of Roman Catholics to their sovereign, or the exercise of their duties as civil members of the state. He does not state it openly, and I trust he does not mean to insinuate that, in violation of their oaths, Roman Catholics acknowledge any but a purely spiritual jurisdiction in the sovereign Pontiff. Hence, we have not to prove, that the jurisdiction of the Pope is onli/ spiritual, but that this spi- ritual jurisdiction is not a practical doctrine, hostile to the liberties of those countries in which it is exercised, and incompatible vv^ith those civil duties which, as subjects, we owe the state. Now, if the doctrine itself be not considered a sufficient guarantee — if the renunciation, by all Catholic Divines, of every iota of temporal sovereignty, either directly or indirectly, in the supreme head of the Church; and the duty of civil obedience to every form of govei'nment under which our lot may be cast, as inculcated by all Catholic moral- ists — be not enough to satisfy the most timid and the most prejudiced ; let us examine the machinery XClll of this practical 2^rincij)le, and see how it works, and how it has worked, ever since the deposing power, (which was a temporal and not a spiritual power,) was abandoned by the general concurrence of Christendom. The spiritual authority of the supreme head of the Church neither entitles him to dispose of the endowments of a single Bishopric,nor of a single Curacy — gives him no power over any portion of the temporahties of the Clergy — nor any right to interfere with the discipline or government of any national Church : — it only invests him with a general superintend ance over the Christian world, in spiritual concerns, and places him under an obligation, as far as in him lies, to see that the doctrines and moraUty of the Gospel are both preached and practised by his subalterns in the hierarchy. He rules not as a despot, but re- gulates his conduct by the canons of the Church ; he possesses no power of punishment, but that of suspension from the performance of spiritual functions ; — no power of removal from temporal- ities, but with permission of the sovereign, or commonwealth. In point of fact, I believe it to be true, that not a single instance is upon record, in any state, whether Catholic or Protestant, in which any inconvenience has arisen from the exercise of the spiritual supremacy of the Bishop of Rome. The Protestant states of Prussia, Holland, Hanover, Germany, Switzerland, &c. have all entered into a XCIV concordat with the Pope, for the exercise of his spiritual supremacy amongst their respective sub- jects. They all, as well as Russia, retain accredited agents at the court of Rome ; leaving England a solitary example of the infraction of the common rules of propriety and courtesy, in the intercourse between civilized nations. We send ministers to the Turk and the Idolater, to the worshippers of the sun, and perhaps to the votaries of Juggernaut, while we esteem it a crime, worthy of punishment by the laws of the land, to hold any communica- tion whatever with the most ancient and most dignified sovereignty in Christendom ! But, to pursue our argument ; — what is no treason in Prussia, Holland, or Hanover, cannot surely be treason in England. If the exercise of the spiritual supremacy of a foreign Potentate neither tarnishes the lustre of those crowns, nor impairs their autho- rity, what is to infect it with its blighting and destructive quality the moment it arrives within the atmosphere of the British Isles ? Does the Bishop of Peterborough suppose that his Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects in Hanover bear him a divided or qualified allegiance, because he has placed them upon an equality with their Protestant brethren, and legally permits the exercise of the spi- ritual supremacy of the head of their Church amongst them? Or does such a supposition exist in the minds of any one of the Protestant sovereigns of xcv continental Europe, who have all been wise enough to act with the same good sense and liberality? Are they not rather assured, thereby, of the en- creased affections and loyalty of their people, of the augmentation of their strength, and of the stability of their government ? Are the same tried and sacred principles to be true every where else, and false only in England ? Are the feelings and dispositions of men to be regulated here by the laws of contrariety ? Are wisdom, justice, prudence, be- nignity, and mercy, to be virtues in Germany, and follies in Great Britain? While the experiment has been found to fail every where else, is England alone expected to thrive upon the heart-burnings, jealousies, humiliations, and contentions, growing out of unjust and invidious legal distinctions be- tween man and man? Are religious feuds and domestic strife to be the eternal, cherished, and hopeful inheritance of these realms ? Is England, and only England, to be that cursed hot-bed of intolerance, which shoots up her rank and poisonous herbage, to the very infecting of the air we breathe ; which nourishes that baneful spirit which almost every vvhere openly insults us in public ; which, ill-concealed even in the domestic circles of society, taints the charm of private life ; which disturbs the mind, and preys upon the heart ? — It is absurd to attempt to explain it ; and for this reason, I suppose, it is that the Bishop of Peter- XCVl borough does not attempt to explain how a system of justice and liberality is to weaken the alle- giance and alienate the affections of the people ; — how this practical doctrine of the spiritual su- premacy of the Pope is thus to run riot amongst Englishmen^ while it passes soberly through the imaginations of the Dutch, the Prussians, and the Hanoverians. Really it would seem to have become an axiom amongst us, that, while the rest of the world were triumphantly advancing in the science of legislation, ive were compelled, as a matter of duty, to retrograde, for the sake of pre- serving an example of the perverse fatuity of man : and, as if a period of almost unparalleled political embarrassment, together with the common ills of mortality, were not sufficient to torment us, that we must needs try our strength and our patience, with the frightful evils of religious persecution. It would appear that the time was come when the wisdom of our neighbours ought to supersede our own ; that old principles and old adages, which had been the pride of our ancestors for centuries, were to be reversed ; and that it was now befitting the cha- racter and reputation of an Englishman to look with envy and complacency on the civil and reli- gious liberties of foreigners, and even of French- men ! — But this spiritual supremacy is, and has been, and will be, exercised in these realms, in spite of laws, opinions, and penalties ; and that. XCVll too, amongst an irritated and insulted, though a loijal people. Even in the very worst of times, under the most cruel and trying persecutions,*'^'^ and when an assumed and presumptuous power in the spiritual head of their Church endeavoured to mislead them, the Catholics of this country, as a body, were never drawn into one single act of disloyalty to the state. On the contrary, they were ever remarkable for an inflexible and conscientious fidelity to the sovereign. And, in times nearer to our own, it is a singular fact, that the most influential members of the rebellion in Ireland, which Avas any thing but a Catholic rebellion, were all Protestants who disowned allegiance to this spiritual authority, and not Catholics who acknow- ledged it. Is it not, then, better that this spiritual supremacy should be exercised in an open, regular, and legal manner, than, as it is now, by stealth, and in opposition to the laws ? Would the sanction of government to this practical doctrine make it more dangerous it its nature^ or more hurtful in its consequences ?^'^ ^''^ Persecution never yet consolidated the interests of any country, hut has invariably had the effect of weaken- ing, by the discord, turbulence, and even rebellion, which it has occasioned ; neither did it ever yet gain a willing and sincere convert to its cause. Yet do we find both statesmen and divines who are still enamoured with it. ^'^ " It cannot he necessary to enter into the history of h XCVIU The Bishop of Peterborough, havmg thus far contented himself with merely stating a reason Catholic affairs during the present reign. With the re- plies of the foreign universities to Mr. Pitt's queries, and the oaths taken hy Catholics according to the acts passed in their favour, the reader must be acquainted. I shall, therefore, content myself with asking whether the oaths and protestations contained in the preceding pages, do not fully bear me out in the assertion, that the great body of the British Catholics has never been accustomed to ac- knowledge in the Pope any temporal authority, or to consider the deposing and dispensing powers as parts of its religious creed. But if this be true of Catholics in former times, it must be true of those of the present day ; nor do I see how any man can rationally accuse them of partiality to the doctrines they have disclaimed, or fear that they should adopt them at any future period. The fact is, that there exists not within the United Kingdom, nor within any kingdom in Europe, a body of men whose religious opinions with respect to civil government are so accurately ascertained. They have not only exj^lained their sentiments ; they have sworn to the truth of their explanation. They have made their allegiance doubly secure : they are bound to it by their religion ; they are also bound to it by their oath. " In conclusion, it may be observed, that the statute- book at present is, on this subject, in contradiction with itself. Whoever peruses the preambles to the statutes, from the pressure of which the Catholics I3ray to be re- lieved, will learn that they were enacted against persons described as traitors to their country, supposed to hold that faith is not to be kept with Protestants, and to believe XCIX for our exclusion, without any attempt to prove its justice, proceeds to absolve the opposers of eman- that the Pope could lawfully depose princes, and absolve subjects from their allegiance. By the acts passed during the present reign in favour of Catholics, it is admitted that those who take the oaths prescribed therein, do not come under this description. Of course, they are not the men against whom the penal statutes were enacted ; why then are they still made to suffer under them ? Certainly justice and consistence require that this contradiction should no longer exist ; but that all who bear true alle- giance to the king — all who abjure the temporal supe- riority of every other prince or prelate — should be admitted to the common rights and distinctions of British subjects.'' —(Dr. Lingard's Tracts, i^i^. 290-1.) N.B. This " Collection of Documents to ascertain the sentiments of British Catholics in former ages respecting the power of the popes," and Dr. Lingard's excellent Ob- servations thereon, ought to be the study of every legislator. " But it is said, and from high authority too, that to a king who is not a Roman Catholic, they cannot bear other than a divided allegiance. I say the charge is unsup- ported by fact ; and, if it were true, would not be a very discreet charge to make against more than seven millions of people, now living within the allegiance of the king of this empire. I say, further, that it is disproved wherever Koman Catholics are admitted (and that is every where but here,) to a full enjoyment of civil rights under sove- reigns not of their creed. I say that it is disproved in Prussia, disproved in Denmark, disproved in Sweden, dis- proved in Hanover, disproved in the Netherlands, disproved throughout the Russian Empire, and proved nowhere. h 2 cipation from the charge of bigotry and intolerance, which is brought against them^ by asserting that " It is a charge not imputed by the laws of England, nor by the oaths which exclude the Catholics : for those oaths impute only spiritual errors. But it is imputed, which is more to the purpose, by those persons who ap- prove of the excluding oaths, and wish them retained. But, to the whole of this imputation ; even if no other instance could be adduced; as far as a strong and re- markable example could prove the negative of an assump- tion which there is not a single example to support, — the full, and sufficient, and incontestable answer is Canada. Canada, which, until you can destroy the memory of all that now remains to you of your sovereignty on the North American continent, is an answer practical, memorable, difficult to be accounted for, but blazing as the sun itself in sight of the whole world, to the whole charge of divided allegiance. At your conquest of Canada, you found it Roman Catholic ; you had to choose for her a constitution in Church and State. You were wise enough not to thwart public oj^inion. Your own conduct towards Presbyterianism in Scotland was an example for imita- tion ; your own conduct towards Catholicism in Ireland was a beacon for avoidance ; and in Canada you esta- blished and endowed the religion of the people. Canada was your only Roman Catholic colony. Your other colo- nies revolted ; they called on a Catholic power to support them, and they achieved their independence. Catholic Canada, with what Lord Liverpool would call her half- allegiance, alone stood by you. She fought by your side against the interference of Catholic France. To reward and encourage her loyalty, you endowed in Canada CI as we have now complete religious toleration/'^-' the question at issue regards not religious liherty, but political poiver ; at the same time observing, that a " claim to civil power must be founded on civil relations." Novv% it is precisely upon this ground that we rest our claim. We swear civil allegiance to the sovereign, not by force, but freely and wil- lingly, and as a matter of conscience ; we pay taxes, even in a greater proportion than others ; we con- tribute to poor-rates, tithes, and church-rates ; we bishops to say mass, and to ordain others to say mass, whom, at that very time, your laws would have hanged for saying mass in England ; and Canada is still yours in spite of Catholic France — in spite of her spiritual obe- dience to the Pope — in spite of Lord Liverpool's argu- ment — and in spite of the independence of all the states that surround her. This is the only trial you have made. Where you allow to the Roman Catholics their religion undisturbed, it has proved itself to be compatible with the most faithful allegiance. It is only where you have placed allegiance and religion before them as a dilemma, that they have preferred (as who will say they ought not }) their religion to their allegiance. How then stands the imputation ? Disj^roved by history, disproved in all states where both religions co-exist, and in both hemispheres, and asserted in an exposition by Lord Liverpool, solemnly and repeatedly abjured by all Catholics, as of the disci- pline of their Church." — Lord Nugent's Statement, Sfc. ^''^ It is only mockery to talk of tolerating a religion, as long as penalties and disabilities are made the necessary appendages to its profession. Cll serve the army and the navy ; we perform every civil duty demanded of us, and even ask leave to perform more. If this does not place us in a situa- tion of civil relationship with the state, what can? It is not our fault that we do not serve our country as senators, &c., or hold offices of trust or power ; if therefore we be deficient, it is bigotry and intol- erance which make us so. If it was no crime in St. Paul, or in our Saviour, to dissent from the religion of the state, because they knew it to be false ; it is no crime in us : and as long as the religion of the state requires us to forswear ourselves, before we can serve that state as senators, or in offices of trust and power, I am confident we are not want- ing in our civil duty for refusing to do so. We do not ask for political rights as Roman Catholics, but we ask for them as good subjects of the king, as useful members of the state, and as fulfilling all the duties of civil relationship towards the government and the institutions of the country, of which the Protestant church-establishment is one. Neither do we ask, as the Bishop of Peterborough would imply, for offices of trust and power: these, the sovereign must always bestow or withhold at his pleasure. We ask only for those rights which belong to us in virtue of the constitution of our country, — for eligihiJity to office, — for those pri- vileges which belong to our respective states, — for that liberty to serve our fellow-subjects which cm all others of our own class in the commonwealth possess : — in fine, for that, and that only, which we should enjoy, were we not Roman Catholics. Is it not, then, bigotry and intolerance to deprive us of our birth-right, not because we are bad sub- jects, but because we conscientiously differ from the religion of the state ? It is much rather the opposers of emancipation that are deficient in their civil relationship to the government, by disfran- chising many whom the constitution invests with senatorial rights ; by circumscribing the preroga- tive of the crown in the choice of its officers ; and by defrauding the state af her intrinsic right to avail herself of the worth and talent of every indi- vidual member of her community. While the accusation, therefore, will not stand, as far as it regards vs, it apphes with double force against our political opponents. If, however, there be not bigotry in this, there is, at least, selfishness and injustice in the next po- sition in which the Bishop places himself, as the enemy of the civil rights of CathoUcs. '' And if the clergy," says he, "in particular, have reason to apprehend that additional power conferred on the Roman Catholics, would endanger their own Church, they are surely entitled, without being branded as bigots, to petition the legislature against measures injurious to themselves." This is a candid, manly avowal, doing equal credit CIV to the Bishop with the general temperance and propriety of his language, which forms so pleasing a contrast with the rhapsody and abuse which too often has been, and still is, poured out upon us by the dignitaries of the Established Church. I have long thought that the fancied danger to their own Church, and the risk of seeing '' themselves and their families reduced to beggary," had, at least, an equal share in the very active opposition we met with from the prelates and ministers of the establishment, with the desire which they must necessarily have, as members of the "True Church, to support it for its own sake." Are they not here acting the part of the chief priests and Pharisees, gathered together in council, and saying to them- selves : '' What shall we do ? if we let these men alone, all will believe in their doctrines, and they will come and take away our place and nation."^'^ If the property of the Church were only propor- tioned to its necessities, or if its surplus revenues were voluntarily applied, as formerly, to the erection and endowment of hospitals and colleges, and the establishment of other useful institu- tions, we could not fairly prefer an accusation of selfishness from the avowal of such a motive : we could only say it was unjust. For it is undoubt- edly unjust to sanctify the means by the end, when ^'^ vSt. John xi. 47, 48. cv those means are a direct penalty upon one half of the population of the empire, and a visible dete- rioration of the well-being and prosperity of the whole state. Even supposing the premises to be true, that emancipation would endanger the tem- poralities of the establishment, it must surely be unjust to defend them by such means as these; but when, even in the opinion of their present posses- sors, it is only problematical, it amounts to tyranny and injustice of the very first order, to punish men for crimes, not only before they have com- mitted them, but of which it is not known that they will ever be guilty. They might as well arrest every poor man in the kingdom, and throw him into prison, lest he should be tempted to rob his richer neighbour upon the first opportunity. But I trust to show, that, far from there being any reasonable ground of danger to the establishment from reinstating the Catholics in their civil rights, it would equally be our interest and our inclina- tion to uphold the honours and temporalities of the Church of England. In the first place, we most solemnly disclaim even the most remote idea of ever being repos- sessed of the temporalities of the church in these realms ; and in proof of the sincerity of this dis- claimer, we state both the utter impossibility of the thing, and the probable inexpediency of it, even were it possible. It is impossible, from the CVl present state both of religious and political parties in the country. Supposing emancipation to intro- duce eight Catholics into the House of Peers, and ten or twenty into the Commons ; what is this against hundreds ? CathoUcity must indeed work by enchantment, to gain the ascendancy over such an opposing mass ; at least it would be a novelty in the history of mankind. It is equally impro- bable that we should unite with the dissenters for the purpose of despoiling the estahlishmejit, and dispossessing "a party v>^hich," it is said, "v>7ill then [[when the cause of religious liberty shall be achieved^ have lost its ascendancy, and have be- come a sect among sects." The Bishop of Peter- borough cannot surely be serious in asserting that as long as the establishment retains her temporal- ities, with the influence necessarily attached to them, together with the Universities, and her para- mount political privileges, that she can ever fall from that immense ascendancy which she now en- joys over every other religion in the state. The only ascendancy she would lose, is a hateful lording it over all who presmPiC to differ from her ; an as- cendancy which teaches her to insult and oppress those whom, in her fears, she fancies to be her ene- mies ; an ascendancy that marks her for the scorn and pity of her victims. I am sure that every true friend of the establishment will acknowledge, that the sooner she falls from such an ascendancy as evil this, the better. But what object can Catholics have in uniting with the dissenters to despoil the estabHshment ? We most cordially unite with them in our common endeavours to obtain the most per- fect religious freedom ; and we rely upon those common endeavours for success. The Church of England, "• if more numerous than any single sect, is less so than the others united :"^'"^ and does she expect still successfully to oppose the energies of such antagonists, bound together by a similarity of grievances, with justice to embolden them in their career, and with so noble and glorious an object in view ? The thing is impossible.^''^ " The removal of civil disabilities can alone remove all cause of contention — can alone restore harmony between (r>i) Vide Charge. ^''^ Has the feeble opposition made by the Establish- ment, either in or out of Parliament, to the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, been calculated upon the Machiavelian maxim, Divide et impera ? If it has, I am sure the calculation will be defeated by the strenuous as- sistance which the dissenters will continue to give to the great work of Emancipation. They were signally aided by the concurrence of the Catholics in the prayer of their petition, and they are too generous, too wise, and too just, not to desire that others may be released from a much more galling servitude than that which they themselves found so oppressive, and from which they are now so happy to have escaped. CVlll the Church of England and other religious parties." And all cause of contention being removed, the union which was cemented by their common grie- vances, is at once dissolved. When the passions are calmed, and the interests of every class are amalgamated by equal laws and equal rights, the pre- sent lamentable discord and animosity will cease, religious harmony will be restored throughout the land, and Christians of every denomination will be linked together by the bonds of charity and good- will alone. In every country in F.urope, in which Catholics and Protestants have been blended in a community of interests by an equality of rights, such has been the happy result. The Church of England might then enjoy her revenues and her privileges in peace and comfort, with- out the hatred or envy of her neighbours ; ex- changing the fierceness of the vulture for the meekness of the dove ; being no longer a domi- neering mistress, or an insulting tyrant. — The only point of union between Catholics and dissen- ters, is the great cause of religious liberty. That being accomplished, no further alliance can either be required or expected. The dissenters have invariably departed infinitely further from the parent Church, than the members of the Esta- blishment. What, therefore, should we gain by uniting with them to despoil that Establishment? They, united, being infinitely the stronger party. CIX would, in case of success, take every thing for themselves. I speak not of Ireland : any spoliation of the Established Church there, must proceed either from a convulsion in the country, or from the will and pow er of the Protestant landholders. There are no sectaries of sufficient force and num- bers in that portion of the empire ; and, as I said before, ten Catholic representatives must be more than destroying angels, to accomplish such a work. The redress of the most grievous of the clerical exactions, and a moderate competency from the Government to the Catholic clergy, operating with the late amendments in the tything system, and equal laws and equal rights, would so far satisfy the people, as to remove every idea from their minds of despoiling the Establishiiient.^''^ To shew ^''^ Upon the expediency and practicability of a state maintenance for the Catholic clergy of Ireland, I beg to refer the reader to Dr. Doyle's very able remonstrance with the Duke of Welhngton, in Appendix, No VII. For myself, I never presumed to offer an opinion upon this question, otherwise than conceiving it to be well- calculated to afford relief to the laity, especially to the labouring poor. For an admirable essay on the Tythe System, see Appendix, No. VIII., for an extract from Letters to a Friend in England on the actual state of Ire- land. (Letter 4th.) London, Ridgway, 1828 ; which, for depth of reasoning, strength and elegance of diction, to- gether with an intimate and practical knowledge of the ex the probable inexpediency of Catholics repossess- ing themselves of the Church property, even if they had the power to do so, we have only to look to the history of Europe to satisfy ourselves that every church which has yet fallen, has fallen under the weight of its own riches. Those riches first produced a laxity of morals among the clergy, before they became the envy, or excited the cu- pidity, of the laity. Suffice it to say, that they effected the downfall of the church which possessed them. As zealous members of our religion, we ought not, therefore, to desire to see her again ex- posed to similar hazards and temptations ; and I am sure there is not a Catholic in the country who would not infinitely sooner see his religion with a decent competency, (such as we could give her ourselves, if the laws permitted it,) yet free and independent, than again breathing the air of courts and palaces, and luxuriating in all her former riches. The Catholic Church of Ireland, with all her poverty, is probably a purer and a better church (I mean as to morals and sanctity, for her faith has been always the same,) than she ever was in the days of her prosperity. For herself she desires nothing more than she enjoys at present, save the subjects under discussion, demands the earnest attention of every man interested in relieving the miseries of Ireland, and in promoting the cause of civil and religious liberty. CXI cessation of calumny and persecution against her children : she has all the authority she could desire over her people, because she rules them with a paternal solicitude, and receives their affectionate attachment in return : she sees and knows that riches are not requisite for the establishment of the kingdom of God, — that rather covetousness is the root of all evils, — and seeing this, she cherishes her poverty as her best and surest support. But the great security of the Protestant Esta- blishment would consist in the alliance which it should be her inclination to form with her Ca- tholic brethren. Though we differ from her on points of faith ; those points are not many, and have, all of them, at one time or other, been warmly defended by some of her ablest Divines. Her ministers have frequently acknowledged that the Catholic religion contains nothing contrary to salvation — nothing that should prevent her from being considered as a true Christian Church, ^^'^ (p) " I must accept," says Thorndyke, " the Churcli of Rome for a true church ; as iu the Church of England I have always known it accepted ; seeing that there be no question made but that it continueth the same visible body, by the succession of bishops and laws that were first founded by the apostles*. There remaineth, there- * Dr. Fletcher, in a note to this extract, observes : " It is true, indeed, (but this is one of those contradictions which we so often meet with in the rolls of error) — it is true that the instrunrient CXll and such has been more solemnly and frequently avowed by Protestant Di\ ines upon the continent. fore, in the Church of Rome, the profession of all the faith necessary for the salvation of Christians to believe, either in point of faith or morals." fEpil. p. 146.) *' It is acknowledged on all hands," says Mr. Davis, " that the Church of Rome, in its original state, was apostolical and pure. And even at the present day, it has persevered in which, after the thirty-nine articles, is of all others the most sacred in the eyes of the established clergy, — the Book of Homilies, — denies most positively this preservation of the apostolical delega- tion. This book, which these men, by their oaths and superscrip- tions, are solemnly bound to revere as containing, according to the thirty-fifth of the articles, ' a godly doctrine necessary for these times,' — this book distinctly states, that the whole Church had perished. For ' the whole Church,' it declares, 'had, for upwards of a thousand years, been sunk in idolatry, &c.' Now, whence this contradiction in a point so vital? Whence the circumstance that, whereas the most enlightened members of the Establishment do positively attest, that the Church, its government, and its ministry have subsisted regularly through every age, — this most important testimonial of the public faith just as positively declares the con- trary ? To reconcile the two things together is, indeed, impos- sible. But, what, then, is the cause of the inconsistency ? Why, it is this : — the Protestants have regulated their maxims and their language exactly as the nature of their wants required them. At the beginning of the Reformation, it was necessary for them to pull down the ancient Church, ere they could erect a new one. Therefore, they then maintained that the Church had perished : and this, as the article states, was the doctrine ' necessary for these times.' Ere long, they succeeded in rearing the new edifice upon the ruins of the ancient one. Therefore, they now contended, that the Church had not perished. On the contrary, they now declared it to be imperishable and immortal : maintaining even that their own pastoral ministry, by being linked to the chain of the Catholic priesthood, is, hence, apostolical and divine. Such is the conduct, and such the character of error ; for ever changing its maxims with the change of circumstances, and its language with ' the necessities of the times.' " — Dr. Fletcher's Comparative View, 8^c. p. 60. CXlll Her discipline is nearly, her constitution is pre- cisely, the same as ours. In our Liturgies, in the all the fundamental articles of the true, and Christian, faith. And the sacraments ordained by the gospel, are here administered by a priesthood, which derives its ap- pointment by an uninterrupted succession from the apos- tles, and its authority from our Great Master.' — ' The commission,' says Dr. Daubeny, ^ originally delivered by Christ to his apostles, has been handed down in regular succession. Under the authority of this commission, the religion of Christ was introduced into this country, at a very early period ; and the appointment of ministers, under the sanction of the divine authority, has been uni- formly received and preserved in the church, wherever it has existed, for fifteen hundred years.' In short, even those fierce enemies of every thing Catholic, — the authors of the British Critic, — admit, that ' the church govern- ment maintained by the Church of Rome, has been traced, without a single break in the chain, up to the immediate successors of the apostles ; and the chain of the episcopacy was unbroken for fifteen hundred years.' " " It is difficult to imagine," observes Dr. Fletcher, from whose valuable work these quotations are taken, " how a church, which had retained the sacred privilege so long, should, since that time, have forfeited it. Because, not only during this whole length of interval has she always continued to be, what she had constantly been before — unaltered both in her faith and constitution ; but there has been issued no fresh mandate from heaven annulling her former titles." " Such is the abridgment of our faith," says the Con- i CXIV administration of the sacraments, we approximate. But the great uniting link between us, is her code of morality. The insufficiency of man ; the atone- ment for sin ; the divinity of Christ ; the neces- sity of good works for our acceptance before God, and of repentance to obtain forgiveness of our sins ; the application of the merits of Christ for our sanctification, by means of the sacraments ; the Decalogue of the old law, and the moral precepts of the new, are all points in which Catholics and Protestants are thoroughly united. Is it not, therefore, natural, that we should support the establishment, should we see it invaded by Cal- vinists and Levellers ? Catholics, most assuredly, have nothing to anticipate from the downfall of the Church. As long, however, as she is unjust and intolerant, we shall oppose her ; but the mo- fession of Augsburgh, the most authentic and most solemn act of the Lutherans, " m which nothing will be disco- vered contrary to Scripture, or to the Catholic church, or even to the Roman church, as far as we can know it from its writers. The dispute turns upon some few abuses which have been introduced into the churches without any certain authority ; and should there be found some difference, that should be borne with, since it is not ne- cessary that the rites of the church should be every where the same. (Art. 21, Anno 1530.)" For many similar acknowledgments, see the work from which this is taken, An Amicable Discussion, Vol. I. p. 59, &c. cxv ment that the support of her cause becomes sanc- tified by moderation and justice, she may rest assured of our assistance/^^ An Established Church has ever formed a part of the constitution of the country ; she is the promoter of learning, the preserver of the splendid memorials of the piety of our ancestors ; she is now become the encourager of the arts ; she '' discharges many im- ^^^ " At the same time, sir, I must protest against its being imputed to me that I am hostile to the establish- ment in this country. You would wrong me by such an imputation ; I have no unfriendly feeling towards it when it does not exceed its constitutional limits; but as an Englishman, viewing with conscious exultation the proud pre-eminence of my country, founded on her free institu- tions ; I execrate, with unfeigned reprobation, every at- tempt to trench upon the civil and political rights of the meanest individual in the community, be his oppressors who they may. And if a church establishment, of any form of worship, in any country, requires the sacrifice of the recognized rights of the subject to uphold its power, in my opinion it cannot fall too soon. A church distin- guishing itself by the apostolical virtues of its leaders ; by its abstractedness from earthly pursuits, and preaching peace and Christian concord, serves well the cause of good government, and might, not only with safety, but with great benefit, be closely allied to it. But establishments, like most other things, must stand each on its own merits : they may be blessings, or they may be curses." {Letter of Edward Blount, Esq. to a Protestant Gentleman; pub- lished in the Catholic Miscellany for February, 1828.) i2 CXVl portant duties besides those of her immediate vocation, and supplies what would otherwise be a chasm in the administration of public justice." The property of the Church in the hands of lay- men, or in possession of the sectaries, neither would nor could be half so advantageous to the country as it is now. I have already said why we have no wish to see it in our own. The sacri- fice of the Church Establishment is, therefore, a sacrifice which we neither desire as Christians, nor as members of the State.^'^^' While in all this I deliver only the sentiments of an individual, at ^''^ There is certainly some difference in the relative connection between the Church and the State, in Catholic and in Protestant England. In Catholic times, the Church was invariably the opposer of the encroachments of the crown, and, in many cases, the able and effectual supporter of the liberties of the people ; whereas, the sys- tem of translating from one bishopric to another (a system which exists in no other Christian state) and which has been subsequently introduced, has entirely altered the character of the Episcopacy, by destroying its indepen- dence, and by depriving it of the power of throwing its weight where it might be serviceable to the interests of the country. But this is an abuse, which, great as it is, the crown has always the power to remedy. It is the Minister, and not the Church, who is the greater delin- quent ; and we must hope to see the day when England shall possess a premier, virtuous enough to overturn this system, Avhich marks her prelacy as a dependant class, cxvn the same time I believe that I speak those of the body to which I belong ; at any rate^ I am sure that what I have said, I have said in the sincerity of my heart. I have one word to offer upon a circumstance which is frequently advanced as a mark of the liberality of the times, and as a proof that the ques- tion of Catholic Emancipation is now permitted to stand upon its own merits, and to be decided by the unbiassedjudgment of the public — I mean the neutrality of the Cabinet. This has long been a mere delusion, sounding plausible in theory, but ab- solutely contradicted in practice ; since the whole of the Church patronage has ever been showered down exclusivehj upon the professors of ascen- dancy principles. For it cannot be supposed that it has all fallen by accident on those only, who see imminent danger to the Establishment in equalizing the distribution of civil rights through- out the country, and of satisfying all classes of the people, that they have no longer any thing to fear from ecclesiastical tyranny. We know — and for the honour of the Establishment be it said — that and which certainly is not calculated, either to promote dignity in the hierarchy, or respect towards it in the people. CXVlll individuals do exist in this kingdom in sufficient numbers, of irreproachable conduct, and of com- petent learning, to fit them for the most elevated order of the hierarchy, and yet believing that emancipation from civil thraldom would neither make Catholics nor dissenters more dangerous to the revenues of the Established Church; nay, who think that a generosity of conduct on her part, would altogether overcome the hostility of both. Is it therefore probable, that, while the existence of such men is knov/n to all others, the first Lord of the Treasury alone should never be able to discover them ? But, till he does accidentally light upon them, or, rather, till every vacant see be filled with a liberal candidate, until the epis- copal bench be equally divided in opinion upon the question of emancipation, there can be no virtual neutrality in the Cabinet. It is mere mockery to talk of the hopes of emancipation from the neutral qualities of the ministry, while we see every particle of Church patronage thrown with force into the scale against us, and while bigotry is still the chief climbing ladder to prefer- ment ; for it is now self-evident that the bishops, and the bishops alone, are the bar to our success. We are confident that it will soon appear that we have the House of Commons with us */'^ we have ^'^ This prophecy has been happily fulfilled. CXIX a decided majority amongst the Irish members ; we should even triumph in the Lords, if the bi- shops would but give us their six-and-twentij votes. We only ask them to repay in kind what twenty- six Catholic peers so freely gave them, in 1661. They have enjoyed the fruits of this liberality for upwards of 150 years, without making any acknow- ledgment in return ; and the repayment now, in- stead of costing them any thing, would be a gain to them, as well as to us. It would assure them a firm and lasting support, founded on the solid basis of reciprocal generosity. As it is, they pro- voke us to hostility, not only by a violent and ungenerous opposition as spiritual peers, but as spiritual pastors, by deserting their duty to their own people, to attend to us, who belong not to them ; — they abandon their flocks to the wolf, while they go in pursuit of an imaginary foe; they put on the helmet instead of the mitre, — sieze the lance in lieu of the crozier, — and the pulpit, which ought to breathe peace and charity, resounds with the angry notes of war and slander .^'>' ^^^ The subdued tone of most of the Prelates who took part in the late debate upon the Catholic question, and the absence, as far at least as I am acquainted, of all those virulent Charges^ which, for so many years, have been con- sidered the necessary and appropriate fruits of a diocesan visitation, are happy omens of coming liberality ; and I sincerely trust, that a continuance of these signs willobH- cxx Would it not much better accord with the voca- tions of their ministry, to strive more earnestly against that torrent of crime and immorality which is gaining so rapidly upon the country, than to terate the memory of the past from our recollection, or at least consign the circumstances which I have here stated to the keeping of history, to be noted only as beacons to warn us against a recurrence of that state of things which produced them. The question seems now to be narrowed to one of securities : but Avhat security can be desired, where there is no dan^-er ? When the union with Scotland admitted 45 Presbyterians into the Commons, and^ into the Peers, the outcry was, that the Church of England would be overthrown. The anomaly of ^ Presbyterians legislating for an episcopalian Church, terrified the ima- ginations of the bigots of the day ; but, so little were the prophecies of danger fulfilled, that these very men soon became a proverb in support of Church and State, and have so marvellously sustained this character ever since, that, to give dignity and independence to the Scottish peerage, it was thought adviseable to introduce a bill into parliament, during the last session, to render its representa- tives eligible for life ! Where then is the justice or neces- sity of requiring securities from the Catholics which were not demanded of the Presbyterians ? The great objection to securities of any kind is, that they serve to mark us with suspicion, and to imply a danger which does not exist. If they go so far as to curtail us of our privileges, they become anomalies in the constitution ; they will keep alive the remembrance of all our former wrongs, and form an after-piece to those very grievances, from which we are seeking to be wholly and entirely relieved. CXXl waste their energies, as they do now, in a mad crusade against Catholics ? It is a notorious fact, that the hostility of that portion of the people who are opposed to us, is to be ascribed almost entirely to the influence of the clergy ; the apathy of those who are indifferent, proceeds from ignorance of Irish and of Catholic affairs; while we have good reason to hope that the great body of educated men are favourably inclined to emancipation, from policy as well as principle : and it is much more to the extension of this feeling that we must ultimately look for success, than to any pretended neutrality of the cabinet/"^ r«; " Unwillingly assenting to the fact, that no dissolu- tion of this dangerous body [the armed Orangemen of Ireland] has ever been designed by his Majesty's government, it is not easy to express our uneasiness at the avowal of a truth so ominous and unwelcome. We have long since affirmed, that in the northern yeomanry were to be found the chief incendiaries of the Orange faction ; and the thing is notorious every where. It may further be taken as a well-known fact, that few, if any, of the yeomen still embodied, are other than sworn Orangemen. Is it then, let us ask, the intention of our government, to arm an equal proportion of red-hot Ca- tholics, reeking from the association, or from the 'si- multaneous meeting' rooms? And if such be not the ministerial purpose, where is the system of neutrality between factions? — where the even-handed justice? — where the equal favour to all the king's servants, whether CXXll THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON THE ADVO- CATE OF EMANCIPATION. After many anxious vicissitudes of hope and fear; after passing through a trying variety of tempera- Protestant or Catholic, for which credit has been em- phatically claimed ? Here are two sets of men in Ire- land, one of whom confines itself, on principle, to such means of asserting and establishing its rights as are pre- scribed by the forms of the constitution, congenial to its spirit, and preservative of the public tranquillity. The oj)posite party never meets or moves without denouncing vengeance, by armed violence, against the Catholics ; challenging its enemies to open combat, and exclaiming against the king's government for persecution of the Protestants, and treason to the State, the moment it ceases to go all lengths with these * exclusive loyalists,' as they call themselves, in their hatred and oppression of the great majority of the people. Thus the Catholics who cry out for peace, whose necessary policy is a strict adherence to the law, and a scrupulous, though vigorous, exercise of a lawful privilege for a purpose in which the most enlightened and exalted Protestant body abet them, — the peaceful Catholics are deprived of the use of arms, while the Orangemen, who have no game left but that of war, are equipped with musket,bayonet, and ball-cartridge ; and this is to pass upon mankind as a system of equal justice and paternal government ! Verily, the Catholic is but a step-child ! It is said, however, that lord Angle- cxxm ture — the political horizon appeared to have settled in almost unclouded sunshine upon the Catholics sea will be able to cany on the government and administer the laws in spite of any or all who may seek to disturb by arms the peace of the community. We doubt not that the noble marquis will enforce the executive authority, like a brave and upright representative of the king. But is there no wisdom in weighing well the burden of embar- rassment which surrounds a kingdom, and no prudence in diminishing its pressure.? If lord Anglesea be com- petent to keep down the armed violence of the Orange faction, would he not be still more competent to repress the same violence if smarmed } Would not, indeed, the spirit of outrage be apt to evaporate in mere noisy demon- strations, if the implements of a more noxious species of atrocity were once taken away .? We are more decided than ever in our belief, that no means of actual warfare ought to be suffered to exist in Ireland, except in the hands and under the control of Government, and on the responsibility of those to whom the defence of the public peace is officially and by law confided. It is not, — need we say so .? — for the detached welfare of the Catholic body, that these observations are offered to the people of Great Britain. The line of demarcation deepens every day between the two classes of the king's subjects in the sister island. The quarrel assumes every hour a character more complex, inveterate, and appalling. It is not merely religion by itself, or civil liberty, that is at stake ; but the contest is one for Catholicism, embittered by Hibernicism, and fer- mented by the growing leaven of democracy, against Pro- testant pride — Protestant power — Protestant avarice — Protestant insult— Protestant menace: at last, rendered CXXIV of the empire ; when, to our dismay and horror, it is now again suddenly darkening around us/^^ We cannot but fear that the appointment of the Duke of Wellington as premier, is a fatal omen to our cause : for hitherto he has but too often ranked amongst the most signal of our opposers. If the Duke of Wellington be the bigot which many imagine, our fate is sealed as long as his counsels prevail. But we are willing to hope against hope ; to anticipate the strength of argument, and the influence of wisdom and expediency ; and to expect that the new circumstances in which the destinies of the empire are again placed in his hands, will elevate his mind to the level of those beneficent and liberal ideas, by which the affairs of a great nation ought alone to be guided. When the Duke of Welhngton looks back to the brilliant scenes of his eventful life, he will see that the time was, when he thought it no dishonour desperate, it is aimed against Protestant heresy ; — all painted more hideous to the Hiberno-Catholic eye, because they wear the colours of England, the traditional and irre- claimable oppressor. To this complexion things move onward rapidly. The 40^. freehold — that God-send of 1793 — has left one chance of saving the empire, by shewing the Catholics that they hold in their grasp a weapon which cuts mortally, but sheds no blood. — Times, Aug. 1828. ^'^ Jan. 1828. cxxv to hold command under Catholic sovereigns, — to receive the reward of his services from them, and even to place himself, on very many occasions, under- singular obligations to those whom he has since declared to be unworthy of their hire. Were it not for his Catholic troops, the Duke of Wel- lington had never gathered one solitary laurel — for all the laurels which he wears have sprung from their valour, and have been watered by their blood ;— but for the confidence reposed in him by Catholic governments, he had never been carried forward in his career;— but for the honours heaped upon him by Catholic monarchs, his breast had never blazed with half that brilliancy which beams upon it now ; and many of those high-sounding titles, which so loudly proclaim his glory to the world, would have been mute. If justice, gratitude, and wisdom still dwell upon the earth, we trust that the day will soon arrive when the Duke of Wellington, from the elevated station which he now holds, a station far more enviable than that of the commander of the proud- est army in Europe, will stand forth to remove that blemish from his political life, of having hitherto left unrequited the services which his Catholic fellow-countrymen have so eminently ren- dered him. And I think we are justified in this expectation, by the noble sentiments which his Grace, not many months ago, expressed in par- CXXVl liament upon the subject. The Duke of Welling- ton still holds the situation under the crown^''^ which he is reported to have said to be " so con- sonant to his feelings, liking it, as he did, from the opportunities which it gave him to improve the condition of his old comrades in arms .... which enabled him to recommend to the notice of his Majesty all his former friends and com- panions, and to reward them, according to their merits, for the exertions which they had formerly made, under his command, in the field." ^'~^ Now, ^y^ This was written when the Duke of Wellington was both commander-in-chief and first lord of the treasury. ^""^ The following public testimony which history has transmitted to us, of the Duke of Wellington's opinions on the propriety and justice of " cementing a general union of sentiment among all classes and descriptions of his Majesty's subjects, in support of the established con- stitution," ought certainly to inspire us with the confident expectation, that the same wisdom and liberality, which distinguished his views of Irish politics, thirty-five years ago, will likewise constitute the characteristics of his grace's administration of similar affairs now. On the 16th of January, 1793, the House of Commons being met, a message was brought from his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant, which contains the following pas- sage : — " I have it in particular command from his Ma- jesty, to recommend it to you to apply yourselves to the consideration of such measures as may be most likely to strengthen and cement a general union of sentiment among all classes and descriptions of his Majesty's sub- cxxvu all that we ask is, that the Duke, as a just, a grateful, and an honourable man, will redeem this pledge, — How would it not brighten all his fame, and crown all his honours, thus to address the House, (upon the first occasion of a debate on the question of Catholic emancipation,) as the champion of that ill-fated land, for whose welfare, equally with that of every other portion of the empire, his sovereign has now placed the reins of state in jects, in support of the established constitution ; with this view, his Majesty trusts, that the situation of his Majesty's Catholic subjects will engage your serious attention, and in the consideration of this subject, he relies on the wisdom and liberality of his parliament." After this message had been read, an address, which was an echo of the senti- ments contained in the recommendation from the throne, was agreed to. The speech of the Hon. Gentleman [now Duke of Wellington,] who seconded the address, is in page five of the 13th volume of the Irish Parliamentary Debates, and is thus reported : — " In regard to what has been recommended in the speech from the throne, respect- ing our Roman Catholic fellow-subjects, he could not repress his approbation on that head : he had no doubt of the loyalty of the Catholics of this country, and he trusted that when the question should be brought forward re- specting that description of men, that they would lay aside all animosities, and act with moderation and dignity, and not with the fury and violence of partisans." (See Mr^ ShieVs speech at the late aggregate meeting of the Catholics of Ireland.) CXXVUl his hands ; a land which, while it gave him birth, has also the merit of having been the fostering parent of those companions in arms of whose ser- vices he speaks so feelingly, and for whose reward he is so impatient. '' My Lords ; in presenting myself to your lord- ships as the advocate of the measure now pro- posed to your consideration, I am only indulging in the pleasing task of discharging a debt of gra- titude, which has long weighed heavy upon me; for, independently of the indisputable policy of uniting all classes of his Majesty's subjects, in a common participation of the blessings of the con- stitution, — and for other reasons, which I leave to be argued by other noble lords, — I owe too much, as an individual, to the Catholics of this empire, and to those of several foreign states, not to avail myself with eagerness of every opportunity of advocating these claims, as a mea- sure of justice to the one, and as a grateful return of enlightened liberality towards the other. It is already well known to your lordships, that of the troops which our Gracious Sovereign did me the honour to entrust to my command at various periods during the war ; a war undertaken expressly for the purpose of securing the happy institutions and independance of the country ; that at least one half were Roman Catholics. My lords, when I call your recollection to this fact, I am sure all CXXIX further eulogy is unnecessary. Your lordships are well aware for what length of period, and under what difficult circumstances, they maintained the empire buoyant upon the flood which overwhelmed the thrones, and wrecked the institutions of every other people ; how they kept alive the only spark of freedom which was left unextinguished in Europe ; and how, by unprecedented efforts, they at length placed us, not only far above danger, but at an elevation of prosperity for which we had hardly dared to hope. These, my lords, are sacred and imperative titles to a nation's gratitude. My lords, it is become quite needless for me to assure you, that I have invariably found my Roman Ca- tholic soldiers as patient under privations, as eager for the combat, and as brave and determined in the field, as any other portion of his majesty's troops ; and in point of loyalty and devotion to their king and country, I am quite certain they have never been surpassed. I claim no merit in admitting that others might have guided the storm of battle as skilfully as myself: we have only to recur to the annals of our military achievements to be convinced, that few indeed of our command- ers have not known how to direct the unconquer- able spirit of their troops, and to shed fresh glories round the British name. But, my lords, while we are free to acknowledge this, we must also confess, that without Catholic blood and Catholic valo?ir, k cxxx no victory could ever have been obtained ; and the first military talents in Europe might have been exerted in vain, at the head of half an army. My lords, if on the eve of any of those hard-fought days on which I have had the honour to command them, I had thus addressed my Roman Catholic troops : " You well know that your country either so suspects your loyalty, or so dislikes your reli- gion, that she has not yet thought proper to admit you amongst the ranks of her free citizens ; if, on that account, you deem it an act of injustice on her part to require you to shed your blood in her defence, you are at liberty to withdraw:" I am quite sure, my lords, that, however bitter the re- collections which it awakened, they would have spurned the alternative with indignation ; for the hour of danger and of glory, is the hour in which the gallant, the generous-hearted Irishman, best knows his duty, and is most determined to perform it. But if, my lords, it had been otherwise : if they had chosen to desert the cause in which they were embarked ; though the remainder of the troops would undoubtedly have maintained the honour of the British arms ; yet, as 1 have just said, no efforts of theirs could ever have crowned us with victory. Yes, my lords, it is mainly to the Irish Catholic that we all owe our proud pre-eminence in our military career ; and that I, personally, am indebted for the laurels with which you have been pleaded CXXXl to decorate my brow,— for the honours which you have so bountifully lavished on me, — and for the fair fame (I prize it above all other rewards) which my country, in its generous kindness, has bestowed upon me. I cannot but feel, my lords, that you yourselves have been chiefly instrumental in placing this heavy debt of gratitude upon me, greater, perhaps, than has ever fallen to the lot of any in- dividual ; and however flattering the circumstance, it often places me in a very painful situation. Whenever I meet (and it is almost an every-day occurrence,) with any of those brave men who, in common with others, are the object of this Bill, and who have so often borne me on the tide of victory ; when I see them still branded with the imputation of a divided allegiance, still degraded beneath the lowest menial, and still proclaimed unfit to enter within the pale of the constitution, I feel almost ashamed of the honours which have been lavished upon me: I feel that though the merit was theirs, what was so freely given to me, was unjustly denied to them ; that / had reaped, though they had sown ; that they had borne the heat and burden of the day, but that the wages and repose were mine alone. My lords, it is indeed to me a subject of deep regret, that of the many brave officers of the Roman Catholic persuasion, some of whom I have had occasion to bring to the notice of the country, in relating the honourable k 2 CXXXll services they have performed, not one has risen to any eminence in his profession. It is not to be supposed, that either talent or merit is the exchi- sive privilege of Protestantism : attached as I am to the Reformed Church, I cannot give her that monopoly. No man, my lords, has had more ex- perience to the contrary than myself. Entrusted with the command of two Catholic armies, I soon found that, with similar advantages, they were quite equal to our own. The same hatred of tyranny, the same love of liberty, the same uncon- querable spirit, pervaded both the soldier and the peasant of those two Catholic states. I even found amongst them Irishmen, whom the intoler- ance of our laws had driven to shed the lustre of their talents over a foreign clime. " It now becomes me, my lords, to speak of the liberality which I experienced from their hands. Notwithstanding that I dissented from the religion of the state, it was never made a preliminary that I should abjure my own creed, and conform to another ; (and why should I demand this sacrifice from those who are now only petitioning your lord- ships for similar opportunities of serving their coun- try?) — neither my known denial of the doctrines of Transubstantiation, and of the supremacy of the Pope, presented the smallest obstacle to my ad- vancement ; — neither my merit nor my capacity were weighed in the scale of speculative belief in CXXXlll religious tenets : it was my country, and not my faith, that was my title to approval : — I was an accredited delegate from the British empire, and that was sufficient. I was entrusted with the su- preme command of all their forces ; I was admitted to their councils ; I was called upon for my opinion in the senate ; and for the services which I was fortunately enabled to render them, nothing could exceed the prodigality of the reward. The highest honours, the most munificent donations, and per- haps the most splendid presents that ever were bestowed upon a subject, were all showered down upon me, with the most generous profusion. Every succeeding service was met with a fresh eagerness of reward ; and, in countries super-eminently Ca- tholic, I was loaded with benefits only equalled by those bestowed upon me by our own Protestant legislature. Indeed, there was not a Catholic state in Europe, which was not emulous to overpower me with honourable distinctions, and to place me under an imperative obligation to it. I feel it, therefore, my lords, to be an act of the purest justice on the one side, and of only reciprocal liberality on the other, to lend my most fervent and cordial support to the measure now before you — to open to my Catholic fellow-countrymen the same road to preferment along which / have been so generously borne ; — and to display to continental Europe our determination to follow the example she has set CXXXIV us, by putting an end to the reign of bigotry and exclusion for ever. My lords, it is a great addi- tional gratification to me, to advocate these prin- ciples, in conjunction with a distinguished member of my family, so lately at the head of the govern- ment of his native country ; a country ever dear to me from the recollections of my infancy, the memory of her wrongs, and the bravery of her people. I glory, my lords, in the name of Ireland, and it is the highest pleasure I can ambition, to be thus united with the rest of my kindred, in the grateful task of closing the wounds which seven centuries of misgovernment have inflicted upon that unfortunate land." September, 1828. The brilliant opportunity has occurred, but has been suffered to pass, without placing the civic crown upon the laurelled temples of the premier. He has invited us, however, to sport in a gleam of hope, and to direct our views to brighter pros- pects. " Cease to agitate, and perhaps something may be done," certainly indicates the possibiUty of an adjustment. It proclaims to us that the war is no longer one of extermination ; the flag of truce is sent forth into our camp, and we are summoned to consider upon the preliminaries of peace. If the offer be not made in a spirit of munificent liberality, the invitation to a parley shows at least cxxxv a willingness to withdraw, with what advantages they may, from a position which they begin to find incapable of defence. There is a degree of chivalrous generosity in yielding to the prayer of a people in the attitude of supplication : justice receives additional lustre when she moves without the impulse of necessity ; wisdom is adorned, and prudence is exalted in value, when, at the first appearance of danger, the remedy is applied without waiting for the hazards of accumulated evil. But the period when such deeds as these might have been achieved, is gone, never to return. The prayer of supplication so long preferred, but so long slighted and rejected, is converted into a stern demand: where justice should have stepped in unbidden, she is now dragged in by force : where danger was only dis- cernible in the distance by the keen and watchful eye of prophetic wisdom, she now stalks forth in giant form, rending the air with her forebodings, and filling the whole soul with apprehension. Oh ! that we may heed the warning which she pro- claims so loudly and so distinctly. The hand of the Orangeman is on his sword, threatening to uphold by force what he does not even pretend to defend by argument. Should he have the temerity to draw it, not a drop of Orange blood will be left in Ireland. Its stain alone will remain to cry vengeance upon the heads of those CXXXVl of our rulers who have urged on the catastrophe, and especially upon that of the Duke of Welling- ton, who will have been principally instrumental in leading this contest to such an issue. Neither is it surprising that, in their expiring efforts, these men should have betrayed to us the inmost recesses of their hearts : Quein perdere vult Deus, prius dementat. They have told us that they would prefer the arrogance of dominion over the rem- nant of a nation, — over a few surviving slaves after a scene of carnage and devastation, — to the tran- quil and extended happiness of millions, when that happiness is to be Vvon by an equality of rights, and by the extinction of an odious monopoly. They have told us that the light of justice shall never pierce their hearts; that they will never listen to the voice of peace ; that they will never conquer their ruling passion, but vvill satiate it to the full. They tell us, in fme, that the people are to be slaves, and they are to be tyrants ; that the people are to pay, and they are to receive ; that the people are to sow, and they are to reap, — as long as there are slaves to labour, and tyrants to be task-masters. It is in their true character that they have now appealed to the people of England, who have only needed this uplifting of the curtain, to behold them in their real forms ; and in their folly and presumption, they court the gaze of the whole world, while they fill up the measure of their CXXXVll iniquity, and consign themselves to the execration of mankind. But the people of England will have no part with them, — they will never consent that the blood of the brave should flow in such an un- hallowed cause, — they will never believe it to be their interest to devastate one-third of the empire with sword and famine, to annihilate their re- sources, to waste their strength in internal dissen- sions, to expose themselves defenceless to the con- tempt and hostility of their neighbours. No ; they will sooner decree the extinction of Orange- ism ; they will rather aid the gigantic efforts of a whole people, grown too big for their chains, and too strong for their bondage, to overturn that proud, selfish, obstinate, vindictive, and tyrannical ascendancy, which has so long been the bane of England and the curse of Ireland. The conquest will be easy : let us not calculate the strength of the ascendancy faction by its apparent tenacity of life. The dying struggles of a reptile are more convulsive than the expiring agonies of a lion. That a handful of miserable bigots, besotted with indulgence and blinded by self-love, should strut, and fret, and vapour in the impotence of their rage, is only consistent with the folly by which they have so long been guided. Whether this innate folly is to accomplish their ruin by an act oifelo de se, or whether the Duke of Wellington is to have the honour of adding one more to his CXXXVlll triumphs, by annihilating this pigmy race at the sound of his voice, a few coming months will de- termine. But the merit of destroying them, happy as the achievement would be, would fall infinitely short of the glory of restoring a whole nation, sick with the fatal malady of tyrannic misrule, to liberty and life. This splendid triumph is still within the grasp of the gallant duke : if he desire immortality, he may now insure it. In the joy of her liberation, Ireland will forget that she was ever straitened; — in her new-born happiness she will cease to remember that she was ever miser- able ; — the reign of love will obliterate the domi- nion of terror; — an exuberance of generous feeling will absorb all the bitter recollections of her for- mer wrongs; and the rising generation will hail him as their deliverer and regenerator, and hand him down to posterity, not only as the first captain of the age, but as the Saviour of his Country. REASONS, 8fc. Sf'c, REASONS, %'C. 8fc. As those parts of the Oaths and Declarations re- quired of members of Parliament, which touch upon controverted points of Religion, form the basis of this discussion, I will begin with the tenets recited therein, taking them in the order in which they are there introduced. The Oaths and Declarations to which we object, are as follows : — ^^And I do declare. That no Foreign Prince, Person, Prelate, State, or Potentate, hath, or ought to have, any Jurisdiction, Power, Superiority, Pre- eminence, or Authority, Ecclesiastical or Spiritual, within this Realm." THE TEST DECLARATION. ^^ I, A. B, do solemnly and sincerely, in the Pre- sence of God, profess, testify, and declare. That I do believe, that in the Sacrament of the Lord's 142 Supper, there is not any Transubstantiation of the Elements of Bread and Wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, at or after the Consecration thereof, by any person whatsoever ; and that the Invocation or Adoration of the Virgin Mary, or any other Saint, and the Sacrifice of the Mass, as they are now used in the Church of Rome, are superstitious and idolatrous. And I do solemnly, in the presence of God, profess, testify, and declare. That I do make this Declaration, and every Part thereof, in the plain and ordinary Sense of the Words read unto me, as they are commonly under- stood by English Protestants." I will observe, in passing, that we are hereby called upon not only to renounce Catholicity, but to swear to a belief in doctrines, in the sense in which they are commonly understood hy English Protestants; hence the necessity of not only shewing — Why we cannot renounce our own Faith, but also — Why we cannot renounce it in favour of other tenets, which we are called upon to embrace in its stead. I. In the first place, therefore, I cannot either conform to Protestantism, or take the Oaths in question, inasmuch as both call upon me to declare, that no Foreign Prelate hath, or ought to have, any Spiritual Jurisdiction or Pre-eminence, with- in this Realm: Whereas, I do solemnly and snicerely profess, and am ready to attest it with an 143 oath, that I firmly and truly believe in the Primacy of the successor of St. Peter, as regulated by the usages and Canons of the Catholic Church. The spiritual supremacy over the Christian world was conferred upon St. Peter, by these words of our Saviour : — Thou art Peter [[a rock^, and upon this rock I ivill huild my church ; and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it ; and I ivill give to thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven /''^ and again : Feed my lambs, feed my sheei^.^^^ There is scarcely any instance in which St. Peter is mentioned in the sacred writ- ings without a marked pre-eminence being shown to him over the other apostles ; and consequently over the church of Christ, which they then con- stituted, or at least represented. He is the only one to whom the keys, the emblems of authority and jurisdiction, were given, — the only one for whom Christ prayed singly, that being stedfast in his faith, he might confirm his brethren, as if upon him the whole fabric of Christianity reposed; — he alone is designated a Rock, the foundation, as it were, of a great edifice ; — he alone, by special and divine appointment, is entrusted with the duties ^"^ St. Matt. xvi. 18,19.— N. B. The texts and refer- ences from Scripture will be found to correspond with the Douay version of the Bible. ^'^ St. John, xxi. 16, 17. 144 of a shepherd, commanded to feed the lambs and the sheep of Christ, and to guide both the priest- hood and the people. This supreme dominion, this spiritual superiority (and I beg the reader to bear in mind that it is only spiritual, since the hingdom of God is not of this world, Y'-' to which St. Peter and his successors were regularly inducted by so many titles, consists in a right of general superintendence over all orders of the hierarchy ; it is an authority to see that the faith which is preached, is that which was revealed by the Al- mighty and delivered to us by his Church : it is a commission to guard the purity of religion, the morality of its pastors, and the integrity of its dis- cipline. " The visible head is for the preserva- tion of a visible unity," — to continue and connect the chain of faith, for the discovery and condem- nation of heresy, and for the due observance of canonical discipline. This, and this alone, is the spiritual supremacy by divine institution, and that only to be exercised in the manner prescribed by the acts of general councils and the canons and usages of the church.^'^^ To the bishop of Rome we owe a spiritual obedience as to the successor ^'^ St.John,^\ni. 36. ^"^^ On this head of the iwimacy of the Roman bishop, the Council of Trent issued no ordinance ; but because in the general Council of Florence, convened in 1439, in order 145 of St. Peter, not an allegiance as to a temporal sovereign ; and that spiritual obedience is limited to the points just mentioned. Our temporal obe- dience to magistrates and rulers is commanded and regulated by the same authority ^'^ which imposes to unite the Greek and Latin churches, the point was fully decided, T shall here insert the decree of that council. " Moreover we define, that the holy apostolic see, and the Roman bishop, has the primacy over all the earth ; and that he is the successor of the blessed Peter, the prince of the apostles, the true vicar of Christ, the head of the whole church, and the father and teacher of all Christians ; and that to him, in the person of the blessed Peter, was committed by our Lord Jesus Christ, the full power of feeding, directing, and governing the universal church in such manner as it is contained in the Acts of general councils, and in the holy canons."* Bejinitio S. O'^mmen. Synod. Florent. Cone. Geii. T. xiii. p. 515. ^^^ " Let every soul be subject to higher powers ; for there is no power but from God :.... And they that resist, purchase to themselves damnation." Ro7n. xiii. 1,2. " Be ye sub- ject to every human creature for God's sake ; whether it be to the king as excelling, or to governors as sent by him." 1 Peter, ii. 13, 14. " Render to Csesar the things that are Csesar's, and to God the things that are God's."" St. Matt. xxii. 21. So strongly is the duty of civil obedience enjoined by the law of God, and by the same law which commands * Ka0' 6v rpOTTOl' KCIL kv TOLQ TTpaKTiKOlQ TUV OlKHjHEVlKiOV (TVl'OClOl', Kcu ey TOLQ iepoiQ KavoGi diaXa/j-fDaverai. 1 146 a spiritual obedience to spiritual superiors; to both we owe a like submission, but both are separate and independent of each other /-^^ As the church was built to endure for ever, even to the consummation of the world ^^^ so, unquestionably, the government which Christ appointed for it, was to be co-existent with it. A supreme head, a centre of unity, is indeed much more necessary now to preserve one faith and one haptism^,''^ in the midst of heresy and schism, than when the world was filled with in- spired teachers in the persons of the apostles. It is the exercise of this supreme spiritual authority, which has handed down to us both the faith and morality of these disciples of our Saviour, pure and untainted through a course of more than 1800 years; and it is the want of this power, lawfully obtained and authoritatively administered, that has produced all those mad and foolish here- sies, the prolific growth of protestantism, which, like so many poisonous plants, have banished al- most every wholesome fruit from those portions of the garden of Christianity in which they have taken root. There is no blasphemy however our spiritual obedience to the church : " He that will not hear the Churchy let him he to thee as a heathen and a puMican:' St. Matt. ^Niii. 17. ^^^ See Appendix, No. IX. for some excellent observa- tions on the Spiritual Supremacy. ^^> St. Matt, xxviii. 20. ^^^ Ephes. iv. 5. 147 wicked, no immorality, however monstrous, but, at some period or in some country, it has formed part of the faith and practice of sectarianism. Into such absurd impieties has the reasoning pride of man beguiled him, and into such excesses has he been hurried by his disobedience to legitimate authority ! But to confine our remarks to the Church of England. — So necessary did her founders and her patrons consider a spiritual supremacy in their church " to support the unity of faith and the in- tegrity of Christian discipline,'"^'^ that they estab- lished it in the person of the sovereign. But so strange an anomaly as spiritual jurisdiction in a layman, a child, or a woman, and that too usurped from those to whom it had been formally entrusted by the divine authority, could never answer the purpose of repressing error and reforming abuses. Unlawful authority seldom enforces submission. From the moment that the monarch forcibly wrested this power from the successor of St. Peter, and placed it in his own rapacious hands ; from that moment all unity disappeared. The chiefs of the state, entangled as they generally are, with the cares, the riches, and the pleasures of this life^^^ (i) Preamble of several Acts of Parliament. See Sermons after Pentecost, with illustrations, 8fc. Vol. i. /)/?. 140. S^^c. ('^ St. Luke \iu. 14. 12 148 had the weakness to acquiesce in so glaring and monstrous an usurpation, and the whole nation became, like the great multitude mentioned in the Scriptures, as sheep not having a shepherd, {St. Mark vi. 34.) Each individual ranged at large in the fields of speculative belief — he spurned at the ridiculous assumption of spiritual pre-eminence by a civil magistrate, and instead of obeying his man- dates, each one, in imitation of the monarch, took the same authority upon himself, and thereafter placed the foundations of his faith upon the totter- ing basis of private interpretation. The evils which followed have been thus forcibly described by a learned and eloquent pastor of the Catholic Church : — " Spite of royal mandates, of royal canons, and royal censures, error in every varied, versatile, and frightful form, continued to erect new temples ; and the nation presented to the astonished world a scene of folly, bigotry, and superstition, striking and preposterous, as any that curiosity can trace in the lengthened annals of fanaticism. Such were the consequences of pretending to enforce unity of belief by means which Revelation has not sanc- tioned." (Sermons after Pentecost, y 152 me, from the 16th chapter of his gospel according to St. Matthew, shews of itself that the authority given to Peter was to last as long as the Church, for if he were made the foundation of it after Christ, the rock on which it was built, it is per- fectly obvious, that as long as the superstructure lasted, the foundation could not be removed ; in other words, that as long as a Church was to re- main on earth, the authority given to Peter should continue to it, — that so long as the kingdom of heaven or city of God, continued in this world, so long should some person be vested with the keys of government, — that as long as there would be a fold of sheep and lambs, so long there should be a pastor to feed them in the place of Peter ; — in fine, that as long as the faithful were to be one body, saying the same thing, and not having divi- sions among them, so long there should be some person vested with power to enforce obedience — to collect the sentiments of the body — to publish its acts — to institute or sanction its officers — to preach and cause to be preached the doctrines of Christ — to dispense and cause to be dispensed the mysteries of God, that so the people might obey their prelates and be subject to them, that the prelates might not lord it over the people, but be made patterns to them from the heart ; in fine, that all might have one faith, and not be tossed 153 about by every wind of doctrine, but be kept united in that common charity, which is the great source, as it is the bond, of perfection. " But this consequence, however plain and ne- cessary — however spontaneously flowing from the very source of Christianity, yet it has been con- tradicted, and seldom more violently, or at least less temperately, than at the present day. The furious men who now agitate this country, seem to know that the sword and the law could not have been drawn, or, if drawn, could not have been wielded with such deadly effect against the holy and ancient religion of these islands, if that reli- gion had not first been decried, abused, and ma- ligned, until it appeared to the multitude a very moral monster. ' From the sole of its foot,' like its founder, ' to the top of its head, there was no soundness in it;' it was buffetted, abused, spit upon ; it was covered with a mantle of derision ; it was scourged, and drenched with vinegar and gall ; the waters of affliction entered into its very soul : and it was, when thus disfigured by a cla- morous rabble, and seemingly abandoned by God, that the bigots and the fanatic cried out to the agents of the law and the sword, — ' away with it, away with it.' '' But as there was no tenet of this religion more opposed to the machinations of those furious and designing men, nor again, no tenet more strongly 154 supported by argument, by the practice of the Church, and an undisputed possession of fifteen hundred years, than that of the supremacy of the successor of St. Peter, so there was no tenet against which their sophistry, their misrepresentations, their violence, their rancour and persecution were so unceasingly directed. To such extremities did these men proceed, as not only to confound the power claimed by some few Popes of Rome over the temporal interests or rights of kings and king- doms, with the spiritual jurisdiction of St. Peter's successor, but, in addition to this misrepresenta- tion, they actually designated not one or other, but a whole series of those successors, as Antichrists, and excited the deluded multitude to hate them and curse them as the capital enemies of our Lord and Saviour. Yes, the very men who maintained from the beginning, and still maintain, against an infidel or Arian world, the divinity of the Son of God ; the very men who designate themselves as the last of his servants, and who, without any doubt, have caused his name to be published and adored throughout nearly the whole Christian world, these men, who never ask any thing of the Father except through the Son, and identify him in their daily prayer with the King of Ages, the immortal and invisible God, to whom alone are due and given all honour and glory, these very men have been called, by the ferocious leaders of the revolt, ' An- 155 tichrists' ! ! and the Church in which they have always presided, and whose faith was from the beginning, and still is spoken of throughout the entire world, — this Church they called ' Babylon/ and the ' great apostacy/ with all manner of op- probrious and insulting names. *' To the present day, this warfare of calumny is continued for the same purposes, and by the genu- ine successors of the wicked men who first com- menced it ; hence it necessarily enters into the design of these observations, that I endeavour, not to dissipate the cloud of calumny which still pre- vails, (a task to which I confess my incompetency), but to prove, in addition to the argument adduced by me, that the supremacy given to Peter has passed to his successors, the bishop, for the time being, of the See of Rome. '' This is a truth, like many others, connected with a matter of fact, and a fact which, as it com- menced with the demise of Peter, cannot be found recorded in the Holy Scriptures ; but it is, at the same time, as we have seen above, a truth flowing necessarily from the institution by Christ, of the primacy in the person of that apostle ; and all an- tiquity, as it attests the existence of that primacy in Peter, so it attests the transmission of it to his successors in the See of Rome. " The law of nature sanctions a presumption in favour of him who has the peaceable possession of 156 any thing, and he is supposed to have acquired it justly, until his title to it is disproved. The bur- den of proof lies on him who questions the right of possession, and not upon him who holds it ; but when we Catholics call for this proof against the title of Peter's successor to the spiritual supremacy which he enjoys, we are replied to by loud decla- mation, by angry invective, or by visionary specu- lations on the Apocalypse. If we refer to histo- rical records to show not only the possession, but also the exercise of this supremacy in every age from the apostolic times, we are told that Mosheim (the faithless Hume of the Protestant Churches,) says, that the early Churches, like the Greek re- publics, were all independent one of the other, and their councils like the amphyctionic assem- blies. To refute this folly we refer to Eusebius, to Fleury, to Natalis Alexander ; we present the long and accurate catalogue of cases compiled by Cardinal Perron for the information of King James the First, to shew that no Church was ever inde- pendent of the head of the episcopacy, — that he exercised in every quarter of the known world a jurisdiction commensurate with the exigency of the case which required it. We exhibit the appeals made to him from each of the three great patri- archates, as well as from all parts of his own in the West, and refer to the decisions pronounced by him — we mention the names and the sees of the 157 bishops whom he acquitted or deposed — the nature of the discipline which he sanctioned or reproved — the errors and heresies which he condemned. We refer to the councils in which he presided, either in person or by his delegates, from the time when councils were first held ; we produce copies of his instructions to his legates, whether proceed- ing to the East or to the West ; his confirmation or rejection of the whole or of a part of their pro- ceedings ; his spiritual pre-eminence asserted by him, and for him, and admitted with acclamation by all the orthodox, whether in council or dis- persed, and never disputed except by the wicked, the refractory, and the rebellious — the successors of Core, of Dathan, of Jannes and Mambre. We appeal to argument and common sense ; — but the spirit of the great revolt from the just authority established by Christ in his Church, answers to us, saying ; " Obedience, that great virtue by which all were justified by one, is no more to be prac- tised ; there are no longer judges in the Church, every believer is to judge for himself; he who separates himself no longer sins by so doing ; the man who chooses for himself, setting at nought the judgment of those appointed to teach all na- tions and rule the Church, is no longer condemned by his own judgment ; no man is obliged to hear the Church as if Christ spoke through her ; every old man and silly woman is now competent to de- 158 cicle on all controversies ; a man may think on religion as he pleases, and speak as he thinks ; nor is there any one entitled to reprove him and cast him out among the heathens. The day of gospel liberty is at length arrived ; we have been freed, not from the yoke of Jewish observances, which neither we nor our fathers could bear, and made the children of God, under the dominion of Christ and of his heavenly grace, but we have been freed from all restraint upon our will or passions, upon our reason or fancy, and totally exempted from all obedience to those pastors who were formerly ap- pointed to watch, so as if to give to God an account of our souls. We want no teacher, for the unc- tion of God teaches us all things, even the most contradictory, illusive, and impious ; we may now without danger be tossed about by every wind of doctrine; no unity of belief is required of us ; we need not worship at the same altar, nor partake of the same sacraments, nor hear the voice of the same pastor ; the body of Christ has undergone a thorough reformation ; it is now a mass of hete- rogeneous, discordant, and conflicting members, the head and the foot and the hand each goes its own way, and performs its own function indepen" dent of the other ; in a word, there has been a great and entire revolt from the mutual depen- dance, the well regulated obedience, the singleness of faith, the uniformity of discipline, the brother- 159 hood of charity which was originally established, and prevailed. Formerly, the believers had but one heart and one mind, now no two of them are of the same mind ; formerly all said the same thing, nor were there any schisms among them, now no two persons say the same thing, and schisms are multiplied without end or number ; formerly there was but one Church, one font of baptism, one altar in the town or village, now there are as many Churches or conventicles as streets, some with, and some without an altar, some having a font for baptism, others having no such means of regeneration ; in this only are we all agreed — to condemn the faith of our fathers, and to dissent from each other in all things else. " We speak sometimes about essentials and non- essentials, but incapable of ascertaining what should be designated by those terms, we say the Bible, and the Bible alone is our religion (a tolerably sized one, it must be confessed), and in its interpretation we seek only a justification of discord and the con- demnation of unity. " But leaving this view of the subject, painful, and at the same time ludicrous, if the follies of Christian men could be a just subject of ridicule, let us proceed with a sketch of the doctrine of an- tiquity, relative to the supremacy of the See of Rome." Here again follow the citations, and for which. 160 as they are copious, I must again refer the reader to the work. — He then continues : " I have selected these few passages from the acts of councils holden in the Eastern or Greek Church, composed almost exclusively of Bishops residing outside the western Patriarchate, which was still more closely connected with the Pope, and more faithful at all times in adhering to the apostolic doctrine, and to that centre of union by which it is preserved. I have referred to those councils, because they are admitted as general and orthodox by all ; because matters of the greatest moment were discussed and decided in them, such as dogmas of faith, and the guilt or innocence, not of ordinary individuals, or Bishops, but of two great patriarchs, the one of Constantinople, the other of Alexandria ; I have referred to them as to large mirrors, in which may be clearly seen the faith and discipline of that pure and primitive Church, which sectaries pretend to revere ; and introduced them as the depositaries of the doctrine which prevailed throughout all the orthodox churches of the then Christian world ; — as bodies of Pastors and Doctors, declaring, not by their lan- guage alone, but by their conduct, on the most important occasions which could occur, that the Pope of Rome was the successor of Peter, and, as such, the head of the whole Church, possessing the right to preside in synods wheresoever held, to 161 give jiulgmeiit in matters of faith, whether provi- sionally or finally, and to try, punish or acquit the most exalted of his colleagues. '' I was about to cite, as in the case of Peter's supremacy, the testimony of the ancient Fathers, Greek and Latin, in support of the doctrine main- tained at Nice, Ephesus, and Chalcedon, but I find those preliminary observations have already extended to a greater length than I anticipated. The opinions on this subject of SS. Irenseus, Dennis of Alexandria, Athanasius, Basil, Gregory, Nazianzen, Epiphanius, Chrysostom, and of The- odoret, all Greeks : — and of the Latins, Tertullian, SS. Cyprian, Ambrose, Jerome, Optatus, Augustin, Fulgentius ; of Vincent of Lerins, and the others up to St. Bernard inclusive, may be read, in any of our books of theology ; so that, as far as human testimony can add security and stability to a right evidently founded on the power, and wisdom, and will of Christ — a right essential to the preserva- tion of unity in the faith and integrity in the Church — a right confirmed by an undisturbed, how-often-soever-assailed possession of eighteen centuries, so far is the spiritual supremacy, and no other, of the Pope, eminently supported and secured; so far is the Church of Rome the head and mistress of all other Churches, the depositary of christian truth, the guardian of discipline, and the centre of unity, to which, in the language of Ire- m 162 nseus/all thefaithful, wheresoever dispersed^ should come in Christian harmony and with one accord.' Nor can we more appropriately conclude these few general observations on the nature and doc- trine and discipline of the Catholic Church, whose authority is so reviled by furious men, than with the following striking passage, extracted from tlie Pastoral Instructions, addressed, in 1824, by all the Irish Catholic Bishops to their flocks. These prelates, instructing the Catholics of Ireland, ob- serve : ' but above all to protect you against these men who are erring and drivhig into error, you have the infallible testimony of the Church of God, which Jesus Christ appointed the depositary of his doctrine, to preserve it, to explain it, to teach it, pro- mising her that she would always be animated and directed by the Holy Ghost, and that he himself would be constantly assisting her till the end of time ; that the gates of hell would never prevail against this bulwark, which, as an Apostle says, ' is the pillar and ground of the truth.'^"^ The Re- deemer foresaw how great would be the incon- stancy, the rashness, the pride, the rebellion of the mind of man, and that many even of those who would venerate the holy Scriptures, would, in searching into their depths, lose the anchor of ^''^ 1 Tim, c. 3. V. 15. See also Matt. 16. v. 18, and John 14. V. 16, 17. 163 faith, see vain things, and prophecy lies, saying, and persevering to say, ' the Lord speaketh,' when as Ezekiel saith,'the Lord had not sent them.'^'^ He foresaw that such men v/ould create dissensions, bring in sects and broach heresies, would oppose authority, contradict the truth, fluctuate in a chaos of unsettled opinions, be tossed about by every wind of doctrine, condemn each other, and yet all cry out, ' so saitli the Lord,' ait Dominus, whilst they all rejected what the Lord had said. He foresaw that these sects, turbulent and li- centious, known, and scarcely known, by the names of their founders, would break the unity of his mystic body, which is the Church, of which he himself is the Head; of that Church which has but ONE Faith, as she has but one Saviour, one Baptism, and one Lord ; and hence it was that he vested in her an infallible authority, which, like a light always shining, could dissipate the darkness of error, remove every doubt, interpret faithfully the Word of God, and conduct mankind into the haven of truth and salvation. And where can this Church be found, unless it be she which was built on the Apostles, which received from them the true sense and meaning of the Scriptures, and which, at her very commencement, decided the disputes and settled the doubts which arose amongst ^"^ Ex. ch. 13. V. G. m 2 164 the faithful, whilst the Holy Ghost dictated her decision ; ' It hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us.'^^^ " Where can this Church be found, if it be not she who from that time to the present, has sub- sisted and been governed by an uninterrupted succession of pastors? — she who was always unchangeable in her faith and morality, and who, like her divine Founder, was yesterday, is to-day, and w ill be always the same, till the consumma- tion of ages ; that Church, which amongst all the sects which have sprung up about her, or pro- ceed from her bosom, has always, as the pagan Celsus testifies, been known by the name of the GREAT Church; — that Church, which has con- demned all other Churches, which, like withered branches, were lopped off from the ancient and living trunk, whose root is Christ ; that Church which has triumphed over so many persecutions excited against her by the Jews, by the Pagans, by the impious, by all the enemies of her doctrine; a Church always assailed and never conquered! In a word, where can this Church be found, if it be not she which is extended throughout the en- tire world, which alone is one, which alone can glory in the title of Catholic — a title which she has borne from the Apostolic times, which her ^^^ Acts. ch. 15. V. 8. 165 enemies themselves concede to her, and which, if arrogated by any of them, serves only to expose their shame. " In this Church, dearly beloved brethren, you possess the fountain of all true knowledge, and the tribunal where God himself presides. He speaks to you by the mouths of all her pastors, whom, when you hear, you hear him.^^^ Never deviate from her decisions, they are the decisions of the Holy Ghost, who governs her, and always preserves the purity of her doctrine. Never at- tend to any voice but to her's; she is the tender mother who has brought you forth, who has nursed you in her bosom, fed you with milk from her breasts in your infancy, and now furnishes you with strong food. She watches unceasingly over the deposit of the faith which has been con- fided to her by her heavenly spouse ; she is always armed against every error, against every impiety, ahvays shining in the midst of the disorder and confusion of this world, like the morning star from the midst of the clouds, to direct her children in the ways of truth and salvation. Watch, there- fore, we again beseech you by the mercy of God, remain firm, do not fall from your stedfastness, be constant in the faith; repel with meekness, but with the zeal of God, all the assaults of those who ^^^ Luc. 10. V. 16. 166 would seduce you ; be strengthened and animated with the aid of divine grace against all the un- godly, against all enthusiasts and impostors ; ivatcli, stand in the faith, act manfully, and he com- fortedr^'^ 1 Cor, ch. 16. v. 13. 11. In the second place, I can neither conform to Protestantism, nor take the Oaths required, because both call upon me to profess, testify, and declare, solemnly and sincerely, in the presence of God, not merely that I do not believe in Tran- substantiation, but that I believe there is no such thing as Transubstantiation ; and moreover, that what I do believe on this point, I believe in the sense in which it is commonly understood by Eng- lish Protestants : not after the definition of any Christian Church ; not in any precise terms, such as might be intelligible to the understanding ; not from any authority remote or recent, but according to the sense in which it is commonly understood by a body of men who own no autho- rity in matters of faith, but their own judgment ; who think on all controverted points as their fancy may dictate ; and who have no standard of ortho- ^'^ Reply to the Most Reverend Dr. Magee, by J. K. L. pp, 35-56. — See also a learned Examination of the Supre- macy of St. Peter, in Dr. Lingard's Tracts, in answer to Dr. Burgess, bishop of St, David's. 167 doxy to refer to for the explanation of their doc- trine. The thirty-nine articles^, and the Church Catechism, independent of the little estimation in which they are held, are both incompetent to the purpose, since, in this case, it appears to remain quite undetermined whether we are to believe the body and blood of Christ truly and really present in the sacrament, or not. At least, I think no one will be bold enough to attempt to define, in any thing like intelligible terms, what is the doctrine of English Protestants on this head. Is it not then most unreasonable to require us to swear to a belief in doctrines, the exposition of which we really know not where to find ? While the thirty- nine articles and the Church Catechism leave us quite in the dark as to what we really are to believe, the Prelates of the Establishment do not at all elucidate the matter by their discordant and contradictory opinions, leaving us still to guess at what is the common belief of English Protestants upon the doctrines to which we are required to swear. If we look to the earlier periods of the history of English Protestantism, we shall find some of its most distinguished Divines holding the following opinions \^'^ ^'^ See The Faith and Doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church proved by the Testimony of the most learned Pro- testants. Dubhn, 1813. 168 " We agree as to the object ;" says Dr. Andrews of Winchester, " the whole difference respects the modus or manner of the presence.. ..We believe a real and a true presence no less than you do. The King too (James I.) believes Christ not only really present, but truly adorable in the Eucharist, and I myself do adore the very flesh of Christ in the mysteries." "^'^ Dr. Lawrence thus expresses himself: " As I like not those who say he is bodily there, so I like not those Vv^ho say his body is not there ; because Christ says it is there ; St. Paul says it is there ; and our Church says it is there, really, truly, and essentially, and not only by way of representation or commemoration. For why would our Saviour bid us take what he would not have us receive ? We must believe it is there. We must know what is there. Our faith may see it : our senses cannot."^"^ Archbishop Laud says, " The altar is the great- est place of God's residence on earth : yea, greater than the pulpit ; for there it is. Hoc est corpus meum : in the pulpit it is, at most. Hoc est ver- bum meum. And a greater reverence is due to the body than to the word of the Lord ; and to the throne where he is usually present, than to the seat where his word is preached."^"^^ ^'^ Answer to Card. Bellarmhi's Apology, chap. 1, p. 11, and chap. 8, p. 194. ^"^ Lawrence's Sermon, p. 17 — 18. ^'^ Speech in the Star Chamber, p. 47. 169 And yet the Bishop of Peterborough tells us, that at this very time [in the reign of Charles I.], the Church of England professed the same true religion which it professes at present."^^^ " Concerning the point of the real presence/' says Dr. Montague, '' there need be no difference, if men were disposed as they ought to peace ; for the disagreement is only de modo Presejitice ; the thing being yielded to on either side: viz. that there is in the Eucharist a real presence."^'^ Bishop Bramhall writes thus : " No genuine son of the Church [of England] did ever deny a true, real presence. Christ said : This is my body, and what he said we steadfastly believe," Src.^"^ Bishop Cosin is not less explicit in favour of the Catholic Doctrine. He says : " It is a monstrous error to deny that Christ is to be adored in the Eucharist," &c.^*^ Hooker thus expresses himself : '' Sith we all agree that Christ, by the sacrament, doth really and truly perform in us his promise, why do we vainly trouble ourselves with so fierce contentions, whether by consubstantiation or else by transub- stantiation."^'^ Will it be believed that these, and many others ^^^ Charge, p. 16.— 1827. ^'^ Appeal to C^es^r, p. 289. ^"^ Answer to M. de la Militere, p. 74. ^*^ Hist, of Tramubstantiation, p. 139. ^'^ Eccles. Polity y B. v. 67. 170 who held the same opinions, were all eminent di- vines, and members of the English Protestant Church, some of them posterior to the last revisal of the 39 Articles,^''^ and only a very few years prior to the time'^"^ when members of Parliament were called upon to swear precisely to what they are at the present moment ; namely, that they be- lieved this doctrine in the sense in which it was commonly understood by English Protestants. But while the oath remains the same, the doc- trine appears to have differed ; preserving only one characteristic of its former qualities — that of being as vague and indeterminate as ever. While the creed of the Established Church always appears, at first sight, to inculcate a true and real presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Sacrament, it invariably alters its course, either by admitting every possible variety of opinion, through the vagueness of its definitions ; or, by Catechistical explanations, doing away with the reality of the ^^^ In 1634, the Convocation of the Irish Bishops de- nounced an excommunication against those who affirmed that any of the articles of the Church of England were in any part superstitious or erroneous. Twenty-eight years afterwards they were discovered to be both. ^'^ Dr. Andrews died 1626; Laud (executed) 1644; Montague, 1641; Archbishop Bramhall, 1663; Cosin, 1671; Hooker, 1660; Parker, 1575; Nowell, 1602; Taylor, 1667; Wake, 1736; Usher, 1656. 171 presence altogether ; or by stating things in such contradictory terms, that it still contrives to leave the doctrine itself involved in mystery, doubt, and darkness. *' Its original framers knew that the Christian world was divided into two parties : the one consisting of the Catholics and the Lutherans, who contended for the real presence of Christ's body, though they differed as to the manner of that presence ; the other of the Zuinglians and Calvinists, who rejected the real presence and admitted nothing more than a bare figure and memorial of the death of Christ. By appearing to admit both opinions into different parts of the articles, catechism, and rubrics, they opened a door for proselytes from either party, who might thus become orthodox churchmen, and still retain their favourite opinions. Thus, the original articles published by the authority of Edward VI. contained a long paragraph against ' the real and bodily pre- sence,' as they term it -/f^ which paragraph, though it was subscribed by both houses of Convocation, in the reign of Elizabeth, was omitted by the command of that female head of the Church." '' The design ^•^^ The first communion service, drawn up by Cranmer, Ridley, and other Protestant bishops and divines, and published in 1548, clearly expresses the real presence, declaring that " the whole body of Christ is received under each particle of the Sacrament.'* Burnet^ T, ii. p. 1. 172 of government/' says Burnet^ " was at that time much turned to the drawing over the body of the nation to the Reformation^ in whom the old leaven had gone deep ; and no part of it deeper than the belief of the corporeal presence of Christ in the Sacrament ; therefore it was thought not expedient to offend them by so particular a definition in this matter, in which the very word real iwesence was rejected." ^^^ In like manner, in the second Book of Common Prayer, published by Edward VI., was inserted a long rubric, rejecting " all adoration unto any real presence of Chris fs natural flesh and Mood." This also was laid aside by order of Elizabeth. '' It being the Queen's design," says Wheatley,"to unite the nation as much as she could in one faith, it was therefore recommended to the divines, to see there should be no definition made against the aforesaid notion, but that it should remain as a speculative opinion not determined, but in which every one might be left to the freedom of his own mind."^^'^ King James imitated the ^^^ " Burnet, Exposition of the xxxix Articles, p. 308. " This part of the Article was omitted, in 1562, probably with a view to give less offence to those who maintained the corporeal presence, and to comprehend as many as possible in the Established Church." Bishop of Lincoln's Elements of Christian Theology, vol. 2, p. 483. (h) "Wheatley's Illustration of the Book of Common Prayer, p. 334. 173 caution of his predecessor ; and in commissioning Bishop Overal, then Dean of St. Paul's^ to add to the Catechism the explanation of the Sacraments, was careful that the real presence should be taught in such a manner as might satisfy the patrons of that doctrine/'^ The 28th Article of the Church of England de- clares that " the body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the supper, only after a heavenly and spiritual manner." Catholics say the same. " The Holy Synod openly and plainly professes that in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, after the conse- cration of the bread and wine, our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and man, is truly, really, and substantially present under the appearances of those sensible objects. Nor in this is there any repugnance, that Christ, according to his natural manner of existence, should always remain in hea- ven at the right hand of his Father ; and that, at the same time he should be present with us, in many places, really, but sacramentally, in that way of existence which, though in words we can hardly express it, the mind, illuminated by faith, can con- ceive it to be possible to God, and which we are bound firmly to believe ; for so all our ancestors, as many as were members of the true Church of ^'^ See Dr. Lingard's Tracts, from which the above quota- tions are taken. 174 Christ, who wrote on the subject of this holy Sa- crament, openly professed." ^*^ Dean Nowell, in his Catechism for Schools, first published in 1570, says the same. " The body and blood of Christ are given to the faithful in the Lord's Supper, are received, eat, and drank by them, only after a heavenly and spiritual manner, hut truly and really [vere tamen atque reipsd]. So that, when it was asserted by a Catholic con- trovertist, that, according to the doctrine of the Church of England, the bread of the supper is but a figure of Christ, Bishop Montague had some reason to answer ; "' Is but a sign or figure, and no more! — Strange! — and yet our formal words are. This is my body ; this is my hlood. This is, is more than this Jigureth, or designeth ; a bare figure is but a phantasm. He gave sid)stance, and really subsisting essence, who said, '' This is my body, this is my blood." ^'^^ '' I know," says the elegant and learned writer from whom this argument is taken, " that both this divine, and others who have held a similar language, have on other occasions taught the con- trary doctrine ; but this corroborates my asser- tion, since it shews that, in endeavouring to defend the tenets of the established creed, they were com- ^^^ Council of Trent, Sess. xiii. c. 1. p. 86. ('^ New Gag. p. 250. 1624. 175 pelled, first, to acknowledge a real presence, and then to explain it away till it meant a real ab- sence." The article says, '^ the body of Christ is given, &c. — Now, Archbishop Wake's catechism, entitled, TJie Principles of the Christian Religion Explained, asks this question ; " Are the body and blood of Christ really distributed to every communicant in this Sacrament T And the answer is, '' No, they are not. For then, every commu- nicant, M^hether prepared or not, would alike re- ceive Christ's body and blood there." Is not this contradictory to the Article? The Article says, '' the body of Christ is given ;" — the Archbishop's catechism, that it is 7iot given. " That which is given',' says he, ^'by the priest to the communicant, is, as to its nature, the same after the consecra- tion that it was before ; viz. bread and wine, only altered as to its use and signification." He says again : ^^ That which is given by the priest, is, as to its substance, bread and wine ; as to its sacra- mental nature and signification, it is the figure or representation of Christ's body and blood, which was broken and shed for us. The very body and blood of Christ as yet it is not. But being with faith and piety received by the communicant, it becomes to him, by the blessing of God, and the grace of the Holy Spirit, the very body and blood of Christ,'' — We have seen, that the Article at first says the body of Christ is really present, for 176 how can it be giveii, if it be not there ? yet at last it asserts that it is not there; and that to bring it there, it must first be received by faith. In the Archbishop's definition a real and true presence is also expressed ; and yet when the Bishop asks Jiow the bread and wine become to the faithful and worthy communicant the very body and blood of Christ, he replies : " As it entitles him to a part in the sacrifice of his death, and to the benefits thereby procured to all his faithful and obedient servants!" If this has any meaning at all, it signifies that, in- stead of a real presence of the body and blood of Christ, there is in the Sacrament a title to the inheritance of the merits of his death ; that is, some spiritual benefit, but by no means the verij body and blood of Christ, as he had said before ! The late Bishop of Durham, in his celebrated Explanation of the Doctrine of the Lord's Supper, thus expresses himself: '' To eat Christ, is to incorporate with the mind the spiritual food of faith and righteousness. To eat Christ, is to im- bibe his doctrines, to digest his precepts, and to live by his example. We eat Christ, by having him in our minds, and meditating on his life and sufferings. To eat Christ, is to believe in him ; and to eat his flesh is to keep up the remembrance of him, especially of his death. To eat the body of Christ, therefore, and to drink his blood at the Sacrament, are figurative terms to denote an act 177 of faith, by which we profess our faith in Christ, and commemorate his death, by eating the repre- sentative and vicarious elements of hread and wine," ^"'^ Hence, to eat the body and drink the r»ij While the Bishop of Durham styles the consecrated bread and wine re^wesentative and vicarious elements, and " mere bodily elements of earthly manufacture," a Preben- dary of the same Church says, " Who among us denies that Christ is to be adored in the Eucharist ? or the neces- sity of a supernatural or heavenly change ? or that signs can become Sacraments only by the wfinite power of God? What member of the Church of England would be acknow- ledged by his Church in making a bare figure of the Sacra- ment?" (Letters to C. Butler, Esq. by Dr. Phillpotts,j9. 239 J Who shall decide between the Bishop and his Prebendary ? Who is to unravel the mysterious secret of th-e doctrines and belief of Protestants on the Eucharist, out of such a complicated tissue of contradictions I or why is a Catholic to be stigmatized as an idolater for believing in Transub- stantiation, and in offering the sacrifice of the Mass, when a Prebendary of Durham is allowed to adore Christ in the Eucharist without contumely or opprobrium? and by what mode of reasoning is it that this same Prebendary and those who think like him, if any such there be, can recon- cile it to their consciences to swear that the worship of the Church of Rome is idolatrous, when they themselves are adorers of the same God, in the same Sacrament ? ! ! ! Will it suffice for them to say, that there is no absurdity which the licence of the reformed belief cannot shelter ? that they, forsooth, have liberty to think, act, and believe as they list? That a Protestant, because he belongs to the n 178 blood of Christ, is to eat, not his body, but bread, as a representation and substitute for his body ; and to drink, not his blood, but wine, as a repre- sentation and substitute for his blood. Yet, a few pages afterwards the bishop says : '' To think and believe, are as really acts of the mind, as to eat is an act of the body. What is done by the mind, is as truly done, as what is done by the body. The body of Christ is therefore as truly , as verily, and indeed, received by faith, as the bread is by the mouth." — What are we to under- stand from all this ? What is the sense in which English Protestants understand it? I confess that to me it is wholly and entirely unintelligible and contradictory ; but not one tittle the more so than every other explanation of this doctrine to be found in Catechisms, Charges, Sermons, or even in the Articles of Faith of the Established Church.^''^ But it is useless to multiply proofs of the dis- cordant opinions of prelates and members of the Establishment of the present day, and to shew that too many of them reject the real presence religion established by law, may adore Christ in the Eu- charist without being an idolater, while a Catholic, because he is an outcastf-aafea member of a proscribed race, is unhesitatingly sworn to be guilty of the greatest of all crimes against his God, for doing the self-same thing ? ^""^ See this argument pursued more at length in Dr. Lingard's Tracts. 179 altogether, and attempt to explain the whole by a figurative meaning. I will only notice another and a very remarkable instance of the contrariety of o; inions between prelates of the Established Church, at the time when the oath was framed, and of the period in which we live. When the Duke of York asked Archbishop Sheldon, in the time of Charles II., if it were the doctrine of the Church of England, that Roman Catholics were idolaters? he answered, " that it ivas not ; but that young- men of parts would be popular, and such a charge was the way to it."^" ' While in the reign of George IV., Dr. Burgess, Bishop of St. David's, tells us that '' they who do not hold the worship of the Church of Rome to be idolatrous, are not Pro- testants, whatever they may profess to be.^^^ 1 would ask, whether contradictions and absurdities like these were ever found in Catholicity ? Hence it appears clear, that the oath no longer bears the same signification now that it did when it was first established, and m,ay at any time go round again to the sense in which English Protestants held it in former times; but not, perhaps, till, cameleon-like, it has caught a dozen different hues, from the colour of the politics or fancies of the day ; for it seldom happens that the opinions of men pass from one position to its reverse, except ^'^ Burnet, Hist, of his own Times. 1673. Cv) Protesfanfs Catechism, p. 46*. n 2 180 through numerous gradations. Is it not, then, pre- posterous to call upon us to swear to so variable, contradictory, and incomprehensible a doctrine as this appears to be in the hands of English Pro- testants ?^^^ ^'^^ See the Articles and Liturgy, as they stood in 1548, clearly expressing the real presence; in 1552, as clearly denying it; in 1562, leaving it doubtful; and, in 1662, apparently rejecting it altogether ! ! ! The contrariety of opinion that has ever been so remark- able amongst the prelates of the Establishment in England, appears likewise to have prevailed about this same period in the Irish branch of the Protestant Church. While many of the archbishops and bishops of Ireland, with Archbishop Usher at their head, declared that " the reli- gion of the Papists was superstitious and idolatrous,'' &c. ; and that to consent that they might freely exercise their re- ligion was a grievous sin (see Plowden's Hist, of Ireland^ vol. i. c. 4.) : Dr. Jeremy Taylor, bishop of Down, much to his credit for candour and discernment, says ; " The object of their [the Catholics'] adoration in the Sacrament is the only true and eternal God, hypostatically united with his holy humanity, which humanity they believe actually present under the veil of the sacrament ; and if they thought him not present, they are so far from wor- shipping the bread, that they profess it idolatry to do so. This is demonstration that the soul has nothing in it that is idolatrical ; the will has nothing in it but what is a great enemy to idolatry." [Liberty of Prophesy big, sec. 20.) About the same time, in England, Thorndyke, prebendary of Westminster, argues thus : " Will any Papist acknow- 181 But even if I knew what I was called upon to believe, yet, under the view which I take of the ledge that he honours the elements of the Eucharist for God? Will common sense charge him with honouring that in the sacrament, which he does not helieve to he there?" fJtist Weights mid Measures, c. 19 J But Dr. Porteus, bishop of London, a few years ago, charged Ca- tholics with *' senseless idolatry," and with "worshipping the creature instead of the Creator." fConfut. p. ii. c. \J It is really extraordinary, hut not less true, that prelates and divines of the Church of England should, in this enlightened age, require to be sent back to periods of comparative barbarism (when there was at least as much inflammable matter in the polemical world, as there is at present,) to learn candour, fair dealing, liberality, charity, and common sense. Let them take a lesson from Dr. Parker ; and, while they blush at the contrast, would to God they would apply his reasoning in the cause to which his candid mind directed it, namely, the abrogation of the Test. " So black a crime as idolatry," says he, " is not lightly to be charged upon any party of Christians, on account of the foulness of the calumny, and the bar- barous consequences that may follow upon it. Before so bloody an indictment is preferred against the greatest jDart of the Christian world, the thing should be well under- stood. The charge is too big for a scolding word. It is a piece of inhumanity that outdoes the ferocity of the cannibal, and damns at once both soul and body ; and yet after all, we have no other ground than the rash assertions of some popular divines, who have no other measures of truth than hatred to Popery, and therefore never spare 182 question^, I could not possibly subscribe to any such misconstructions of the ancient doctrine of Christendom on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist : For, in conformity with this doctrine, I most firmly and steadfastly believe, and am ready solemnly and sincerely to call God to witness my belief, that Transubstantiation does verily and truly take place in the sacrament of the Eucharist, and in the manner in which it is taught and explained in the Catholic Church. In the first place, I believe it because the Catholic Church has always taught it ; she has taught it, hard words against that church ; running up all objections against it into atheism and blasphemy, of which idolatry is the greatest instance. As to the use of images in the worship of God, I cannot but wonder at the confidence of these men to make so bold a charge against them in gene- ral, when the images of the cherubims were commanded by God himself fExod. xxv. 18 J ; which instance is so plain and obvious to every reader, there being nothing more remarkable in all the Old Testament than the honour done to the cherubim, that 'tis a much greater wonder to me, that those men who advance the objection of idolatry so groundlessly, can so slightly rid themselves of so preg- nant a proof against it ; till, therefore, it can be proved that the papists worship the images of false gods as supreme deities, or the true God by corporal images and the re- presentations of his divine nature, there can be no footing for idolatry in Christendom." — Parker's Reasons for ahro- gating the Test. 183 because it was revealed to her from heaven ; and of its revelation from heaven there is abundant and incontrovertible proof. Yes, if there be one tenet of Christianity more clearly defined, or more fre- quently illustrated in the sacred writings than another ; if there be one article of faith which it appeared to be the object of our Saviour to enforce more strongly upon our minds than usual ; if there be one mystery to which more importance is given, or to which more consequence is attached, it is the doctrine of Transubstantiation. It is a singular circumstance, that Transubstantiation should have been the characteristic both of the first and of the last miracle which our Saviour performed in the course of his sacred minis try^ — the conversion of water into wine at the marriage feast of Cana, and the conversion of bread into his body, and of wine into his blood, at the last supper. Like every other tenet of her creed, the Catholic Church can trace the belief in Transubstantiation up to the very aera of the Apostles, by an un- broken series of authentic history, by the luminous evidence of those unexceptionable attestators of truth, the Fathers of the Church.^"^ ^""^ See Appendix, No. XI. where these testimonies are adduced at considerable length. " It is evident," says Dr. Samuel Parker, " to all but ordinarily conversant in ecclesiastical history, that, the ancient fathers did, from age to age, assert the trite and 184 But why should we have recourse to the testhnony of history, and the opinion of the Fathers, while real presence in very high and exj)ressive terms. The Greeks called it metabolic and the Latins, conversion, transmutation, transformation, transelementation, and at length transuhstantiation ! by which expressions they meant neither more nor less than the re«/ presence of Christ in the Eucharist." — Parker's Reaso7is, ^.13. "I have often wondered," says the learned Scaliger, " that all the ancient fathers should have considered the supper as a real oblation^ and have believed, as they unquestionably did, the cliange of the bread into the body of Christ, for which reason, Protestants can never 'prove their doctrine from them." — Scaligerana, p. 78. But as other Protestant controvertists have endeavoured to turn aside the positive and overwhelming testimony of the Fathers of the Church, upon the doctrine of the real presence in the Eucharist, and never more shamefully and falsely than in the present day, by pretending to i)roduce doubtful, unsatisfactory, and even contradictory opinions amongst them on this point, and by endeavouring to stamp them with the same fickleness, uncertainty, and hesitation in their belief, as is found to prevail amongst Protestants themselves, I will introduce into the Appendix the ad- mirable refutation of such notions in the bishop of Stras- burg's late triumphant answer to Faber's Difficulties of Romanism. The reader will there see a notable proof of the truth and justice of the observations I have found it necessary to make upon the general character of works of the description of Mr. Faber's, works which are a dis- grace to the Church in whose defence they are undertaken —works in which forgery and falsehood are artfully but 185 we have the evidence of the Scripture, and the words of Christ himself to guide us ? It is impos- sible for any one, with an unbiassed judgment, to read the 6th chapter of the Gospel of St. John, and disbelieve in the real and substantial presence of the body and blood of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. We there see the express declaration of Christ: / am the bread of life ; the bread that I ivill give is my flesh .•^'*>' and we see the sense in which unblushingly advanced with a design to delude the igno- rant and the credulous into a disbelief of the purest doctrines of Christianity, and for the purpose of upholding a system of imposture and deceit, by which thousands of talented and otherwise respectable individuals derive a luxurious subsistence for themselves and families. See Appendix, No. X. ^''^ It may be here observed, " that if Christ had wished to inculcate the Catholic doctrine, he could not have done it in terms better adapted to the purpose; and if he meant to inculcate the doctrine of the Church of England, he could have hardly selected words more likely to lead his disciples into error." (Lingard's Tracts, p. 215.) During the period of our Saviour's sojournment upon earth, he was God under the appearance of man ; and though he proved his divinity by miracles, yet those miracles were momentary and passing, and left mankind without any evidence, that was perceptible by the senses, of so incomprehensible a mystery as a God made man. And why should we require more in the sacrament of the Eucharist? Instead of the Son of God 186 his words were understood, and the manner in which they were received, by the unbelieving Jews, under the appearance of man, we behold him under the semblance of bread and wine, and we have his own words in attestation of the fact. If the second person of the blessed Trinity, united with the nature of man, but veiling his divinity under the form of an infant, had been presented in common with a hun- dred other infants before any indifferent person, would it have been possible to distinguish him from the rest? Why then should we look for any peculiar distinction in a consecrated host, over one that is not so ? If the Son of God could appear amongst men as an infant child, pre- serving his divinity without altering the ordinary appear- ances of human nature, wliy can he not equally veil his divinity under the appearance of bread, without changing the appearance of that bread to the visual faculties of man ? And why can He not also delegate the power to do so to his minister, — He who gave power to the rod of Aaron to convert the waters of the Nile into blood, and that blood into water again, — He who was able, by one single word, to call a whole world from nothingness ? The remark of Tertullian, that he believed in Transub- stantiation because it was impossible to have been the off- sj)ring of the human mind, is worthy of observation. He did not disbelieve and reject it, because it appeared extra- ordinary and inexplicable ! but feeling it impossible that it could have originated with man, he referred it entirely to God. " What is there in the real presence," says Mr. Corless, in his Reply to Mr. Townsend, "to which the mind of a 187 who incredulously asked ; How can this man give us his flesh to eat 9 Instead of denying that this was his real and literal meaning, and undeceiving those who heard him ; instead of ceasing to tempt their faith by what he had no intention of forcing upon it ; he only confirms his own assertion, and Christian can object? — Is it the impossibility? Then does the creature pretend to set limits to the power of his Creator ? Cannot the Omnipotent, who called all things out of nothing, and whom all things obey, change one substance into another ? Did he not change water into wine at the marriage feast of Cana ? Does he not daily, by the common operations of nature, change the bread which we eat, into our body and blood ? — Is it because to the senses it appears still to be bread? — Then cannot our Divine Saviour assume what appearance he pleases ? Is it not as easy for the Son to assume the apjDcarance of bread, as for the Holy Ghost to assume the apjjearance of a dove, as at the baptism of Christ, or of divided tongues, as on the day of Pentecost ? Is it, because it is incom- prehensible ? — ^Then must Ave reject the Trinity, the divi- nity of our Redeemer, and every thing that a finite being cannot reduce to the standard of his reason. But, there must be mysteries, as long as there is man. As God re- quires a sacrifice of our will, so must he also require a sacrifice of our understanding. Coidd a flnite being ac- quire all knowledge and fathom the secrets of omniscience, then would he become, in knowledge, infinite^ and equal to his God. Then would the serpent's promise to our first parents be verified in their posterity ; Eritis sicui 188 their interpretation of it: Except, he replied, ?/oz^^r/^ of the flesh of the sonofman^ and drink of his hlood, you shall not have life in you. His disciples, like the members of the Established Church, were still obdurate, and, like them, they exclaimed : This saying is hard, and who can hear it 9 But the doctrine of Jesus was fixed and immutable ; and though many went bach and walked no more ivith him, because of this hard saying, that he woidd give them his flesh to eat, yet his words were irrevocable ; his decision was final. He never attempted to soften down his expressions, to adapt his meaning to the capacity of the senses, nor to measure his instructions by the understanding of man/'^ At the same time that he conferred his Co) "Xhe character of Christ was not more different from that of the philosophers, than his method of instruc- tion, from that which they pursued. Those who gave no other proof of the truth of their speculations, than their conformity with reason, were necessarily obliged to the test of the most rigid examination. — But he, who wrought miracles in support of his doctrine, sufficiently impressed upon it the seal of a divine origin. Hence, in unfolding the most sublime and mysterious tenets of his religion, Christ was not in the habit of showing that they were susceptible of demonstration. Regardless of the difficulties which sometimes startled his disciples, he generally re- peated the doctrine, without studying to make it easier of comprehension. Thus, when the Jews expressed their 189 favors, he wished to exercise our faith : he therefore left his doctrine as it was, and turning round to his surprise at his intimation that he had seen Abraham, by asking him, ' Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham ? ' (John viii. 57.) He entered into no further explanation of the stupendous mystery,content with making this cool reply : ' Amen, amen, I say to you, be- fore Abraham was made, I am.' [Ihld. 58.) Tliat the Jews were not content with this brief answer, aj^pears from the concluding verse of the chapter, in which it is stated, that they took up stones to cast at him, and that he went out of the temple to shelter himself from their fury. " Again, when he announced the mysterious doctrine of regeneration to Nicodemus, who enquired of him, with the utmost impatience, ' How can a man be born when he is old.? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb, and be born again V Jesus answered, ' Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.' (John iii. 4, 5.) To the mind of Nicodemus, the regeneration of the spirit was still more incomprehensible than the secret of the Redeemer's age. In the sequel of his discourse, Christ, far from wishing to accommodate this mystery to man's comprehension, labours rather to correct the perverse and unreasonable curiosity of the human mind. He tells him : ' We testify what we have seen ;' (Ihid. 11.) which testimony, when confirmed by the wonders he had wrought, should have satisfied all of the truth of his doctrine. But, as if to arrest the presumption of those who should attempt to explore the mysteries of the Divinity, he adds : ' And no man hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended from heaven, the son of man, who is in heaven.' (Ihid. \^J 190 Apostles, he asked ; If they also would leave him ? Was it possible to give a more striking proof that they had rightly understood him, and that his words were to be received in the plain and literal sense in which they had been taken by those who had left him disbelieving, and by those who, like Peter, remained and believed? If they had not rightly understood him, if they had left him with any material misconception of his meaning, would not he, who was the good shepherd, ready to lay down his life for his sheep, and whose sole desire was to gather all mankind into one fold, would not he have called them back, and, by a seasonable expla- nation, have relieved them from their errors ? The only rational, the only possible method of explaining this conduct of our Saviour is, by suhjecting our understanding to the ohedience of faith, and ex- claiming in the words of St. Peter : " Lord, thou " When Jesus, after the departure of the wealthy young man, who came to consult him on the means of securing his salvation, said to his disciples : ' It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God,' they wondered veiy much, saying : ' Who then can he saved ?' {Matt. xix. 24, 25.) Yet he gave them no other solution to a diffi- culty which seemed perplexing to their minds, than the simple language, ' With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.' (Ihid. 26.)"— Dr. Machale's Evidetices and Doctrines of the Catholic Church, Vol. I. pp. 342—345 191 hast the words of eternal life : we beheve and have known that thou art Christ, the Son of the living God." It is probable, however, that, at this time, neither party precisely understood the manner in which Christ was to give his body and blood for the spiritual food of mankind. But the conduct of our Saviour, and the declaration of St. Peter, both point out the implicit obedience which we owe to the words of Christ, whether we understand them or not. Had our Saviour been explaining the mystery of the Trinity, or any other of the myste- rious doctrines of Christianity, which no human capacity can possibly fathom and comprehend, we may well imagine that the conduct of Christ, the exclamation of St. Peter, and perhaps the incredu- lity of the Jews, would have been precisely the same. '^^ ^P^ Tlien Jesus said to them ; Amen, amen., I say unto you : Except you eat of the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his Uood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life : and I will raise him up in the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my Uood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I In Mm. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, the same shall also live by me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat 7nan?ia, and are dead. He that eateth this bread, shall live for ever. These things he said, teaching in 192 But to terminate the explanation of this wonder- ful mystery — to manifest the completion of this the synagogue, in Capernaum. Many, therefore, of his dis- ciples hearing it, said : This saying is hard, and ivho can hear it ? But Jesus, kiioiving in himself that his disciples murmured at this, said to tliem : Doth this scandalize you ? If, then, you shall see the Son of man ascend up ivherehewas before? (Jo. vi. 54-63.) Here again, our Saviour, so far from admitting that his disciples had misunderstood him, adduces his future miraculous ascension into heaven in testimony of the truth of his assertions. He asks if their incredulity will not fall before the stupendous miracle of his ascension ? It would also appear that our Saviour intended to convey some idea of the manner in which his flesh was to be given for the spiritual food of mankind, since he adds, It is the spirit that quickeneth ; the flesh prqfiteth nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. That is, my mere flesh, without my spirit and divinity, would he of no avail ; or, without the spirit of -God, the carnal man is incapable of comprehending or benefiting from the truths of Christianity. No man can come to me, unless it he given him hy my Father. In judging of sjjiritual things, you must be governed by the spirit, not by the gross ideas of sensual man. It is not after the manner of common meat that you are to eat of the flesh of the Son of man, but though in a real and substantial, yet in a heavenly and spiritual form. The ivords which I have spoken to you are spirit and life : they will animate you with the spirit of God, if you will but believe in them -, they will conduct you to eternal life, if you will but follow them as your guide. Such appears to have been the meaning of a passage which is frequently brought forward 193 august sacrament— and to exhibit the fulfilment of the i^romise he had made of giving himself as the bread of life, — our Saviour, at his last supper, took bread, and blessed, and brake, and gave to his disciples, and said: Take ije, and eat, this is MY BODY {"^^ and taking the chalice also, he gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying; Drink ye all of this ; FOR THIS IS MY BLOOD, &c/'^ Christ did not by Protestants, iu a vain endeavour to controvert the pre- vious declaration of our Saviour. Nothing, however, can be more certain, from the whole context, that they nowise militate against the positive promise of Christ, to give his real and substantial, though spiritualized body, for the food of mankind. Had the Jews been less obdurate in their unbelief, they would in all probability have under- stood the precise meaning of our Saviour, who would then have condescended to enter into more explicit details. It is quite evident, however, that the passage will admit of these interpretations, and it would be blasphemy to assert that the God of Truth had contradicted, in the latter part of his discourse, what he had so positively and so strongly insisted upon in its commencement. Knowing that the eyes of his disciples were not yet opened to understand the Scriptures, and that it was not the intention of our Saviour to explain himself more fully upon this occasion, the whole difficulty is relieved. ^^^ An Almighty God has said it: and man, vain man, has presumed to question it. — O man ! who art thou that repUest against God ? Rom. ix. 20. ^'^ A flimsy quibble is frequently resorted to for the pur- pose of destroying the force of these ex^H-essions; namely, o 194 say, here is my body, here is my blood! which might have appeared to countenance the doctrine of Consubstantiation ; but he says, this is my body : this is no longer bread, but the body of him who addresses you ; the life-giving flesh of the Son of God : this is no longer wine, but the sacred foun- tain of life, that blood which shall so soon be shed upon the cross for the remission of your sins. If any other testimony were required, the manner in which St. Paul bears witness to this doctrine is a striking confirmation of it. The chalice of bene- diction, which we bless, says he, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ ; and the bread which we break, Is It not the partahmg of the body that all that was required of us by these injunctions of Christ, was a mere cmnmemoration of the last supper — Do this in commemoration of me. But it is at once over- turned by the simple question ; What was the important this that was to be done ? Were the disciples to do what our Saviour had just done, or something else that was left to their own fancy ? — On one occasion Luther says : " The devil seems to have mocked mankind in proposing to them a heresy so ridiculous and contrary to Scripture as is that of the Zuinglians, namely, the denial of the real presence." (Oj). Luth. Defens. Verb. Con.) In another place he ac- knowledges that he had tried to persuade himself of there being no real j)resence of Christ in the Sacrament, on purpose to irritate and offend the Pope ; but that the words of Scripture were too plainly in favour of it. — (See Letters to a Preb. p. 154.) 195 of the Lordf'^ And whosoever shall eat this breads or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily , shall he guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lor dS'^ In receiving the bread, how can we be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord,\i\\\^ body and blood be not there ? How can we eat and drink judgment to ourselves, not discerning the body of the Lordy""^ if the body of the Lord be not there to be discerned ?'^'^ ^'^ 1 Cor. X. 16. ^'^ 1 Cor. xi. 27. ^"^ Ihid. 22. C'j While St. Paul says that the unworthy communicant is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, the doctrine of the Establishment renders the profanation of the Sacra- ment an impossibility. I presume — and after all it is only a presumption, though I doubt whether any Pro- testant will contradict me — that the Church of England denies the real presence in toto : and this being the case, what is there in the Sacrament for the unworthy commu- nicant to profane ? Where is the body and blood of the Lord, of which he is to be guilty? But supposing, ac- cording to the words of the 28th Article, an act of faith really gives the body and blood of Christ to the commu- nicant, who but a madman will make that act of faith, when he receives the Sacrament unworthily and unpre- pared } How can he be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, when, making no act of faith, he receives nothing but bread and wine } In one case, there is a certainty that the Sacrament cannot, in the other, there is a moral impossibility that it can, be profaned by an unworthy communicant who is a member of the Established Church. Hence the denunciation of St. Paul becomes void and unmeaning. o 2 196 An omniscient God foresaw the incredulity of mankind^ and in mercy to those who are willing to believe, afforded evidence without end to pre- serve them from error upon this most important point.' All the Evangelists, all the inspired writers, all the Fathers of the Church, concur in opi- nion upon this doctrine. There is no tenet for which there are so many vouchers ; there is no mystery so distinctly revealed, and so clearly de- fined. If Transubstantiation were a modern doctrine, a doctrine of human invention, why cannot those who assert it to be so, prove both the manner and the period of so extraordinary an innovation in the faith of Christianity? If, in our own times, a minister of the Church of England were to ascend the pulpit, hold up to the people the consecrated elements, and exclaim, ' This is the body and hlood of Christ ;' what astonishment would not fill the minds of his audience ; what an outcry would there not be raised throughout the country! And is it to be believed, that, if a similar occurrence, under similar circumstances, had taken place du- ring the first ages of the Church, the effect would not have been the same? Would it have been so completely overlooked both by history and tradition ? That such an assertion, under such cir- cumstances, should have met with success, is a monstrous supposition, because, independent of its 197 contradiction to our senses, it is a doctrine which has nothing but the authority of revelation to re- commend it ; for, unlike every false tenet, it nei- ther flatters our passions nor our pride : that, under such circumstances, it should have been eagerly embraced, and universally adopted, would have required no less than the interposition of a miracle. But it did not originate in such circumstances ; it rested not upon the authority of man; it was a doctrine not confined to a particular period, or a particular country : it was coeval and coextensive with Christianity itself/"^ Of this, abundant evidence has descended to us, and whoever will ^^^ Transubstantiation is equally the doctrine of the Greek Church, and of all the Eastern Churches that have separated themselves from the communion of the see of Rome; and as this separation took place, in some in- stances, as early as the fifth century, even tlieij can hear testimony to it for 1400 years. The Lutherans, also, believe in the real presence. " I clearly saw," says Luther, " how much I should thereby [by disproving the doctrine of the real presence] injure Popery; but I found myself caught without any way of escaping, for the text of the gospel was too plain for this purpose." (Epist. ad Argenten. tom. iv. fob 502. Ed. Witten.) In another place he says, " That no one among the fathers, nume- rous as they are, should have spoken of the Eucharist as these men do [the opposers of the real presence], is truly astonishing. Not one of them speaks thus : There is only bread and wine : or, the body and blood of Christ are not 198 take the trouble of investigating the subject, will find no difficulty in the discovery/"^^ present. And when we reflect how often the subject is treated by them, it ceases to be credible — it is not even possible — that not so much as once such words as these should not have dropped from some of them. Surely, it was of moment that men should not be drawn into error. Still, they all speak with a precision which evinces that they entertained no doubt of the j)resence of the body and blood. Had not this been their conviction, can it be imagined that, among so many, the negative opinion should not have been uttered on a single occasion } On other points this was not the case. But our Sacramen- tarians, on the other hand, can proclaim only the negative or contrary opinion. These men then, to say all in one word, have drawn their notions neither from the Scriptures nor the Fathers." (Defensio Verhorum Casnae, T. \\\.p. 391. Edit. Witt. lobl.J Again he says : '' This I cannot, nor am I willing, to deny, that had any one, five years ago, been able to persuade me that in the Sacrament were only bread and wine, he would have laid me under great obligations to him ;....for I was clearly sensible that nothing would give so much pain to the Roman Bishop." Ihid. p. 502. ^""^ Let not the reader be deterred from this examina- tion, under the idea that he has neither the capacity nor the leisure to explore the voluminous writings of the early Fathers of the Church. He will find every passage of moment which bears upon this, or any other Catholic tenet, selected, translated, and arranged to his hands, in an admirable and most useful compilation of scriptural and 199 We are well acquainted with the heresies of Montanus and Tatian in the 2nd, of TertiilHan and Origen in the 3rd, and of Arius in the 4th century, and so on ; and shall it be said that the tenets of Catholics alone are without evidence and proof; and while the errors of every petty sect, and even sometimes of individual writers, were carefully detailed in history and transmitted to posterity, that the faith and practice of the Universal Church alone were left unnoticed and unattested ? Let any one peruse the passages in St. Ignatius, St. Justin, St. Irenseus, &c. &c. in proof of the doctrine of Transubstantiation, during the 1st, 2nd, and subsequent centuries of the Christian aera, and then determine whether it be the doctrine of primitive Christianity, or the com- paratively modern innovation of the dark ages. Under such a view of the subject, and with such evidence before us, is it possible we can swear that we believe the doctrine of the Eucharist in the sense in which it is commonly understood by Eng- lish Protestants ? historical testimony, in a single volume, entitled : Tlie Faith of Catholics confirmed by Scripture, and attested by the Fathers of the five first Centuries of the Church ; by the Rev. Jos. Berington and the Rev. J. Kirk. Should doubt arise as to the authenticity of any extract, or the fidelity of its translation, the reference at the end of every passage will afford a ready clue to the original. 200 III. In the third place^ I cannot conform to Pro- testantism^ because she calls upon me solemnly and sincerely, in the presence of God,to prof ess, testify, and declare — not simply that I disbelieve in the Invocation of Saints, — but that / do believe that the Invocation of the Virgin Mary, or any other Saint, as now used in the Church of Rome, is superstitious and idolatrous. Whereas, I do solemnly and sincerely declare, and am ready to call God to witness the same, that I believe, in accordance with the decrees of the Council of Trent, that the doctrine received from the earliest ages of the Christian religion, has been that the Saints, reigning with Christ, offer up their prayers to God for men ; that it is good and profitable suppliantly to invoke them, and to have recourse to their supplications and assistance, in order to obtain favour s from God, through his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, who is our only Redeemer and Saviour. The texts of Scripture which tend to prove this doctrine are as folio w/^^ The angel Raphael says to Tobias : When thou didst pray, with tears, and didst bury the dead, I offered up thy prayer to (y) "And that the people may know what benefits Christians receive by the ministry of angels, the feast of St. Michael and all angels is for that reason solemnly ob- served in the Church." — Note to Mant's Book of Common Prayer. 201 the Lord!'^ Judas Machabeus relates a vision, in which he saw the late high-priest Oniah, whom he describes as he appeared to him — stretching out his arms, and praying for the Jewish people. He then mentions another personage whom he saw, of whom Oniah says : This is the lover of the brethren and of the people of Israel. This is Jeremiah the prophet of God, who prays for the ^people, and for the holy cityS"^ — / say to yon, that even so there shall he joy in Heaven upon one sinner that doth p>enance, more than upon ninety- nine just who need not penance, — So J say to you, there shall he joy before the angels of God upon one sinner doing penance !^^ — And when he had opened the booh, the four liviiig creatures, and the four-and-twenty ancients fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harjos, and golden vials, full of odours, which are the prayers of Saints S'^ From all this we argue the intimate communication between the saints in Heaven, and mankind upon earth ; the efficacy of their prayers ; and the interest they take in our behalf. Since St. Paul besought the Romans, Corinthians, and Ephesians to pray for him, is it not clear that it is lawful for us to do the same ? and may we not do so, without detracting from the only Me- ^'^ Tobias, xii. 12. ^"^ Machah. xv. 12. 13. ^*^ St. Luke, XV. 7. 10. ^'^ Apocal. v. 8. 202 diator between God and man ? The practice of Protestants in praying for the king, &c. proves their assent to this position. And, if we may solicit the prayers of our fellow-men, who are mortals and sinners like ourselves, much more should we invoke those of the peculiar friends and companions of God, the adorers around the throne of grace and mercy, and whom, from the texts above quoted, we know to be informed of what is passing upon earth, to be eminently qua- lified for the task, and in the constant habit of performing it. All we beg of them is to intercede with the Mediator, through whom alone we hope for mercy, grace, and salvation, or for any favour that we may ask for at the hands of his saints.^'^'^ Since there is not one single text of Scripture that can, in any way, be taken to contradict this doc- trine, it is impossible it can be contrary to Scrip- ture ; and the convincing fact, that such has always been the view taken of it, and such the ^'^^ The doctrine of the Invocation of Saints is so an- cient and so universal, that the Greek Church, together with all the eastern Churches which separated themselves in the earlier periods of Christianity from the Church of Rome, still maintain it. Luther, so far from finding any thing idolatrous or superstitious in the doctrine or prac- tice of the Church on this point, exclaims : " Who can deny that God works great miracles at the tombs of the saints! I therefore, with the whole Catholic Church, 203 constant practice of the Catholic Church, is to be gathered from the works of the earUest ecclesias- tical V, riters ; copious extracts from which, relative to this point, are to be found in the valuable work already spoken of/'^ To this the reader is refer- red, as these testimonies are far too numerous for insertion here. The charge of idolatry brought against us for honouring those whom God has honoured, but especially for invoking the intercession of the Mother of God, the Queen of Angels, and the Saint of Saints, she who tells us, in an inspired hold that the saints are to he honoured and invocated by us."* Such also was the opinion of many of the prelates of the Church of England .f Bishop Montague, especially, says : " The blessed in heaven do recommend to God, in their prayers, their kindred, friends, and acquaintance on earth." — [Antidote, ]). 20.) " This is the common voice, with the general concurrence, without contradiction, of reverend and learned antiquity, for aught I ever could read or understand ; and I see no cause or reason to dis- sent from them touching intercession in this kind." — (Ihkl. p. 2SJ Is it then safe for Protestants to swear that Catholics are superstitious for holding such a doctrine ? ^'^ " Tlie Faith of Catholics confirmed hy Scripture, and attested hy the Fathers of the five first Centuries of the Churchy — Booker, London, 1813. * In Purg. Quorund. Artie. Tom. i. Gerniet. Ep. ad Georg. Spalat. t See Duchess of York's Testimony, in the Duke of Bruns- wick's Fifty Reasons, Burnet's Hist. &c. 204 Canticle, that all generations shall call her Blesseciy^ and who was addressed by this appella- tion by the prophetic Elizabeth -/^^ who was hailed by the angel as full of grace ^^'^ and to whom the Saviour and Maker of the world was obedient, as a child is obedient to its parent, — is too absurd to obtain a moment's credit with an unprejudiced mind. So far are we from the ' abomination of idolatry/ in the invocation of Saints, that the Catechism of the Council of Trent, published in virtue of its decree, by order of Pius Vth, teaches that '' God and the Saints are not to be prayed to in the same manner : for we pray to God that he himself IV ould give us good things, and deliver us from evil things ; but we beg of the Saints, because they are pleasing to God, that they tvould he our advocates, and ohtain from God what we stand in need of."^^^ ^^> St. Luke, c. i. 48. ^^J jud. v. 42. ^'^ Ibid. v. 28. ^'^ If it should be observed, that prayers are occasion- ally addressed to the saints in a manner which appears at first sight to dispense with the mediatorship of Christ, or to ascribe a power to them which they do not possess, it must be remembered that " by a species of metonomy, we frequently employ the subordinate for the principal agent, and attribute to the intercessor what we know is the office of his superior. Let us suppose a criminal under sentence of death, who solicits the queen to obtain his pardon from the king. Were he in his petition to 205 Our elementary Catechism says : " we are to honour Samts and Angels as God's especial friends beg of her majesty to sa/ce his life, would any one contend that he had ascribed to the queen the power which the constitution has entrusted to the sovereign alone ; and on that account indict him for treason, or a contempt of the king's prerogative ?" (Dr. Lingard's Tracts.) " If in our books of devotion, or any other treatise, he should happen to meet with expressions which his pre- judice is inclined to misinterpret, or his piety to condemn, let his charity interpose, and see if it will not admit of a more favourable interpretation. Words, abstractedly, are but empty sounds : nor are they calculated to convey any impression, other than that which common practice an- nexes to them : nor will it be denied that all words are liable to different interpretations. Again, whoever is conversant with ancient phraseology will admit, that the sense which modern acceptation has attached to cer- tain words, is not the sense in which they were formerly received. Thus, in the marriage service of the Church of England, the husband addresses his wife in the following words : — ' With my body / thee worship.'' Now, what would be the indignation of Mr. Townsend, were I to tell him that, on such an occasion, he had been guilty of idolatry ; that he had worshij^ped the creature instead of the Creator } If expressions of this description are to be found in a Church so modern as Protestantism, what wonder that they should be more frequently met with in a Church so ancient as Catholicity ? — Let but the Protes- tant make the same allowances to the Catholic, as he re- quires for himself, and he solves his own objections. If 206 and servants, but not with the honour which he- longs to God." And, when it is recollected that the reverence paid to the Saints is due to them only through the merits of our Saviour, surely it cannot be deemed any dishonour to the Creator to see his creatures honoured for the gifts he himself has bestowed upon them ; nor will it be considered unbecoming the weakness and the misery of man, to offer our petitions to the throne of mercy through less unworthy hands than our own ; — to make friends for ourselves amongst the friends of God ; — and to implore the intercession of those in our behalf, who had already succeeded so well for themselves. As an additional proof of the efficacy of the merits and prayers of the Saints, suffice it, amongst he will apply the above observation to the words adore and worship, in the instances adduced by Mr. Townsend, he will require no other reply. " Do not the Bishops remind us that, even in the trans- lation of the Bible published at Oxford, to worship is used to signify inferior as well as superior vrorship ? In the first book of Chronicles, we read in that edition, that the assembly ' boiaed dotvti their heads, and tvorshipped the Lord and the King.'' (1 Chron, xxix. 20.) Did they wor- ship the King with the same supreme worshij) which they paid to God ? Certainly not. It must therefore follow from the use of Scripture itself, that the word worship must be received in different acceptations, according to the person to whom it is addressed.'* — -(Corless's Reph/J •207 others, to mention two recorded in Holy Writ : — / will Mess thee, and multiply thy seed for my ser- vant Abraham's sake/^^ — For thy servant David's SAKE, turn not away the face of thine anointed^^ Do not these texts clearly show, that, in considera- tion of the zeal and fidelity of his departed servants, God may sometimes be induced to grant particular blessings and favours to the living ? And this too without any derogation from the merits and me- diatorship of Christ, because, whatever grace the Saints may possess in the eyes of God, it is wholly founded on the merits of our Saviour. To understand the question rightly, and to ex- plain that text of St. Paul, which says ; There is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,^'"^ it must be observed that Catholics ac- knowledge Christ to be the only mediator of sal- vation ; but it cannot be argued from thence that there is no other mediator of intercession, v> ithout condemning the conduct of St. Paul, the commands of Almighty God himself, and the practice of the Established Church.^"^ If, therefore, it is not dero- gatory from the mediatorship of Christ to solicit the prayers of each other, while here on earth, how should it be so in any other state of existence ? And if the efficacy of prayer be such in behalf of ^^^ Gen. xxvi. 24. ^^^ Vsl. cxxxi. 10. <"'^ 1 Eph. Tim. ii. 5. ^''^ See Dr. Lingard's Tracts. 208 each other, while in this mortal state, in which no man living stands justified in the sight of his Cre- ator/"^ how much more may not be expected from it, when the just man is not only removed from this imperfect state of existence, but has received 'power over the nations ;^^^ is seated upon the same throne with the Almighty {'^^ andis become a pillar in the temple of his God^'^ in that temple where the smohe of the incense of the prayers of the saints ascends up hefore God!'-' Where, then, I would ask, is the superstition and idolatry in all this?^'^ ^'^ Psl. cxhi. 2. ^^^ Apoc. ii. 26. ^^^ Ibid. iii. 21. ^'^ Ibid. iii. 12. ^'^ Ibid. viii. 4. ^'^ I will subjoin the opinion of Luther upon this point, though rather as an object of curiosity, than for the pur- pose of founding any argument upon it. " Concerning the Invocation of Saints," says he, '* I agree with the whole Christian Church, and am of opinion that the saints in heaven are to be invocated ; for, who can contradict the wonders daily wrought at their tombs ?" fin Purg. Quoriind. Artie. Tom. i.J — Again : " Some, however, may say ; Of what use can the saints be to us 1 Thou art to use them as thou dost thy neighbour ; for as thou sayest to him ; Pray to God for me ; so mayest thou, St. Peter pray for me." fl?i Festo Sti. Johannia Baptistae.J And in another place : " Let no one omit to invoke the blessed Virgin, and the Angels and Saints, that they may intercede with God for them at that instant [the hour of death]." (Luthefs Prf^p. ad MortJ 209 Though the honour paid to relics and images is not expressly mentioned in the oath, yet, as we are not sure that it may not by implication be comprised therein, and that the charge of super- stition and idolatry may not, in the minds of those who take this test, be grounded upon the sup- posed doctrine and practice of Catholics upon this point, I deem it quite necessary for our justifica- tion to state our belief thereon. It may be found in the following propositions : — " God alone is the object of our worsJiij) and adoration; but Catholics shew lionour to the relics of saints, and they place images and pictures in their churches, to reduce their wandering thoughts, and to enliven their memories towards heavenly things. They shew, besides, a respect to the representations of Christ, of the mysterious facts of their religion, and of the saints of God, beyond what is due to any profane figure ; not that they believe any virtue to reside in them, for which they ought to be honoured, but because the honour given to pictures is referred to the prototype, or thing represented. " They maintain also that honour and respect are due to the hihle, to the cross, to the name of Jesus, to churches, Sj'c. as things peculiarly apper- taining to God ; as well as to kings, magistrates, and superiors : for to whom honour is due, honour may be given, without any derogation from the majesty of God, or that divine worship which is appropriate to him." P 210 To any one at all read in sacred history, it must be superfluous to produce texts of Scripture, to shew the wonderful miracles wrought by Almighty God by means of the relics of his saints : — When Eliseus smote the waters of Jordan with the mantle of Elias, they parted, and the prophet passed over-/"^ — When a dead man was let down into the sepul- chre of Eliseus, no sooner did he touch the bones of the prophet, than he revived and stood upon his feet/'^ Numbers were healed merely by the sha- dow of St. Peter passing over them \^^^ and others by handkerchiefs which had touched the body of St. Paul. In the primitive ages, the miracles wrought by the relics of the martyrs were frequent and notorious, never failing to produce their effect, confirming the faith of Christians, and commanding the belief of Pagans in the religion in favour of which they were performed. Surely, then, it is lawful to venerate these instruments which the Almighty has so often been pleased to employ in the performance of his wonders ; and for this pur- pose, as well as to stamp a mark of sanctity on the spot, from time immemorial it has been the custom, when a Church was not actually built over the tombs of martyrs, to furnish it with the relics of saints, placing them immediately under (^"^ 4 Kings, ii. 14. ^'^ lUd. xiii. 21. ^^^ Acts, V. 14, 15, 16. ^'^ Ibid. xix. 11, 12. 211 the altar, that their mortal remains might occupy a similar situation upon earth, in which their souls were seen by St. John in heaven : I saw under the altar, says he, the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they heldS''^ It is not that we believe any inherent power or supernatural efficacy to reside in these remains ; the very bones and ashes themselves serve to admonish us that the individuals whom we honour were perishable mortals like the rest of the human race. But when we remember the extraordinary graces the Almighty has conferred upon his saints, the signal favours he has granted them, and the heroic and exemplary manner in which they have performed all the duties of a Christian, thus pre- serving their bodies, according to the instructions of the apostle, the unpolluted temples of the Holy Ghost, we conceive it to be in full accordance with the best feelings of humanity, that the heart should pray with greater fervency in the presence of the memorials of such men ; which, while we yield them our honour, serve, by the recollections they inspire, to animate the soul, to cherish devotion, and to excite us to constancy and perseverance. The supplications which, under such circumstances, we offer to the saints, are in their end and object ^''^ Rev. vi. 9. p2 212 addressed to the Almighty himself; it is through him that we cherish a veneration for the remains of those whose lives have been passed in his ser- vice, and whose death has been precious in his sight : in Jihn it originates, — to Jiim it is referred ; — and to his honour and glory it is ultimately, though not immediately, directed. Having shewn that we are not superstitious in our veneration of relics, I trust also to prove that we are not idolaters in our respect for images, and in the manner in which we use them. The answer in our EngHsh Catechisms to the question. Do Catholics pray to images? is this; ISlo, hy no means, for they can neither see, nor hear, nor help us. A similar answer, together with the most pointed condemnation of every species of idolatry, is to be found, without one exception, in all the catechisms in use in Italy, France, Spain, Flanders, Germany ; in a word, in every portion of the Ca- tholic world, in every language in which Chris- tianity is preached, and in every clime in which the name of Jesus is known. Now, if we consider the diligence with which the Catholic clergy incul- cate the study of the catechism, the earnestness with which they impress it on the minds of chil- dren, the clear and familiar manner in which they explain it, and the assiduity and frequency of these explanations, we ought at least to hesitate before we pronounce that those who receive and 213 believe these doctrines, receive and believe them in one sense, and practise them in another. It should also be observed that the clergy are nowise interested in keeping up any delusion upon this point ; while the common instinct of man, every principle both of natural and revealed religion, conspire to direct his adoration to the sole object worthy of it — to the great Creator and Disposer of all things. If, with all the checks and precau- tions employed, some abuse or extravagance should partially and occasionally exist, it must, in justice, be attributed rather to the perversity of human nature, than to any thing radically vicious in the system. When the Almighty commanded cherub im,^'^^ who are his creatures as much as man, to be made for the ornament of the ark of the covenant, he did so without fear that the Israelites, prone as they were to idolatry, would transfer those divine honours to them which they owed to himself alone. ^^■^ Upon the Propitiatory stood two Cherubim, face to face, with their wings expanded and spread, so as to cover the Ark, forming, as it were, a throne for the God of all Sanctity and Majesty. Hence comes the expression often met with in the Sacred Writings, of God sitting upon the Cherubim. It is in imitation of this, that Cherubim are not unfrequently placed to ornament the altar of the blessed Sacrament, where the Almighty deigns to be visibly present. 214 Indeed, when the Jewish people fell into this most abominable of all crimes, the idolatry was generally meditated first, and the idol raised afterwards : so far were they from being led astray by the use of images in their worship ! Yet, be it remembered, that, though we are bound to pay a due respect to the images of Christ and of his saints, when used, we are not bound to use them. They are not necessary appendages to our service, and may be dispensed with, whenever it is judged proper. Except the Crucifix, an image is hardly ever seen in our Chapels in England, for fear of giving scan- dal to our Protestant brethren : in this we act in conformity to the advice of St. Paul, who recom- mends us to concede to the weaknesses of others, when concession is no sacrifice of our duty. The Clergy of Catholic countries are the best judges how far the use of images is liable to be abused, and whether any mischief arises from the toleration of them ; and, as they are not condemned, where there can be no sinister motive for continuing them, it is but charity to suppose, that they are not worthy of condemnation. ^''' In England we ^"^ That it is in itself no impiety to pay religious vene- ration to inanimate objects, is to he deduced from the commands of Almighty God himself, in the Old Testa- ment. Moses was ordered to put off his shoes on Mount Horeh, and walk barefoot, because it was holf/ ground. The Israelites were, in several instances, commanded to 215 pray to saints, without their images before us, and we invoke the assistance of the Mother of God, without the aid of a picture to enliven our devotion. Protestants take off their hats out of respect before a sinful man ; they pay homage to the portrait of their sovereign, in the halls of his ambassadors, and to the empty throne in the house of peers ; they rise from their seats, and stand uncovered, during the performance of music in honour of the King ; they bow the head to the altar, and to the name of Jesus, when it is pro- nounced; they kiss the Bible, when they have sworn by it; they decorate their Churches with images painted upon glass ; they even kneel before their consecrated bread and wine, " mere bodily elements, of earthly manufacture;"^''^ — and all this without incurring the guilt of idolatry. But why similar marks of respect and veneration may not be shewn to the image of the Mother of God, or of the Prince of the Apostles, without subjecting shew a high respect to the Ark of the Covenant, and se- vere punishments were inflicted upon those who either touched it, or looked upon it with irreverence or inatten- tion. In the New Testament we are commanded to bend the knee at the name of Jesus ; and why may we not pay the same mark of respect to the representation of his suffer- ings, without the imputation of idolatry ? By both we only honour the Redeemer of Mankind. ^'^^ Bishop of Durham's Charge. 216 those who shew them, to the odious imputation of superstition and idolatry, is only conceivable to the minds of men who come forward with so groundless and uncharitable a charge. It evinces a degree of ignorance and credulity, equalled only by the want of charity which it betrays. Those Avho see with a superficial eye, and without a due knowledge of the circumstances, may doubtless be scandalized : the Jews were even scandalized at our Saviour, whom, in the ignorance and the blindness of their hearts, they called a drinker of wine, and the companion of publicans. Idolatry is an act of the mind, and not of the body : and it is a crying injustice to presume that a Catholic is praying to an image, because he is praying Z>^- foreiiJ'^ (e) u WTere the Israelites idolaters, when they turned their eyes devoutly towards the sanctuary in which were depo- sited the Ark and the Cherubim? or when, in the posture of suppliants, they cast an eye of confidence and hope upon the brazen serpent ? Were Joshua and all the an- cients of Israel idolaters, because they religiously fell prostrate on the ground before the Ark of the Testament? Was David an idolater, when he brought back the Ark of God with all the pomp and solemnity mentioned in the Scripture?" — f Amicable Discussion, vol. \\. 2^. 291 J The second council of Nice, convoked by the Empress Irene and Pope Adrian, discussed the question most ma- turely, and defined : " That pictures and images are set up in Churches and other places, that, at the sight of them, 217 But such things are stumbling-blocks to those only whose minds are darkened : that darkness may the faithful may remember what they represent: and that the honoui* paid to images passes to the archetypes or things represented, so that he who reveres the image, re- veres the person it represents." — fAct VI. J It approves, consequently, of the expression of Leon tins, Bishop of Napoli, in the island of Cyprus : " When you see Chris- tians adore the cross, know that they pay their adoration to Jesus Christ crucified, and not to the wood." And as the word adoration is a general expression, applying to God, the angels, the person of the emperors, and their statues, to animate and even inanimate things, as well- informed persons of all parties admit, the council distin- guishes the adoration due to God alone, from that which may be rendered to other objects : it calls the first, adora- tion of latria, and confines it to God alone : the latter, which is paid to images, it calls salutation, amd relative and inferior honour, which jDasses to the original ; but which is ever distinct from the worship of latria, which belongs exclusively to the divine nature." — f Ibid. p. 2SS J The term adoration is more freely used when speaking of the crucifix or the cross, because, in both cases, the re- ference to the Deity is immediate. The literal significa- tion of the word is " to apply the hand to the mouth ;" it is several times used in Scripture to express either the su- preme worship given to the Deity alone, or an inferior honour given to man : because it is not the action which measures the degree of honour, but the intention with which it is performed. Examples in point may be seen in the article on Adoration in the Abbe Bergier's Dictiomiaire de Theologie, an excellent work of reference in all difficult and 218 proceed only from ignorance ; that ignorance from prejudice ; and that prejudice from the erroneous impressions of our youth : and however pardonable it may be in some cases^ yet it becomes our bounden duty to dispel it by the light of reason, and by the more invigorated powers of the under- standing. But it is always most unjust and un- charitable for persons, with minds prepared for exaggerated impressions, to pass judgment upon questions on which they are quite incompetent to decide for want of information ; and still more so to publish those judgments to the world: thereby inflaming the passions of men, and giving weight to that mass of prejudice which already exists in so la- mentable a degree in this country, against the most numerous, the most enlightened, but most calumni- ated body of Christians in the universe : and this too, controverted questions. The term worship is used both by Protestants and by Catholics to express not only the supreme and sovereign homage due to God alone, but also the most inferior act of religious reverence, and even the most humble degree of civil dignity. In these two latter significations it is used in the marriage service, and as the title of honour for aldermen, mayors, and inferior public officers. Let not, then, offence be taken if the word worship be sometimes applied to the Virgin Mary and the saints ; for whenever it is thus employed, we may rest as- sured that it only means that degree of reverence which maybe lawfully given to creatures, in accordance with the will of the Creator. 219 when a little research would have exhibited these matters in their true light, and would have shewn that to be a pious practice, agreeable both to reason and revelation, which is now first of all misrepre- sented, and then stigmatized as superstitious and idolatrous. It is surely beyond endurance that every thing should be calculated upon the impressions of prejudice ; and that, from the most liberal and most learned, as well as from the most bigoted and most ignorant, we should hear of nothing but the absurd- ities and imi^ositions of the Catholic religion/^^ ^^^ Speaking of the conduct of the people towards a supposed miraculous image in the Pantheon, in 1817, Mr. Hobhouse, in his learned researches into the Anti- quities of Rome, observes : — " The veneration for a miraculous image which has lately crowded the Rotunda, has not bettered the condi- tion of the pavement ; nor does it help the general effect of the interior prospect, to be aware that we see exactly the same idolatry which was practised in the same spot sixteen centuries ago. A philosopher may smile, but a less indifferent spectator is shocked at the inexplicable credulity which stares in the stedfast faces of a hundred worshippers, seated in chairs for hours before the image, in the wish — the hope — the certainty — of some indication of omnipotence from the dirty cobweb-covered block which has been preferred into divimtyy Now, leaving the credulity to be dealt with as it may deserve, I certainly must exonerate these individuals from the heavy charge of idolatry here brought against them. 220 Every doctrine, practice, and ceremony of our Church is too often seen through the same distorted Had Mr. Hobhouse, whom I most sincerely admire as the steady and uncompromising advocate of civil and religious liberty, employed the same spirit of research in respect to the grounds of the religious tenets of the Romans, as he has done in support of his reasons for and against the identity of the various and interesting antiquities of their capital, it is impossible that his acute and penetrating mind should not have discovered enough to have divested him of all predisposition to judge so hastily and so wrong- fully of his neighbour, as he most assuredly has done in this instance : and had he, Avith this knowledge, applied himself to the particular case before him, I am quite sa- tisfied, that he would have felt as convinced as I do, that no imputation of idolatry could be borne out. Whether any miracle was to be seen in the image is a different question, and depends solely upon the evidence of the senses ; but supposing that there was, that miracle was not attributed to the statue, but to the omnipotent power of Him who gave efficacy to the brazen serpent in the wilderness— to the shadow of St. Peter— to the handker- chiefs which had touched the body of St. Paul — and to numerous animate and inanimate objects, in every period of sacred history. No divine attribute was imagined to exist in the statue — no worship was paid — no efficacy was attributed to it : it was supposed, and in all probability by over-heated imaginations, that the Almighty had made use of it to express in a supernatural manner, either his displeasure or his satisfaction upon some particular occa- sion, or to add one more to the many miraculous attesta- 221 medium ; but, happily for the cause of Christianity, to the eyes of the sincere inquirer, the darkness by which she is enveloped, is as quickly and as com- pletely dispelled by the light of truth, as are the shadows of night before the dawning of the day. IV. From the idolatry of the Invocation of Saints, and the use of images, the oath now leads us to consider the grand accusation of idolatry against Catholics, as the worshippers of bread and wine in the sacrifice of the Mass, We are called upon " solemnly and sincerely, in the presence of God, to profess, testify, and declare, that we do believe that the sacrifice of the Mass, as now used tions in favour of the religion of Rome. That Catho- lics are often predisposed to lend too easy a belief to miracles, is unquestionably the case : it arises from a firm, unhesitating faith in the truth of their religion. Under this impression, they are necessarily more inclined to look for supernatural testimonials in its favour, and to receive them with but little investigation. This, however, is not the case when they undergo the scrutinizing test recommended by the Council of Trent, and which is re- sorted to on all occasions before a miracle is officially an- nounced to have taken place. It is by such unfortunate misapprehensions as the one here noticed, that false impressions are produced upon the minds of the people of England respecting the religion of Ireland, and the cause of religious liberty is unintention- ally impeded. 222 in the Church of Rome, is superstitions and idola- trous." — Whereas, I do solemnly and sincerely de- clare, and am ready to do so with God for my witness, that I most firmly and steadfastly believe that the sacrifice of the Mass, as now used in the Church of Rome, was instituted by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as a perpetual commemora- tion of his death and passion ; and that, far from being either superstitious or idolatrous, it is a sa- crifice of propitiation, most pleasing and acceptable to the Almighty, who absolutely requires it from the hands of his ministers. Independently of the authority of the Church, I believe it from the fol- lowing view of the question, which I shall state in as cursory a manner as possible. In almost the earliest periods of Sacred History, we read of the sacrifice of bread and wine offered by Melchisedec, the priest of the Most High ; this, together with the feast of unleavened bread, was emblematical of the matter and form, while the chief sacrifice of the law of Moses, the Paschal Lamb, was a type of the essence and substance, of that great sacrifice which was once offered up upon the altar of the cross, and has been ever since perpetuated in the continual commemoration of that event, ordained by our Redeemer himself; a commemoration which so distinctly verifies the prophecy of Malachias, delivered so many years 223 before. / have no pleasure in you, saitJi the Lord of Hosts, [addressing himself to the stiif-necked and reprobate Jews J neither will I accept an offer- ing at your hands. For, from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place incense shall he offered to my name, and a clean offeringP^ We see how this sacrifice was offered, and in what manner its institution was miderstood, by the Apostles, immediately after the death and resurrection of our Saviour. As they were minis- tering to the Lord and fasting, say the Acts of the Apostles, (xiii. 2.) the Holy Ghost said to them, Sfc, — Again, The chalice of benediction, which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ ? and the bread which we breaJc, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord ^^^^ These, and many other texts of the inspired writ- ings, point out the practice, and innumerable testimonials of the first ages of the Church mark the interpretation which it bore ; and it has ever since continued, and ever will continue (for the word of God shall not pass away^''^) a perpetual commemoration of that great peace-offering, in propitiation for the sins of mankind, the passion and death of our Saviour, and a striking and com- plete verification of the above pointed and remark- ^^^ Malach. i. 10-11. ^^^ 1 Cor. x. 16. ^^^ St. Luke, xxi. 33. 224 able prophecy, and, without whicli, no accomplish- ment of it is to be fomid. Though Protestants have retained the symbols of bread and wine, and, in one sense, use them as a commemoration of the death of our Redeemer (though this but sel- dom), yet CathoUcs alone (the Greek and Eastern schismatics included, who believe in Transubstan- tiation as well as ourselves) continue to offer them in the way of sacrifice. As sacrifice is a homage which we never pay but to God alone, so also is it an essential mark of that supreme and sovereign duty which we owe to the Omnipotent Author of the creation ; and from the very first existence of man upon earth, it has ever formed a principal part of the worship which heaven required at his hands : and yet protestantism has abolished it/'^ ^'^ Cain and Abel offered to God the fruits of the earth and animals. Gen. iv. 3, 4. Noah, also, when he quitted the ark, immediately erected an altar, and offered thereon to the Lord of all things, a holocaust of clean animals. Gen. viii. 20. Under the old law there were three distinct species of sacrifice : 1st. The Holocaust, which was entirely con- sumed by fire, to signify the complete and unreserved ho- mage due to the Sovereignty of Heaven ; 2nd. The Vic- tim for sin, which was always united to the Holocaust, and was divided into three parts ; one being consumed upon the altar, the second burnt beyond the precincts of the camp, and the third eaten by the priests ; 3d. The propitiatory sacrifices, offered either in thanksgiving to 225 Under the Old law, 32,000 Levites were ap« pointed to serve in the Temple of Jerusalem, and the sacrifices were offered with music. Four lambs were offered for a holocaust ; two in the morning, and two in the evening ; and this was called the Perpetual sacrifice. On sabbath days and fes- tivals, the sacrifices were multiplied. Under the Christian dispensation, the Sacrifice of the Mass has succeeded to the Sacrifices of the Temple of Jerusalem ; indeed the latter were em- blematical of the former, which now constitutes that universal and perpetual Cleari Offering, fore- told in those very times. Notwithstanding the ample manner in which the subject has been already treated, of such high importance do I feel it to be to justify ourselves in the eyes of our fellow Christians from the very gross imputations heaped upon us, on account of our belief in Transubstantiation, and in the Sacri- God for past favours, or to implore fresh blessings : of these not only the priests, but also the people, partook. The sacrifice of the New law unites within itself all the three distinct sacrifices of the old : it is a Holocaust, a Victim for sin, and a Propitiatory sacrifice ; fulfilling in reality, in the most sublime and perfect manner, all that was represented in figure before the coming of Christ and the consummation of the redemption of mankind, to which great event every particle of the ancient law was directed, and for which it was so obvious a preparation. q 226 lice of the Mass — imputations which go to class us with the Idolaters of China and Hindostan — that I will insert an able and learned argument from the pen of a late venerable prelate of the Roman Catholic Church/^^ which will, I trust, be found not only to elucidate the points at issue, but fully to establish the grounds of our belief in these mysterious doctrines. '' But if/' says he, '' abstracting from the infal- lible authority of the Catholic Church, this ques- tion of fact, whether the Sacrifice of the Mass instituted by Christ as the sacrifice of his body and blood, really present under the appearances of bread and wine, be made a matter of historical inquiry, the truth of it may be easily ascertained by the evidence of historical testimony. The esta- blishment of Christianity in all countries was a great public fact. The establishment of Christ- ianity consisted in the establishment of the belief and profession of the doctrines, and of the recep- tion and observance of the precepts and institu- tions of Christ. Every Christian will surely give credit to the Apostles for having introduced into all countries where they established Christianity, the very same doctrines, precepts, and institutions, that they had received from Christ himself. The Apostles could all say what St. Paul said of him- ^'^ The Right Rev. Dr. Poyiiter. 227 self, when lie shewed the Corinthians what autho- rity he had for instructing them in the doctrine of the Eucharist : ' I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered to you.' (1 Cor. xi. 23.) " As there could be no contradiction or incon- sistency in what they received from Christ, the Apostles must have uniformly delivered and esta- blished the same in all places. Hence, by ascer- taining what religious doctrines and institutions were uniformly taught and established in all na- tions by the Apostles, or by Apostolic teachers instructed and sent by them, we come to the cer- tain knowledge of the doctrines and institutions of Christ. What those were which were uniformly delivered and established by the Apostles in all nations where they established Christianity, may be shewn by historical evidences, attesting what religious doctrines and sacred rites have constantly and uniformly been professed and observed through all ages from the beginning, by all Christian Churches founded by the Apostles, or by men de- riving their mission from the Apostolic authority. So that, if, on inquiry, it be found that the same religious doctrines and ordinances have been uni- formly professed and observed in all Christian countries, for eighteen, or, at least, were for fifteen centuries, and that no later origin of the introduc- tion of these doctrines and ordinances can be as- signed, than the first establishment of Christianity q 2 228 in those countries, in some of which it was esta- blished by the Apostles themselves, surely this must be admitted as a most convincing proof that these doctrines and ordinances are the same as the Apostles delivered, and as they had received from Christ himself. " If at any period of the Jewish state, proof had been called for to shew that the sacrifice of the Pas- chal Lamb was instituted by the authority of God, on the eve of the passage of the Israelites out of Egypt, as a constant memorial of that miraculous event, and of the circumstances attending it, would not the historical evidence of the annual oblation of the Paschal sacrifice in the Jewish church, the uninterrupted observance of which rite might be traced back to the time of Moses, serve as an au- thentic and undeniable testimony of the origin and end of its institution? If it were required to shew that the sacrament of baptism was instituted by Christ for the remission of sin, and for the other spiritual effects which it is believed to pro- duce; most undoubtedly the uniform and univer- sal practice observed in all Christian churches, in all countries, and in all ages, from the first esta- blishment of Christianity in those countries, of administering baptism as a sacred rite ordained by Christ for those spiritual effects, would-be ad- mitted as a strong and legitimate proof, that this sacrament originated in the institution and com- 229 mand of Christ himself. And this ancient and universal practice of all Christian churches, would have the force of an authentic decision of the true meaning of the words of Christ, related in scrip- ture, concerning the necessity of baptism by water, for the remission of sin. Could the origin or meaning of any civil law be better shewn, than by the uniform practice of the judges and magistrates in enforcing the observance of it, from the period at which it is supposed to have been made ? '' If, therefore, it can be historically shewn, that the Sacrifice of the Mass, as the sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ, really present under the appearances of bread and wine, had been con- stantly and universally offered in all Christian churches, in all countries, and in all ages, from the first establishment of Christianity in those coun- tries, to the time of Luther in the sixteenth cen- tury ; it will be established as an historical fact, that the Sacrifice of the Mass was introduced by the apostles into all countries where they esta- blished Christianity, and consequently that it was received by them from Christ, no less than the Sacrament of Baptism, or any other doctrine or institution of the Christian religion. This can be shewn by the evidence of historical testimony. '' It is an historical fact, that when Luther first began to abolish the practice of offering the Sa- crifice of the Mass, in the year 1534, this sacrifice 230 was then universally offered as the sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ really present under the appearances of bread and wine, by all Christian churches of every denomination in the world ; not only by those which were in communion with the see of Rome, and which are spread more or less over all nations ; but by those, which for many centuries had been separated from its communion; by the Greek schismatical church, and by all the various sects of the Nestorians, Eutychians, and other heretical churches spread over Asia and part of Africa. That the Sacrifice of the Mass was at that period offered in all churches throughout the world, which were in communion with the See of Rome, will not be denied. That it was offered at that time, by the schismatical and heretical churches alluded to, will be shewn by proper testimonies. It has, indeed, been acknowledged by Protestant writers of the first respectability. '' It is also an historical fact, that the constant and universal practice of offering the Sacrifice of the Mass, as the Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ really present under the appearances of bread and wine, may be so far traced back in all those Christian churches, in every country, from the sixteenth century to the earliest ages ; that no later origin can be assigned of this religious prac- tice, than the first establishment of Christianity in those countries. 231 " It may be observed that none of those schis- matical or heretical churches mentioned above, had derived any religious doctrine or rite from the Church of Rome, since the period of their sepa- ration from the faith and communion of the Apos- tolic See; and, consequently, that the Christian doctrines or rites Avhich they held in the sixteenth century, in common with the Church of Rome, were held by both before the period of the sepa- ration. Hence the testimony of the Greek schis- matical church, and of the other schismatical and heretical churches in Asia and Africa, concerning the antiquity and divine institution of the Sacri- fice of the Mass, cannot be suspected as given in favoiu' of the Church of Rome, but must be ad- mitted as strong evidence of fact. " The attempts which were made by some Lu- therans and Calvinists in the sixteenth or seven- teenth century, to engage the Greek schismatics in the East to adopt the doctrines of the Reforma- tion, and particularly to reject the Sacrifice of the Mass, drew from the Greek bishops the most so- lemn attestations of the practice of their churches, the most explicit professions of their ancient doc- trines, and the most energetic condemnations of the innovations, both in doctrine and practice, in- troduced by the reformers of religion, in the six- teenth century. Relative to the Sacrifice of the Mass, the following declarations were made by 232 the first ecclesiastical authorities of the different schismatical churches in the East. "The Eutychian Patriarch of the Armenians published the doctrine and practice of the Euty- chian churches, in a solemn act, dated Aleppo, May 1, 1668: * We adore/ says he, 'with su- preme worship, Jesus Christ, who is hidden in the Holy Eucharist, and, ive offer, in the Holy Sa- crifice, for the remission of the sins of the living and the dead, the same body which was crucified, and the same blood which was shed for us on Mount Calvary/ " The Nestorian patriarch, Joseph, and his clergy, in a public attestation, given at Diarbec, in the year 1669, thus express their condemnation of the doctrines falsely imputed to the Nestorian Churches by the Calvinists, and also their profession of the doctrine held by those churches concerning the Real Presence, Transubstantiation, and the Sacri- fice of the Mass : ' We have learnt with extreme astonishment that a certain son of Satan, of the French nation, (they speak of the minister Claude,) has dared to offer an atrocious injury to the Ori- ental Church, by falsely charging it with not be- lieving, and not receiving, the great mystery of the sacred oblation. We firmly believe, that after the words of Jesus Christ, which the priest pro- nounces by the authority which he has received from heaven, the substance of bread is changed 233 into the substance of the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that the substance of wine is changed into the substance of his precious blood, so that nothing remains of the bread and wine, but their accidents. We offer this holy body, which was crucified for us, and this blood, which was shed for many and for us ; i. e, for the living and the dead, for the remission of their sins.' '' Seven schismatical Greek archbishops, who were assembled at Constantinople, on the 18th July, 1671, attested the doctrine of their churches, by this solemn declaration : ' That the Eucharist is a sacrifice for the living and the dead, insti- tuted by Jesus Christ, and delivered to us by the Apostles.' " It is therefore an historical fact, that at the time of the Protestant reformation, by Luther and Calvin, not only the Greek schismatical Church, but the heretical Churches in Asia and Africa, of which the Nestorians and Eutychians are theleading sects, admitted and offered the sacrifice of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, really present under the appearances of bread and wine. From whom did they receive this doctrine and this sacred rite? Not from the Church of Rome, from which they had received no rite of religion, no tradition, no doctrine, since the distant period of their separation from its communion. The Mass was, therefore, admitted as the common Christian sacrifice, by the 234 Greek schismatical Church before the year 890 ; by the Eutychians, before the year 451 ; and by the Nestorians before 431 : the periods of their separation from the communion of the Church of Rome. Indeed, we see that the seven Greek Arch- bishops cited above, declared; ' That the Eucharist is a sacrifice for the living and the dead, instituted hy Jesus Christ, and delivered to us hy the A2J0S- tles' The doctrine of the Nestorians and Euty- chians concerning the sacrifice of the Mass, which is the same on this point as the doctrine of all other ancient Christian Churches, was not invented by Nestorius, nor by Eutyches, when they began to teach their heretical doctrines against other articles of the Christian creed ; but this doctrine of the sacrifice of the Mass was the ancient doc- trine of the Churches in which Nestorius and Euty- ches were originally instructed in the Christian Faith. " The above testimonies, which shew what was the doctrine and practice in the sixteenth century of the Greek, and of all the Christian Churches of Asia and Africa, which are separated from the communion of the Apostolic see, and which shew the high antiquity, even the divine origin, of that universal doctrine and practice of offering the sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ, really present under the appearances of bread and wine, cannot be suspected of partiality to the Church of 235 Rome, but must be received as evidences of histo- rical truth. '' But when we consider the universality and primitive antiquity of the uniform doctrine and practice of all Christian Churches in communion with the See of Rome, concerning the sacrifice of the Mass, as the sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ, really present under the appearances of bread and wine, what a collection of historical evi- dence is presented to us, demonstrating that this doctrine and practice were established by the Apos- tles, as the doctrine and institution of Christ, in all nations where they established Christianity ! The most incontestable and irresistible proofs of this universal and primitive doctrine and practice, are found in the ancient Liturgies, or Missals, or books containing the form and order of divine worship, used in all Christian Churches, from the beginning of Christianity. " The holy fathers of the Church agree that the substance of these Liturgies, which is the same in all, was derived from the Apostles, and communi- cated by them to the Churches where they preached and established the religion of Christ. The first Liturgy was that which was formed and used by the Apostles, in the Church of Jerusalem, and which is sometimes called the Liturgy of St. James, the first bishop of that see ; then the Liturgies of the Patriarchate Churches of Alexandria, called that 236 of St. Mark, of Antioch, and of Constantinople. These Liturgies were communicated to the Churches under those Patriarchates. The most sacred part of these Liturgies, the Canon, was not originally- written, but was carefully committed to memory by the bishops and priests, as the Apostles' Creed was by the faithful. The Canon was not com- mitted to writing till the fifth age, when the danger of exposing all that was most sacred in the mys- teries of religion to the derision and blasphemy of infidels, was not so great as in the first three or four centuries. But when the Canon was gene- rally committed to writing, it was found to be the same in substance in all Christian countries, which shewed the unity of its origin, in the unity of that faith which was every where taught by the Apos- tles. In all these ancient and primitive Liturgies, we find the clearest expressions and professions, made by priests and people, that the same body and blood of Christ, which were immolated on the cross, are offered to God in the Christian sacrifice, under the appearances of bread and wine, for the living and the dead ; and that this same body and blood are really received in the Communion. In all these Liturgies, we read the most sublime hymns of praise and thanksgiving to God and Christ really present ; acts of spiritual communication between the faithful on earth and the Saints in heaven ; and prayers offered for the repose of the souls of those 237 who have departed this life in the faith and com- munion of the Church. Some short citations, from a few of the principal Liturgies, will shew the spirit of them all. They all profess that the Mass is the sacrifice of the body and Mood of Christ, really present, under the appearances of hread and wine, " In the Liturgy of Jerusalem, after the form of the consecration of the bread and wine, the priest says, ' We offer to thee, O Lord, this tremendous and unbloody sacrifice' Before the Communion, the priest, addressing his prayers to Jesus Christ, on the altar, says, ' O Lord, my God, may thy grace render me worthy to receive thy sacred body and thy precious blood, for the remission of my sins, and for life everlasting.' In the Liturgy of Alex, andria, which has been in use among the Cophtes or Eutychians for about 1300 years, the Mass is called the ' sacrifice of benediction.' In the prayer of the oblation of the bread and wine, the priest thus prays to Jesus Christ : ' Change them, so that this bread may become thy sacred body, and what is contained in the chalice, thy precious blood' " In the Liturgy of Constantinople, the Mass is called a ' rational and unbloody sacrifice,' The priest offers this prayer to Christ : ' O Jesus Christ, — our God, — thou who dwellest in heaven with the Father, and who art here invisibly with us, make us worthy to partake of thy most pure body. 238 and of thy precious hlood, and to distribute it to thy people.' " In the Liturgy of the Syrians^ it is called a ' propitiatory sacrifice' In the Syriac Liturgy, called of St. Maruthas, the priest prays, ' that this, which is mere bread, may be changed, and may become the same body that was immolated on the cross, the same body that was raised in glory, and did not see corruption ; the body of the Word of God, of our Saviour Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins.' The people say, ' Amen.' And that ' the wine, which is in the chalice, may be changed, and may become the same hlood that was poured forth on the summit of Golgotha ; the same blood that flowed on the earth and purified it from sin ; the blood of the Lord himself, of the Word of God, of the Saviour Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and for life everlasting, to those who re- ceive it.' " In the Armenian Liturgy, the priest, praying for the dead, says : ' Be mindful, O Lord, and having pity, be propitious to the souls of those who have departed this life, and particularly to that soul for which we offer this holy sacrifice," During the communion this canticle is sung : ' This bread is the body of Christ ; this cup is the blood of the New Testament, The hidden Sacrament is mani- fested to us, and by it God shews himself to us. Here is Jesus Christ, the Word of God, who is 239 seated at the right hand of the Father. He is sacri- ficed in the midst of us.' '' The Roman Liturgy was brought to England by St. Augustin in the year 595; and in substance has been the common Liturgy of all the Latin Churches, from the time of their conversion to Christianity. It agrees with our Catholic Liturgy now in use, except in some accidental additions that have been made. In the Roman Liturgy, according to the Sacramentary of Pope Gelasius, written about the year 490, we find these words before the conse- cration : ' We beseech thee, O Lord, in all things to bless, approve, ratify, sanction, and accept this oblation, that it may become the body and blood of thy most beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.' And after the consecration the priest says : ' We offer unto thy supreme Majesty, of thy gifts be- stowed upon us, a pure victim, a holy victim, an unspotted victim, the holy bread of eternal life, and the chalice of everlasting salvation.' '^ By the evidence of the ancient Liturgies, used by all Christian Churches in the world, previous to the change of religion by Luther and Calvin, in the sixteenth century, the uniform and universal religious practice of offering the Sacrifice of the Mass, as the sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ, really present under the appearances of bread and wine, may be traced back to the earliest ages of Christianity. No later date can be as- 240 signed of the introduction of this sacred rite, than the period of the introduction of Christianity itself, into those countries in which the Sacrifice of the Mass was received. The primitive practice and the divine institution of Baptism by water, are not more strongly attested than the antiquity of the practice of offering the Sacrifice of the Mass, and the primitive belief that this holy sacrifice was in- stituted by Christ himself. The Sacrament of Baptism, and the Sacrifice of the Mass, are both proposed to our belief by the same authority, as institutions of Christ, and both equally attested by the universal practice of all ages of the Christian Church. Both, therefore, ought to be received with the same certainty of faith by every Chris- tian." At the end of this volume^''^ will be found some of the authorities by which we deduce our doctrine upon these points, from the age of the Apostles, through the first five centuries of the Church, taken from that learned compilation. The Faith of Catholics, corifirmed hy Scripture, and attested hy the Fathers of the first five Centuries of the Church;" and which may be taken as a specimen of the tes- timony we can produce in favour of each individual article of our faith. The authorities from the fifth century to the present time, are so copious that it ^"^ See Appendix, No. XI. 241 would be only a redundancy of proof to cite any of them ; indeed it must be considered perfectly unnecessary so to do, since all Protestant writers agree, that if the Catholic creed of the present day can be proved to be conformable to that of the first four ages of the Church, the question of its authenticity must be considered as settled. I trust that sufficient proof has now been offered in favour of the doctrine of Transubstantiation — of the real, undivided, and substantial presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and in the Sacrifice of the Mass ; and if Catholics are still to be accused of idolatry and superstition for their belief on these points, the accusation must, in the first place, be preferred against the Apostles themselves, and then be repeated against their descendants in the ministry, through every succeeding age, implicating the great mass of the whole Christian world. But, admitting for a moment, for the sake of argument, that the immense majority of Christians have, for upwards of 1,800, years, been labouring under an egregious mistake, to what does this charge of idolatry amount? That we believe Christ to be where, in the opinion of Protestants^ he is not ! ' This is the head and front of our offending.' Not that we adore any false or sup- posititious divinity, but that we worship the one only true and living God, the Creator of heaven, of earth, and of all things, truly and substan- 242 tially present on our altars, though concealed un- der the sacramental veils of bread and wine ; for it cannot be that we adore the elements of bread and wine, since the faith of Catholics is, that the elements no longer exist, but that they are totally and entirely changed into the body and blood, united with the soul and the divinity, of Christ. It is, therefore, only the true God whom we adore ; and if we are mistaken, the adoration is equally directed to Him. The greatest possible extent of our error, therefore, can be, in believing God to be visibly present where he is not so/*^ ^^^ That colossus of literature, Dr. Johnson, speaking of the supposed idolatry of the Mass, is reported to have said : " Sir, there is no idolatry in the Mass ; they [Ca- tholics] believe God to be there, and they worship Him."* But in thus enlisting Dr. Johnson amongst the Protestant authorities in favour of many of the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church, I am fully aware to how little weight his opinions are entitled upon such subjects. Like all those, who are not united in their creed by one common principle of obedience to revelation and authority, he was unsettled in his religious belief, and totally incompetent to pronounce upon such matters, from want of information, which, great as his acquirements were, in other respects, he had never taken the trouble to obtain in these. I chiefly cite him as an honourable example of liberality, and as above the vulgar short-sighted prejudices so com- * See the whole Dialogue, which does'great credit to Johnson's liberality. 243 With such principles of Christianity as we pro- fess, and such a steadfast faith as we hold in the articles of our belief, it can no longer be a matter of astonishment that Catholics cannot conscien- tiously swear that these doctrines of their Church, which we have just discussed, are either supersti- tious or idolatrous : and, I trust that enough has been said to show, that it ought to be the earnest desire of Christians of every denomination, to see so false and so odious a test wholly and entirely abolished. What, in the name of Heaven, has the Supremacy of the Bishop of Rome, the Doctrine of Transubstantiation, the Invocation of Saints, or the Sacrifice of the Mass, to do with the imposing or col- lecting of the public taxes (which, notwithstanding. Catholics pay the same as others), with the propriety of applying the sinking fund to the exigencies of the state — with the liberation of Greece — with the game mon in the present day ; and that too amongst persons who have enjoyed much better opportunities of divesting them- selves of the errors of education, than he ever had. The same observations may, more or less, apply to all the other Protestant authorities, which, while they exhibit the va- cillating nature of Protestant belief, serve also to prove how much more substantial it was in the days of her earliest and most learned divines, than are the shallow and unmeaning doctrines to which it has been frittered and explained away, by subsequent teachers in their Church. r 2 244 laws — or indeed with the regulation of any part of our economy, either foreign or domestic? Though no encomium was thought fitting in the speech from the throne, the nation has been loud in its just and heartfelt praises on the heroes of the glorious and brilliant victory of Navarin : — and I will challenge even a Peel to say, if it has ever once flashed upon his mind, that the laurels so nobly won by admiral de Rigny, were less bright because that gallant officer believes in Transubstantiation, and in the spiritual supremacy of the Pope? that admiral Heiden's were blighted by the Invocation of Saints ? or that Sir Edward Codrington's were the more glorious, because, like a true Protest- ant, as we must suppose him to be, he looks upon these partners of his victory as idolaters? Away, then, with the folly and hypocrisy of those who would taint the merits of the valiant and the virtuous, because they believe in the purest and the oldest doctrines of Christianity ; doctrines which we prove to have been revealed from heaven, but which a new and persecuting church has erroneously con- ceived it to be her policy to stigmatize as super- stitious and idolatrous ! If they will exclude Catho- lics from parliament, let them invent a Test for the purpose, Avhich shall not be a libel on the memory of those ancestors, of whom Englishmen are so fond of boasting, — that shall not be a gross insult upon one hundred millions of the people of Europe, and 245 twenty millions of the people of America, all, and without exception, the allies of this country ; — a Test which, while it ceases to defame those who refuse it, will not risk to wound the consciences of those who take it/'^ ^'^'^ I trust I have given the true construction of that part of the oath which calls upon us to declare, that there is not any Tran substantiation of the elements, &c. m the sense in which it i^ commonly tmderstood by ENGLISH Protestants. I have taken these words to refer to that tenet of Protestantism, be it what it may, which has been substituted for that doctrine of the Catholic Church, of which Transubstantiation forms a distinctive feature. If the oath were meant as a mere condemnation or rejection of the doctrine of Transubstantiation, why did it not say so in plain, simple, and unequivocal terms ? Why add, " in the sense in which they [the words of the oath] are commonly understood by English Protestants," unless it were meant to pledge us to the belief of that which English Protestants commonly hold as an article of their faith ? If I have mistaken the meaning of the oath, I trust it is from the want of perspicuity and precision in the oath itself. But surely this very circumstance is but another objection against it. We allow that the terms of an oath are not al- ways to be canvassed, and cavilled at too minutely ; but the sense in which the oath is taken must be clearly under- stood, and by no means be contradicted by the oath itself. There must be a perfect understanding between the par- ties as to its real meaning. Now, if it be contended that the oath in question is so loose, vague, and indetermin- ate, that, its object being merely to exclude Catholics, 246 V. Let us now proceed to Other Reasons which must for ever prevent a Catholic from conscien- tiously conforming to the Established Church, or to any other system of Protestantism. In the First place, then, I cannot conform to Pro- testantism, because, as the Scriptures do not con- tain all things whatsoever Christ commanded his Apostles to teach^/^ Protestants are not authorized in holding them forth as our only rule of faith, our only teacher. We know that there are also many other things which Jesus did [and of course said] ; which if they were written every one, the world itself woidd not he able to contain the hooks that from parliament, it is not meant to bind the consciences of men, in any other respect; we meet with difficulties at every point. In almost every part of it, we find, not merely a negation of opinions, but an absolute and so- lemn asseveration of the truth of others, stated in plain and intelligible terms. Out of four distinct propositions of which the oath consists, there is but one that savours of any ambiguity ; and this, I contend, does but make it the worse, unaccompanied, as it is, by any explanation. Such an evasion, as I have supposed, of the plain and positive terms in which it is couched, would only subject the individual who alleged it, to the guilt of a total disregard of the solemnity of an oath, and of calling the Almighty to bear witness to the truth of assertions, which, with the sacred volume in his hand, he was making with his lips, but from which his mind dissented. "^ St, Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. 247 should be written!'^ We know that St. Peter tes- tified with very mamj other words^^^ than those which were committed to writing ; and St. John also informs his disciples that, having more things to write to them, he would not by paper and inh, for he hoped he shoidd soon be with them, and speak face toface!^^ Though numerous other instances of similar declarations ^''^ are to be found in the sacred writings, yet with such a knowledge of the rich treasures which fell from the lips of our Saviour and his Apostles, Protestants argue as if they considered that nothing more was worthy of pre- servation but what was recorded, at a considerable distance of time, in the New Testament. What reason have we to suppose, that the doctrines which we hold by tradition, were not those which were preached by our Saviour, but omitted by the sacred penmen ? Because the Scriptures are silent, are we to conclude that Christ was so too ? It is no where said that those Scriptures were composed for the purpose of containing a regular code of faith : they were written to edify, instruct, and exhort — not to be a sole and independent guide in ^'^ St. John xxi. 25. ^^^ Acts, ii. 40. ^^^ 2 St. John, 12. ^^^ Christ shewed himself alive after his passion, hy many proofs, for forty days appeariny to them [his apostles and disciples], and SPEAKING of the kingdom of God. — Acts, i. 3. 248 matters of doctrine: to confirm, rather than to define, our faith. There are clearly other sources of historical evidence than written documents. If it pleased our Saviour to inspire the writers of the New Testament, (and which we do not know to have been the case from the Scriptures themselves, save in regard to the Apocalypse, though, indeed, many parts may be said to bear internal evidence of the hand of God,) so it has pleased him to guard uninjured and unbroken, by his particular provi- dence, a chain of traditionary evidence. Is it not as easy for the Almighty, by a peculiar superinten- dance of his Providence, to preserve the purity of his doctrine inviolate through the lapse of ages, as it was to inspire illiterate fishermen to preach that doctrine in the first instance ? If Christ could inspire men to write and to preach, can he not equally inspire them, when sitting in judgment, relative to the verdict i#Bik they are to pronounce? It is this superintendance of his Providence which has transmitted to us that part of his holy law which was not written, and which we reverence and obey equally with that which was, because both proceed from the same authority — the autho- rity of God. Though the Protestant Church rejects the doc- trine of tradition, yet, amongst her numberless inconsistencies, she grounds a part of her creed upon it ; namely, the sanctification of the Sunday, 249 the validity of infant baptism, and indeed, the ground-work of all her belief, the authenticity and inspiration of her sole, independent rule of faith, the canonical books of the New Testament/'^ For it is traditionary evidence alone that can possibly prove, in most cases, the inspiration, and, in all, fsuiiB^ the authenticity and integrity of the Scrip- tures. At one period, the Gospels according to Peter, Thomas, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthias, the twelve Apostles, and a variety of other spurious works, were in circulation among Christians, and how, but by the authority of the Church, and the evidence of tradition, were they to be detected amongst the genuine productions of the inspired disciples of Christ? In her xxixth article, the Church of England quotes St. Augustine for his opinion, and yet she rejects his evidence on other ^'^ See Strictures on Dr. Marsh\s Comparative View of the Churches of England and Rome, by Dr. Lingard. — Booker, 1815. If you refer to the testimony of history for the inspiration of the New Testament, you must also refer to history for a proof of your independent rule of faith, for that certainly is not to be found in Scripture. Where are we to look for the evidence of the Fathers on this point, or to substantiate any other of the novelties of Protestantism I Have we ever seen a work entitled, " The Faith of Protestants proved by Scripture, and confirmed by the testimony of the Fathers, and the evidence of the first five centuries of the Church.?" 250 points/'^ If he be worthy of belief in one case, the circumstances being the same, equal credit is due to him in others. But this she refuses, and not only to him, but to all who, like him, are the most fit to guide us in such inquiries, and to make us most intimately acquainted with the belief and doctrines of the Catholic Church, during the first ages of Christianity. Yet do we find men who, in the nineteenth century, would know the feelings and opinions of the Apostles better than their ^^^ In the Book of Homihes, St. Augustine is styled " the best learned of all ancient doctors;' and in the Book of Common Prayer, and in the sworn Articles of the Church of England, he is enrolled among the Saints ! Yet this St. Augustine not only upheld the primacy of St. Peter, but declared schism to be the greatest of all crimes, as it was the greatest of all evils, and the most diametrically opposed to the great and essential attribute of God, unity: yet St. Augustine is the saint of schismatics, and is cited as the best learned of all ancient doctors, by a Church which calls heaven to witness that schism is no crime, and the primacy of St. Peter but a fable ! St. Augustine was also a believer in Transubstantiation ; he offered the sacrifice of the mass; he honoured and invoked the Virgin Mary and the Saints ; he prayed for the souls of his departed brethren; he did all that the Head of the Church of Eng- land, together with her clergy and her people, now swear to be superstitious and idolatrous; — yet does he rank among them as a Saint, enjoying the honourable appel- lation of the " best learned of all ancient doctors ! !'' Was ever folly and imposture like this } 251 companions and contemporaries ; and who, at this remote period, would have us take their word in preference to those who were living witnesses of the faith and practice of primitive times. It is, indeed, not to be imagined with what reason, or justice, the evidence of such a constellation of the brightest luminaries of the Christian world, as the Fathers of the first ages of the Church is refused. How is it possible that any deception can be prac- tised, when we rely on the testimony of men the most virtuous and the most learned, of every age, and of every country, not only divided by distance of space, but by distance of time, yet all concurring in the same opinions ; men who could have no object in deceiving, but whose only aim was the elucidation of truth, and the maintenance of the Christian religion in its native purity ? They could have no object in deceiving, for, unlike the Re- formers of the sixteenth century, they inculcated a just obedience to authority, instead of an emancipa- tion from it. They preached penance and morti- fication, instead of laxity of morals and criminal indulgence. Their very unanimity is a proof of the rule they followed, and of the protection of heaven in thereby exempting them from the errors and contradictions inseparable from the human mind, when endeavouring to'judge for itself upon points above the ordinary capacity and comprehen- sion of man. In rejecting tradition, a train of 252 evidence is denied, calculated most infallibly to establish any facts or any opinions to be drawn from the testimony of man ; and such demonstra- tive proofs are refused, as we should be ashamed to disown for the establishment of a point of history, or a matter of inquiry in any other cause. We do not rely upon the Fathers as the infallible oracles of the word of God ; we quote them only as proofs of the doctrines of the Church in their own times : in this light their evidence is most conclusive and unexceptionable, and, as such, they form a most invaluable traditionary history. We have, at the same time. Scripture evidence to prove, that it was ordained by Christ that much of his doctrine should be handed down to us by tradition. Tradition gives us the sense, at the same time that it proves the authenticity and inspiration, of the sacred writings; and as Catholics alone have existed in all ages, so Catholics alone have the tradition of all ages in their favour. St. Paul says to the Corinthians ; Keep my ordinances as I delivered them to you :^'^ to the Thessalonians ; Brethren, stand fast, and hold the Traditions, which you have learned hy word, or hy our Epis- tle .-^'"^ to Timothy ; Hold the form of sound words which thou hast heard from me in faith, and in the love, which is in Christ Jesus .-^"^ and again ; ^'^ 1 Cor. xi. 2. ^'"^ 2 Thess. ii. 14. ^'^^ 2 Tim. i. 13. 253 And the things, which thou hast heard of me before many witnesses, the same commend to faithful men, who shall he fit to teach others alsof"^ With such Scripture authority for tradition, surely we are justified in contending, that, if a doctrinelaBB known to have prevailed in a district which had been converted to Christianity by the preaching of the Apostles, and if the same doctrine lEE^prevalent in all other districts, under similar circumstances, that that doctrine must have been derived from them, and is clearly an apostolical tradition!^^ Hence, it formed an article of Catholic ^"^ 2 Tim. ii. 2. ^^^ Besides many other Protestant authorities to this point, we have that of Dr. Waterland, which I quote from the Bishop of Strasboui'g's learned Answer to the Difficul- ties of Romanism. " It was highly unreasonable to sup- pose," says Dr. Waterland, " that those several churches, very distant from each other in place, and of different languages, should all unite in the same errors, and de- viate uniformly from their rule at once. But that they should all agree in the same common faith, might easily be accounted for, as arising from the same common cause, which could be no other than the common delivery of the same uniform faith and doctrine to all the churches by the apostles themselves. Such unanimity could never come by chance, but must be derived from one common source; and, therefore, the harmony of their doctrine was in itself a pregnant argument of the truth of it." Imfortanee of the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity, p. 372. 254 faith, as much as if it had been detailed in the Sacred Writing^, Throughout the Holy Scriptures there is constant mention of a command to teach, but never to write : preaching was the grand method of diffusing Christianity ; writing was only an auxiliary and subordinate means. Christianity had been widely spread before any part of the New Testament was written, and, still more so, before it obtained any general circulation. Yet Protest- ants maintain, that what was written is alone to be attended to ; that teaching and preaching are of no avail, unless that which was taught and preached was forthwith committed to writing : they argue as if St. Paul had said: " Hold fast the doctrine which you have learnt by our Epistle; but that which we have preached by word of mouth, heed it not."^^^ It is every day vauntingly and ostentatiously asserted that the Bible, and the Bible alone, is the ^^^ If we attend to the circumstances under which the New Testament was written, we shall immediately see that it never could have been intended as a regular and exclusive code of faith, a statute book, as it were, of the laws and ordinances of Christ, and, through him, of his apostles. In proof of this, see Appendix, No. XII. for a short historical analysis of the contents of the New Testament, with which I have been favoured by a learned and reverend friend. 255 rule of faith, and the religion of Protestants ;^'^ while the reflection of a moment will serve to dissipate this vain and idle illusion, by call- ing upon them to prove their right of posses- sion, and the validity of this their great, eter- nal, and all-sufficient charter. Their right of possession is only the right of violence and conquest; for, till their great rebellion against the constitutions of God and the government of the Church, in the 16th century, when they for- cibly wrested the sacred deposit from the hands to which it had been so long entrusted by its Divine Author, they possessed it not. But no sooner did they obtain it, than they sacrilegiously profaned it by mutilations, additions, and interpolations, so that the first fruit of their usurpation was an im- pious violation of that very law, to be ruled by which, as they asserted, they had incurred the guilt of apostacy and rebellion ; a law, by which they have ever since sworn, in contradiction to its letter and its spirit, that it is good for every pur- pose but that for which it was evidently intended, — that it was pure and unadulterated, when they themselves had corrupted it, — that it was clear '^'■^ If the Bible alone, without note or comment, be the religion of Protestants, what need have they of Articles of Faith, of Catechisms, of Priests, of Bishops, or of any part of the complicated machinery of the Establishment? Surely not for the administration of two Sacraments ! 256 and explicit, when they allow it still to tell us that it is hard to he understood, and easily wrested to our own destruction. They would have us to believe it to be equally the advocate of dissension, as of unity ; because it was by the legions of dis- sension that they first invaded that stronghold of unity which, terrified at the consequences of their own presumption and violence, they have ever since vainly endeavoured to reconstruct upon new principles and insufficient foundations: — they would have us to acknowledge that this their law and charter was equally valid for belief and unbe- lief ; because in obtaining it, they had poisoned that source from which alone a steadfast faith could be derived ; — they would have us to violate every principle of reason and of revelation, by subjecting ourselves to a law which they proclaim to be immutable, eternal, and divine, the moment they have illegally obtained possession thereof; which, while it was in the keeping of its own pro- mulgators and administrators, they despised, con- temned, and rejected. The fundamental maxim of this great charter is obedience to the authority from which we have received it ; while those who have now surreptitiously adopted it, not content with spurning the authority of their ancient legis- lators, demand us to transfer to innovators and usurpers that obedience, which a legitimate and established government can alone command. 257 Having, therefore, no right of possession but that of unlawful seizure, it is not surprising that doubts should have arisen among them upon the quality and value of their spoil. Ashamed to de- cide in a manner that would pass judgment upon themselves, by declaring that they found it in a sound and unadulterated state, they exercise their fancy, certainly not their judgment, in adopting one part and in rejecting another, without as- serting any sufficient reason for so doing. While they pretend to receive only those por- tions " of the Old and New Testament of whose authority there was never any doubt in the Church,'' it is notorious that they have received many the validity of which has frequently been questioned. They declare the law to have been enacted, so that it should interpret and decide for itself in all matters both moral and doctrinal, while it is manifest that much of this law has altogether disappeared. They say that the Scripture, and the Scripture alone, is their religion ; while much of that Scripture has been lost, and consequently much of their religion with it. Upon their prin- ciples we have a right to presume this, and we defy them to disprove it, till they can recover those Sybil leaves, collect every fragment which has been scattered in the winds, and restore the phoenix from its ashes. Till they can accomplish this, — till they can work a greater miracle than s 258 has ever yet been performed, they can never prove that the Scriptures are a great charter from heaven for the sole and independent guide and govern- ment of Christians in the important affair of the salvation of man. Much less, upon their prin- ciples, can they tell us what portion of these writings are genuine and authentic, and what are not. Surely, it must require more than the judg- m^ent of man to determine, especially after a con- troversy of 1,500 years, and when all traces of the original documents have been lost, what is, and what is not, the inspiration of heaven, and the true unadulterated version. Whatever the Almighty has inspired, must be received without doubt or hesitation as such ; and which can never be the case as long as there is any insufficiency in the evidence ; which insufficiency having so long and so notoriously existed, we must naturally look to some more decisive and unquestionable testimony. What Heaven has revealed. Heaven must own, sanction, and interpret. The very doubt of this inspiration is alone sufficient to disqualify the law itself for this purpose, and to contravene its au- thority. If the Scriptures alone were the law, that law never could have been questioned amongst those who were destined to obey its mandates, and whose submission it was to command. The first quality we should look for in a law which is to act and interpret for itself, is clearness, precision. 259 fullness, and authenticity ; but above all, a certain knowledge that we really possess the law which is to be our rule. Now, if it can be proved, and un- questionably it can, not only that a considerable portion of this law is obscure, difficult, and in ap- pearance contradictory, but even that many por- tions of it have never descended to us, its insuf- ficiency is manifestly established, and we must seek for some other medium of communication between God and man/'^ ^'^ The 6th of the xxxix Articles, which declares that the " Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation" (hut which is positively contradicted by the doc- trine and the practice of the Church of England in making it an essential obligation of Christianity to keep holy the Sunday instead of the Sabbath — (an alteration which is no where even hinted at in the sacred writings), goes on to say, that " in the name of the Holy Scripture, we do under- stand those canonical books of the Old and of the New Testament, of whose authority there was never any doubt in the Church ;" whereas, so far is this from being the case, that the Church of England has adopted much, the divine inspiration of which had been long and seriously doubted in the Church. But, more inconsistent than this, she has adopted, as an eternal and unerring rule of faith, writings which were lost long before Protestantism was heard of, and others which may be lost ere she disappears from the world. Knowing that some have been lost, why should we not put it as a possible case, that all that she now holds as her rule of faith may be lost also } In what s 2 260 Happily, independent of all other testimony, this very law itself has disclosed it ; and while we a predicament would she then find herself? If her prin- ciples were true, annihilation would he the necessary consequence ! Catholicity, however, is not exposed to such hazards. Supj)ose that, not only the Scriptures, hut that every production of the human intellect which now glad- dens and instructs the world, were suddenly to disappear from among mankind — suppose the art of printing to be lost — profane history to revert to mere fabulous traditions — and the reign of barbarism to here-established, — Catho- licity would still survive ; because her principles, being immutable and eternal, are independent of all contingen- cies, are not subservient to adventitious and accidental circumstances, but are coeval with the duration of the world, and co-existent with the race of man upon the earth. There would still remain what we had in the first ages of the Church ; a qualified succession of teachers and preach, ers, to promulgate and expound the revelations of heaven. In proof of the uncertainty and fallacy of the Protestant rule of faith, which adopts the written word alone as the oracle of heaven, and the medium of communication be- tween God and man, we have only to refer to the evidence of history, or to the Scriptures themselves, in attestation of the fact that much of those Scriptures has been lost. In Num. xxi. 14, we read. It is said, in the Book of the wars of the Lord. — Where is this Book } — In Joshua, x. 13, we find, Is 7iot this written in the Book of Jasher ? Where is the Book of Jasher } In 1 Samuel, x. 25, it is said. Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a hook, and laid it up before the Lord. Yet 261 know from tradition that there is a law which was not written^ as well as a speaking authority to this book, though laid up before the Lord, is now no where to l)e found. The 1st Chron. xxix. 29, tells us that The acts of David, first and last, are written in the Book of Samuel the Seer, and the Book of Nathan the Prophet, and the Book of Gad the Seer. But where are the books of these two Prophets ? The same may be asked of " the Book of the Covenant," which, as we are informed in the 7th verse of the xxivth chapter of Exodus : " Moses taking, read in the hearing of the people : and they said : All the things that the Lord hath spoken, we will do : we will be obedient." Of the thousand and five poems, which (according to the 3rd Book of Kings, chap. iv. verse 32) were composed by Solo- mon, the " Canticle of Canticles" is the only one remaining : and of the three thousand parables, also spoken by him, but a very few have descended to us, scattered through the Book of Proverbs ; whilst not a single vestige can be traced of the " History of Plants and Beasts" which he is recorded to have written, f Ibid. SS. J We may likewise search in vain amid the writings of the sacred volume for " the Book of the Words of the Days of Solomon," noticed in the 11th chap, and 41st verse of the 3d book of Kings ; or for " the Book of the Words of the Days of the Kings of Juda," in which " the rest of the Acts of Joram" are said to be written ; (chap. viii. verse 23 of the 4th Book of Kings :) or for " the Book of Ahias the Selonite," and the " Vision of Addo the Seer," spoken of in chap. ix. verse 29 of the 2d Paralipo- menon : or for the Books of Semeias the Prophet, who diligently recorded the acts of Roboam, according to xiith 262 interpret that which was, and to stamp and dis- tinguish the revelations of Heaven from the opi- chap. 15th verse of the same Book : — or for " the Words of Jehu, the Son of Hanani'* flUd. chap. xx. verse 34) : or " the Words of Hozai" (Ihid. chap, xxxiii. verse 19) : or for the whole of " the Letter of the Prophet Ellas to Joram the King" flhid. chap. xxi. verse 12) : or for " the Description of Jeremias the Prophet," mentioned in the 2nd Book of Maccahees, chap. ii. verse 1 : or for " the Pro- phecy of Enoch," of which a portion is recited hy St. Jude, in his Epistle, verse 14. • It is the opinion of many of the learned that St. Paul wrote three Epistles to the Corinthians, and that the first is lost. For, in that which we call the first. Cor. v. 9, St. Paul says, / wrote to yoa in an Epistle! Where then is this Epistle? Again, St. Paul commands the Epistle from Laodicea to be read in the Church, (Coloss. iv. 16,) and that ye likewise read that which is of the Laodiceans. Yet this also is lost. " What," exclaims Mr. Corless, to whose learning and diligence I am indebted for many of these illustrations, " what is now become of the Protestants' rule of faith?.. ..How does the Protestant know but the doctrines which are handed down by tradition, were contained in the books that have pe- rished? If they were — and he can have no evidence to the contrary — in rejecting tradition, he rejects the 07ice written word of God. These are the appalling difficulties which, at every step, must obstruct the path of the man, who will admit of * Scripture alone as his rule of faith.' Either must he reject the sacred Scriptures, or admit tra- dition (since we know that much of sacred Scripture has been written which has never come down to us). These 263 nions of man, so do we plainly discover in that portion of the law which has received the universal sanction of Christianity, that maxim which is to supply all other deficiencies, which is to regulate our obedience, confirm and command our faith, and promulgate to mankind the will of the Al- mighty. He that heareth you, lieareth me; he that despiseth you, despiseth me,,, He that will not hear the church, let him he to thee as a heathen and a publican,,. We are of God; he that knoweth God, heareth us : he that is not of God, heareth us not ; hy this ive know the spirit of ti'uth and the spirit of error. When our Saviour gave his final instructions to the Apostles, he thus addressed them : Go ye, therefore, and teach all natiojis, baptising, 8fc, Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you : and behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world!^^ difficulties can be removed — these questions answered, only by the voice of Catholic tradition. Set aside tradition, and Christianity falls to ruin." — Reply to the Review of a Pamphlet, 8$c. 8$c. by the Rev. G. Corless. London, 1827 See the same subject treated more at large in Appendix, No. XIII. ^'^ Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. " If we examine other parts of Scripture, in which these words, / am with thee, are used by the Almighty, we find them to have been infallible pledges of his pro- 264 Go ye into the wJiole world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that helieveth, and is haj^ tection. When the Lord had said to Gedeon : ' Go in this thy strength, and thou shalt deliver Israel out of the hand of Madeon ; ' and Gedeon, distrustful of his own weakness, had replied : ' I beseech thee, my Lord, where- with shall I deliver Israel? Behold my family is the meanest in Manasses, and I am the least in my father's house ;' the Lord added : ' I ivill he with thee : and thou shalt cut off Madeon as one man.' (Judg. vi. 11-16J Gedeon was accordingly strengthened by the w^ords of the Almighty, and, under the shield of his promise, he achieved the deliverance of his country. " ' Though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death,' says David, ' I will fear no evils, /or tlioa art with me.'' (Psalm xxii. 4. J Similar is the language by which Isaiah announces God's protection to his Church : ' Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, and called thee by thy name : thou art mine. When thou shalt pass through the waters, / will he with thee, and the rivers shall not cover thee : when thou shalt walk in the fire, thou shalt not be burned, and the flames shall not burn in thee.' (Is. xliii. 1, ^J To show the might of the same protec- tion, the prophet says in another place : ' Take counsel together, and it shall be defeated : speak a word, and it shall not be done : because God is toith us.'' (Ih. viii. \0.J " It is not, then, by an arbitrary interpretation, that we infer from the words, * Behold I am with you^ that the apostles and their successors were to be guided by the spirit of wisdom and truth. We only attach to these im- portant words their ordinary and natural meaning : and;. 265 ti%ecl, shall he saved; but he that believeth not shall he condemned!''^ '' This is his promise (says since Christ has added, ' all days even to the consumma- tion of the world,' we are free to conclude, unless we offer violence to the plain import of the language, that his divine protection was to be without limit or interrup- tion. As the term of the lives of the apostles would be but short, far from confining his aid to that narrow period, he extends it to the heirs of their authority, unto ' the con- summation of the world.' From whence it clearly follows that they alone are the legitimate interpreters of Christ's doctrine. If in teaching, and in administering the sacra- ments, Q\xn.^lis ivitli the pastors of his Church, it is plain that tliey cannot teach error, and that, in trusting our faith to their direction, we cannot go astray. " The apostles committed to writing, it is true, the principal actions of our Redeemer's life. They also ad- dressed several instructions to the Churches which they had planted. But as Christ himself, while on earth, could not yield the prerogative of being the expounder and the judge of his own doctrine, though he gave his apostles a commission to preach it ; neither could they be supposed, by committing it to writing, to have resigned the solemn prerogative of interpretation, with which they were invested by Christ. While teaching and baptizing the nations, Christ promised to he ivith them ; and whether they taught by word, or communicated their instructions by writing, they were equally assured of his unfailing protection. If they occasionally addressed letters to their infant congregation, surely they neither abandoned them ^''^ Mark, xvi. 15, 16. 266 St. Jerome) ; he will be with his disciples to the end of the world ; thus shewing that they shall to the licentious interpretation of every individual, nor suffered them to supersede their own authority. No, instead of permitting the divine legacy, which they be- queathed to the children whom they ' had begotten in Christ Jesus,' (1 Cor.iY. 15.) to be dissipated, they ap- pointed vigilant guardians, to watch with care over its integrity. Thus, although St.Paul had preached the gospel at Ephesus, yet he appointed Timothy to remain there, that he ' might charge some not to teach otherwise, who, de- siring to be teachers of the law, understood neither the things they said, nor whereof they affirmed.' (1 Tim. i. 3, 7.) With a similar view of guarding ' the word which was committed to him, according to the commandment of God, his Saviour,' the same apostle thus addresses Titus : ' For this cause I left thee in Crete, that thou shouldst set in order the things that are wanting, and shouldst ordain priests in every city, as I also appointed thee.' (Tit. i. 3, 6. J Here we find Titus invested with a commission of per- petuating the priesthood, by virtue of the appointment which he received from St. Paul, who himself preached * according to the commandment of God.' " Lest, however, it should be imagined, that the autho- rity which he placed in the hands of Timothy or Titus, was of a temporary nature, and to expire with their lives, St. Paul exhorts them to transmit to faithful and capable individuals, the sacred inheritance which was entrusted to them. ' Thou, therefore, my son,' he writes to Timothy, 'be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus ; and the things which thou hast heard from me, through many 267 never die, and that he will never desert them that shall believe in him."^^^ The Catholic rule of faith witnesses, the same command to faithful men, who shall he fit to teach others also.' (2 Tim. ii. 1,2.) ' Continue then in the things thou hast learned, and which have been committed to thee, knowing of whom thou hast learned.' (Ibid. iii. 14.; " Far, then, from being authorized to peiTcrt, by any peculiar interpretations, the doctrine of Christ, Timothy was charged by the apostle, to contimie in things which he had learned, and which had been confided to his care. " In his instructions to Titus, after pointing out to him the several duties which it was incumbent on him to dis- charge, he concludes by reminding him of that authority which was transferred to him by virtue of his succession to the ministry. ' These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke, with all authority.' (Tit. ii. 16.) If then, he was authorized to speak and exhort with the fulness of the power which the apostle had conferred on him, it follows that the Christians of Crete were bound to receive his in- structions, with a confidence fearless of being led astray. In short, we find the uniform exercise of this authority pervade the whole tenor of the lives of the aj30stles, ac- companied by a correlative obedience, on the part of the faithful, to their instructions. In the communication of this power to others, to whom the last words of Christ were not addressed in person, it is clear that the apostles understood, that the virtue of his promises equally extended to their successors. It is, therefore, by the existence of the same power, residing to this day in their hereditary suc- ^"^^ Comment, in Matt. L. iv. T. iii. p. 734. 268 therefore is, and always has been, that we are bound steadfastly to believe that which, the Al- mighty having revealed, the Church has proposed to our belief. We hold that the Church is the sole depository of the revelations of heaven, and that she alone has authority to promulgate them upon earth: and, consequently, that the same truths have been delivered dov. n to us by the same channel, namely, by the teaching of the Apostles and their successors to the present time. We receive the doctrines of the successors of the Apostles, with the same credit as if we received them from the Apostles them- selves. " The difference lies in this only ; — that the interval between us and Jesus Christ, the fountain of every Christian truth, is measured by eighteen centuries ; whereas, the communication between that fountain and the Apostles, and between these Apostles and the next to them in succession, was immediate. But truth is not lost, nor altered, nor weakened, by descent, when an unbroken chain cessors, that the Catholic is guided ; still as secure in his faith, as those who heard the apostles. For the past, he is secure, since the words ^ all days' leave not a moment's interval, during which Christ could be supposed to have deserted his Church ; and, for the future, she feels no anxiety, since he is assured of the same divine aid ' until the consummation of the world.' "—-(Dr. Machale's Evi- dences and Doctrines of the Catholic Church. Vol. i. pp. 850-356. 269 of living witnesses, provided with all necessary documents, proclaims its identity ; and the pro- mised assistance of the Holy Spirit gives security to their words : / am with ijou all days, even to the consummation of the worldr I have preferred beginning with this point, rather than with the more systematical line of argument which follows, because it afforded me an opportu- nity of stating the rule of faith amongst Catholics, a rule which ought always to be borne in mind in every discussion, and to which every article of our belief is deducible. In the Second place, I cannot conform to Pro- testantism, because no Protestant Church possesses any of those characteristic marks of the true Church, so clearly and incontrovertibly pointed out in the sacred writings, and attested as such by the universal consent of Christendom — Pro- testantism is neither one,^^^ holy,^^^ catholic,'^''^ nor apostolical/*^ First, — No Protestant Church is one, because none of them have ever succeeded in preserving, even for a single moment, any unity of faith/"^ They began with variations, and have continued in a constant succession of variations ever since. ^y^ St. John, X. 16, and Ephes. iv. 3, 4, 5. ^'^ Ephes. V. 26, 27. ^'^^ Acts, i. 8. Romans, x. 17, 18. (^^ St. Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. Ephes. iv. 11, 12, S^c. ^'> Ephes. iv. 12. 270 All the Apostles of the Reformation differed in their creed and doctrines : the Church of England differs from them ; the divines of the Church of England differ among themselves, and hardly any two members of any Protestant Church agree in their belief ; they have not even, like the Greeks, the limited uniformity of a separate Church/'^^ If Protestantism were true. Protestantism would be one, because truth is essentially one. The common rules by which the reasoning faculty of man is usu- ally regulated, appear to be strangers to Protest- antism. It would appear to be forgotten, that oppo- site conclusions, drawn from the same authority, cannot both be true — that there cannot be many truths, all in contradiction to each other. Truth dis- dains to be made subservient to circumstances, and to the necessities of the times {^^ she scorns to be the sport of the passions, and of the pride of man ; she is always uniform and consistent — always open and undisguised — always sublime and unchange- able, like the Deity, from which she emanates. No Protestant cXwxrchcan he o/^^, because, though Protestants acknowledge an authority to decide upon matters of faith, yet they lay no pretensions ^'^^ See Bossuet's Histoire des Variations des Eglises Protestantes. ^^^ See the thirty-fifth of the Articles of Religion. 271 to infallibility ;*^^^ they have no infalhble tribunal to appeal to, for the interpretation of those parts * See Lingard's History of Englcmd, p. 591, vol. vii. 4to. ^^^ Our definition of the Church is the same as yours [See the 20th of the Thirty-nine Articles), but with this difference between us, that you will not acknowledge it as a guide, whereas we do. You claim for your church the same powers that we do for ours, namely, authority in controversies of faith ; but then you will not submit to that authority. " For what cause, or by what authority, do you condemn the Arian, the Socinian, or the Unitarian, because he un- derstands those texts, and such others as pro\ e the eter- nity and divinity of the Son of God, in a sense different from what you assign to them ? Are the Socinians not men of sound judgment? Have they not, according to your rule, a right; nay, are they not obliged to follow the dictate of that judgment, in preference to all authority on earth? and yet you exclude them from the kingdom of God, because, in the exercise of their judgment, or in what you consider the discharge of their duty, they differ in opinion from yourself Your opinion of them, if judged of by your own principles, is unjust, uncharitable, unrea- sonable ; you have divested yourself of all right to repute any man a heretic, to censure any man for being a schis- matic ; you have erased heresy and schism from the cata- logue of vices, and said with the false prophet, Peace, jwace, when there was no peace.'''' You have established a system " which sanctions heresy and condemns it ; which invites to schism and punishes it; which tells the believer to hear the church, and teaches him to prefer his own opinion, however monstrous 272 of scripture which are hard to he understood, and which the unlearned and unstable wrest to their own destruction^^ ^ and^ consequently, they have no right to establish a point of union, by which all Christians may become members of one fold^^^ and believers in one faith"^''^ The Protestant churches, therefore, instead of being collected into one fold, under the superintendance of one shepherd^'^ are split and divided into an endless variety of heresies and schisms ^^ No wonder, as has been well observed, that having fallen from the rock, they should have been shivered into fragments. They are not one hody and one spiritS^^ They are neither perfect in the same mind nor in the same judgment ^^""^ nor carefid to heep the unity of the sjnrit i7i the bond of peaceS""^ They are divided every where, and, as if a change of clime must naturally produce a chan^ "^ of doctrine, they vary wherever they are found. The religious opi- nions of the Protestant are like the political opi- nions of the Catholic — founded upon private judgment, and influenced by times and circum- and absurd, to her most solemn judgments. Why, a church thus constituted is incoherent and inconsistent ; a hulk thrown upon the waters without helm or compass.'' — Reply to Dr. Magee, hy J. K. L. pp. 18, 6-2. ^^^ 2 St.Peter, iii. 16. ^'^ St.Jolin,^. 16. ^'^ Ephes, iv. 4. ^'^ St. John, X. 16. ('^ 1 Cor. i. 10. ^'^ Ephes. iv. 4. ('"^ 1 Cor. I 10. f''^ Ephes: iv. 3. 273 stances, by prejudice and passion. No unity of sentiment pervades a system, established upon principles upon which every man must doubt and hesitate ; a system which separates the people of England from every community of Christians in the world, and isolates her in religion, as she is isolated by her geographical position. Had Christ come upon earth to establish a plurality of reli- gions, then, indeed, the principles of Protestantism would have been admirably suited to the purpose ; but as we know it was directly the reverse, so are these principles diametrically opposed to the designs of God. For, having no true rule to direct him, and admitting his church to be liable to error, every Protestant becomes his own Apostle : each one follows the weak and fallible guidance of his own limited reason and capacity, which, creating an endless variety of opinions, and frequently of absurd contradictions, is not only wholly incapable of de- monstrating the truth, but is eminently calculated to engender error, and to lead astray, instead of conducting to a unity of faitliS"^ The effects are true to their cause : religious dissension distracts the land ; almost every family is at variance within iself ; what God and Nature formed for harmony ^"■^ Ephes. iv. 13. See this jioint admirably argued and illustrated in Dr. Machale's Evidences and Doctr'mes of the Catholic Church, Vol. ii. p. 166, &c. t 274 and concord. Religion, the lover of unity, and the promoter of peace, brings into strife and difference. Every year is ushered in with a new creed — every year, some new temple is erected to the God of Truth for another false worship. The wild reveries of a female impostor ; the senseless ravings of an itinerant, self-inspired preacher ; every crafty knave, or vain enthusiast, who throws the absurd and fantastic wanderings of his mind into the form of a religious belief, is sure to find votaries amongst Protestants : they contrive to divide what has al- ready undergone a thousand subdivisions ; and if Protestantism shall last another century, we may expect to see, in this bewildered country, almost as many creeds as there are Christians. — Is there, — can there be unity in Protestantism ? but is not unity the proud and exclusive attribute of Catho- licity ? United within, by a perfect similitude of doctrine, and bound together without, by a uni- formity of government — guided by the same pas- tors, partakers of the same sacraments, worship- pers at the same altars, holding communion with their brethren in every portion of the world, knowing no difference of faith on account of a difference of language, of clime, of manners, of political institutions, or of geographical position — the Catholic Church constitutes that house of peace so prophetically announced by the Psalmist — that assemblage of true believers, for which the 275 Saviour of mankind declares that lie came to sanctify himself^ that they also might be sanc- tified in truth — that they all might be one, as his Father and he were one; and, that being one, THE WORLD MIGHT BELIEVE THAT HIS FaTHER HAD SENT HIM. While the separation of Protestants from the common fold, and their disunion among themselves, not only excludes them from the house of peace, and the alliance with God, but absolutely contradicts and nullifies the mission of our Saviour, robbing Christianity of one of its most distinguish- ing characteristics, and belying it before the pagan and the infidel/^'^ For, if the divine mission of Christ is to be ascertained by the union which is to subsist amongst his followers, and by the agree- ment of Christians in his doctrines, it is manifest that the want of this necessary proof amongst those who pretend to be his disciples and apostles, must obstruct the progress of truth, and veil the revelations of Heaven from the eyes of the unbe- liever. Even the most perverse and discordant sectaries (so universal is the recognition of this essential qualification of truth,) all insist upon unity as a necessary attribute of true religion ; but, at the same time, they adopt a principle which banishes this attribute from amongst them. ^^^ See some excellent observations on this subject in the 2nd Letter of the Amicable Discussion. t 2 276 They say, we must all believe alike, but we must all judge for ourselves : — we must all hold the same doctrine, but we must all follow our own fancies. The apostle pronounces an anathema even against an angel from Heaven, should he pre- sume to preach another gospel; but they exalt themselves above the angels of Heaven, and claim the attribute of divinity itself. The Scripture says. Be of one mind, have peace ; and the God of peace and of love shall he with you, (2 Cor, xiii. 2.) But they say, let us be of what mind we please; let dissensions reign amongst us ; let us follow false prophets and lying teachers, and make ourselves the dupes of deceitful workmen : — no sect shall be a sect of perdition to us ; we will transform every man whom we list into an apostle of Christ : the house of peace shall be rent with schism ; the God of truth must be made insensible to falsehood, and the God of love shall cherish hatred and dissension, as well as charity and union. Secondly, The Protestant churches are not holy, because Luther, Calvin, Beza, and other inventors and propagators of Protestantism, instead of being pure apostolic men, and models of meekness, piety, and mortification, such as the ministers of the reli- gion of Christ ought undoubtedly to be, who himself fasted, prayed, and forebore, to teach us to do the same, were directly the reverse. Far from imitating the lives of the primitive saints and apostles, whose 277 doctrines they professed to preach, they every where established a greater laxity of morals, and, instead of reforming the wickedness of the times, only fostered and increased it ; breaking down all the bulwarks against the tyranny of the passions, at the same time that they undermined the citadel of faith/^^ Nay, even the principal champion of Protestantism does not hesitate to acknowledge in his ov/n writings — as if to confound his followers, and open their eyes to his deceit — that he learned the principal tenet of his new creed, not from the spirit of light and the God of Truth, but from the spirit of darkness and the Father of Lies/'^ giving ^^^ For an account of the increase of immorality, as a consequence of the Reformation in this country, see Dr. Milner's Letters to a Prebendary, Lett. 5th. And for the scandalous lives of the Reformers, see Appendix 2nd to Lett. 11. of the Amicable Discussion. — "In a word," says the learned author of this admirable work, " the only point upon which they agree is to blacken and condemn one another, and it is but too certain, that this point, in which they were all agreed, is also the only one upon which they were all right." '''■>' St. John, viii. 44. See an Account of Luther's con- versation with the devil, in The Faith and Doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, proved by the Testimony of the most learned Protestants, &c. p. 54 ; by the Author of the Protestant Apology for the Roman Catholic Church. Dub- lin, 1813. 278 heed to spirits of error y and doctrines of Devils ^'^ and thus making himself a real object for the ap- plication of the words of St. Paul to Elymas ; O full of all guile and of all deceit, child of the Devil, enemij of all justice, thou ceasest not to pervert the right ways of the Lord!*^ The Church of England is not holy, because it sprang from such unhallowed sources — because it originated in the lust of Henry VIII., was nur- tured by the rapacity and profligacy of the minis- ters of Edward VI., and perfected by the ambition of Queen Elizabeth. Surely a religion with so impure an origin, which was fostered in vice, " and which neither improves the piety nor the morals of the people, cannot pass for the work of God :" lj ^-Th-f\ uU^t/iirt ^hi dl I iniiv if ^""^ Such a Church ^'^ 1 Tim. iv. 1. ^'^ Acts-^iii, 10. ^''^ St. Matt. vii. 16. " The very authors of the Reform- ation were themselves the first to mark its baneful effect upon the morals and piety of the people. ' The world,' says Luther, ' grows every day worse and worse. — It is plain that men are much more covetous, malicious, and resentful ; much more unruly, shameless, and full of vice, than they were in the time of Popery.' — ' Tlie greater part of the people,' says Martin Bucer, ' seem only to have embraced the gospel in order to shake off the yoke of dis- cipline, and the obligation of fasting, penance, &c. which lay upon them in Popeiy, and to live at their pleasure, enjoying their lawless appetites without control. Hence 279 must, at least, be liable to strong suspicion, and it is, therefore, the duty of men to examine it nar- rowly : by its fruits you shall knoiv it; the evil t7*ee hringeth forth evil fruit: — do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles f'^ Instead of endeavouring to bring our morality into a stricter conformity with the severer precepts of the gospel, and the maxims and the conduct of our Saviour, Protestantism has absolved its fol- lowers from many of those salutary restraints and mortifications, such as confession and fasting, which the religion of Christ had wisely imposed upon us for the subjugation of our passions, and as some slight at-onement for our sins, through his infinite merits. She contradicts the Scrip- tures, by making the road to Heaven wide and smooth, while they declare it to be rough and narrow. — Instead of encouraging the people to pay a daily public homage to their God in the house of prayer, the doors are closed against they lent a Avilling ear to the doctrine that we are saved by faith alone, and not by good works, having no relish for them.' Frederick the Great has said, " If you reduce the causes of the Reformation to their simple principles, you will find, that, in Germany, it was the work of interest ; in England, the fruit of lust; in France, the efi'ect of novelty." ^'^ St. Matt. vii. 16,17. 280 them-/^^ and, except on the Sunday, when, in- deed, no one who bears the name of Christian, would willingly absent himself from the service of his Creator, their altars are silent, and their Churches empty. With what feelings would our Catholic ancestors, whose piety was proverbial, and whose daily practice it was to assemble in public adoration of that God who was their daily benefactor and protector, have looked upon the degeneracy of these days, upon the melancholy fruits of Protestant Reformation ! Whatever, to a superficial, and, perhaps, a preju- diced observer, may be the general appearance of ^y^ The Bishop of London, in his Charge for 1790, ;:>. 11, observes: "Scarcely one symptom of religion ever a23pears amongst us, except on the Lord's day." — " It must be acknowledged," says he, in another publication, " that the present remarkable thinness of our churches on Sun- day, at the east as well as the west end of the town, is a proof that the neglect of divine worship is not confined to the great, but has pervaded almost every class of people in this capital." Sermons, Vol. I. v. 212.--Will not the same observations equally apply at the present day ? " Liberal opinions, that is, no fixed principle whatso- ever, are professed in every quarter : and, in spite of the apparent tranquillity which reigns around, the day cannot be distant, in which there will be as little belief among the gentlemen of England, as there now is among the philo- sophers in Germany — that is, none at all.'" — British Critic. 281 immorality and irreligion in Catholic countries, in our own times; and whatever may be the real degree of vice among the wealthy and the great, whose virtue, as is usually the case, is too gene- rally choctked up with the cai^es, the riches, and the pleasures of this life ; there is, at any rate, to be found, even in demoralized France, a large portion of sincere and unaffected piety. One can never enter a Catholic Church, at any hour, even upon a week-day, without being edified by the devout comportment of at least a few, and at the hour of morning service, of a great number of pious Christians/'^ (') " Even on week-days the Churches are not deserted ; pious Christians may be seen on their knees at all hours ; and the ancient and affecting custom of the Catholic Church, so much recommended by Erasmus, is not yet forgotten or neglected, even in this profane capital." (Eustace's Letter to G. Petre, Esq.) — It is to be remarked that, since this period, religion has made immense pro- gress in France, especially in the provinces. The Catholic Church is holy in her people, from the number of devout persons of both sexes, who, preferring the part of Maiy to Martha, have retired from the bustle and temptation of the world, to adore their God in solitude and in silence : " Who quit a world where strong temptations try, " And since 'tis hard to combat, learn to fly." Without taking into consideration the preference which the Almighty has generally been pleased to shew to a 282 The Protestant Churches are not holy, because, among the ministers of their religion, no one has ever yet appeared of such exalted piety, such mor- tified passions, such holy meekness, such unwea- ried zeal, and such sublime devotion, as to render him worthy of being held up to the people as the pattern of a saint, or a model of the man of God. It is the prerogative of Catholicity alone to furnish such examples. She alone can shew forth her catalogue of Apostles, of martyrs, of confessors, of virgins, whom all Christendom have conspired to honour with the title of Saint : she alone can pro- duce a lengthened succession of individuals, whose sanctity the whole world has admired and attested ; men who, having studied the science of the Saints at the foot of the cross, have there learnt those secluded and ascetic life, no one has a right to complain of the pious refuge from temptation, and retreat from the attractive yet dissipating pleasures of the world, of so many devout persons, hut those who are able to fulfil the duties and obligations of a Christian amidst the cares^ the riches, and the jyleasures of this life. These are the only persons who, with any justice, can complain of the seclusion of so much virtue, and the loss of so much good example to mankind : yet when they consider the difficulties they themselves have daily to contend with, they will not be so ready to condemn the more timorous, but, perhaps, safer and wiser resolution, of withdrawing from the trou" bles and temptations to which they remain so fearfully exposed. 283 sublime maxims of humility, of self-denial, of entire devotion to the love of God, which taught them how to apply themselves with such infinite advantage to the service of their fellow creatures ; men who, while they performed the work and accomplished the will of their Creator upon earth, though feeble mortals like ourselves, were all the while wrapped in the contemplation and in the enjoyments of heaven. Feeling her lamentable deficiencies in this respect, and anxious to assimilate herself to the Church described by our Saviour through the sacred pen- men, as a vine, repaying the labours of the husband- man by an abundant harvest of fruit, and as sending forth her Apostles to preach the Gospel, and to confirm their delegation from heaven by superna- tural signs ; the Church of England has adopted the Saints of the Church of Rome, to supply those whom, had she been gifted with the Spirit of God, she ought to have produced herself. But, even here, she is involved in her endless inconsistency ; for while she reckons St. Augustine, St. Clement, St. Ambrose, St. Cyprian, St* Jerome, and St. Mar- tin as her chosen few, she has discarded many of the doctrines which every one of these, her Saints, taught as essential to Christianity. They who main- tained the doctrines of Transubstantiation, and the Sacrifice of the Mass, of the Invocation of Saints, of prayers and oblations for the dead, and of the 284 supremacy of the See of St. Peter, have all been made the pillars of a Church, which has anathema- tized these doctrines as impious, heretical, and damnable ! They who condemned heresy and schism as the greatest of all crimes, because, to use their own expression, '' they burst the bonds of charity and unity ;" they, forsooth, are made the sainted patrons of an heretical and schismatical Church : and for this plain reason — that having no Saints of her own to adorn her, none Lut^flurh m have obtained their titles as the advocates of separation and dissension, as the opposers of old, and as the abettors of new and unheard-of doctrines, — she has been compelled either to acknowledge her defi- ciency, or to adopt such as have ever been the most uncompromising enemies of the opinions of the men, who would fain account them as their guides. They have chosen to place themselves in an extraordinary dilemma: either to deny, reject, and contradict the faith and doctrines of their Saints, disregarding their principles and their testimony altogether ; or, attentive to the records they have left us, to be compelled to read their own condemnation in every page of their writings. Till, therefore, holiness shall be shewn to consist in heresy and schism ; in relaxing the morality of the Gospel ; in renouncing the doctrines of the Saints, and the faith which the Apostles have sealed 285 with their blood, the Church of England has no claim to it. The Protestant Churches are not liohj, because they have never been sanctified by the manifesta- tion of miracles. No Protestant teacher ever yet wrought a miracle in confirmation of his faith; whereas, there is no country in the world which has been converted to Christianity by Catholic missionaries — and few there are which have not been both edified by their virtues, and enlightened by their doctrine — without the miraculous inter- position of Divine Providence having been exerted in their favour.^''^ ^"^ Catholics are often accused of lending too easy a belief to miracles, though generally without reason. It is surely natural that those who believe firmly in the truth of their religion, should be more disposed to expect su- pernatural proofs of its authenticity ; and it is upon the firmness of their faith alone, that this predisposition is grounded, not upon any superstitious feelings, or excess of credulity. On the other hand, an obstinate disbelief of miracles, when clear to the evidence of the senses, would appear to be characteristic of an unsound religion, and of perversity of intention. The Scripture informs us, that the very day on which St. Peter had healed the sick, he was, for this crime of producing- a miraculous evidence of Christianity, apprehended, and thrown into prison, from which he was delivered only by another miracle. When St. Stephen was brought before the council, tliey 286 No Protestant minister ever yet executed the following commission of our Saviour — a commis- saw his face as if it had been the face of an angel, and yet they condemned him to death ! When the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles, and imparted to them the gift of tongues, the people exclaimed: Tliese men are full of new wine ! Such was the obduracy and incredulity of the enemies of the doctrine of Christ ! As it was with his Disciples, so it had been with Christ himself. When our Saviour, armed only with a scourge, but supported by the power of God, drove the multitude of profaners from the temple, the Jews said to him: By what miracle dost thou prove to us thy right to do these things ? as if the very act they had just witnessed was not itself a miracle, and the evidence of a supernatural power. They ask for one miracle to prove another, like those sectarians and unbelievers, who ask for evidence upon evidence in favour of a truth which has already the mark of heaven upon it, and the Revelations of God to establish it. They act like the Pharisees and Sadducees of old, who, immediately after witnessing the most astonishing miracles, asked our Saviour for a sign ; but, instead of granting their request, he only condemned their unbelieving curiosity, and censuring the voluntary blindness in which their pride and obstinacy had involved them, referred them to the signs that had just passed, and to another that was to come. That other sign arrived : it verified all those which had gone before ; it was the sign which they had so eagerly and so importunately demanded ; — ^but they remained perverse in their judgment, and ob- durate in their infidelity. — How merited, then, was the reproof which Jesus so soon afterwards pronounced even on his own disciples : Do you not yet know, nor under- 287 sion which, to the honour and credit of the Ca- tholic Church, has been so literally fulfilled in a thousand instances by her pastors, not only in pri- mitive times, but in every age of Christianity; And going... heal the sicJc, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils!^^ No apostles of Pro- testantism ever went forth and preached every where, the Lord working ivithal, and confirming the word with signs thatfolloived!'^ The Church of England is not holy in her Ministers, because she disallows the sacrament of Holy Orders ; and without it, how can her pastors be qualified for the arduous duties of the shep- herds of the flock of Christ? How are they to discharge the awful duty of rendering an account of the souls entrusted to their care?^'^^ Without the peculiar graces of Almighty God, (and how are they to receive those graces but through the sacraments, the only means we have of applying the merits of our Redeemer to our soul,) how, it may be asked, are they to be holy and vigilant watchmen of the Lord ? Upon thy walls, O Jeru- salem, I have appointed watchmen all the day, stand ? Have you still your heart blinded ? Having eyes, see you not ? and having ears, hear you not ? (St. Mark viii. 17, 18.) <^*^ St. Matt. X. 7, 8. ^'^ St. Mark xvi. 20. ^'^ Heh. xiii. 17. 288 and all the 7iight: they shall never hold their peace !'^ In fine, if they use not holy orders as a sacrament, how can her ministers possess the grace of God, which should be in them by the imposi- tion of the hands of the priesthood ?^^^ They who have extraordinary duties imposed upon them, must surely need extraordinary graces to be en- abled worthily to fulfil them. As the Church of England is not hohj in her pas- tors, for the same reason she is not holy in her people/^^ In acknowledging but two sacraments, she has narrowed the means destined to convey the graces of heaven to her followers; she has cut off so many sources for applying the merits of our Redeemer to the soul, and thereby abridged the sanctification and perfection of man/^^ Another proof of the want of holiness in the Protestant Church is, that those who leave the Catholic communion for the Establishment, inva- riably shew by their conduct, that they do so, solely in furtherance of their worldly interests, and ^'^ Isai. Ixii. 16. ^^^ 1 Tim. iv. 14.— 2. Tim. i. 6. ^^^ Let any one read Dr. Clarke's account of the public and private morals in Sweden, Norway and Russia, and say whether he thinks holiness a characteristic mark of the Protestant Reformation in those countries. ^''^ See an excellent dissertation on the number of the Sacraments, in The Evidences and Doctrines of the Catholic Church, Vol. ii. p. 210, &c. 289 to enjoy a greater latitude both of faith and prac- tice. In deserting their religion, they almost always desert their morality with it : yet, even then, they generally flatter themselves vv^ith the hope of returning to die in the bosom of the an- cient faith/ '^ But how seldom does the Almighty permit them thus to trifle with him ! They say within themselves : Yours is the church in which we will live at our ease, but we will return to our own, to die in penitence and peace. But as they abandon God, he abandons them in their turn ; he withdraws his grace, and consigns them to their folly. Far different is the conduct of converts to Catholicity ; who evince the purity of their motives ^'^ It has been no uncommon occurrence for Catholics, who, for temporal motives, have abjured their religion, to educate their children in the creed they had deserted, thus giving the strongest practical proof of the fallacy of their own conversion, and of the estimation in which they held the ancient faith. This was the case with the Earl of Arundel, the father of the unfortunate Lord Stafford, as , well as with many others. — " Sir William Scott informs ^^^ '^ine^that he heard Johnson say : ' A man who is converted from Protestancy to Popery, may be sincere ; he parts with nothing, he is only superadding to what he already had ; but a convert from Popery to Protestancy, gives up so much of what he has held as sacred as any thing that he retains ; there is so much laceratw7i of mmd in such a conversion, that it can hardly be sincere and lasting.' " — (Bos well's Life of Johnson.) U 290 by the severity of their religious observances, and by the example of disinterested piety which they exhibit to the world. No one scarcely has yet left us, who has lived w^ell, or died happily : hardly any one has yet sought and found us, who has not been a pattern of virtue while living, and a saint in death. The extraordinary circumstance of her followers choosing rather to remain without places of divine worship, than to make any sacrifices or exertions to erect them, might also be cited as another proof of the want of holiness, or at least of zeal, in the Protestant Church.^*^ It certainly is an anomaly in the history of Christianity, that the richest church in Europe — in the most opulent country in the world — should be compelled to call upon the whole nation, not one half of whom pro- fess the religion of the State, to supply her with temples for the celebration of her religious rites. It was far different when the present possessions of the Church were in the hands of a Catholic Hierarchy. The most sumptuous buildings in the world, the wonders of each succeeding age, then every where arose in profusion, through the spon- ^^^ According to the Report of the Commissioners for building new Churches, there are very many places in which there is not church accommodation for more than one-eighth of the population ! 291 taneous zeal and piety of the clergy and the people, — In poor^ degraded, insulted, and impoverished Ireland, what exertions have not a Catholic starv- ing peasantry, and an unbeneficed clergy, made for the erection of decent places of public worship ! ^'^ Thirdly, — No Protestant Church possesses that other characteristic of revealed truth. Catholicity, that is, universality. The Protestant Churches are ^^^ " In the comparison of the relative sanctity of the different Churches, the Roman Catholic Church stands peculiarly distinguished. The sanctity of any church is a word of complex and extensive import, which may em- brace as well the holiness of its members, as the purity of the doctrine which it professes. In either point of view, the Catholic Church is without a rival; since it teaches the necessity of mortifying the deeds of the flesh ; and since it was in its bosom those eminent saints were formed, whom Protestants did not scruple to adopt into their calendar. But to form a fair and impartial judg- ment of this subject, we should chiefly turn our attention to the lives of their respective founders. God may permit the existence of immoral pastors in the Church, though he never chooses corrupt agents as its founders. As the one are the immediate heralds of the Almighty, they ought to be the living representatives of the high and holy commission which they bear. The others, too, are bound to sanctity ; but, like the public functionaries of an established authority, the validity of their ministry is not aftected by the profligacy of their lives."— Dr. Mac- bale's Evidences of the Catholic Church, Vol. ii. p. 172. u2 292 not universal in point of time, having had no existence for upwards of 1500 years after the coming of Christ ; for no one can show that the doctrine and belief of Protestants was ever pro- fessed by any individual, much less by any Church or any congregation of Christians, previous to the days of Luther. Their very name is a novelty/'"^ No Protestant Church is universal in point of space, because not one of them embraces more than comparatively a very small portion of the Christian world, no where comprehending any large numbers of the flock of Christ: — no where is Protestantism any thing but a sect. If the Church of England looks for universality, she finds herself checked upon every side ; she is a mere insulated (m) u j)oeg ^ot |;he name Protestant,'" says Mr. Corless in his very learned and excellent Reply to Mr. Toionsend, " indelibly stamp upon the established religion the cha- racter of error ? Does not novelty of name bespeak no- velty of doctrine, and establish beyond the possibility of doubt, that she, like all other sectarians, has been cut off from the great body of Catholic Christians r" Yes, their very name is their condemnation : they have adopted it not in a spirit of charity and union, but of hos- tility and separation ; it is indefinite and vague, conveying no precise meaning but that of irreconcileable opposition to those against whom they protest : it implies no parti- cular belief, being equally applicable to all sectarians and separatists from the primitive and universal church ; from the first heresy down to the last. 293 province of Christendom. To be universal, she should be like the Roman Catholic, — preached to every creature f""^ carried to the uttermost parts of the earth f°^ riding from sea to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth f^^ offering a clean sacrifice in every place, from the rising to the setting of the sun /^^ extending from the sands of Syria to the deserts of Paraguay ; from schisma- tical Moscow to infidel Japan. To be universal, — she should, like the Roman Catholic, have preserved inviolate the everlasting covenant,^ '^ a covenant like that of the day and the night^'^ to stand for all generations, which the Almighty has made with her, and confirmed by a solemn oath. ^'^ By a perpetual, uninterrupted, and visible existence, she should have shewn herself the constant and steady light of the ivorld, the standing and living ^ »# of the promises of Christ ; she should have been the mountain of the House of our Lord in these latter days, prepared on the top of moun- tains, and exalted above the hills, with all nations flowing unto it!''^ There neither is, nor ever was, upon earth, any other Church to which these and numberless other ^""^ St. Mark xvi. 15. ^"^ Acts i. 8. ^p^ Psal. Ixxi. 8. ^^^ Malach. ii. 11. ^'^ Ezek. xxxvii. 26. ^'^ Jer. xxxiii. 20, 21. ^'^ Ps. Ixxxviii. 4, 36, & Isaiasliv. 9. ^""^ Ism as ii. 2. 294 prophecies can possibly be applied, but the Roman Catholic : — she is universal in point of time ; she is universal in point of space. — After an existence of more than 1800 years, we still find her every where. — We find her glorious and magnificent before the learned and the rich, under the golden dome of the Vatican, seated triumphant on the ruins of Paganism, and encompassed by the splen- dour of the Eternal City {'^ we find her preached c-'') Amongst all the Revolutions recorded in history, the most remarkable, certainly, is the establishment of the temporal sovereignty of the Popes. That the successor of St. Peter, who was crucified by order of a Roman emperor, as a mean and contemptible impostor, should now possess the capital of that empire, for the seat of his dominion, and the temples of their gods, for the rites of his religion ; and that the individual who now represents the proud senate of Rome, should hold his station at the will and appointment of that same successor of St. Peter, are circumstances which appear to point out a peculiar providence, and afford matter of contemplation to the Christian philosoj^her. " While thus perplexed between the opposite claims of conflicting sectaries, let him but take hold of the strong and palpable clue of the succession of the Roman Pontiff. Disengaged from his embarrassment, he walks back with straight and steady step, through the distance and dark- ness of time ; directed all along by its strong and unerring guidance, until he finds himself seated in the sanctuary with Christ himself, and listening to the living oracle of 295 to the poor and the ignorant, under the canopy of heaven, in many a distant and unfrequented clime; we find her in the palaces of kings, and in the cities of the great ; we find her among the idolaters of the Old, and the Savages of the New World {^^ we find her in the east and in the west, in the revelation. What a magnificent idea, or rather, what a vast assemblage of unspeakable ideas, does the word Ca- tholic Church convey to the mind ! How glorious the contemplation of a society, subsisting unchanged for the unexampled duration of eighteen centuries, spread over the fairest portion of the earth, and embracing almost all that is elevated or enlightened in its history ; bequeathing to each succeeding generation the accumulated treasures of the wisdom of the past ; moving on with the silent majesty of a being unconscious of decay, and secure of immortality ; gathering from the lapse of time, which is wasting every other monument, fresh proofs of the infalli- bility of his promise, who has watched over her existence ; conferring on her children, by the simple name of Ca- tholic, the most envied and exalted title that kings ever yet bore ; doomed occasionally to pass through the waters of tribulation, but rising buoyant over the waves, because the Spirit of God is with her ; and again, because she is protected by the same spirit, walking through the ordeal of persecution, unhurt by its heat ; nay, burnished by its activity." — Evidences of the Catholic Church, by the Right Rev. Dr. Machale, Vol. ii. p. 184. ^^^ On the missionary labours of the Catholic Church, see Milners End of Controversy, Lett. xxx. 296 north and in the south; and we find her every where with the same image and likeness, always in possession of the same pure and holy doctrine. We find her to be that great and various multitude ,.Jike the stars of heaven or the sands of the sea/'\,.. which no man coiddnumher, of all nations , and tribes, and jjeojde, and tongues!"^ The very name of Catholic, which no other Church ever has assumed, or can assume, and which, by universal consent, is inseparably attached to her, is alone sufficient to prove her Catholicity/"^ ^'^ Gen. xxii. 17. ^''^ Apoc. vii. 9. ^^^ Who can read the following passage from St. Au- gustine, without fancying it to have been written in our own days, so precisely does it apply, though at an interval of 1400 years: — " x\mong many considerations," says he, " that hind me to the Church, is the name of Catholic, which, not without a cause, in the midst of so many here- sies, this Church alone has so retained, that although all heretics wish to acquire the name, should a stranger ask where the Catholics assemble, the heretics themselves will not dare to point out any of their own places of meeting."— fCo?2im Eju Fundam. Tom. vi. p. 46.) " The followers of Luther or Calvin are precisely the same, in his eyes, [the eyes of a Catholic] as those of Kant, or Knox, or Wesley, or any other of the number- less tribes who wander about the desert and attack the people of God, as they journey, under the divine protection, to the promised land. He may see some senate, or stadt- holder, or prince, or potentate, associate himself with one 297 Fourthly, — No Protestant Church is Apostolical, because, instead of originating with the Apostles; or other of those sects, and bestow upon it all the wealth and dignity, which law, or rapine, or conquest placed in his hands — he may see one of them preserve much of the form, order, dignity, rites, and liturgies of the church, whilst another strips its members in the market-place, and presents itself to the world as a sad image of human fatuity, or divine wrath ; but as to the unity, sanctity, catholicity, and apostolicity of the church, all these sects, whether assembled in palaces, in the conventicle, on the moor, or on the mountain, are equally removed from them." — Reply to Dr. Magee. The following beautiful simile will be found illustrative of the subject : " Like the material world, the Church is continually vivified by a central and divine fire, enlight- ened by an eternal sun, watered by a miraculous dew, by which, like nature himself, she is at once embellished and refreshed, and endowed with a fertility which makes her bud, and bring forth fruit both for time and eternity." — (Ganganelli's Letters.) In another place, speaking of the Church, both militant and triumphant, he says : " I figure her to myself as a tree, whose top reaches the summit of the heavens, whose roots pierce to the deepest abyss, and against which all the storms let loose their rage, without being able to wither or overthrow it." — " If we consider the Chui-ch in her outward appearance, nothing can be more weak : her head and her members are men of flesh and blood, subject to all the passions ; she has no other arms, no other strength than those words of Jesus Christ : Go preach the Gospel to all nations — Lo! I am with you all 298 instead of being founded by any teacher, deputed and commissioned by authority from the apostolic college,* instead of being established by men who were sent, as the Father had sent the Saviour of mankind (as my Father has sent me, I also send youf'^ and again, how shall they preach unless they he sent) ;^^^ they all grew out of the angry spirit, the pride, and the presumption of Luther, who, in the arrogance of his mind, set himself up in opposition to the received opinions of every nation, of every age, and of every Church ; and who virtually confessed that it v\^as impossible he himself should be right, and every body else wrong/'^ They are not Apostolical, because in- stead of conducting us, as they professed to do, to the purer faith of the Apostles, by removing what they v/ere pleased to term the additions and cor- ruptions of the dark ages, they retrenched those very doctrines which were believed and practised, days^ even to the end of the world. But, take a view of her internally, and nothing is stronger ; for being unceasingly guided and enlightened by the Holy Spirit, God himself is her impregnable rampart." ^'^ St. John XX. 21. ^^^ Rom. x. 15. (e) « How often," says he, " did my trembling heart ask me ; Art thou alone right ? Is all the world, except thee, involved in error .?" (Frsef. de Ahrog. Miss. Prk.J For the extravagances, contradictions, and turbulence of this Prince of Reformers, see Letters to a Prebendary, Lett. v. 299 and uprooted those very principles which were the ground-work of Christianity, in the apostolic and primitive times. The Protestant Churches are not Apostolical, because they are all equally excluded from that lengthened and unbroken chain of apostolical suc- cession, which identiiies the last Pontiff Vv^ith the first, and through him, with the source of all spiritual grace, power, and jurisdiction — Christ Jesus. The purity and nobility of their descent is intercepted by a bar across their escutcheon, the just inheritance of their treason ; they are illegiti- mated as the rightful guardians of the faith of the Apostles; and as the lawful successors to the ministry of Christ. The Protestant Churches are not Apostolical, because, thus unconnected with the aera of the Apostles, they know not how they have received the Holy Ghost f^^ because some of ^^^ St. John XX. 22. — " Protestants labour much to prove the perpetuity of their priesthood, and the validity of its orders.* A priesthood without a sacrifice is an anomaly * " As the object of the present work (adds Dr. Machale, in a note to the above passage) is rather to exhibit a connected series of the evidences of the Cathoh'c Church than minutely to canvass the claims of any other, the writer has purposely refrained from entering into the controversy regarding the va- lidity of the ordinations of the Church of England. However, his opinion on that important subject is already on record. A pro- found knowledge of the controversy must ever prevent an impar- tial reader from coming to the conclusion, that the ordination of the ministers of the Church of England is valid. " Little is now left to the defender of the English ordinations, but to repeat the arguments, if arguments they may be called, by 300 them cannot even demonstrate that their spiritual functions emanate from any other than a lay autho- in language which cannot he explained. They are cor- relative words, wdiich express correlative duties, and of which Courayer, an Augustinian monk, ingeniously laboured to establish their validity. The reception he met in England, after abandoning his own country, and, I might add, his religion, shews how proud the English clergy were to receive aid on that delicate point, even from the darkness of a Catholic cloister. Yet neither Courayer, nor his copiers, have been able to efface the impression left upon the public by the writings of Harding, and Sanders, and Stapleton, which attest, that neither Parker, nor those he conse- crated, or pretended to consecrate, were recognised by the Ca- thohcs, or the well-informed of that time, as invested with the character of valid ordination. This is a point which Harding, in his controversy with Jewell, the celebrated Bishop of Salisbury, pressed with repeated force, and to which the champion of the Protestant prelacy gave no satisfactory reply. Dr. Ebrington has expended much subtlety in giving a more plausible colour to arguments, which are justly deemed of little force. I will not say that his labours were utterly lost, since they probably earned for him the temporalities of a bishopric, which, in the estimation of many orthodox churchmen, is not less valuable than a valid ordi- nation. But, after all that has been written, from Courayer to Ebrington, there still remains, in the mind of an impartial reader, some secret scepticism that cannot be entirely removed. "The writer will not now dwell on the frequent challenge of the Catholic controvertists to their opponents, to produce the Lambeth Reo-istry, on which Protestants rested the valid consecration of Matthew Parker; — a registry which, if seasonably produced, would have settled the question. He even dismisses the story of the Nag's-head-inn consecration ; nor will he dwell upon the more important circumstance of the want of evidence that Barlow, first a prior of one of the suppressed monasteries, and the conse- crator of Parker, had ever received, not the appointment, but the character of episcopacy. " These and other circumstances he leaves to that class of writers who rest their doubts upon dates, and upon circumstances of place, which it is difficult to clear up at this distance of time. " But he cannot pass over the imperfect ritual adopted at that early stage of the pretended reformation, coupled with the theo- 301 rity. They are not Apostolical, because their founders bore none of the characteristics of Apos- wliich the one can never be dissociated from the other. Such is the doctrine of St. Paul. Every high-priest, ac- logical opinions of those by whom it was composed. Those who have acquired a knowledge of the elements of theology must be aware, that the w^ords or form by which a Sacrament is adminis- tered, must always be expressive of the virtue it imparts. Without such determinate words, the nature of a Sacrament would be an inert element, flexible to any, even a profane purpose ; and hence, these words are, by scholastics, properly called the /on?? which fits the matter to that end, for which it is destined. The words or form of the Eucharist are expressive of the real presence ; and those of penance, of the remission of sin. Of orders, at least, of the priesthood, the peculiar and appropriate oflSce, if we believe the Apostle, is to offer Sacrifice. The form, therefore, by which it is to be conferred, ought to be expressive of this peculiar duty. But the idea of a Sacrifice was banished from the English ritual: and, as to the form of episcopal consecration, it is confessed, almost on all hands, to have been imperfect and insufficient. The ceremony of anointing, too, used in the Catholic Church, was treated by the reformers with levity and derision. (Ordinal of Edward VI. anno 1550.) But why waste the reader's patience in shewing what little reverence the reformers attached to the episcopal character, when Cranmer, and his supposed consecrator. Barlow, acknowledged that bishops, like the chancellor, mayor, and sheriffs, depended on his Majesty ; and that Cranmer did not mean in the exercise of their functions alone, but in every other particular, is evident from his saying that the usual cere- monies on such occasions (meaning those of consecration) are not necessary. {Bossuet, Hist, des Variat. t. i.^;. 345 ; Burnet, Heylin, ^c.) Persons who hold such opinions, must have been careless about the form of ordination : and so sensible did the Protestants become of its imperfections, that, in the reign of Charles II., it v^as improved to its present state, about 112 years after its intro- duction. But even supposing it was perfect, let not the ministers of the Church of England imagine, that it is the source from which their ordination flows. Parker and Barlow were mce than fourscore years dead before this improvement, and must have, therefore, been deprived of all the virtue which that form could impart. If, therefore, the form of ordination were defective 302 tolical men : for it is a notorious fact^ that, instead of being eminent for their humility, their piety, and their morals, the first reformers, equally with their patrons, were renowned for their profaneness, their pride, and their public irregularity of life : instead of preaching by example, as well as by cording to him, is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; where no sacrifice exists, a priesthood must be unnecessary. Such a priest would be as anomalous a character, as a king without any regal authority, or as a judge without any judicial functions. If, then, there be no sacrifice in the New Law, why insist on the validity of its priesthood ? Or, if they must be so jealous of the priestly character, why labour to extinguish the office of offering sacrifice, which, according to the Apostle, gives the priesthood its distinc- tion, character and name? There is a strange incon- sistency in thus separating doctrines, which must be entirely received or entirely rejected. Eager for the honours of the Catholic Church, yet impatient of its control, Pro- testants would fain assume its priesthood, and reject the essential office with which that priesthood is intertwined. What they raise with one hand, they cast down with the other. But, to be consistent, it is necessary to believe in the Sacrifice of the Mass, or to annihilate altogether the existence of a Christian priesthood." — (Evidences of the Catholic Church, vol. n. j^p- 309—313.; in its beginning, it must have continued so in its descending series, unless we suppose some latent charm in the form adopted in the reign of Charles, which would reach back to the time of Elizabeth, to purify the source of the English episcopacy." — (See also on this subject, Fletcher's Coynparative View of the Grounds oj the Catholic and Protestant Churches, chap, xii.) 303 word, they bore testimony to the falsehood of their mission by the licentiousness of their manners/^^ No Protestant Church is Apostolical, because we know from history that, in the infancy of the Reformation, instead of following the Apostolical writings and Apostolical traditions, its abettors did not scruple to torture and pervert the Sacred Text to their own innovations, favouring their new creed by falsely pretending it to be conformable to the revealed will of the Almighty ; propagating their religion by adulterating the word of God, and veiling the light of the Gospel, instead of exhibiting the manifestation of the truth /^'^ thus impugning the known faith by fiction and deceit, and fabri- cating ordinances for the God of truth and holiness, in the cause of falsehood and impiety/'^ Well may we say, with St. Paul, to the deluded victims of such iniquity : Who hath hindered you, that you should not oJyey the truth f^^ and well might they answer ; They ivho changed the word of God into ^^^ See a spirited sketch of some of the first reformers, from Dr. Machale's Evidences of the Catholic Churchy Appendix, No. XIV. ^^> 2 Cor. iv. 2. ^'^ See Ward's Errata of the Protestant Bible, and Dr. Milner's Inquiry into certain vulgar Opinions concerning the Catholic Inhabitants and Antiquities of Ireland, pp. 271, &c. ^'^ Gal. V. 7. 304 a lie ;^'^ the adulterators of the Sacred Text, tlie Protestant Reformers/'"^ ^^^ Ro7n. i. 1. 25. Cm J u YiQxixy VIII., in his first essay at refonnation, al- lowed the free use of the Bible in an authorised version, not absolutely without comment, but, as his majesty after- wards discovered, disfigured by unfaithful renderings, and contaminated with notes calculated to mislead the ignorant and unwary." — See Dr. Lingard's History of England, ml. iv. p. 309. Zuinglius, addressing Luther concerning his Scriptural works, uses the following energetical language : " Thou dost corrupt the word of God, Luther. Thou art seen to be a manifest and common perverter of the Scriptures." (Zuing. Lib. de Sacr. ad Luth., Op. torn, ii.)— See Milner's Letters to a Preh.p. 185. " The fact is notorious, the Bibles that were translated into English by Tindal, Coverdale, and Queen Elizabeth's bishops were so corrupt, that a general outcry was raised against them, in which King James I. united." — See Bishop Watson's Collect, vol. iii. p. 98. In Tindal's Bible, Bishop Tunstal noted no less than two thousand corruptions in his translation of the New Testament. — [Table of certain Places, Bhemish Test J Mr. Broughton, a learned Protestant, wrote to the Lords ol the Council to request a new translation ; for, he says, " that which is now in England is full of errors;" and he tells the Bishops, " that their public translation of the Scriptures into English is such that it peiTerts the text of the Old Testament in eight hundred and forty-eight places ; and that it causes many to reject the New Testament, and 305 The Church of England, in particular, cannot be Apostolical, because there is no saying of the Apos- tles, nor any text of Scripture, nor any authority of Christ to support the monstrous notion, that a to run[into eternal flames." — (Triple Cliord, p. 14j Staphylus found in Martin Luther's New Testament about one thousand corruptions : and in a petition to King James I. it is asserted, " that the translation of the Psalms comprised in the Book of Common Prayer, doth in addi- tion, subtraction, and alteration, differ from the truth of the Hebrew, in, at least, two hundred places." (Petr. p. 75, 79.) — See Corless's Reply to Townsend. The Protestant professor Zanchius, speaking of the writers of his own Religion, says, " We torture the Scrip- tures till they agree with our own fancies ; and boast of being the disciples of the Fathers, while we refuse to follow their doctrines. To deceive, to calumniate, to abuse, is our familiar practice, nor do we care for^any thing,' j)rovided we can defend our cause, good or bad, right or wrong. O tempora, O mores !" fZancImis ad Stormium, Tom viii. Col. 828.) Let us try this question by another test : let us ex- amine what is the main object of the two religions. The Catholic has the truth and sincerity of religion in view, to make it neither more nor less severe than it really is ; to represent it in its most winning and amiable light, and, at the same time, not to divest it of its terrors or restraints. But Protestantism, on the other hand, has ever evinced a marked and decided tendency to weaken all the obliga- tions of the Gospel,|to explain away all the injunctions which are most opposed tojour inclinations, to smoothe the thorny path of our duties, and ^to admit as little as pos- X 306 woman of the sixteenth century should be invested with the divine right of reforming the Church of God, of setting herself up as the arbiter of religious faith, and the infallible teacher of fallible doctrine. — Neither can a whole British Parliament substan- tiate a better claim to such an office/^^ Again, I cannot conform to Protestantism, be- cause it possesses not two other characteristic sible of what is irksome to our nature, or which necessi- tates the mastery of oiu* passions. Which of the two is more likely to have corrupted the Sacred Text, to have distorted its meaning, and abridged its authority ? ^^^ Speaking of the divine commission, Dr. Fletcher ob- serves : " Since it was this alone, which made the apostles the pastors of the Christian Church,— so it is only the in- heritance, or possession, of this same sacred diploma, which now, or at any time, invests any set of men with the same awful character : — and precisely as the apostles themselves would, without this sanction, have been the usurpers of holy things, — so, in like manner, now, whoever, not enjoying this same prerogative, pretends to perform the sacred functions, is a mere profaner in the eyes of religion. These conclusions are certain. Whence the learned Hooker remarks, that, in relation to the Church, the commission of its pastors is ^ the very chiefest thing.' It is, in reality, every thing, insom-uch that Archbishop Brett very justly says, ' I have no occasion to examine men's doctrines, but to inquire whether they have authority to act as the ministers of Christ, for, otherwise, they are no better than intruders and usurpers.' Thus, is the whole business of ascertaining where the true Church subsists, reduced to the discussion of this one simple fact : — Wheresoever the 807 marks of the true Church, namely, constant Visi- hility, and Indefectibility!^^ First, — No Protestant Church can claim any pretensions whatever to Visibility, because for upwards of agB» years they were all perfectly invisible, having had no existence. To have been visible, she should always have been as the Catholic Church alone has been, and, as the true Church is described in Scripture, the light of the ivorld, like a city seated on a mountaiii, which cannot he Md!"^ No Protestant Church can be thus constantly divine commission still subsists, which was once granted to the first apostles, there subsists the trite Church of Jesus Christ. Wheresoever this is wanting, there is no Church at all, but a mere human co7iventicler See Appendix, No. XV. for some important extracts, farther illustrative of this subject, from Dr. Fletcher's Comparative View,pp.S6-iS. ^'^ Micheas iv. 1. 2. St. Matt. v. 14. and xvi. 18. and xxviii. 18. 19. 20. *S'^. John xvi. 16. 26. and xvi. 13. 1 Tim. iii. 15. ^"^ St. ilfa^^.v. 14.— Evelyn, in his Memoirs, relates that " Sir R-. Browne, Charles the Second's minister in Paris, returned after a nineteen years' exile, during all which time he had kept up in his chapel, the liturgy and offices of the Church of England, to his no small honour, and at a time when it was so low, and, as many thought, utterly lost, that in various controversies, both with papists and sectaries, our Divines used to argue for the visibility of the Church from his chapel and congregation / /" Where was its universality ? x2 308 visible, because they all admit within themselves the principle of error : they admit that they may fall from their foundations and vanish. — For the moment a church has erred, all truth has vanished, — has departed from it ; the moment it has fallen from the truth in which it was established by our Saviour, it has ceased to be the true visible Church. If she fail in one point, she fails in all : He who offe7ids in one point, is become guilty of allP^ When a witness tenders his evidence, in part true and in part false, is he not immediately declared to be unworthy of credit in toto ? He is not consi- dered as a true and credible witness, because his testimony is in part true, but he is rejected alto- gether as a liar and a prevaricator, because it is in part false : we do not wait to sift the good from the bad, or try its merits in separate portions; but we at once expunge it entirely from our minds. So it is with the Church of Christ. She is the witness of the doctrines of the Gospel : if we find her bearing false testimony in one point, we should condemn her in all ; we should declare her to be a false church, and unfaithful both to the promises and the commands of her Divine Founder. How, then, can a false Church be the visible Church of Christ, the God of Truth? How can she be the light of the world, when she is shrouded in the darkness of heresy? But, admitting any ('^ St. James ii. 10. 309 Protestant to be now visibly a true church, which is a monstrous proposition, and allowing the pos- sibility, contrary even to their own expectations, of her remaining so, for ages to come, where w^as her visibility in ages past ? To have been a visible Church, she should have been discoverable, as the Roman Catholic Church alone is, by one direct and luminous track, through every age which has suc- ceeded the coming of her Divine Founder. She should have been a Jioly and a glorious Ohurch, not having spot or wrinkle i^"^ pure and undefiled amidst the corruptions and the vices of the world; triumphant amidst the storms of persecution, and victorious over the assaults of heresy or schism. Secondly, — No Protestant church has any title to indefectihility, because they are all founded upon the principle, that the Catholic church had erred. All who acknowledge themselves to be Christians, acknowledge the Catholic as the parent church ; for the time was, when there was no other. They, therefore, who contend that the Catholic church had erred, necessarily admit a liability to error in the true church of Christ. For as the Catholic church was, for many ages, the only church in Christendom, she must then, at least, have been the true church, or no true church existed. Whichever be the case, there is a clear admission on the part of Protestants, of the falli- bility of the church of Christ. It is then natural (e) Eplies. V. 27. 310 to inquire, how a fallible and erring Church — a Church which carries within herself the principle of dissolution — a Church which may preach falsehood as well as truth — which may be possessed with the spirit of darkness as well as the spirit of light, can be the church of the living God, which is the pil- lar and ground of the truth F^'^^ Either the promises of Christ have failed, and the Spirit of truth has erred, or the church of God has preserved the purity of JbIl faith and doctrine. Our Saviour, the God of light and truth, has said ; / ain the light of the world : he that followefh me, walketh not in darkness, hut shall have the light of life ; ^^^ — / am ivith you alivays, even to the consummation of the worldP^ He has promised the Pastors of his Church a comforter, the Spirit of truth to abide with them for ever,^^ to teach them all things ^''^ and to teach them all truthS'^ ^'^^ 1 Tim. iii. 15. ^'^ St. John\\\i. 12 ^-^^ St.Matt. xviii. 20. ^^^ St. John xvi. 16, 17. ^''^ Ibid. 26. ^''^ St. John xvi. 13. — These arguments are no novel- ties ; they are at least as old as the second century of the Christian sera, when TertuUian thus addressed himself to the heretics of his day : " Well ! then, for your satis- faction, we will suppose that all the churches have fallen into error !....not one of them has been looked upon by the Holy Spirit ; not one directed in truth, by the S]3irit which Christ had sent, and which he had asked of his Father, to be for his people the Teacher of Truth ! This agent of God, this vicar of Christ, has then, we will sup- pose, neglected his ministry, by permitting the Churches 311 Yet, in opposition to these and many other express declarations and promises of Christ, Pro- testants presume to say, that our Saviour has left his Church without a guide to lead her through the mists of ignorance and the mazes of error, into the ways of truth and life. They argue as if they wished to persuade us, that the God of infinite good- ness and infinite justice had commanded us to believe that which we have no means of ascer- taining, and that he has given us only the faint glimmerings of human reason to interpret the sublime mysteries of Divine Revelation. — They tell us that he, whose decrees are fixed and immu- table, (if these ordinances fail hefore me, saitli the Lord, then also the seed of Israel shall fail :^^^ and again. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass^^) — they tell us that he has condemned us to seek a steadfast faith in the waver- ing inconsistencies of our own minds ; — that Christ, who loved his Church, so as to deliver himself up for it, has now cruelly left it to he tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine f""'^ — that the God of wis- dom has abandoned his own work to dishonesty and craftiness /"^ and that the good shepherd, who laid doivn his life for his floch,^"^ has now thrown it a prey to false prophets, who come in sheep's to think and believe otherwise than he had himself an- nounced to them by the mouth of his apostles." <'^^ Jeremiah xxxi. 36. ^'^ Ephes. v. 25. ^"'^ Eph. iv. 14. ^''^ 2 Cor. iv. 2. ^'^ St. John x. 15. 312 clothing, hut ivho inwardly are ravening wolves f^^ Again; our Saviour declared to St. Peter, that he built his Church upon a rock, and that the gates of hell shouldnot prevail against it:^'^^ yet Protestants pretend that the words of God have been falsified; that the Church of Christ was built upon sand, and not upon a rock ; that the powers of darkness have prevailed over the Spirit of light, and that the pillar of truth has been overthrown by the machinations of the father of lies. To shew the force of the declaration that the Church was built upon a rock, our Saviour elsewhere says : Who- soever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will lihen him unto a wise man who huilt his house upon a rock, and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and heat upon that house, and it fell not; for it ivas founded upon a rockS'^ But Protestants, in maintaining that the Church of Christ had been torn from its foundations by the force of error, most pointedly falsify these words of the Son of God. They say that the Church was built upon sand ; that the rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell : for it was founded upon sand. They say, that the Eternal Wisdom is not so wise as man, and that, instead of building secure from the storms of persecution, and the blasts of heresy, he lays his foundations upon a ^''^ St. Matt.Yu. 15. ^''' St. Matt. xvi. 18. ^'^ St. Matt, xxvii. 21, 25. 313 shallow and a totteriDg base. They say that the om- nipotent arm of the Deity has refused to uphold his own work from destruction ; that he has promised what he would not perform ; that the right hand of God is shortened for the protection oihis chosen generation, his kingly Priesthood, his holy nation, his purchased people!'^ They would have us to suppose that the Almighty had selected means un- equal to his design, and would constrain within narrow and insufficient limits, the powers of a Being confessedly infinite. They would have us to believe, that our faith reposes upon the wisdom of men, and not upon the power of God!'^ Innumerable are the texts of Scripture to prove that indefectihility is a necessary mark of the true Church, and innumerable and uninterrupted are the testimonies to shew, that the Roman Catholic Church alone possesses this characteristic. The Church of Christ is never alluded to in the ancient prophecies, nor mentioned in any part of the sacred writings, but as containing within herself the principle of perpetuity. This is my covenant with them, saith the Lord : My Spirit that is in thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and or ever. <'^ St. Peter ii. 9. ^'^ 1 Cor. ii. 5. ^"^ Isai. lix. 21. 314 Such is the promise of the Almighty to his people; such is the declaration of his fidelity to his Church : and the truth of the Lord remaineth for ever!'^ All the Fathers, all the expounders of the sacred text, concur in applying the prophecies regarding the law of Moses, and the promises made to the people of Israel, to the law of Christ, of which the Jewish dispensation was but a com- mencement and a type, and to the establishment of his religion upon earth. The circumstances are too parallel for the application not to be manifest at once. From the vocation of Abraham to the coming of our Redeemer, the seed of Israel never failed ; they suffered a persecution of 400 years in the bondage of Egypt ; numbers of them aposta- tized ; they rebelled against their Maker, and they were led captive into Babylon : at one moment they triumphed in victory and prosperity — at an- other they mourned in defeat and disaster ; at one period they were a free, a numerous, a powerful, and a wealthy people ; at another, they were reduced to the extremity of slavery, poverty, and ruin ; — they were encompassed by enemies on every side ; they were desolated with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, but their race was never extinguished, — the true religion was never lost : there always remained a chosen few, whose virtue was invincible, and whose faith withstood ^'^ Psl. cxvi. 2. 315 every temptation ; who never bowed the knee to Baal f^^ but who walked in the name of the Lord their God/'^ So has it been with the Catholic Church. She was persecuted, and she rose up stronger and more glorious from persecution; she was assailed by heresy and schism, and she acquired force and stability from the attacks of her enemies, from the perfidy of her false friends, and from the de- fection of her perverse and rebeUious followers. The Lord has set his sanctuary in the midst of her for evermore -^^ she has always walked in his judg- ments, and observed his statutes ;^^^ she is always guided by one shepherd,^'^ and illumined hy the everlasting light!^^ In fine, she alone is, she alone can be, infallible, because she alone has ever been true to herself. Setting all the prophecies and every text of Scripture aside, she alone can be infallible, because she alone has ever declared her- self in possession of infallibility. No other Church has ever advanced any pretensions to it. All others are founded upon the fallibility and infirmity of man, without any regard to the promises and the power of God. To pursue the same reasoning: — As the Almighty gave the Israelites a pillar of fire to guide them ^^^ Rom.^i. 4. ^'^^ MicJieasii. 5. ^""^ Ezekiel xxiLvii. 26. ^*>' Lev. xviii. 5. ^'^ St. JoJmiL. 16. ^'^^ Isaiah Ix. 1. 316 through the obscurity of the night, and a cloud to conduct them during the day, through a strange and hostile country ; so has the same beneficent Being given us, in consideration of the same necessity, a bright and safe conductor through the dangerous and toilsome pilgrimage of this world, a never- failing, a never-erring Church. And, as the Jewish people were ordered to observe and do whatever was commanded them by the Scribes and Pharisees who sat in the chair of Moses/'^ so are we com- manded to hear and obey those who sit in the chair of St. Peter, and fill the stations of the Apostles -/^^ they who are appointed by the same power and for the same purpose, namely, for the interpretation of the Law of God. That the Law of God should be sometimes difficult of interpretation, and that the revelation of Heaven should have been so made to man, that each in- dividual should not be capable of comprehending it, but that it should require an authorized tribunal to explain it, is only consistent with the usual situation of things in this imperfect state of existence. Neither is it any uncommon circumstance, that the lawgiver himself should not be the obvious and direct expounder of his law, but that he should choose to perform this office by delegation. In (^'^ St. Matt, xxiii. 2, 3. ^-^^ St. Ma^^.xviii. 17. xxviii. 20. St. Luke x. 16. Heh.^iii. 7, 17. 1 Ep.Johnvv. 6. 817 mere human institutions this is invariably the case; parliament, for example, frames the law, the judges define it, and the jury pronounces upon its application. Were every one to interpret the law for himself, what confusion would it not create ! How impossible would it not be to solve difficul- ties, to allay doubts and contentions, and to exe- cute justice between man and man ! As it is in the body politic, so it is, in a much stronger degree, amongst mankind, considered as a community of Christians, bound to believe the same faith, to obey the same pastors, to observe the same pre- cepts, to be actuated by one soul and one spirit, and, in all things essential to salvation, to do and to think alike. The diversity of temperament, talent, and disposition, would create so great a variety of judgment and opinion, — and we have the lamentable proof of it daily before our eyes, — as to set all law and reason at defiance, had not the Almighty wisely instituted a decisive and infallible expounder of his law, at the same time that he revealed it, and imposed an obligation on us to believe and to obey it. Man having fallen from the original per- fection of his creation, his omnipotent Maker, instead of restoring him to his former excellence, in which he might have been capable of judging of all things for himself, adapted his new order of things to the altered state of his existence, and supplied the weakness and imperfection of his na- 318 ture, by his own supernatural direction and assis- tance. That this law has always received the same in- terpretation from this divinely appointed tribunal ; that the same articles of faith have always been proposed to our belief, and the same precepts held out for our observance — is a truth, to which there is the strongest and most perfect chain of evidence to conduct us ; a truth, which Protestants deny in vain ; a truth, which most incontestably es- tablishes the triumph and the indefectibility of the Roman Catholic Church. From all that has been advanced, it follows as a matter of course, that I cannot conform to Protest- antism. I cannot, if it were only for this reason : that, when I read in Scripture, that he that helieveth not shall he coyulemned^,^^ I cannot trust so important a concern as my religious belief to a Church which may deceive me. We know that the ways of God are so straight, that even fools shall not err therein!^^ We also know, that, in Scripture, there are things hard to be under stood f'^ which the unlearned and ^^> St. Mark xvi. 16. ^'^ Isai. xxxv. 8. •^'^ In Boswell's Life of Johnson, we find the following passage : " Mrs. Knowles. — She had the New Testament before her. Johnson. — Madam, she could not understand the New Testament, the most difficult book in the world ; for which the study of a life is required. Mrs. Knowles. — It is clear as to essentials. Johnson, — But not as to 319 the unstable wrest to their own destruction f^^ controversial points." (Vol. iii. p. 324.) Are not all points, even the most essential, controverted by the dif- ferent denominations of Christians ? " St. Augustine observes, [Lib. I. contra Cress. 33.) that it is only by the Church we know what is the sense of Scripture, or what is not. His words are : ' The truth of the Scripture is held by us, or we possess the true meaning of them, when we do that which is approved of in the whole Church, which church the authority of the Scrip- tures themselves commends :' — so far removed was he from the opinion of those who would undertake to deter- mine religious doubts, by the very book, from the misun- derstanding of which they all arise. This the holy doctor, (Tract. 18, in Johan. Cap. b.J expressly attests, in the following words : ' Heresies have arisen, and certain per- verse doctrines, ensnaring souls, and precipitating them into the abyss, have been broached, only when the good Scriptures have been badly understood, and when that which was badly understood, was rashly and boldly attested.' " — Replp to Dr. Magee, p. 12. '^^^ 2 Ep. St. Peter iii. 10. — From infancy to age, amongst the poor and the rich, the learned and the ig- norant, the savage and the civilized, — the bible is still administered to all as the sole and sovereign specific for the salvation of man ; and while the bible is thrust into the hand, this motto is dinned into the head : " TJie hihle without note or comment^ the hihle alone, is the religion of Protestants.'' And so it is; — for there is not a truth which is not contradicted; an absurdity, which is not attested ; an impiety, which is not giounded upon some 320 ihdit false 'prophets come in the clothing of sheep pretended interpretation of the sacred text. Yet, in spite of this, (and of which it wouhl be needless to cite exam- ples, so notorious is the fact,) each individual is invited to search the Scriptures, (and which, by the bye, was said of the Old, and not of the New Testament, and was ap- plied to the discovery of the signs and prophecies relative to the coming of Christ,) and to select his religion there- from. But then, (strange inconsistency ! and so circum- scribed in their operation are the principles of Protestant- ism !) if in this kingdom a man should read that declara- tion of Christ to his ministers; '^ He that heareth you, heareth me: he that despiseth you, despiseth me... .He that will not hear the Church, let him he to thee as a heathen or a puhlican.... We are of God : he that knoweth God, heareth us.. -I am with you always, even to the consummd^ tion of the world.... He that followeth me, walketh not in darkness. See. &c. — and should discover therein a divine command to obey the mandates of the Church, in all that concerns the object for which Christ came upon earth : — if in this kingdom of evangelical liberty and of religious slavery, a Christian in his researches in the sacred volume, should chance to perceive a promise from the God of Truth, to grant to feeble man a preservative from error, upon matters upon which he was to be judged by the justice of heaven ; and if on beholding an injunction to believe upon pain of eternal condemnation, together with a divine assurance of the difficulties and dangers with which he was encompassed jhe should convince himself that there was but one, true, holy, catholic, and apostoli- cal Church, which had subsisted, and which would sub- 321 to ensnare us -y^ that there are never wanting those who would make dissensions cmd offences contrary sist, uninjured, and uncorrupted, as the guide and in- structor of mankind ; — and seeing all this, should he he hold enough to fancy that this Church was any other than that established by the law of the land ; that, for example, these promises, this authority, these character- istics, belonged to that great assemblage of Christians who had ever formed one compact and united body, one fold under one shepherd, being, and professing to be, the depository of the law of God, and the promulgator of the revelations of heaven ; in fine, the ancient. Catholic, and universal Church, and not a modern, isolated society of separatists : — then is his bible become a traitor ; then does the whole wisdom of the legislature step in to interpret for him ; then are pains and penalties put in requisition to undeceive him of his errors, to quicken his under- standing, and point to the full blaze and glory of the Reformed Church of England. Then is he taunted with obstinacy and stupidity if he cannot find reason enough to subscribe to the thirty-nine articles ; then it is said to him, " Impious blockhead, does not thy bible show thee that the doctrine of transubstantiation is all a fable ? * Dost not thou see the idolatry of the Mass, and of the invocation of saints? Dost thou not perceive that no pre-eminence was given to Peter, — that though his suc- cession has been perpetuated through persecution and revolution for 1800 years; though those successors have ever been acknowledged to have inherited the divine commission of their predecessor, by the great majority of ^^^ Ht. Matt.wn. 15. y 322 to the doctrine f""^ and that there will always arise men speciking pe7'verse things, to draw disciples Christians throughout the universe, all conspiring to ohey him as their head ; though we see Christ investing him, and him only, with the keys, the emblems of authority, for the government of that Church of which he was de- clared to be the foundation uj^on earth, and over which he was appointed pastor, to feed both lambs and sheep, without limitation or restriction, in every portion of the wide world : — Seeing all this, dost thou not perceive it to be safe to swear that no successor of Peter hath, or ought to have any pre-eminence, jurisdiction, or au- thority over that part of the flock of Christ dwelling within these privileged realms ? Does not thy bible tell thee that the king of England is the only lawful head of the Church, the only true protector and defender of the faith ? that on him has at length devolved the office of Peter ? that he is the inheritor of his credentials ? that he and his Parliament are to regulate your faith, not, as heretofore, the bishops of the Christian world, whom the Holy Ghost had appointed to rule the Church of God ? that their ministry is done, their authority annulled, their lineage extinct?" Such is the language of the church of England biblicals to those, who, like us, have fallen upon that interpretation of the sacred writings which makes us think as our ancestors thought before us, and as the great majority of Christians have always thought since those writings were first penned. If, on the other hand, as too frequently happens, the perverse searcher and knavish expounder shoidd fancy that he discovers ^"'^ Ro7n. xvi. 17. 323 away after them;^''^ erring and driving into errorS"^ amoDg- the troj^es and figures, and parables, and mystical expressions of the sacred volume, either the gross absur- dities of the Ranters, the Jumpers, the Southcotians, or the more sobef, but perhaps not less dangerous and er- roneous tenets of the Quakers, the Wesleyans, the Ana- baptists, or of any of those hundred sects, those pro- testers against Protestants, those dissenters from the dis- senting church of England, which swarm around the parent-rebel of them all, — then again does she raise her voice, and exert her authority ; then again, till lately, at least, did she call on the secular arm to protect her from such abominations,^ to expel such foolish interpretations from the mind, by that luminous expounder, and acute reasoner, civil dhqualification. Then does she exclaim, " Does not your bible tell you that schism is a crime of the blackest dye ; but that seceding from the Church of Rome, the primitive, parent church, which had subsisted for 1500 years, and before our name and nation was heard of, and separating yourselves from the acknowledged cen- tre of unity, that tliat\s,T^o schism? does it not explain, in the clearest terms, that the guilt of schism is alone in- curred in separating from the mother of all Christian Churches, the Church of Henry VIII., of Edward VI., of Elizabeth, of the Parliament of England ? — This is the schism of the Bible, this is rebellion against the word of Scripture, this is treason before God and man." Such is the consistent reasoning of the bible distributors of the Church of England. ^''^ Acts XX. 30. ^"^ 2 Tim, iii. 13.— See Dr. Doyle's Defence, ^c. p. 88. y2 324 With such facilities on the one hand, and with such difficulties and dangers on the other, is it not folly, is it not madness, to trust a Church which bears the insignia of error upon her forehead, and owns herself incapable of protecting us ? If we dis- own her authority, which her principles well war- rant us to do, and have recourse to private inter- pretation, do we not immediately fall into pre- sumption, by searching, in the infirmity and incon- stancy of own minds, for the discovery of that firm and steadfast faith, without which we shall be condemned ? Is it not incomparably safer to rely upon the united wisdom, talents, virtue, and ex- perience of the good and great in every age ; upon a representative assembly of the universal Church, under the sacred guidance of the Holy Spirit ? It hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us^^^ are the remarkable and emphatic words used by the first council of the Church, in promulgating its decisions. Protestants, however, say that the Holy Ghost is no longer our guide ; but, as if to silence their doubts, and compel their submission, our Saviour himself declares the contrary ; he says, his Paraclete shall abide ivith his Church for ever, and lead her into all truth f'^^ and, in conse- quence, he declares us no better than heathens or puhlicans,^'^ if we refuse to hear her. Still, Pro- ^P^ AcU^w.'H^. ^'^^^t.John^iv. 16,26. ^'^ St.Matt.iLym.l7. 325 testants say : We owe no obedience to the Church; let us follow the guidance of ovu' own fancy, for the Almighty will not require our allegiance, where he has given no power to rule. But, as if again to confound their presumption, and to give a clear confirmation of his doctrine, our Saviour inspires his apostles thus to admonish and instruct the faithful : Take heed to yourselves, and to the whole flock, wherein the Holy Ghost hath placed you Bishops, to rule the Church of God, which he hath purchased with his own hloodf'^ Such are the words of Scripture, and yet Protestants main- tain that the Church has no authority ; that the Hierarchy has no divine commission to rule the Church of Christ. Again I repeat, that I cannot conform to Pro- testantism, because I cannot trust so important a concern as my religious creed, to a church which must necessarily be fickle and inconstant in her doctrine, and may, perhaps, altogether cease to exist. Because, as such, she can never lead me to any fixed and certain faith ; since, as she '' claims the twofold privilege of changing her tenets at will, and of being infallible at every change,"^'^ ^'^ Acts XX. 28. ct) a Xhe right of private judgment, as allowed by the Established Church, was a sort of an apology for her own revolt, and a sacrifice made to the Baal of puritanism ; 326 she can never answer the end proposed by the immutable God of Truth — that of pointing out his ways, and expounding his doctrine. During the period in which she is wedded to errors, she is evidently incapable of being the teacher of truth ; and even in the season of her greatest purity, her liability to error must always disqualify her for that office : for though she may teach truth to-day, we have no assurance that she will continue to do so to-morrow; and, under such circumstances, who shall pretend to say when truth fails, and falsehood begins, — who shall tell us when she is possessed with the sjmnt of error, and when with the spirit of Truth f''^ hut it is opposed to the letter and spirit of the church creed, as well as incompatible with the gosj^el, which foretels of heresies and schisms ; for if the right of private judgment, in opposition to the declared decision of the Church, exist, it is utterly impossible that heresy should be damnable, or schism a crime. Every church, then, that excommunicates authors of heresy, that is, men who, exercising their right of private judgment, choose their own religion ; or which casts out among the heathen the maintainers of conventicles, (all which the Established Church does,) is guilty, if guilt it be, of denying the right of private judgment, and of exercising, thereby, a domi- nion over conscience. Whether the church, doing so, claim infallibility or not, is nothing to the purpose ; her judgment, and the effects of it to the excommunicated persons, are the same." — Reply to Dr. Magee. '"^ St. John iv. 6-. 327 If I am unable to repose my confidence on such a church, and it is evident I cannot, only- two alternatives remain : — I must either submit implicitly to some safe and certain guide, or, as I have said before, follow my own private interpre- fetmi^ ^'AmPffiis latter course, though so repug- nant to reason and common sense, is yet so gene- rally prevalent among Protestants, that, in my mind, it forms another very powerful argument against conformity to their principles. Considering the fluctuations of opinion necessarily attending the person who frames his creed merely by the light of his own judgment in the interpretation of the Scriptures, it is utterly impossible he can ever attain to that firmness of belief on which a rational man would ground the security of his faith ; or if, by such inadequate and disproportionate means, he should form to himself some consistency of mind upon the subject, he must, at least, be guilty of presumption, in venturing upon that which the wisest and best men in Christendom have always declared themselves incapable of accomplishing. But there are not wanting those who, seeing the difficulties of their situation, boldly contend that a diversity of opinion in matters of faith de- stroys not the unity of religion. But this is a doc- trine so monstrous, that it is impossible to read a chapter in the inspired writings, and not feel con- vinced of the falsity of such a position. It is at variance with the very principles of the Reforma- tion, because, if unity of faith were not necessary, why make a schism in the Church in favour of any particular code of tenets ? It is at variance with reason, because it is unreasonable that we, who are the children of obedience, should be permitted to follow our own fancy in interpreting the im- mutable word of God ; it is at variance with reve- lation, because it destroys charity, which is the essence of^^religion,' "^-^ and because revelation says, speak all the same thing, and let there he no schisms among youf^-^ ^'^ 1 Cor. xiii. 1,2. ^^^ 1 Cor. I. 10. — Perhaps in these days of latitudina- rianism, the Protestant will be induced to concede but little, even to the authority of his best and most learned divines. I will, however, invite him to the perusal of their opinions, but not without expressing my astonishment that men who could see so much, should not have been capable of seeing a little more; — that, where the discovery was so easy, — where history was so clear and so decisive, — they should have hesitated for a moment where to attach the guilt of schism, and to declare who were the separatists, and who the original and united body. But it is only an- other lamentable proof amongst the many which exist, that self-love and worldly interest are too often allowed to blind the understanding, to mar the best designs of the Deity, and to benumb the best faculties of the soul. '' Touching the sin of dividing the Church," says Dr. Goodman, " that it is of the deepest dye and greatest 329 If a diversity of religious opinions were per- mitted, whence all those denunciations against guilt, I suppose we shall easily agree ; for indeed, nobody can well doubt of that, who considers what care our Saviour took to prevent it; what pains he took with his Apostles that they might be thoroughly instructed and not differ in the deliver}^ of his mind to the world ; with what extraordinary ardour he prayed for them upon this very account — (John xvii. 10.) : and the Apostles them- selves answered their Master's care with their own dili- gence and circumspection. He that observes how indus- trious they were to resist all beginnings of schism in every Church, to heal all breaches, and to take away all occa- sions of division ; to unite all hearts, and reconcile all minds ; how they taught people to detest this distemper, as the bane of Christianity ; charging them to use the greatest caution against it ; to mark and avoid all those men that inclined that way, as persons of a contagious breath, and infectious to society; what odious names they give it, as carnality^ the work of the jiesh and of the devil: he, I say, that observes all this, cannot but be apprehensive of the greatness of this sin. But he that shall trace the sense of the Church a little further, will find the primitive Christians having it in such detestation, that they thought it equal to the most notorious idolatry, murder, and sacrilege." " I will challenge," says S. Parker, Bishop of Oxford, " all the world to show me any one thing more earnestly enjoined and frequently recommended, than the presei-va- tion of unity among Christians ; and thence, if without an unity of government, no other could be possibly preserved; as our author (Thorndyke) has proved, from common sense 330 innovators and false teachers? Why does the Apostle so often and so strenuously insist upon unity? Why does he exclaim. Is Christ di- videdf'^ God is not the God of dissension, hut of and common experience, that must be the thing principally commanded hy all these injunctions. And thus, our Saviour, having- instituted the society of his Church, and established governors in it, when he enjoins them to be careful to preserve unity, no man can be so dull as not to understand, that he thereby requires them to make use of all means of obtaining it, but especially such as are neces- sary to its preservation in all societies. And therefore, whether this unity of government be enjoined in express words of Scriptvue, I will not concern myself to inquire, because it is as clear there to all men of common sense, as if it were so enjoined, and that is enough." '^'^ 1 Cor. i 13. — Jesus Christ, praying to his Father for his Apostles and Disciples says : As thou hast sent me into this ivorld, I also have sent them into the ivorld. And for them do I sanctify myself that they also may T)e sancti- fedin truth.... That they all may he one, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee : that they also may he one in us : that the world may helieve that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou hast given me, I liace given to them; that they may he one, as we also are one. — (St. John xvii.) How- could truth and unity be more clearly and more energeti- cally inculcated ? The following passages are to the same effect St. Paul, writing to the first Christians, says : For first of all, I hear that when you come together in the church, there are schisms amongst you ; and in fart I helieve it. For there 381 peace. ^''^ Many also hush the voice of conscience, and, while they strive to vindicate their conduct to themselves, plead for their apology, that their faith is complete if they believe, in what they call, the grand leading tenets of Christianity {^^ and in must he heresies, that theij also who are approved, may he made manifest among you. (iCor. xi. 18,19.) Agam ; Be of one mind, have peace ; and the God of peace and of love shall be with tjou. (2 Cor. xiii. 11.) But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there shall he among you lying teachers, who shall hring in sects of perdi- tion, and deny the Lord who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. (2 St. Peter ii. 1.) My bre- thren, if any of you err from the ti'uth, and one convert him, he must know that he who causeth a sinner to be converted from the error of his way, shall save his soid from death, and shall cover a 7mdtitude of sins^ (St. James v. 20.) For such false Apostles are deceitful workmen, transforming themselves into the Apostles of Christ. (2 Cor. xi. 13.) The word of the Lord endureth for ever, and this is the word which has been preached unto you, (1 St. Peter i. 25. We are of God : he that knoweth God, heareth us ; he that is not of God, heareth us not : by this we knoiv the spirit of Truth, and the spirit of error % (1 St. John iv. 6.) How true it is that error does, will, and must exist : and that truth is immutable and enduring, and always discoverable, if we will but apply the proper means, and have recourse to the proper sources. ^"^ 1 Cor, xiv. 33. (f>) « Xo extenuate the number and guilt of the ancient heresies, it has been often insinuated that they were but 332 consequence they profess to consider doctrinal points as^matters of minor importance. But so so many shades, which gave a pleasing variety to the face of Christianity,* without preventing a substantial agree- ment. This is an idea which has been propagated with great zeal, though plainly opposed to the very nature of Christianity. If there are doctiines which can be denied, without forfeiting the birth-right of Christians, it would be desirable to know the limits which it would be death to transgress ; for he that heUeceth not shall he condemned. — (Mark xvi. 16.) Notwithstanding the frequency of its repetition, the distinction of fundamental and non-funda- mental articles is as yet vague and undefined : nor has any method been ever assigned, by which the doubtful distinction can be ascertained. The Scripture does not fix the limits. Obedience to the authority of the Church is the fundamental article, which it most clearly defines. If its authority be once discarded, every other criterion must be arbitrary and capricious. No individual will delibe- rately rank his own errors among those by which the founda- tions of Christianity are upturned. He may be shocked at the impiety which characterizes the doctrines of others, yet is insensible to that which is conspicuous in his own. He may be told that his errors are fundamental , but can he not rebuke the ofiicious insinuation, by an indignant appeal to the sovereign and uncontrollable tribunal of his own private authority?" — (Dr. Machale's Evideiices and Doctrmes of the Catholic Church, vol. i. p. 322.) * Dr. Middletoii says, that diversity of opinions, in religious matters, is as natural as diversity of tastes. It was a favourite idea with some of the Reformers, who wished for peace on any terms; and it is still proclaimed aloud hy many a ranter of the conventicle. 333 far from this being the reality^ there is not the slightest doubt but that we shall stand or fall, we shall live or die, by our faith in doctrinal points. We may find a striking illustration of this in the doctrine of the real presence. The Israelites in Egypt were informed that, unless they were sprin- kled with the blood of the paschal lamb, the angel of death should destroy them. Our Saviour informs us, that excei^t we eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, we shall 7iot have life in us!'^ Is it, then, a matter of minor importance whether we are to live or die, and that eternally too ? and yet the words of Christ declare that this depends upon our eating his flesh and drinking his blood. But do Protestants do this ? They frequent the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper — but do they there eat of his flesh and drink of his blood ? They say they do not. We say we do, in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. — Is it, then, a matter of minor importance to have this point decided, on which depends everlasting life ? Is it a case of little mo- ment, whether we have a false or a true faith, upon a doctrine involving such stupendous consequences ? As, without faith, it is impossible to please God^^^ so, without faith, even though we should be the partakers of it, it is impossible to live by this bread of life. ^'> St John vi. 53. ^'^^ Hebrews xi 5. 334 Many also hold the preposterous idea of an amalgamation of truth and falsehood in the true Church of Christ, and are satisfied with it in this state ; but surely, if the religion of the God of truth once becomes contaminated with error, it ceases to be his. By superadding new and unwar- ranted doctrines, or by denying the smallest article of the Christian faith, she errs as much as if she rejected the greatest mystery of our belief, be- cause the smallest rests upon the same authority as the greatest, 7iot upon the wisdom of men, hut upon the power of God!'^ If she has failed in one point, she has failed in all : He that offends in one point, is guilty of allF^ Truth is essentially one — she associates not with error, without the loss of her reputation. What fellowship hath light withdarhiess? and what concord hath Christ with Belial f^^ If there be a true Church, and undoubt- edly there is, that Church is true, in every sense of the word. She is not an unnatural combination of truth and falsehood, a chaos-mixture of light and darkness, which neither the ingenuity nor the capacity of man can separate or distinguish. She is the truth, and onhj the truth ; not true in some doctrines, and false in others ; but, like the God by whom she was established, and by whom she is still protected and directed, she is Truth itself. ^'^ I Cor.n. 6. '^^^^ St. James i\.\0. ^^^2 Con vi. 14, 15. 335 But to return to our argument : — Let us take, for instance, this same doctrine of the real pre- sence, and see whether reason, which is as various and uncertain as the dispositions of men, can guide us into any settled faith concerning it. Catholics and Greeks believe in Transubstantiation, and Lutherans in Consubstantiation, while the Church of England, perhaps, rejects the real presence altogther. Yet, this contrariety of belief is all grounded upon the self-same texts of Scripture. The light of reason directs us all, and yet we all arrive at opposite conclusions : and how can it be otherwise? How is it possible, amidst such a variety of opinions, to reason ourselves into any decided judgment ?''^'^ ^''^ Dr. Doyle, writing upon this subject, observes : — " Tlie numerous and discordant sects which, since the 16th century, have sprung up in the midst of the Sclavonic nations, which, as Leibnitz observes, then separated themselves from the Latin Church and name, afford am- ple evidence of the insufficiency of human reason, or of the scriptures, interpreted by private judgment, to pre- serve unity in the body of Christ ; as also, of the absolute necessity of a controlling and supreme church authority to preserve such unity, and check the spirit of religious innovation. " These sectaries, like a discomfited army, having been driven from one position to another — from reason to the Scriptures — from the Scriptures, to the Scriptures inter- preted by the judgment of each individual— from the 338 Let us take another illustration : — After insti- tuting the Sacrament of the Eucharist, our Saviour Scriptures so interpreted, to the same interpreted by the interior unction or taste of the Spirit ; driven, in fact, from absurdity to absurdity, with the mark of schism, like that of Cain, imprinted on their forehead, without possessing one Church or one altar, throughout the kingdom, con- nected in any way with those which were Catholic, and Apostolic ; they, in the delirium of their revolt, sought to break down the Church herself into an immense mass of confused and jarring elements, preferring a place in this chaos to a recognition of their errors, and to the obtain- ing, by a dutiful submission, a place in that house of peace and unity, from which, in a moment of passion, they had departed. They said that the Church of God, the kingdom of the Redeemer, the body of Christ, con- sisted of every sect and every heresy which invoked the name of the Lord. When they first broached this mon- strous opinion, it was said to them, {Psal. Ixxiii.) and his house is i?i peace. Are those contending sectaries the men of good will to whom the angels announced at Bethle- hem, {Luke ii. 14,) that Christ came to bring peace upon earth ? " Are they, who contend one with another, even to excommunication, that strong body, which, drawing its strength from its union, is called by Christ himseii a rock ? Are these sectaries that one fold, under one pastor, spoken of by our Lord, (Johfi x. 16,) where all hear the same voice, where all feed on the same pasture, where altar is not erected against altar, but where all are one body, who partake of the same bread ? Is it possible that he, who came to gather together in one, the children of God who 337 said : Do this in commemoration of me ; and he imposed a positive command thereby. Our Sa- viour also said, and that upon the same occasion. You ought to wash one another's feet, for I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so do you also!^^ Yet nothing is more certain than that no positive command is conveyed by these words. But how do we know it? — By reason? No. Reason would say that one command is equal to another ; if both proceed from the same authority, both are equally binding. But reason, singly, has no sway over such questions. No : it is not within the province of the weak and fallible guidance of our own limited capacity alone, to conduct us through the maze of religious controversy. We must have recourse to some superior power, to the divine Spirit of truth, to those whom the Holy were dispersed, f Jo/mxvii. 11.) should assemble them only to contend with one another ? Is it for an assemblage of discordant sects, that Christ prayed, saying : " Holy Father, keep them in thy name, Avhom thou hast given to me, that they may be one as thou and I are one?" (Jolin^ xvii. 1 1 J Was it for such an assemblage he invoked the Spirit of peace, saying to his Apostles : " Peace be to you : as my father sent me, so I send you : and having said this, he breathed on them, saying : " Receive ye the Holy Ghost." (John 20, 21, 22J—Rephj to Dr. Magee. ^''^ St. John xiii. 14, 15. z 338 Ghost has appointed to rule the Church of GodS'^ Talent, genius, ignorance, and simplicity, must alike bow to this tribunal. We must no longer give a pretended superiority to human reason over Divine Revelation. This is ' the head and front of our offending ;' this is the spring and essence of heresy ; and till this spirit of pride, disobedience, and presumption shall yield to a meekness and docility, hringing into captivity all understanding unto the ohedience of Christ ; ^^^ till we consider the ' sun of Revelation as better than the twilight of our reason/ the same miserable effects, dissen- sion and division, doubt and error, will continue to flow from the same corrupted sources. Without a centre of unity, to attract us by one common principle ; without those ancient hounds which our fathers have set^^^ to guard us within a safe inclo- sure ; without;a rallying point, to which all may fly for protection in their trouble and distress ; without a ^^^ Acts, XX. 28, «&c. " Take heed to yourselves, and to the whole flock wherein the Holy Ghost that placed you bishops, to rule the Church of God, which he had purchased with his own blood. I know that after my departure, ravening wolves will enter in among you, not sparing the flock : and of your ownselves shall men arise, speaking penT.rse things, to draw away disciples after them." ^•^^ 2 Cor. X. 5. ^^^ Prov. xxii. 28. 339 tribunal of final decision, from which no appeal can be made, we shall never rest satisfied or se- cure. This tribunal can be no other than that which the Eternal Wisdom has appointed, to preserve with jealous care the sacred deposit of his law, a representative assembly of the universal Church, the concurring opinion of those whom the Holy- Ghost has placed to rule it. Here all doubts are quieted, and all dissensions allayed ; — here the weak are strengthened, and the strong are con- firmed, in their faith ; — here we tread with a firm step ; and while others are tossed to and fro by every wind and wave, we remain secure upon the steadfast rock. It is by this we preserve the imity of the spirit in the hond of peace f^'^ through this ive believe and are saved /*^ by this with one mind and with one mouth we glorify God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ S^^ Independently of all this, which to my mind brings full and entire conviction, and assures me in the clearest terms which of the two is the safer and the better Church; many other reasons may be urged, and many other arguments maybe drawn, against conformity to Protestantism. In the Third place, therefore, I cannot conform to Protestantism, because, instead of being go- ^^^ Ephes. iv. 3. ^^^ *S'^. Mark, xvi. 16. ^^'^Rom. xv. 6. z 2 340 verned by any fixed principles, it is full of contra- dictions and inconsistencies. It is inconsistent, — because, in rejecting tbe spi- ritual supremacy of the Bishop of Rome, the suc- cessor of St. Peter, Protestants have established a much more arbitrary spiritual jurisdiction and supremacy in the person of a layman, a woman, or even of a child, by ascribing to Henry VIII. and his successors the power of deciding on heresies, schisms, and all doctrinal points ; a power never entrusted by the Catholic Church to any Pope whatever. ^^^ It is inconsistent, because, in the 20th article of her formulary, the Church of Eng- land declares that the Church hath authority in controversies of faith. If so, why does a modern, isolated Church, that has separated herself from the great family of Christendom — that was founded by a haughty and voluptuous prince, not by a meek and mortified Apostle — that has never produced one single individual super-eminent for sanctity and wis- dom, nor ever stamped the seal of heaven upon her faith by supernatural attestations — that has modelled her doctrines and her discipline, not by the canons of any general council, but by the acts of a national parliament ;'''^^— why does such a one deny the same ^^^ See Dr. Milner's History of Winchester, vol. 1, p. 364. Cm) J ]£xiow it is said that the parliament does not define doctrines, but only proposes them ; but, it is equally true 341 power to a Church who traces through eighteen centuries an uninterrupted descent from the Apos- tles — w^ho stands illustrious by the piety and learn- ing of a thousand Saints and scholars — who has beheld her pastors assembled from every region of the Christian world, in eighteen general councils, to bear witness to her faith, — and who looks forth upon a hundred nations dwelling within her fold, and constituting the true kingdom of God upon earth ?^"^ that no tenet can be a doctrine of the Church of England, which is not first sanctioned and promulgated by an act of parliament. The authority of the Church, in matters of faith, is subservient to the parliament, not having the right to frame a single article, without her sanction. Such has been, almost always, her undeviating practice. ^"^ The Established Church of England, but especially that of Ireland, is a stupendous structure of worldly pomp and interested traffic, in which the episcopal dig- nity, enriched with privileges and revenues, is bartered against political influence, and the cure of souls is put up to public sale. She possesses an hierarchy without spiritual authority — an altar and a priesthood without a sacrifice — pastors without a flock — a head without unity — a creed without believers. She has the semblance of all that of which a Church ought to consist, but by that principle of self-destruction with which she identified herself at her birth, she is become an empty tenement, or rather a white-washed sepulchre. She is a body with- out a soul — a gorgeous shrine without a relic — a taber- 342 Again, — the Protestant Church is inconsistent in holding the. impossibility of performing a work of supererogation {'^ for, at the same time that she acknowledges the efficacy of fasting, confession, and other acts of humility and mortification, she seldom recommends, and never enforces, their observance. nacle without a God — a Proj^itiatoiy without a Deity to proclaim his oracles to mankind. As a religious institu- tion, she has not one redeeming virtue, save a Catholic code of morality, often contradicted by those who are appointed to be its guardians, and always feebly, very feebly enforced. As a political engine she is still worse : she is a garden of delights portioned out among the great families of the realm, by the ruling minister of the day, the occupiers of which are retained in their state of subserviency through every successive change, if not for the sake of consistency in their original submission, by the more attractive lure of an almost never-failing hope of advancement. Is it wise in such a Church to court the enmity of a whole people I She herself needs reform much more than she is fitted to reform others : but she might be amended without being destroyed. Co) a Vokmtary works, besides, over and above God's commandments, which they call works of supererogation, cannot be taught without arrogance and impiety : for by them men do declare, that they do not only render unto God as much as they are bound to do, but that they do more, for his sake, than of bounden duty is required : whereas, Christ saith plainly : ' When ye have done all that are commanded to you, say, We are unprofitable servants.' "- — [Fowteenth of the Thirty-nine Articles.) 343 If she considered them necessary, she would enforce them ; but as she is content only to recommend them, she must of necessity account them as works of supererogation. Of those who deny the power of performing a work of supererogation, let us ask an explanation of the following Avords of Scripture : Ajid some fell upon good ground, and hrought forth fruit that grew up, and increased and ijield- ed, one thirty, another sixty, and another a hun- dred/^^ Hence, is it not clear that a produce of thirty fold will make us acceptable in the sight of God ? And is it not equally clear that by a life of greater perfection, by a stricter compliance with the severer precepts of the Gospel, by following the counsels as well as the commands of Christ, we may attain to a much fuller measure of the riches of his bounty — to sixty or a hundred fold ? The parable of the pounds is equally in point : he who had gained but five pounds, was revv'^arded as a good and faithful servant, while he who had gained ten, he who had done more than was exacted of him, was still more liberally rewarded. Elsewhere our Saviour has also said : If thou wilt he perfect, go, sell ivhat thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shall have treasure in hea- ven ; and come, follow me!'^ This surely is not a command, but a counsel ; not a work of necessity, ^^> St. Mark, iv. 8. ^^^ St Luke, xix. 24. ^'^ St. Matt. xix. 21. 344 but one of absolute perfection. No one can say that the observance of this precept is necessary for salvation, yet none can deny its superior efficacy and virtue, without falsifying the words of Christ. What, then, is it but a work of supererogation? a conduct which will render us more perfect fol- lowers of our Saviour, and more deserving in the sight of God ; more worthy to receive a hundred fold, and to possess life everlasting?^'^ Yet, when we have done all this, we are still, and most truly, unprojitahle servants '/*^ because it is not in the power of man to do any thing profitable to his Creator. We are only profitable to ourselves, in serving that Creator well. Neither can we perform him any service which we do not owe him a thou- sand and a thousand times. We are unprofitable servants, because we have nothing good in our- selves, but receive all through the merits of our Redeemer, and the efficacy of his sacred passion and sufferings : " God," as St. Augustine says, '' crowning his own gifts, when he crowns the good works of his servants." In the Fourth place, — I cannot conform to Pro- testantism, because I have no means of discovering its tenets ; because I can find no one to instruct me in its doctrine.^"^ As to the Thirty-nine Articles, ^'^ St. Matt. xix. 29. ^'^ St. Luke, xvii. 10. ''"^ Should it so happen that a member of the Esta- blished Church in his researches into ancient ecclesias- 345 they are every where openly impugned, or totally disregarded/''^ If we apply to her pastors, we find tical records, should discover that the saciament of baptism was formerly administered by immersion, where- as it is now given by infusion ; nay, should he travel into the controversy on the validity of this sacrament as con- ferred upon infants, and should the result of his temerity prove as unfortunate to him, as it has to many others, by filling his mind with doubts as to the efficacy of the manner, and the propriety of the time, in which his own baptism had been performed; and should he, with the docility of a Christian, but with his mind thus troubled and perplexed, repair to his pastor for a solution of the problem, what answer does he receive ? Why, that it has been the constant doctrine and practice of the Church, and can be proved from unquestionable historical evi- dence, that baptism administered to infants was equally valid with that conferred upon adults ; and as to the change in the method of performing the rite, that we know also from the same source to be immaterial in its effects upon the sacrament. But, replies the sincere in- quirer, " You have taught me in my catechism, you have preached to me from the pulpit, and you are said to have swora to your own belief in the doctrine, that only tbat which is read in Scripture, and can be proved thereby, is to be admitted in evidence of our faith : now, I have for several years past diligently searched the Scriptures, for it is my daily occupation, but till this moment I have ^'^ See the disputes about the meaning of the Thirty-nine Articles, and the quo ammo with which they are to be subscribed. 346 them all in doubts and difficulties. Bishop Watson, in a Charge to his Clergy, in 1795, says; '' I think never be.en able to discover one syllable upon the sub- ject : afi^f can find is, that baptism by water and the Holy Ghost is necessary to purify us from the stain of original sin, and to enrol us among the inheritors of Christ. I see that the other sacraments require a corre- sponding action on the part of the receiver, and a peculiar disposition of mind to render them efficacious, but of which an infant is wholly incapable : I see likewise that many of my neighbours, who are as competent judges of these things as myself, have carried their opinions so far as to refuse baptism to their children till they are of an age to answer for themselves ; and even when they consider them qualified to receive it, they are careful to administer it by the ancient method of immersion, and not by sprinkling or infusion, as is now practised amongst us. Though unable to fathom the mystery, I am a mm believer in the doctrine, because Christ has revealed it to mankind. Hence, I consider it of the very first impor- tance, and hence arises the anxiety of my mind: but instead of allaying my doubts you have only increased my perplexity ; you have given me good reason to mis- trust your sincerity by the contradiction of your prin- ciples ; you huve proved to me either the complete hollow- ness of your faith, or that you rest it upon very different foundations than those upon which you have ever taught me to rely ; instead of referring me to Scripture, you now speak to me of tradition : hitherto you have ever warned me of the danger of trusting to such a teacher, but now you enlist her in your cause, you bring her forward as the living interpreter of the law, and put testimony in 347 it safer to tell you where they [the Christian doc- trines] are contained, than what they are. They are contained in the Bible^ and if, in reading that book, your sentiments concerning the doctrines of Christianity should be different from those of your neighbour, or from those of the Church, be per- suaded on your part, that infallibility belongs as little to you as it does to the Church ! " In another place, he informs them, that Protestantism consists in believing what each one pleases, and in profess- ing what he believes ! ! This, indeed, I have al- ways thought to be the truest definition of Protes- tantism, which is no where agreed, but in one single point — that oi protesting against Catholi- city, She is, in fact, little more than a negative religion, a mere renunciation of Romanism, Her articles of faith have always been received more as civil edicts, emanating from a lay authority, and her mouth where the word of God is mute. In so doing" you have only excited my suspicions, instead of allaying my apprehensions ; for if there be truth in what you have told me now, there is certainly none in what you have taug-ht me heretofore. I must, therefore, seek for some other and more certain method of arriving at that steadfast faith without which I know I shall be condemned, and which it is impossible I could ever acquire amidst such palpable contradictions." Such are the means pos- sessed by the Ministers ol the Establishment for quieting the scruples of their people ! ! 348 as safeguards to scare away that phantom-monster^ Popery, than as definitions of the true religion of God. Many even profess their adherence to the Established Church to arise more from a feeling of loyalty and attachment to existing institutions, than from any assurance that she holds a better or a purer creed than any other of the various sects of Protestantism/^^ Catholicism, on the ^^^ " It is the humour of some men," says the Protestant Dr. Heylin, " to call any separation from the Church of Rome, the Gospel ; and the greater the separation, the more pure the Gospel." — Of Dr. Abbot, archbishop of Canterbury in the time of James L, Lord Clarendon observes, that he considered " the Christian religion no otherwise than as it abhorred and reviled popery, valuing those men most who did it most furiously.'''' Hovr many have been weighed in the same scales, in times much nearer to our own ! I am sorry to be obliged, in our own defence, to exhibit such a picture of Protestantism ; though I am not aware that I have, in any way, exaggerated the deformity of the portrait. But when we see ourselves condemned in the futile nonsense, regularly doled out by ministers of the Church of England and others, to a devouring multitude, in the shape of sermons and lectures ; when we are as- saulted by hosts of impious, but anonymous, pamphlets, issuing also from " ministers of the Church of England," who, by lighting with their visors down, prove both their cowardice and their shame ; — when we are reviled in more courteous and measured language in Charges, 349 contrary, is not a system of opinions, it is a collection of facts. It is a series of historical from the dignitaries of the Establishment, printed " at the request of the clergy " to whom they are delivered ; — when the j)resumed errors of Popery are made the point of many a text, and the burden of many a spiritual phi- lippic, in almost every pulpit throughout the kingdom ; — when there are many who do, and few who are not willing to swear, that they believe us to be idolaters : — when, to crown the whole, w^e are punished with pains and penal- ties for crimes expressly invented for us, are we to be denied even the weapons of Truth in our defence ? When we are daily called upon, both by the legislature and the clergy, to desert the mystery of iniquity, to come out of Babylon, that ' prodigious structure of imposture and wick- edness,' and to take refuge under the tents of the estab- lishment ; and then are taunted and scoffed at for our rejection of their offers : — are we to be denied the privilege of declaring why we prefer the security of the fold of the shepherd in which we now repose, to the dangers of the trackless wilderness to which we are so importunately invited ? The almost total absence of religious instruction, espe- cially on doctrinal points, observable in the charges, and other publications of the prelates and ministers of the Establishment, just alluded to, goes far to prove what I have stated above, that, in practice. Protestantism is now become little more than a negative religion. It consists only of two propositions : That it is just and lawful to defend the temporalities of the Establishment, hy calumni- ating Catholics, and marking them a.^ a caste among thepeo- 350 documents, supported on indubitable and incontro- vertible evidence; evidence which has been carried jile, and, That the bible, and the bible alone, is the religio7i of Protestants. We are even told that this last proposition has passed into a familiar maxim. But, when we ask to know what the bible contains, we plunge at once into a fathomless ocean, — we arrive at nothing fixed or sure, — we fight as with men beating the air : they wander to and fro — they repeat negative propositions, but as to any thing positive and certain, we may as well look for sub- stance in a shadow. The Church of England has so often exchanged her doctrine, for the preservation of unity in the kingdom, pretending, at each exchange, to have been di- rected by the Holy Spirit, that, as if ashamed of her ver- satility of character, she is become more circumspect in her public professions of faith. She has allowed uj^wards of a hundred and fifty years to pass over wi thout announcing any new method oi preventing a diversity of judgment amongst her followers. She has chosen the wiser course, to retain the same ostensible articles, but, adopting the whole Bible as her creed, to remain silent and slumbering at her post, and to permit her children to range at large among the mazes of speculative belief, as long as they disturb her not by open revolt, nor break their license by venturing within the precincts of Popery, which is the only forbidden fruit in that spiritual garden of Eden, " the liberty of believing what each one pleases." But, while they are allowed to gather from every other tree, the moment they presume to eat of that, not only does their spiritual death ensue, but they are banished fronl^ paradise, the earth is cursed in their regard, and they are, for ever after, condemned tola- 351 down upon the stream of time, from generation to generation, during a course of eighteen hundred years. hour and to toil, in a land fertile only in thorns and thistles. I am sure there is no exaggeration in all this: and if it he offensive to hear these truths, it is much more so to be obliged to write them ; since we are not only the objects, but the victims, of that system, against which weiare en- deavouring to defend oui^selves. In a case like the present, charity rather compels us to speak the whole truth, than to conceal any portion of it. For the greater the evil, the more ought it to arrest attention, and the more loudly should it demand a remedy. If the spirit of discord which is abroad, be not considered an evil to the country, the minds of our rulers must be modelled on principles far removed from reason ; and if it be considered such, the remedy is in their own hands. The wand of Circe never wrought a more complete and sudden transformation than would be effected by the magic of just and equitable laws. Were it no longer the supposed interest of one party to maintain an ascendancy over the other, by any means but those of virtue and of truth, England would rid herself of sectarian mim i uM^ that plague which now preys upon her very vitals, and religious harmony and tranquillity would be restored throughout the empire. If it should prove otherwise, we must then indeed acknowledge, that some heavy and peculiar curse has fallen upon the country. When we are no longer vilified as idolaters, and con- demned to the alternative of either conforming to the es- tablishment, or of being incapacitated for the exercise of civil rights, we may defend our own religion, without 352 In the Fifth place, I cannot conform to Pro- testantism, because it rejects the doctrine of Purga- tory. — We know that nothing defiled can enter heaven /"^ we know also that, in the sight of God, nornan living shall he justified f'^ and our Saviour himself has declared, that, everij idle word that men shall speah, they shall render an account of in the daij of judgment {'^ how then, with the dangers and distractions of the world around us, with the exposing that of others. Its truth, happily, does not depend upon the falsehood or impiety of other societies of Christians ; it rests upon its own transcendant merits ; and upon these, alone, we are ready to rely for its vindi- cation. We now adhere to it, for its own purity and perfection, through evil report and good report — in peace or in persecution — in its glory, or its abjection. As our fathers revered it in its prosperity, so do we cling to it in its adversity : we know that our religion was reared in trouble, and will live on in trouble ; we know that she will survive both us and our oppressors ; and that whether we remain faitbful to her or not, she will still continue from one generation to another, the great parent of Chris- tianity, the great city and empire of God. Should we have the baseness to desert her, we should only brand our race with apostacy ; we should be lopped off as a withered and lifeless branch; while that gigantic tree, whose roots overspread the earth, and whose summits ascend into the very heavens, would equally continue to flourish and to fructify to the end of time. <'0 Jiev, xxii. 27. ^^>' Ps^/. cxlii. 2. ^"^ ^S*^. MaH. xii. 36. 353 weaknesses of human nature upon us^ and with our natural proneness to sin, can we expect to die in a state of heavenly purity ? It would be presumption to think of so doing. Sin, and the consequences of it, are not so easily cleansed from our souls. — There must be a middle state, a state of purgation from those lesser offences and imperfections, which have passed unheeded and unrepented of; a state of satisfaction, but always through the merits of our Saviour, for the debt of temporal punishment due to our more grievous offences, after their guilt has been remitted by the Sacrament of Penance. For who shall say that his repentance is so perfect as not only to cancel the guilt of sin, but even to make atonement for all the penalties due to his transgressions ? Who will not tremble for the future atonement to be required of him, when he remembers that Moses himself, the chosen servant of God, was prohibited from conducting the people of Israel into the land of promise, in punishment of his dis- belief at the rock of Cades, though he still retained the favour of the Almighty ? Who shall say, that having sinned like David, and repented like David, he shall be more deserving than that great monarch, and exempt from the punishment which the royal penitent nevertheless received ? Though this punishment may befall us in this life, it must of necessity be more generally inflicted on us in the 2 a 354 next. For it is but too obvious, that our failings and imperfections, generally at least, continue with us to the end ; and if we fail and are imperfect to the last, how much less can we expect that the penal atonement for our former and more grievous offences, was ever completed in us ! The belief of Purgatory is a doctrine the most congenial to the human heart. As the Communion of Saints binds us together by a common sympathy in each other's fate, and explores all the regions of heaven in our behalf, so the doctrine of Purgatory not only excites a lively interest in each other's destiny, but enlarges the sphere of our charity by carrying it into another world. If it be one of the highest gratifications of the soul, to be linked by ties of mu- tual charity while with our fellow-creatures upon earth, the extension of this power of giving and receiving the benefits of an affectionate attach- ment, beyond the fleeting and uncertain existence of this life, must be no ordinary acquisition to the feehng heart of conjugal or parental love. If holy friendship be an emanation from Heaven, that doctrine, surely, is worthy of the same origin, which '' enables a man to stretch his arm beyond the grave, and embrace his friend, in his progress through eternity." KhJTnstead of leading to despondency, or produc- ing more than a salutary dread, it is a doctrine the most consoling. Is it not consoling to reflect, that, 355 though we pass imperfect through the trials and tribulations of the worlds the divine mercy and goodness will still permit us to satisfy in another life, for our deficiencies in this? At the same time it tempts us not to presume, for in no way do we hold the pains of purgatory to be a substitute for the torments of hell. They are of quite an oppo- site nature : the pains of Purgatory cleanse us from our smaller offences ; the flames of hell feed for ever upon our greater and more heinous sins. We all offend in many things, and if ive say we have no sin, ive deceive ourselves, and the truth is riot in usf'^ Hence the necessity of a purgatory, for nothing defiled can enter heaven /"^ and hence also, an end of that presumption, which would teach us to believe that we stand like angels pure in the sight of God, holy, without spot or blemish. We must hope that we do not deserve to he cid down and cast into the fire f^^ but may we, therefore, deem ourselves worthy to enter immediately upon our eternal weight of glory f''^ We must hope, that we are not to suffer eternal punishment in destruction {^^ but, without further purgation, do we merit to see the face of the Lord, and par- tahe of the glory of his power f'^ If he is not to be condemned by the wrath of God to that ('^ St. John, i. 8. ^'^^ Rev. xxi. 4, 6, 8. ^^^ St. Matt. iii. 10. ^'^ 2 Cor. xiv. 17. ^'^ 2 Thess. i. 9. ^'^ Ihkl. i. 9. 2 a 2 356 'place of fire and hr'imstone , where the smohe of his torments shall ascend for ever and ever {^^ yet who shall be warranted in saying, he is that wise and faithful servant, whom the Lord shall forthwith appoint over all his goods ? ^^^ Should reasoning by analogy, and the authority and evi- dence of tradition, not prove sufficient to convince us of the existence of a middle state of suffering, the words of the Old Testament are decisive on the point, where it is related, that Judas the va- liant commander , sent twelve thousand drachmas of silver to Jerusalem, for sacrifice tohe offered for the sins of the dead ; for that it was a holy and wholesome thought to i:iray for the dead, that they might he loosed from their sins /''^ and in the New Testament, this purgation from our lesser offences after death is clearly described, where it is said ; If any man's worh hum, he shall siffer loss ; hut he himself shall he saved ; yet so as hy fire!'^ (1 Cor. iii. 15.) ^^^ Apoc.^iY. 10. 11. ^^■^ St. Matt. xxiv. 45, 47. ^'^ 2 Machah. xii. 43,44,45,46. (i) " Por Christ, who had once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, (that he might bring us to God) being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the spirit, also went and preached unto the spirits in prison : which, sometime, were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing." (1 Pet. iii. 18, 19, 20.) 357 In the Sixth place, — I cannot conform to Pro- testantism, because it is a religion only for the " From this text, it appears, that at the time of our Saviour's death, there were some souls in a state of suffering [hi prison] in the other world, on account of lesser sins, not deserving of damnation ; for, certainly, our Saviour would not have gone and preached to them,, had they not heen capahle of salvation. These souls, therefore, were not in heaven, where all preaching is needless, nor in hell, where all preaching is unprofitahle ; but in the middle state of suffering souls, which is the purgatory maintained by Roman Catholics." — See The Protestanf s Tibial hy the writtefi Word, ^. 76. Many Protestant divines have believed and advocated the Catholic doctrines on these points ; amongst others. Dr. Forbes and Dr. Taylor, from whom T cite the two following passages : " Let not the old practice of praying and making oblations for the dead, received throughout the whole Christian world, and the whole Church, almost from the time of the Apostles, be any longer rejected by Pro- testants, as unlawful, or vain. Let us respect the judg- ment of the primitive Church, observing in public this rite as lawful, profitable, and approved by the Church universal, which has ever believed this practice not only lawful, but profitable to the faithful departed." — (Bishop Forbes' s Discourse on Ptorgatory) " Nay," says Dr. Taylor, " we find by the history of the Maccabees, the Jews did pray, and make offerings for the dead. Now, it is very considerable, that, since our Saviour did reprove all their evil doctrines, practices and traditions, and did argue concerning the dead, and the resurrection, yet he spoke no 358 learned and the rich, and to which the lowly and the illiterate cannot in reason belong. No one, who cannot read, can deduce his creed from the only Protestant rule of faith, the Sacred Writingi,^ and thus take advantage of the licence of his Pro- testant principles, the licence of private interpre- tation. As a Protestant, he must either have no religious tenets at all, or he must take them second-hand from the lips of his pastor. Now, can any one be so far removed from the dictates of common prudence or common sense, as to adopt implicitly without hesitation or doubt, and as the faith on which he is to rest his hopes of salvation, word against this practice, but left it as he found it, which he, who came to declare to us the will of his Father, would not have done, had it not been innocent, pious, and full of charity. The practice of it was at first and univer- sal, it being plain in Tertidlian, Cyprian, and others, and is still the doctrine and i3ractice of the Jews." — Taylor's Liberty of Prophesying^ No. IT, p. 345. Dr. Montague, bishop of Norwich, also held similar opinions : " Though there be no third place," says he, " mentioned in the scriptures, yet it would not follow that there is no such place ; because, there are many things which are not expressed in scripture : as to those texts which seem to restrain the state of souls departed to heaven, or hell, such are to be understood of the final state, after the day of general judgment; when there will, according to all sides, remain but two everlasting states, vis. heaven and hell. — [Appar. p. 135.) 359 the opinions of a man, who acknowledges no authority to guide him but his own judgment; whose creed is neither watched nor regulated by any superior power {^^ and who has no more than a common right with himself to interpret the doc- trines of Scripture ? If he is not satisfied with his own pastor, he goes to another, and is puzzled with the difference of his doctrine : he sees a champion for methodism in one pulpit, and an orthodox member of the church of England in another ; he becomes perplexed ; he has no means of extri- cating himself from his difficulties; — he goes to the meeting-house, where he finds either an enthusiast, or a knave, crafty enough to mahe merchandise of himy^ by the apparent vehemence of his zeal ; or. ''^^ '* In the body of our clergy, we have Arminian, Calvinian, Unitarian, Arian, Socinian, Sabellian, Trinita- rian, and I do not know how many other sorts of clergy- men ; some starving, in a curacy ; and others fattening, in a bishopric. We have methodistical clergymen ; and clergymen with no method at all. All these classes of clergymen are retained in the Church, live upon her reve- nues, and are protected by hexluw^r—f Nightingale.) ^^^ 2 St. Peter, ii. 1-3. But there laere also false pro- phets among the people, even as there shall he among you, lying teachers, who shall bring in sects of perditio?i, and deny the Lord ivho bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. — And through covetousness shall they, hwith feignd ivords, make merchandise of you; whose judg- mo confounded by the absurdity and folly of the doc- trines which he hears, he becomes an unbeliever ; and, probably, in the end, degenerates into a pest to society. And how can it be otherwise ? He sees nothing to command his confidence, and without confidence he can have no fixed and stead- fast faith, and must needs ivalk in darkness, and hiow not ivJiitJier he goetli:""^ ment now of a long time lingereth 7iot, and there perditmi slumhereth not. ^'"^ St. John, xii. 35. The members of the Estahhshed Church are loud in their invectives against the sectarians : they picture them as " a set of low, ignorant, self-sufficient enthusiasts^ industriously pushing themselves into every parish ; creeping into houses, and leading captive those silly persons, who are weak enough to be led by them ;" they paint the guilt and consequences of schism in all their horrors ; they ask these men from whence they come ; they call upon them to show by what authority they have intruded themselves amongst the pastors of Christ ; from what power they have received their commission to preach, and icho has sent them upon their ministry. While the sectarian, smarting under these taunts, very justly turns upon the member of the Established Church, and puts the very same questions to him. He says, " If we are schismatics, you are the same, for you were the first to set us the example of separation. If we err in preaching the liberty of the children of God, and the right of choos- ing for ourselves, it was from you that we learnt that 361 It is far different with the Catholic : to him in- deed the ways of God are so straight that evert principle. If you have any right to ask us from whence we come, we have a right to try you by the same rule ; we perceive a long interruption in the chain which you would fain represent as connecting you with the parent Church ; we know that having withdrawn from her obedience, that Church has long since disowned you as her children ; we know that she is continually putting the same questions to you, which you, in imita- tion of her, are now putting to us ; she has all along- defied and provoked you to produce your credentials, to prove your mission, and to satisfy the world that while you are separatists, you are not schismatics — that while you are rebels against the authority of others, you have a right to re-establish that authority in your own persons, and to shew cause why no law, no argument, no reason should have power over yoit^ at the same time that you upbraid others for claiming the same licence with your- selves." No, all are schismatics who are separatists ; all are guilty of the crime of schism, who have made a division in the church, who have withdrawn from her communion, and have established another government for themselves : they only differ in the degree of guilt, according to the greater folly and impiety of the doctrines in whose favour they make the separation. Till a wi- thered and lojit-off branch be one with the parent-tree, till separation be tantamount to union, and discord be the name for harmony — the Church of England has no more claim to be acquitted of the guilt of schism, than have any of the immense diversity of sects which have separated from her, and which ^ihe condemns for such separation. 362 fools shall not err therein f"'^ the most lowly, the most illiterate, and the most busily employed, may be as firm and sincere in their faith as those who have both ability to read, leisure to discuss, and capacity to understand. They willingly take the preacher's word for the doctrine v/hich he incul- cates, because they have confidence i*i its ortho- doxy. They know that if it were unsound, he would be immediately displaced ; he is the au- thorized organ of the Catholic church, and as such they bow submission to him. They know him to be a pastor who has " entered in at the door of the sheepfold;" and they follow him because "they know his voice."'^"^ Were they addressed by St. Peter himself, they would not believe him with a firmer faith.^'^ A man must be a controvertist to be a Protestant ; he has only to be a humble dis- ^"^^ Ism. XXXV. 8. ^"^ *S'^. John, x. 1, 4. ^°^ St. Paul says, " Faidi comes by hearing ;" and it was the custom dming the earliest ages of the Church, to con- vey all religious instruction viva voce. It was many cen- turies before any written catechism was adopted ; and generally speaking, the scriptures were read and explained publicly, and not privately. The people knew//*owz whom they learnt their doctrines, and who had sent them their pastors : and so far were they from adoptingthe licence of private interpretation, or listening to unauthorized teach- ers, that if any did so, they were immediately rejected from the society of the true followers of the gospel. 363 ciple of Christ to be a Catholic : and when once a Catholic, he is fixed in unfailing security; ''The true religion is built upon a rock ; the rest are tossed upon the waves of time."^^^ Lastly: — I cannot conform to Protestantism, because, when I reflect how necessary, even in health and prosperity, are the consolations of reli- gion, of the religion of the God of all comfort f'^^ I cannot but experience a melancholy dread of being bereft of its cheering influence when op- pressed by trouble, or languishing on the bed of sickness, or of death. Come to me all you that labour and are hurthened, and I will refresh you/'^ is an invitation of the kind and benevolent Jesus, the most applicable to the professors of that religion which abounds most in consolation ; which aflbrds us a more intimate intercourse with our spiritual pastors, and more copious means of applying the merits of our Redeemer to our souls. If our conscience be loaded with the guilt of sin, in the sorrow of our hearts we apply to our pastors, and find a remedy for our troubles in sacramental confession.^'^ There the fever of the soul is as- ^^'^ Lord Baccm. ^^^ 2 Cor. i. 3. ^'^ St. Matt. xi. 28. ^'^ For a very full and able Dissertation on Confession, in which its divine origin is clearly and indisputably de- 364 siiaged, tlie pangs of remorse are quieted, and iniquity is washed away; because by an act of obedience — of humiliation— of true repentance for her transgressions— joined with a sincere purpose of amendment for the future, she is reconciled with her Creator. The confession of our sins may be repulsive in theory, but it is most consoling in practice. It is also a strong argument in favour of this doctrine of the Catholic Church, that, however benign its influence and soothing its effects, it is yet so contrary to the inclinations of man, and so opposite to our nature, that it is impossible to have been of human institution. If, again, our troubles arise, not from the pressure of any par- ticular criminality on the conscience, but from some of the melancholy list of misfortunes inci- dental to mankind, we still have recourse to our pastors. We are healed of our lesser offences and imperfections, by the sacrament of penance ; we receive comfort from the advice of our spiritual duced from Scripture, and where it is shewn to have been universally practised amongst Christians in the earliest ages of the Church, and to have been continued uninter- ruptedly ever since ; see that incomparable work, An Amicable Discussion, in which the reader will also find the most ample and satisfactory information upon every point controverted between the Church of England and the Church of Rome. 365 director^ and having thus proved our selves, ^'^ we venture to the great sacrament of grace, the com- muniofi of the body and the hlood of Christ!''^ Does Protestantism provide us with such a refuge in our necessities, such manifold sources of conso- lation in our troubles ? But it is upon the bed of sickness, and of death, that the superior comforts of our religion are the most striking. It is a lamentable truth, that the Protestant clergyman is but seldom found by the couch of the dying Christian : he is but rarely sent for, and seldom comes ; and if he does make his appearance, it is only to hurry over a few pray- ers, and escape from the distressing scene. In cases of fever and contagion, the clergy will not attend, perhaps, in consideration of their families, they cannot.^''^ But where is the Catholic, however poor and forlorn, dying w ithin reach of a clergy- man of his own communion, who does not receive both the benefits and the consolations of his reli- gion ? Where is the pastor who shrinks from the functions of his ministry, from fear of taking the disease with which his penitent is afflicted, and of paying the forfeit of his life in the cause of cha- ^'^ 1 Cor. xi. 2. ^"^ 1 Cor. x. 16. ^''^ This single chcumstance pleads more eloquently for the celibacy of the clergy, than a whole volume upon the subject could possibly do. SCyG rity ? Where is the cabin so wretched that does not find him a ready inmate — the being so desti- tute, to whom he is net a willing and a faithful friend — the malady so loathsome or infectious, as to drive the messenger of t/ie God of all comfort from the performance of his duty ? It is not from one solitary visit that the penitent sinner, or the just man, derives his consolation, (for even the just man requires consolation when the terrors of death are upon him,) but from a series of unremitting attentions during the whole course of his disorder. Nor is it by mere exhortation and prayer that the contrition of the dying man is excited, his con- science calmed, and his hopes elated; but by the seasonable administration of the Sacraments of Penance, the Eucharist, and Extreme Unction. Is any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the Churchy and let them j^^'fty over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith shall save the sicle man; and the Lord shall raise him up ; and if he he in sins, they shall he forgiven him. Confess therefore your sins one to another !^^ The Pro- testant Liturgy formerly contained these injunc. tions equally with the Catholic /'^ but they have ^-'^ St. James, v. 15, 16. ^'-^ If in this discussion I have asserted any thing con- cerning the Establishment, which is not founded in fact, 367 long since expunged this doctrine, , or /, at least suspended the practice of it, and have^idefrauded their people of that spiritual assistance which the soul of a Christian, upon the verge of judgment and eternity, so strongly and so feelingly demands from the ministers of religion. Here ended the Reasons, in the first edition. But finding^ the most extraordinary prejudices exist in the minds of Protestants against the doc- trine of Catholics, on account of the use of a dead language in parts of the Church service, and from confining the sacramental cup to the priesthood only ; — prejudices which are to be attributed, I suppose, to the Articles of the Church of England, which condemn these practices as repiignant to the ivord of God ; — I wish to offer a few remarks explanatory of these points. '' That the Apostles," says Mr. Berington, '' and the first founders of the Christian faith preached the Gospel, and celebrated the holy mysteries, in the language of the several people whom they converted, seems to be a point generally admitted. I am willing to stand corrected: I have relied upon the best information that came within my reach, and any misapprehension into which I may have fallen, will, I hope, be admitted as an unintentional error. 368 The languages at that time most predominant, were the Greek, Latin, and Syriac, in which, conse- quently, the Liturgies, or the forms of public prayer, would be principally compiled ; while the Armenians, Copts or Egyptians, Ethiopians, and other less distinguished people, enjoyed also their particular Liturgies. But when, in process of time, from various causes, changes took place, and new tongues were spoken, the old still retained the place of honour, and the Church, ever tenacious of antiquity, judged it proper not to depart from the forms which she had received. The deposlte of her faith was intimately interwoven with the pri- mitive expressions of her Liturgies. Thus, when Greek ceased to be spoken in the many nations that formerly constituted, what was called, the Greek Church, and even, as now, was not under- stood, the language of the Liturgy remained : as was, and is the case, among the Syrians, Copts, Armenians, and Ethiopians. The service is every where celebrated in a tongue no longer intelligible to the people. On what grounds then is it required that the Western Church, of which we are a part, should have followed another rule : particularly as in this Church, in all the countries within its pale, the Latin language, in early ages, was every where sufficiently understood, if not spoken ? And when the northern nations were reclaimed to the Chris- tian faith, the established rule was not altered for 369 this additional reason, that the use of the same tongue in the service might help to unite them more closely to the Old Church, and tend, in some degree, by this ajDproximation, to soften and civihse their manners. '' The general accord, among all nations profess- ing the Catholic faith, not to admit any change in the language of their Liturgies, — though, in many other respects, they were much divided, — is a curious and important fact. And it must have rested on some general motives, equally obvious to all. They saw — what the experience of the day confirmed — that modern languages were liable to change ; while those that had ceased to be spoken — from this very circumstance, and because, from the valuable works written in them, they were cultivated by the learned — were become perma- nently stable. They saw, that the majesty and decorum of religious worship would be best main- tained, when no vulgar phraseology debased its expression ; that the use of the same language which a Chrysostom spoke at Constantinople, and a Jerome at Rome, would unite, in a suitable recol- lection, modern with ancient times ; and that the mere fact of the identity of language would be a convincing proof of the antiquity of the Catholic faith. They saw, that as this faith was every where one, so should there be, as far as possible, 2 b 370 one common language, whereby the members pro- fessing it might communicate with one another, and with their ecclesiastical superiors, whether in council, or in any other form of intercourse. And they saw, that though some inconvenience would arise to the people, from their inability to compre- hend the words of the Liturgy, this inconvenience would be greatly alleviated, if not almost entirely removed, should all instruction, in sermons and catechism, be delivered to them in their own tongue ; all parts of the service be constantly ex- pounded ; and not a shade of darkness be permitted to remain. If, with all this caution, ignorance should still be found — as it will be found in many — every ingenuous mind would ascribe it to the usual causes of ignorance, and not to any want of knowledge in the Greek or Latin tongues. ^' It is certainly gratifying, and highly profitable, from this uniformity of language, when a Catholic travels into distant countries, that he should every w^here find a service celebrated, to the language and ceremonies of which his ears and eyes had always been habituated. He can join in it ; and though removed, perhaps a thousand miles, from home, the moment he enters a Church, in the principal offices of religion he ceases to be a stranger. The Western Church has been particu- larly attentive that her people might not suffer 371 from this concealment of her mysteries ; and the Council of Trent thus ordains : ' Though the Sacri- fice of the Mass contains great inshaiction for the faithful, the Fathers ju3ge3 it^snould be every where celebrated in the vulgar tongue. Each Church, therefore, will retain its ancient and ap- proved rites. But that the sheep of Christ may not hunger for want of food, and that little ones may not ask for bread, and there be no one to break it to them, the holy synod orders all pastors and them that have the cure of souls, frequently, and especially on Sundays and feasts, to expound some portion of what is read, and some mystery of the holy Sacrifice.' — {Sess, xxii. c, viii. p. 194.) Beside this, and the other instructions which have been mentioned, the whole of the Church service is translated into the language of each country, and, together with a variety of prayers for all occasions and all states of life, placed in the hands of the people. " Thus is our Western Church one in faith and one in language, united in the same bond of com- munion, with all the faithful of modern and of ancient times."f "^ — (Faith of Catholics, pp, 404- 406.) '^"^ It is remarkable that, under the Old law, after the return from the Babylonian captivity, the service of the Temple was continued in Hebrew, which was then become almost a dead language, the people generally only speaking 2 b 2 372 On Communion under one kind, I shall also extract the evidence and observations of the same learned writer. ^' The above doctrine [^that Christ is whole under each species^ having at all times been professed in the Catholic Church, the intro- duction of lay-communion in one kind is easily ac- counted for, and seems not liable to any serious ob- jection. It is admitted that, from the earliest time, down to the twelfth century, the faithful of both sexes, laity as well as clergy, when they assisted at the public and solemn celebration of the Chris- tian service, and were admitted to Communion, generally received under both kinds. But, during the same period, there seems never to have been any positive ecclesiastical precept so to do : for we often read that the Communion was given to in- fants sometimes under one kind, sometimes under another: — in times of persecution, or under difficul- ties, or when long journeys were undertaken, the consecrated bread was permitted to be carried away ; the same was taken to the sick, and where there was a repugnance to the taste of wine, the bread also was alone given. It may then, it seems, be said, that, unless on public and solemn occa- sions, the faithful, in the times of which we are and understanding Chaldaic : and so it was, in a still more decided manner, during the mission of Christ, who, though he frequently assisted in the Temple, was never known, in any way, to have condemned the practice. 373 speaking, communicated under one kind alone ; while the priesthood, to whom the command of Christ — Do this in remembrance of me, (Luke, xxii.) — we believe, solely applies, and when em- ployed in the duty of their sacred function, received under both. The completion of the mysterious institution demanded this. " But many abuses and accidents, through care- lessness and incaution, happening in the distribu- tion of the consecrated wine ; and the use of bread alone, on so many occasions, being permitted ; and the belief that Christ was wholly present under each species, authorising the practice ; the primi- tive rite gradually subsided, and Communion in one kind very generally prevailed. The rulers of the Church, meanwhile, promoted rather than ob- structed the change. And so things continued ; — no ecclesiastical law intervening, till the followers of John Huss,in Bohemia, tumult uously contending that the use of the cup was absolutely necessary, the Council of Constance, which opened in 1414, finally decreed that, ' As the body and blood of Christ were wholly contained under each species, the custom, introduced on rational grounds, and long observed in the Church, of communicating in one kind, should be received as a law, which no one without the authority of the Church, might reject or alter.' — (Sess. xiii. Cone, Gen. T. xii. JO. 100.)-^So just is the observation that, as circum- 374 stances and the manners of men change — where change, under due authority, as in discipline, may be permitted — practices, once good and laudable, should change with them. " In the Greek Church, the ancient practice of receiving in both kinds has been retained, unless in such circumstances, or under such impediments as I have mentioned ; which, among the Latins, al- lowed a departure from the established rite. But what is peculiar among the modern Greeks is, that they distribute the sacred bread, not separately, but dipped in the wine, and placed in a spoon. From its being allowed by them, that the bread, unless at the times principally of solemn Commu- nion, may be given separately, it is plain, if any proof were wanted, that their belief of the real presence of the whole Christ under each species, is the same as that of the Western Church. And another proof of the same is, that neither at the time of the schism in the ninth century, when minds were most exasperated, nor since, has it been made a subject of complaint against the Latins, that, in the administration of the Eucharist, they had de- parted from the precept of Christ, or violated any established rule of general discipline. Some of their charges against us were sufficiently frivolous ; and as, among these, one was that we celebrated the Eucharist in unleavened bread, contrary to the practice of their Church; they, certainly, could 375 not have overlooked the more important point of Communion in one kind, had they judged it repre- hensible : or, in other Vv'ords, had not their own practice, on certain occasions, been the same, and their general faith the same. '' The Council of Trent, following the judgment of the Church (as pronounced at Constance) and its usage, declares and teaches, ' That neither laity nor unofficiating clergy are bound, by any divine com- mand, to receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist under both species ; and that it cannot be doubted, without a breach of faith, that Communion in either kind suffices for them. For though Christ, at his last supper, instituted this venerable Sacrament under the forms of bread and wine, and thus deli- vered it to his Apostles, yet that institution and that delivering do not show that all the faithful, by the command of Christ, are bound to receive both kinds. Nor can it be fairly collected, from the discourse of our Saviour (John, vi.) that Com- munion in both kinds was commanded by him ; however, according to the various interpretations of the holy Fathers and other learned men, that discourse be understood. For He who there said : Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of mem, and drink his Mood, ijou shall not have life in you (54) ; • — also said : If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever (52). And He who said : He that eateth my flesh and drinheth my Mood, hath ever- 376 lasting life (55) ; likewise said : TJie bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world (52). He, in fine, who said : He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my hlood, ahideth in me, and I in him {51) \ said, notwithstanding: He that eateth this bread, shall live for ever (59).' — (Sess. xxi. €, 1, p. 174.) — ' Therefore though, in the early ages, the use of both kinds was not unfrequent, yet the practice, in process of time, being widely changed, the Church, for weighty and just reasons, approved the change, and pronounced it to be a law, which no one, without the authority of the Church, is allowed to reject or to alter.' — (Ibid, c. li. p. 175.) — ' It must be acknowledged, that the whole and entire Christ, and the true Sacra- ment, are taken under either kind ; and therefore, that as to the fruit, they who thus receive are de- prived of no necessary grace.' "^^^ — {Ibid, c, iii. p. IIQ)— {Faith of Catholics, pp. 246-249.) ^^^ The proofs that communion under one kind was always partially admitted, are to he seen in Pope Leo, Serm. iv. de Quad. torn. i. p. 217 ; Eusehius, Hist. Ivi. c. 44. p. 200 ; the eleventh Council of Toledo, Concil. tom. vi. Can. 11; St. Cyprian de Lapsis, p. 133; St. Augustine, Epist. 98, olim 23 ; Paulinus, Vit. Sti. Amhrosil, No. 47 ; TertuUian ad Uxor. lib. xi. c. 5. p. 169. In the time of Edward VI. the Church of England also held that the sacrament might be fully and lawfully ad- ministered under one kind only. It was then enacted, "That the most blessed sacrament be hereafter commonly 377 Though the doctrme of Indulgences »not touched upon in the Articles of Religion of the Church deHvered,and ministered unto the people under both kinds, that is to say, of bread and wine, except necessity otherwise require'' And this statute was re-enacted by EHzabeth. Luther, though at different times he took each side of the question, on one occasion says : " They sin not against Christ who use one kind only, seeing Christ has not com- manded us to use both. Though it were an excellent thing to use both kinds in the sacrament, and Christ has commanded nothing in this as necessary; yet it were better to follow peace and unity, than to contest about kinds." {Lib. de Capt. Babyl. c. de Euch. Epist. ad Bohe- mos,) &c. — See Dr. Lingard's Tracts. A similar decision was delivered in 1707, by the Faculty of Divinity in the famous Lutheran University of Helm- stadt, in the duchy of Brunswick, in answer to questions propounded on occasion of the marriage of the Princess of Wolfenbuttle with Charles III. of Spain. — (See the Duke of Brunswick's Fifty Reasons, p. 79.) I will avail myself of the present opportunity to no- tice the barefaced and abominable falsehoods contained in almost every paragraph of Bishop Mant's Notes to the Book of Common Prayer. I beg the reader to compare what has gone before with that Prelate's observations upon the 30th Article, and then to examine into the real evidence upon the question, and I am satisfied he will be convinced that a more gross imposition was never attempted to be practised by the most interested polemic of the Established Church. The same may be said of almost every argument and pretended c[i|otation of this false and calumnious 378 of England, yet as so much misapprehension pre- vails in their regard, I am sm-e no apology can be commentator ; who has proved himself a true disciple of those who have gone before him in the same race, as will be seen by comparing his character and conduct with that of his predecessors, so faithfully and candidly depicted by one of their own party, the celebrated Protestant Professor Zanchius. " I am indignant," says he, " when I consider the manner in which most of us defend our cause. The true state of the question we often, on set purpose, involve in darkness, that it may not be understood ; we have the impudence to deny things the most evident: we assert what is visibly false ; the most impious doctrines we force on the people as the first principles of faith ; and orthodox opinions we condemn as heretical ; we torture the Scrip- tures till they agree with our own fancies ; and boast of being the disciples of the Fathers, while we refuse to follow their doctrine : to deceive, to calumniate, to abuse, is our familiar practice ; nor do we care for any thing, provided we can defend our cause, good or bad, right or wrong." — (Zanchius ad Stormium, torn. viii. col. 828. y' It is really lamentable to think that such are the writers to whom the people of this country are, generally speak- ing, indebted for their knowledge of the Catholic and Protestant faith. Both are painted in the most false colouring ; the one is attempted to be made agreeable to Scripture by the most gross perversions of the Sacred Text, and conformable to the doctrines of the Fathers, of those very men who are notoriously known to hold the very opposite opinions, by strained, garbled, and mutilated quotations — and is then held up to the people as the* pure faith of the 379 necessary for offering some explanation of them. Nor can this be more satisfactorily done than by cit- primitive Church ; a Church which condemned these doc- trines in the moment of their birth, and has never ceased to condemn them ever since. On the other hand, the belief of Catholics is misrepresented, misconstrued, tor- tured into every absurdity and impiety, and most perti- naciously declared to be any thing but what is taught or acknowledged by those, who alone are gifted with autho- rity in matters of faith amongst them. There is one quotation from Scripture given in a note on the sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for salvation, by Bishop Mant, which is so glaringly falsified, and in that state brought forward to substantiate so important a point, that it deserves to be selected for particular notice. The passage is to be found in the 3d chapter of the 2nd Epistle of St. Paul to Timothy, verse 16. In the Greek it is, Tlaffa Tpacj)-)] deoTrvevorTrug kcu w^f Xjjuoc irpog ^icaaKoXiai', irpog 'iXeyyov, irpog eTravopdiOffiPf irpog Trathiay tt}v fV ^iKmocrvry. The Latin Vulgate, which is equally held in estimation for its accuracy by Protestants as by Catholics, gives it thus : — ' Omnis Scriptura divinitus inspirata, utilis est,' &c. The Syriac is also to the same effect, as may be seen by referring to the word Qeoirvevcrrog in Schleusner's Lexicon, as well as in Walton's Polyglot. The Douay version is, All Scripture inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to re- prove, &c. ; while Bishop Mant has it, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, AND is profitable for doctrine, &c. The Church of England Bible gives the same trans- lation, but saves itself in some trifling measure, by insert- ing the word is in Italics, to show that it is an addition to 880 iiig the following passage from that admirable work of Dr. Miiiier, the End of Religious Controversij. the sacred text. But the guilt of grossly perverting the sense of Scripture remains precisely the same, since the ohject evidently is to deceive and to mislead. With this intention, this text has frequently been quoted by Pro- testant controvertists, not only to prove the inspiration of the Scriptures from the Scriptures themselves, but also to prove their sufficiency as an independent rule of faith. Now, in the first place, it is evident from the context, that the Scriptures here alluded to, and which Timothy is said to have known from his childhood, are the books of the Old Testament, and not of the Nev/, which were not then written. In respect to a rule of faith, it therefore proves nothing ; and as an evidence of the divine inspiration of Scripture, it only establishes the fallacy of the principle they have adopted (that of proving every thing from Scripture), seeing that they are driven to incur even the guilt of prevarication, in a vain and delusive attempt to maintain their pretentions. The work which has given rise to these observations, extraordinary to relate, is considered as a standard of orthodoxy in the Church, as the ruling guide on contro- verted points, and the most successful effort against the errors of Popery. Serving, as it does, as a perfect ency- clopedia of the Christian religion, amongst the great ma- jority of the people of this country, it is really frightful to think with what falsehood and impiety it is fraught, obscuring the very light which it pretends to irradiate, and charging the purest doctrines and the most immacu- late reputation, with the foulest calumny, and the grossest 381 '' To explain, now, in a clear and regular manner, what an indulgence is ; I suppose, first, that no errors. But such has always been the character of the writers in defence of the Reformation, a character too well supported in our own days by a Phillpotts, a Faber, a Townsend, and a hundred others, all convicted delin- quents upon every charge brought against their prede- cessors in the cause of Protestantism, by one who knew them so well as their own far-famed professor Zanchius. I have already referred to the Appendix for the trial and conviction of Mr. Faber ; I will now cite Mr. Town- send and Dr. Phillpotts before the public, in a charge, which I take at hazard, as brought against them by an able divine. " Not content," says Mr. Corless, " with in- sulting the living, the vicar of Northallerton seeks to dis- turb the ashes of the dead. ' Thomas Aquinas,' says Mr. Townsend, ' a man who has been canonized, and who is now invocated as a saint, has decided that the image of Christ is to be worshipped with the Latria.' f Review, p. 59.) " When Mr. Townsend thinks proper to give us St. Thomas's words, or to tell us where to find them, we shall be better able to judge of his expressions. In the mean- time, I take the liberty of observing that I think I am as well acquainted with the writings of St. Thomas, as the Northallerton vicar, and I never yet met with this de- clsion. I will tell Mr. Townsend, what St. Thomas does say on that subject, and where he will find my quota- tions. ' Idolatry,' says St. Thomas, ' is the greatest of all crimes.' [Siimma 2«. Quest, xciv. art. 3.) Again, he observes, ' No worship or respect is due to the material 382 one will deny, that a sovereign prince, in showing mercy to a capital convict, may either grant him image itself, because it is not an intellectual being,' and from this he concludes that any respect due to it is merely on account of the original which it represents. [Summa Sa. Quest. :s.xv. art. 3.) "But the vicar of Northallerton is not the only one who still continues to throw upon Catholicity the now almost obsolete, and often refuted, calumny of idolatry. He has found a second in the person of the rector of Stanhope. Dr. Phillpotts, in the fervour of his zeal, has again been pleased to pour upon us the venom of his spleen, and the vial of misrepresentation. ' This saint, too,' says Dr. Phillpotts, speaking of Pius V., ' is worshipped in Ireland and in England ; but what were the high virtues, the heroic degree of charity, [such, Mr. Butler tells us, is requisite in this case,] which raised him to the celestial glory, and entitled him to the thankful commemoration, nay, to the worship and adoration, of the subjects of the British crown ? ' (Dr. Phillpotts' s Letter to the Rt. Hon. G. Canning, p. 120.) " That a man like Dr. Phillpotts, who has so long been courting the smiles of the public, and running the race of ambition, w ho has wooed with success the goddess of fortune, and is eagerly contending for the prize of lite- rary fame, should step out of his way to calumniate his neighbour, and stoop to the degrading artifices of dis- ingenuous misrepresentation, does certainly excite my surprise. Does Dr. Phillpotts believe that Pius V. * is worshipped in Ireland and England' and * entitled to the worship and adoration of the subjects of the British 383 a remission of all punishment, or may leave him subject to some lighter punishment : of course he crown ? ' If he does, I can only reply, in the words of an eminent writer, that ' evidence which is deemed satis- factory by the rest of mankind, is condemned to lose its force in the county of Durham, and that prejudice seems to have drawn a magic circle around it impermeable to the rays of truth.' But Dr. Phillpotts cannot, does not believe the accusation. His judgment has been overshadowed by the clouds of prejudice, and he has been led into error by his hatred for Popery. Or has he the presumption to suppose, that what he will assert, the public will believe ? In the name of Christianity, of which he professes to be a minister, I call upon him to remove the stain which such a calumny must otherwise indelibly fix upon his character. Or, if his pride refuse to retract, I challenge him to the contest — ^let him prove his assertion, or run the risk of being hurled by public indignation from those heights to which he has been endeavouring to elevate himself. When once a man delivers himself to the guidance of passion, reason to him is folly, sense becomes nonsense, and logic no better than legerdemain." — (Corless's Reply.) It may serve to illustrate the subject of some portions of this work, and to show what degree of confidence is to be attached, even to the written opinions of a Protestant divine, to present the reader with a specimen of the con- sistency of these two able controvertists, both prebendaries of the same cathedral, both ministers of the same Church, both pastors of the same flock. " The powers," says Mr. Townsend, " which were granted by Christ to his Apos- tles, WERE NOT GRANTED TO THEIR LAWFUL SUC'CES- 384 will allow that the Almighty may act in either of these ways, with respect to sinners. 2dly. I equally suppose that no person, who is versed in the Bible, will deny, that many instances occur there of God's remitting the essential guilt of sin, and the eternal punishment due to it, and yet leaving a temporary punishment to be endured by the penitent sinner. Thus, for example, the sentence of spiritual death and everlasting torments, was remitted to our first father, upon his repentance ; but not that of cor- poral death. Thus, also, when God reversed his severe sentence against the idolatrous Israelites, he added : Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin 2ipon them!^^ Thus, again, when the inspired Nathan said to the model of penitents, David : The Lord hath put away thy sin, he added: Nevertheless, the child that is horn SORS. The Apostles were able to read the hearts of men, and their absolution might properly therefore be judicial." — fBeview, p. 32 J " After his [Christ's] resurrection from the dead," says Dr. Phillpotts, " when *all power had been given to him in heaven and in earth,' he conferred on his Apostles, and in them on their successors to THE END OF TIME, the power of absolution, soberly and soundly understood." — (Letter to the Et. Hon. G. Canning^ p. 101.) "But why," says Mr. Corless, in his happy ob- servations upon this discovery, "why should I express surprise that error should err, or inconsistency be incon- sistent ? " ^P^ Exod. xxxii. 34. 385 unto thee shall die!'^^ Finally, when David's heart smote him, after he had numbered the peojple, the Lord, in pardoning him, offered him by his prophet. Gad, the choice of three temporal punishments, war, famine, and pestilence/'^ 3dly. The Catholic Church teaches, that the same is still the common course of God's mercy and wisdom, in the forgive- ness of sins committed after baptism ; since she has formally condemned the proposition, that ' every penitent sinner, who, after the grace of justification, obtains the remission of his guilt, and of eternal punishment, obtains also the remis- sion of all temporal punishment.' ^'^ The essential guilt and eternal punishment of sin, she declares, can only be expiated by the precious merits of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ ; but a certain temporal punishment, God reserves for the penitent himself to endure, ' lest the easiness of his pardon should make him careless about falling back into sin.'^'^ Hence, satisfaction for this temporal punishment has been instituted by Christ, as a part of the sa- crament of penance ; and hence, 'a Christian life,' as the Council has said above, ^ ought to be a peniten- tial life.' This council at the same time declares, that this very satisfaction for temporal punish- ^^^ 2 Kings, alias Sam. xii. 14. ^'^ Ibid. xxiv. ^'^ Cone. Trid. Sess. vi. can. 30, ^*^ Sess. vi. cap. 7, cap. 14. — Sess. xiv. cap. 8. 2 c "* 386 ment, is only efficacious through Jesus Christ!''^ Nevertheless, as the promise of Christ to the apostles, to St. Peter in particular, and to the suc- cessors of the apostles, is unlimited ; whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall he loosed also in heavenl'^ hence the Church believes and teaches, that her jurisdiction extends to this very satisfac- tion, so as to be able to remit it wholly or partially in certain circumstances, by w^hat is called an indulgence/^^ St. Paul exercised this power in behalf of the incestuous Corinthian, on his conver- sion, and at the prayers of the faithful ; ^'^ and the Church has claimed and exercised the same power, ever since the time of the apostles, down to the present. Still this power, like that of absolution, is not arbitrary ; there must be a just cause for the exercise of it ; namely, the greater good of the penitent, or of the faithful, or of Christendom in general : and there must be a certain proportion, between the punishment remitted and the good work performed.''*^ Hence, no one can ever be sure that he has gamed the entire benefit of an indulgence, though he has performed all the con- ditions appointed for this end /*^ and hence, of '^"^ Sess. vi. cap. 7, cap. 14. — Sess. xiv. cap. 8. ^'^ St. Matt, xviii. 18. xvi. 19. ^y^ Trid. Sess. xxv. de Indtdg. ^'^ 2 Cor. v. ii. 10. ^"^ Bellarm. Lib. I de Indiilg. c. 12. ^*^ Ibid, 387 course, the pastors of the Church will have to an- swer for it, if they take upon themselves to grant indulgences for unworthy or insufficient purposes. Lastly, it is the received doctrine of the Church, that an indulgence, when truly gained, is not barely a relaxation of the canonical penance enjoined by the Church, but also an actual remission by God himself, of the whole or part of the temporal punishment due to sin in his sight." The canonical penances were imposed upon the same principle, namely, a commutation of punish- ment due after the forgiveness of the transgression. When the number of Christians was comparatively few, and their fervour great, this system of severe discipline was practicable, but, in the progress of time, it was judged better to dispense with it ; and to substitute indulgences in its stead. An indul- gence, therefore, of one hundred days, or seven years, &c. &c. signifies a commutation of that length of punishment formerly enjoined by the canons. By the following decree of the Council of Trent, it will be seen that all that we are bound to believe of indulgences is, that the Church hath power to grant them, and that they are beneficial to the soul. '^ As the power of granting indulgences was given by Christ to the Church, {Matt, xvi. 19. xviii. 18. John, XX. 22-23.) and as she exercised it in the 2c2 388 most ancient times : this holy synod teaches and commands that the use of them, as being greatly salutary to Christian people, and approved by the authority of Councils, shall be retained ; and she anathematizes those who say they are useless, or deny to the Church the power of granting them : but in this grant, the synod wishes, that moderation, agreeably to the ancient and approved practice of the Church, be exercised ; lest by too great facility, ecclesiastical discipline be weakened." (Sess. XXV. de Indulg. p. 340.J How different is all this from the prejudiced notions which most Protestants have so unfor- tunately imbibed in their infancy, acted upon in their manhood, and cherished in their age ! When will rational men be taught to imagine, that the tenets of Catholics are more likely to be explained with clearness, and learnt with accuracy, in the decrees of their own councils, and in the author- ized expositions of their faith, than in the false, angry, and interested declamations of their ene- mies ? That indulgences have been abused is matter of history : but that abuse has never been sanctioned by the Church, much less has it ever been its doctrine. On the contrary, we know that the anathemas of the Church, as well as the zeal and piety of its ministers, have frequently been directed against the avarice and iniquities that have turned 389 the most sacred institutions into sources of profit, and into excuses for wickedness. In questions of this nature, we must ever be careful to distinguish the principle, wisely and authoritatively practised, from the impious and unlawful profanation of it. In the most scandalizing moments of Catholicity, was there ever an abuse equal in magnitude or importance to the simony so universally and so openly practised in these kingdoms at the present day, when the cure of souls is advertised for pub- lic sale, and chapels are built upon speculation, to be let to the highest bidder ! Was ever profana- tion of sacred things carried to such an extent as in the dispensation granted to the Landgrave of Hesse, to marry two wives at the same time ? CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS Having thus shortly attempted to detail some of the reasons which govern Catholics in their non- conformity to Protestantism^ and serve to attach them so firmly to their own faith ; I beg the in- dulgence of my readers for a moment^ whilst I offer a few desultory observations, intimately connected with, and naturally arising from, the subject of the foregoing pages. Of the importance of religious controversy, I need say nothing. All who believe in Revelation, all who value the morality of the Gospel, all who ground the hope of their salvation upon the doctrine of our Re- deemer, must acknowledge the necessity of a firm, a lively, and a steadfast faith.^''^ This being the case, and since it is the misfortune of Christen- dom to be harassed and divided by such a va- riety of religious creeds, out of which we are bound to adopt one as the only true one, the utility and necessity of polemic controversy appears to be incontestably established. So long as there ^''^ 2 St Pet iii. 17. 391 are false prophets and hjing teachers among the jyeople ;^*^ so long as we should always he ready to give an answer to every man that asketh us, a reason of the hope that is in us, with meeJe- ness f'^ so long as it is necessary to distinguish the spirit of truth from the spirit of error {^^ so long, also, will religious controversy be necessary to furnish us with a knowledge of the points in dis- pute, and for the defence and the confirmation of our faith/'^ I must apologize for again reverting to ^'^ 2 *S^^. Vet, ii. 1. ^'^ 1 St. Pet. iii. 15. ^'^ St. John, iv.6. ^'^ If the Protestant practice in cases of divorce, were the only instance of a violation of the morality of the gospel on the part of the Reformers, it would of itself he amply sufficient to justify a continual controversial dis- cussion. If divorce is attempted to be justified by the letter of the gospel, the letter of the gospel will be disco- vered to be diametrically opposed to it ; and if an appeal be made to the spirit of the gospel, that spirit will rise up in judgment against it. The solitary text of Scripture upon which it is so vaguely attempted to justify divorce, is susceptible of a very different interpretation from what Protestants endeavour to impose ujion it. The correspond- ing passages in St. Mark (x. 11, 12), St. Luke, (xvi. 18), St. Paul (Cor. vii. 10), and even in St. Matt, himself (v. 32.), most unequivocally point out the manner in which we are to understand it, namely, that whosoever shall put away his wife, excepting for the cause of fornication, committeth adultery ; and whosoever shall put away his wife, and shall marry another, committeth adulteri/. If not, the^sacred 392 the subject of misrepresentation ; but it is the most cruel and the most successful weapon which our penmen are all at variance and in contradiction with each other; and the positive injunction of our Saviour, What God hath joined together, let 7iot man put asunder, (St. Mark, x. 9.) is a false and nugatory precept. It was even in the very act of abrogating the ancient law of divorce, that these words were pronounced ; and instead of permitting divorces upon any terms, the object was to do away with them altogether. But to revert to the text of St. Matthew, since, without any contortion, it will bear the interpretation which the Catholic church affixes to it, and which St. Matthew himself has clearly given it in another passage (Chap. v. 32.) ; — and since we know by incontrovertible historical evidence, that it was understood in that sense during the earliest ages of the Church, there is an end to the argument of Scripture authority being in favour of divorces. So far for the literal interpretation of this text ; as to the spirit of it, there is no passage in the sacred writings, the misinterpretation of which is of more serious and permanent detriment to domestic happiness and morality, than this. How many would restrain their passions, were it not for the previous knowledge that those passions may in the end be legally indulged ! Is it not an incentive to adultery to know that it may be pur- sued almost with imjiunity } Is it not a temptation to every species of villainy and hypocrisy, to be aware that the sacred bond of matrimony may, at any time, be broken asunder, and transferred to another object.^ It is this state of things, which has occasioned in this country vio- lations of the laws of matrimony, that have made us the scorn and contempt of every civilized people in the world. 393 enemies employ against us. It is, however, a signal trimnph to us, that none can ever attack Catholicity, without first enlisting falsehood and The divorces which take place yearly, not to say monthly, in the British empire, (though, thank heaven, they are not yet hecome the law of the land,) are an in- fringement upon every law, hoth human and divine, ec- clesiastical and civil. I have already shown that they stand in opposition to the law of God ; they are also pro- hibited by our civil code, which recognizes only a separa- tion a mensd et thoro; they are also contrary to our ecclesi- astical law, which permits no more (both being the laws of ancient Catholic times) ; and it is necessary to call on the omnipotent power of a British parliament, which ar- rogates to itself a superiority over every power in the world, to break down all the fences which reason, law, and revelation have united to erect for the security of do- mestic life, and the durability of the sacred vows of ma- trimony. As to the regulations respecting divorces, and the facilities afforded them in Scotland, they would almost disgrace a tribe of savage Indians. As in every thing else that is the offspring of Pro- testantism, there is so much inconsistency in the prin- ciples and the laws of divorce, as to render the whole system a complete j^aradox. The bishops in their own courts acknowledge no such practice; but the bishops in the House of Lords lend their sanction to them. The trial of the late Queen is a striking instance of the incal- culable evils of such a system ; it may with truth be said, that a more disgraceful scene was never exhibited in any Christian countrv. 394 calumny into their cause. That religion must, indeed, be in itself invulnerable, which obliges her opponents to forge a new creed for her adoption, before they can hope to make any impression upon her ; which, having no blemish of its own, compels malice to seek her gratification at the expense of truth; to surround her with ideal forms, and then, with hypocritical knavery, to exert all her might to destroy the wicked phantoms of her own creation. But so it was, from the commencement of Christianity, and so it will be, to the end. The primitive Christians, and the Catholics of the pre- sent day, are severally accused of the same crimes, and subj ect to the same calumnies. The reverential honour in which the primitive Christians held the cross, was divine worship to images ; their miracles, were magical enchantments; their loyalty to Christ, was treason to the state; their adoration of the One Eternal Author of all things, was atheism and infi- delity to the gods.^-^^ To such an extent has misre- ^•f^ Both in pagan and in Christian times, the cry of dis- loyalty and treason has ever been the signal for the most atrocious crimes, the war-whoop against virtue and religion. Socrates, perhaps the most virtuous Athenian that ever lived, was condemned to death, for teaching that immortal truth, the unity of the Godhead : and his crime was called disloyalty to the state, because it was treason to its religion. It was disloyalty, always imputed, but never proved, that raised the cry of Ad Leones I against the primitive Chris- 395 presentation been carried, that it would be no very bold defiance to stand pledged to discover a false- tians, and that has continued to shed the blood of j)rophets and of saints^ in every age, and in every nation, that has been darkened with the spirit of bigotry, and stained with the horrors of persecution. " It was the imputation of disloyalty to Caesar, which led St. Paul to prison, and con- demned our Saviour to the cross ! It is a proud and honourable distinction, that our loyalty to God, the King of kings, our eternal prince, and su]3reme ruler, should bear the dishonourable title of disloyalty to our temporal sovereign, and treason to the constitution." Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice^ sake. Blessed are ye,whe?i men shall revile you, and persec?ite you, and say all manner of evil against yon, untruly, /or m?/ sake. ...It is enough for the disciple to he as his master ; if they have called the master of the house, Beelzebub, how much more them of his household I The Almighty has said, through the mouth of an in- spired teacher: Let every soul be subject to the higher powers : for there is no power but from God. Therefore, he that resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist, purchase to themselves damnation. And again, Thou shall not speak evil of the prince of thy people. Hence, in serving and honouring our king, we serve and honour our God ; and it is a most extraordinary expedient to make us more faithful to our prince, by en- deavouring to make us unfaithful to our Creator : which most undoubtedly, we should be, did we subscribe to the Test now required of us. We must ever remember that while we give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, we must also give to God the things that are God's, and that in all cases, we must obey God nMher than man. 396 hood in the very first argument of every book that has come from the pen of our adversaries. They stand about us objecting many and grievous accusations, which they cannot prove /^^ As far as ^^^ ActsJix.v. 7. Unless it were to shew the furious extremities to which our enemies allow themselves to be carried, it would be beneMh a Catholic to notice that crowd of abominable and impious tracts, which, at thi^ moment, are so widely and so industriously circulated amongst the poor and the ignorant of this country, and that, too, by members of the Established Church, with the absurd intent of proving that the pope is Antichrist. I al- lude to them principally for the purpose of replying to them in the eloquent words of Dr. Doyle: "To such extremities did these men proceed, as not only to confound the power claimed by some few popes of Rome, over the temporal interests or rights of kings and kingdoms, with the spiri- tual jurisdiction of St. Peter's successor, but, in addition to this misrepresentation, they actually designated, not one or other, but a whole series of those successors, as Antichrists, and excited the deluded multitude to hate them, and curse them, as the capital enemies of our Lord and Saviour. Yes, the very men, who maintained from the beginning, and still maintain, against an infidel or Ai-ian world, the divinity of the Son of God, the very men who designate themselves as the last of his servants, and who, without any doubt, have caused his name to be pub- lished and adored throughout nearly the whole Christian world, these men, who never ask anything of the Father except through the Son, and identify him in their daily prayers with the King of ages, the immortal and invisible 397 regards us, it is bad policy, for it does but confirm the Catholic in his faith, to find it so invulnerable ; and to those who are sincere in the pursuit of truth, the exposure of such deception frequently forms a strong inducement to their conversion. But, among the weak and the timid, among those who have little leisure, and perhaps less opportunity for examining the question, it does much mischief. It blackens us in the eyes of many, who are other- wise inclined to look favourably upon us, and makes them turn away in disgust from that inves- tigation, which, in justice to themselves, they are bound to go through — an investigation which would termxinate so much to our honour and to their satisfaction. To what other possible circum- stances can the following rebuke of our Saviour to the Pharisees be more applicable? Woe to ijou, doctors of the law, for you have taken away the hey of hnowledge ; you yourselves have not entered in, and those that were entering in you have hindered!^^ God to whom alone A are due, and given, all honour and glory, — these very men have been called, by the ferocious leaders of the revolt, ' Antichrists !' and the Church in which they have always presided, and whose faith was from the beginning, and is still spoken of throughout the entire world, — this Church they called ' Babylon,' and the ' great apostacy,' with all manner of opprobrious and insulting names," — (Reply to Magee, p. 42.) ^'^ St. Lnke, xi. 52. 898 That no one into whose hands these pages may chance to fall, may henceforward unknowingly subject himself to a similar denunciation, and that none may in future plead ignorance for their errors or their prejudices, I have annexed to this volume a copious list of Catholic controversial writings/'^ Almost any one of them is sufficient to satisfy an impartial mind, a mind seriously and sincerely engaged in the pursuit of truth. Let them be considered as counterparts to the writings of our adversaries ; let them be consulted as mirrors, in which our principles and our doctrines are reflected in their true light. They will remove that dismal mask from the fair face of our religion, first im- posed upon it by the malice of its enemies, and afterwards continued by the ignorance and credu- lity of mankind : they will exhibit it as it really is, pure, holy, spotless, and undefiled.^*^ There is another point on which we feel par- ticularly jealous, because we are particularly inno- cent ; namely. Bigotry. If by bigotry is meant a blind and ignorant attachmenj; to our tenets, we ^'^ See Appendix, No. XVII. (k) Yox a clear and simple exposition of Catholic doc- trines, see also the Declaration of the Catholic Bishops of Great Britain; followed by An Address from the British Roman Catholics to their Protestant Fellow-coimtrymen Appendix, No. XVT. 399 plead not guilty, upon the credit of this single fact, that for one Protestant who can give any sort of plausible reason for the hope which is in himy^ there are at least ten Catholics, who will produce strong and solid arguments in defence of their creed/'"^ But if by bigotry is meant an unchari- table, illiberal, and sweeping condemnation of all who differ from us in belief, it is certainly no dif- ficult matter to prove ourselves not only far less bigoted than any of our accusers, but indeed alto- gether exempt from the charge. In the second chapter of an excellent work en- titled '' Charity and Truth," first published many years ago, and recently republished under the sanction of the venerable prelates of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland, a work most deservedly held in the highest estimation among us, the fol- lowing positions are to be found: — 1st. That what- ever be the religious belief of the parents of a person who is baptized, and whatever be the faith of the person who baptizes him, he becomes, in the instant of his baptism, a member of the Ca- ^'> 1 St. Pet. iii. 15. ^"^^ It stands to reason that a Catholic should be better instructed in matters of religion than a Protestant, since all our Catechisms and Books of Devotion contain a vast deal more information both on faith and morals, than any that are in use among Protestants. 400 tholic Church, as the true Church of Christ. — 2dly. That he receives in his baptism justifying grace, and justifying faith. — 3dly. That he loses the former by the commission of any mortal sin. — 4thly. That he loses the latter by the commission of a mortal sin against faith ; but does not lose it by the commission of any mortal sin of any other kind. — 5thly. That without such wilful ignorance, or wilful error, as amounts to a crime in the eyes of God, a mortal sin against faith is never com- mitted : and 6thly. That, except in an extreme case, no individual is justified in imputing, even in his own mind, this criminal ignorance or criminal error to any other individual. — From an admirable sermon on Universal Benevolence, delivered by an eminent Roman Catholic preacher,^"^ in the year 1816, both in Bath and London, and which has been published and widely circulated under the authority of the Vicars Apostolic of this country, the following passage is extracted : — '' Never be so uncharitable and so gross, as indiscriminately to give the harsh and odious appellation of Here- tics to all those who belong not to our commu- nion.'^''^ That word implies guilt as well as error. ^^^ The Rev. Dr. Archer. ^°^ That such have always been the sentiments of the brightest luminaries of the Catholic Church, the following passages from vSt. Augustine will tend to shew : ' The 401 You have been taught m your catechisms, that heresy is an obstinate error in matters of faith. apostle Paul,' says this great man, in his one hundred and sixty-second letter, ' has said, an heretical man, after one reproof, avoid ; knowing, that he who is of this sort is subverted and sins, and is self-condemned ; hut they who defend not with an obstinate animosity, their own opinion, though false and perverse, especially if it be an opinion which they did not originate in the assurance of their own presumption, but which they received from their parents, seduced and fallen into error, and who, seeking the truth with a cautious solicitude, are ready on finding it, to be corrected, they are not by any means to be reputed among heretics.' Let us hear Dr. Doyle himself: " It was a question,'' says he, " amongst the Jews, what was the greatest com- mandment in the law, whether to worship the Deity by Sacrifice, which was a profession of faith — of absolute dependance on the Supreme Being, and an act of prayer, or to love him with the whole heart. The Redeemer decided the question in favour of the love of God, and of our neigh- bour ; and St. Paul, having enumerated faith, hope, and charity, the three great Christian virtues, says, expressly, that charity, which lasts for ever, is the greatest of the three. Sins, therefore, against faith, such as heresy, are very grievous ; perhaps, next to apostacy, this vice is the worst of all, as it cuts up the root of justification ; but, abstracting from this character of it, it may not be so malicious, not so much opposed to the nature of God, as those sins which conflict with charity; — and this is a re- flection which ought often to occur to those, who, agitated by a fiery zeal, and swoln with a selfishness, which they 2d 102 He only is a heretic, who, when he has discovered truth, wilfully and perversely, from human re- mistake for faith, break down all the charities of human life, sow dissensions amongst brethren, and totally forget the divine command of doing to others what they would that others should do to them. We should reprobate heresy as we reprove drunkenness or theft, usury or oppression of the poor ; we should denounce schism as we proclaim the guilt of calumny or detraction : but as we should exercise patience and long-suffering towards the drunkard, the thief, or the calumniator, so we should use forbearance and charity towards the wilful and obstinate heretic, hoping that the Lord may, perhaps, yet give him repent- ance, like to other sinners. But, if the person who is in error, has been seduced into it by others, if he have re- ceived it as an inheritance from his fathers, and if his education, his habits, his passions, his interests, his con- nexions, raise a barrier about him, which the light of truth cannot, morally speaking, penetrate, or the force of argument approach, still less break down ; to cherish for such a person any other feeling than that of the most unmixed and ardent charity, would not only be unchris- tian, but inhuman ; to consign such a man to future suf- fering, on account of his errors, would be an usurpation of the divine knowledge and power, and whosoever should pass judgment on him, should fear that a similar judg- ment, without mercy, would be passed upon himself It is the duty of those who are ministers of Christ, to exhibit the truths of the Gospel, and the errors opposed to them, to display virtue in all her beauty, and exhibit also the deformity of vice; to exhort and beseech men in all patience and doctrine, to adhere to truth and virtue, and 403 spects, for worldly interests, or some such un- worthy object, shuts his mind against it ; or who obstinately or negligently refuses to be at the pains necessary for discovering it ; and how can you presume to pronounce of any individual man, that this is his case, unless he acknowledge it? Can you assert that the doctrine which you know to be true, has been proposed to him in such a light of evidence, as to give conviction to his mind ; or that he is not so satisfied with his own creed, as to preclude every idea of an obligation to make further inquiry ? Those who carefully to fly from vice and error ; to minister the aids of religion to all who seek them at their hands; to exclude from their assemblies and communion all who obstinately ad- here to vice or error, hut to leave the judgment of men's souls to Him who created and redeemed them, who alone is able to discern the innocent from the guilty, and who will repay to every one according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil. " There is no person who rightly understands the spirit in which Christians are called, and which spirit created and preserved that unity amongst the members of the Church, who will not subscribe to these sentiments. They are the dictate of charity and liberality, rightly under- stood ; but far removed, certainly, from that novel opinion now so prevalent amongst Protestants, which would open the Church to all sorts and descriptions of sects, and erase from the catalogue of vices revealed to us by Almighty God, the crimes of heresy and schism." — (Reply to Dr. Ma gee.) 2 d 2 404 seek the truth, and sincerely follow the best light they can obtain in their respective circumstances, are innocent in the sight of God, and secure of his acceptance, whatever may be the errors into which they involuntarily fall. Who art thou, then, that juclgest another man's servant ? To his oivn master he standefh orfallethJ'^"^ Again, in a most learned, temperate, and concilia- tory work, from the pen of an eminent French di- vine (now Bishop of Strasbourg) we find the fol- lowing note : — '' Errors do not constitute heresy ; but only that perversity which induces men to remain obstinately attached to them. Hence the expression of St. Augustine : ' I may err, but I will never be a heretic' — {Ej^ist, clxii.) Catholics do not hesitate to join this great light of the Church, in making a complete distinction between those who established a heresy, and who, after- w^ards, being born in its bosom, have involuntarily imbibed error with their mother's milk. They regard the former as rebels to the divine authority of the Church ; the latter as being without any bitterness against her, and for the most part with- out obstinacy against her decrees, of which they even know nothing. She believes that these latter, although they belong not to the body, yet belong to the soul of the Church. They think, with the same Doctor, that the Church produces for itself ^"^ Rom, xiv. 4. 405 children^ both from her own womb, and from that of her servants, that is to say from foreign Com- mmiions. Generat per uteriim suum, etper utermn anciUarum sunrum;^'"^ and that, consequently, hea- ven prepares elect from out of heretical societies, by the particular graces it is pleased to bestow. They moreover cheerfully maintain with the same Father, ' that a person imbued with the opinion of Pho- tinus, and believing it to be the Catholic faith, ought not to be called a heretic, unless, after being instructed, he choose rather to resist the Catholic faith, than to renounce the opinion he has em- braced/'^ In fine, they admit, with St. Augus- tine, ' that we must not rank among heretics those who carefully seek after the truth, and who are in a disposition to embrace it as soon as dis- covered.' — {Epist, clxii.) According to these prin- ciples, the learned Bishop Challoner teaches that, ' if error comes from invincible ignorance, it ex- cuses from the sin of heresy, provided that, with sincerity, and without regard to worldly interest, a person be ready to embrace the truth immedi- ately it shall present itself to him.'^^^ " Catholics cheerfully adhere to this conclusion of the judicious and profound Nicole : ' It is therefore true, according to all Catholic theolo- ''"'^ On Baptism, against the Donatists, b. i. ck. x. ^""^ Ibid. ^^^ Foundation of the Christian Doctrine, p. 9. \2th. edit., London. 406 giaiis, that there is a great number of livmg mem- bers and true children of the Church, in commu- nions separated from her ; since there are so many infants, who always form a considerable part of them, and since there might also be some among the adults, although she does not pay attention to it, because she does not know them.' — {0)1 Unity, vol. i. cJi. iii.) They maintain, with the skilful theologians of the university of Paris, ' that chil- dren of the uninstructed partake neither of heresy nor of schism ; that they are excused by their invincible ignorance of the state of things ;.... that they may, with the grace of God, lead a pure and innocent life : that God does not impute to them the errors to which they are attached by an in- vincible ignorance ; that they may thus belong to the fold of the Church, through faith, hope, and charity.' — {Censure de VEmile,) " In fine, leaving to themselves certain morose and ill-informed minds. Catholics love to repeat, with regard to the greater number of persons who live in schism and heresy, what Salvian formerly said of the Goths and Vandals brought over to Christianity by the Arians : ' they are heretics, but without knowing it : they err, but with perfect sincerity.' Qualiter pro hoc falsce opinionis er- rore in die judicii puniendi sunt, nullus potest scire, nisi solus judex: — {De Guh, Dei. Lib. v.) Religion teaches Catholics to judge the doctrines, and forbids them to judge the persons, of men. 407 Of course, therefore, they maintain the principles, and never allow themselves to condemn those who are out of their Church ; they leave them to the judgment of God. He alone knows the bottom of the heart and the graces that he gives : he alone can read the actual disposition of the souls that he calls to his tribunal. " This doctrine is conformable with the spirit of Christianity, and shews to greater advantage the extent of Catholicity, whilst it forbids us to mark out its precise boundaries. It also fully exculpates Catholics from that imputation of enmity, and that spirit of intolerance which people are fond of lodging against them." It would be useless to swell these pages with numberless other quotations in proof of the cha- ritable and liberal interpretations of our exclusive doctrine, since the most sceptical must acknow- ledge, that sufficient has been advanced to expose the mistake of those who accuse Catholics in ge- neral of bigoted and uncharitable tenets. But if there be any individuals amongst us whose out- rageous zeal might induce them to entertain opi- nions on these points, which their creed neither obliges nor authorizes them to hold, let not those opinions be imputed to the whole body. — The bare dogmatical tenet, that " out of the Catholic Church, there is no ordinary possibility of salva- tion," unaccompanied by any explanation, and 408 which is so to be found both in our formularies of faith, and in the writings of our most able and most liberal controvertists, might, at first sight, appear to warrant the charge of bigotry against us. But when it is considered that in the appli- cation of this doctrine we always hold those only to be heretics, who wUfidly believe or ohsthiatehj profess errors in matters of faith ; — that, in de- claring the Protestant religion to be a heresy, w^e do not condemn its professors as heretics,''^^ (" w^hich appellation implies guilt as well as error''); — that we leave the guilt of every individual between his God and himself; — that we count all within the pale of Catholic unity, who do not perversely re- fuse to enter it ; — and lastly, that the Church contents herself with the simple declaration, that '' wilful heresy is deserving of condemnation ;" — there is surely clear and ample evidence on which to acquit us of bigotry and illiberality. It now remains to be seen if we cannot more justly charge our adversaries with that, of which I (') WTg (Jq not gay^ You are a Protestant, and therefore a heretic, and consequently, have no chance of salvation ; we only say (and it is the doctrine which we all learn in our Catechism) that he only is a heretic who wilfully be- lieves or ohst'mately professes errors in matters of faith. So that when the Church pronounces judgment against heretics, she always presupposes that they have a know- ledge of their errors, but have not the will to correct them. 409 trust it now fully appears, they have most unjustly accused us. Protestants, as well as Catholics, hold the Athanasian Creed, which says, " that unless a man doth keep entire and inviolate the Catholic faith, without doubt, he shall perish everlastingly." We have collected the meaning and interpretation attached, by us, to this dogma ; let us see if the doctrine of any of the Protestant Churches will give them an equal right to so charitable an expla- nation. The eighteenth Article of the Established Church is couched in the following harsh terms : " They also are to be had accursed, that presume to say, that every man shall be saved by the law or sect that he professeth, so that he be diligent to frame his life according to that law, and the light of nature." The Protestant Church of Scotland holds, that out of their Church, " there is neither life nor eternal felicity to be hoped for, and that it is blasphemy to affirm, that men who live according to equity and justice shall be saved, in whatever religion they may have lived." — The Protestant Church of France propounds in her catechism : '' that no one obtains pardon of his sins, who is not incorporated with the people of God, and the unity of their Church, out of which there is nothing but death and damnation." — How the Roman Catholic Church can be accused of bigotry and illiberality, by men who profess tenets like these, I am at a loss to understand ; and how the excluding doctrine. 410 couched in such harsh and forbidding terms, can possibly be susceptible of the same charitable interpretation which we give to our declaration, ^^that out of the Catholic Church there is no ordinary possibility of salvation/' it is equally difficult to imagine. Still, among the many incon- sistencies of Protestant belief, many of her most learned Divines have admitted, that we can be saved hij the faith of the Catholic Church, since all points necessary for salvation are contained in that faith /^^ The Protestant Divines of the university of Helmstadt decided, in 1708, that Catholics are not in fundamental errors, and such as are opposed to salvation -/"^ thus disowning the exclusive doctrine altogether, and virtually making a renunciation of Protestantism; for, as the Catholic Church is the parent stock from which all other sects and religions are derived, by what arguments can she defend her separation, if she admit that every necessary truth, ^^^ See the third chapter of The Faith and Doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, proved hy the Testimony of the most learned Protestants, &c. 1813. Keating, Brown, and Keating. ^'^ Whoever is curious to examine the motives for this candid and liberal decision, may find them detailed at length, at the end of a little pamphlet, entitled : The Duke of Brunswick'' s Fifty Reaso7is for abjuring Lutheranism, and embracing the Roman Catholic Religion ; to be had of all Catholic booksellers- 411 that nothing opposed to salvation, is taught and prac- tised by it ? / am the true vine, says our Saviour, and my Father is the husbandman,.,, As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine ; so neither can you, unless you abide in me. By your act of unjustifiable separation, you have ceased to abide in me„„you are cast forth as a branch, and shall wither !''^ — These strange incon- sistencies produce strange dilemmas. If Protest- ants reject the excluding doctrine altogether, they surrender the principles upon which they separated from the Church of Rome ; if they maintain it, according to their authenticated tenets, they stand justly convicted, by their own evidence, of that illiberality for which they so unjustly condemn us/*^ Having already trespassed too long upon the patience of my readers, I will very shortly take my leave of them. If these Reasons should fortunately so far influence the minds of any, as to induce ^'^^ ^S*^. John XV. 1 & 4. ^^^ The following definitions of bigotry and illiberality, will clearly shew to which party those epithets most pro- perly belong. The Bigot U he who is blindly and pas- sionately wedded to an opinion, for which he can neither show the authority of God nor the force of reason. The Illiberal Man is he who refuses to another the right of exercising his understanding where God has left him free. 412 them to enter more at large upon the inquiry into their moral conduct and religious creed, an inquiry the most important of all that can occupy the attention of man, it is much of what I desire. As conciliation and union, founded upon truth and justice, is my object, I will venture once more to express a hope, that what I have said will give offence to none. If I have failed in convincing, I trust, at least, that I have confirmed none in their errors ; that, if I have not brightened, at least, I have not extinguished the lamp of truth ; and above all, that I have not violated the strictest bounds of Christian charity. Let m.e exhort those who enter upon the discussion of religious contro- versy, to bring with them an humble and a docile mind, a mind disposed and desirous to be instructed, ready to subject their reason to the obedience of faith f'^ not with a determination to perpetuate their prejudices, and cherish their incredulity. There is nothing we should guard against more than an " ignorance, unwilling to be informed, and an obstinacy, resolving not to be convinced." In the prosecution of this inquiry, let us candidly ask ourselves, if we are seriously and sincerely engaged in the pursuit of truth ; and if so, whether we are determined, at all hazards, to embrace it. ^^^7?om.xvi. 26. 413 when we have succeeded in discovering it ? By this standard alone can we determine our sincerity, and satisfy our conscience that we are performing our duty. — If those who are in error will but fairly and candidly put their religion to the test, I answer for it they will discover its falsehood ; if, with the Bishop of Ephesus, in the Apocalypse, they will but trij those who say they are Apostles, and are not^^^ I will pledge my existence that they will find them liars!'^ Controversy is the most simple and the most easy of all studies ; it resolves itself into one question — The InfalUhility of the true Church of Christ, We have no occasion to tor- ment ourselves in a vain endeavour to reduce each separate proposition to the standard of reason. Revelation is paramount to reason : the autho- rity of the Church is the authority of God : and the faith of Christianity, while it subjugates the passions of the human heart, likewise imposes silence upon the pride of the human intellect. We have no need to explore each doctrine, and trace it to its source, because we know they all spring from the same fountain, and flow for the fertility of the same soil. They are all salutary and healing waters, to slake the thirst and refresh the drooping strength of the pilgrim, as he journeys through the vale of tears. But, having once tasted of the (d) Apoc, ii. 2. ^'J Ihid, 414 fountain-head, we have received the fulhiess of knowledge and of wisdom, and have no occasion to draw again from the same source. Having, then, once satisfied ourselves of the identity of this sacred fountain, that is of the true Church of Christ, and surely her characteristics are so marked that none can mistake them, then all that remains for us, is to bow in humble submission to her de- cisions in all matters of doctrine/^^ cf) Whatever that almost universal licentiousness in religious belief, generated by Protestantism, may hold to the contrary, I am here only advancing true Church of England doctrine. King Charles I. in his declaration, prefixed to the Articles of Religion, says: "Being by God's ordinance, according to our just title. Defender of the Faith* and supreme governoitr of the Church, within these our dominions, we hold it most agreeable to this our kingly office, and our own religious zeal, to conserve and maintain the Church committed to our charge in unity of true religion, and in the bond of peace ; and not to suffer unnecessary disputations, altercations, or questions to be raised, which may nourish faction both in the Church and Commonwealth. We have, therefore, upon mature * Whether a Protestant King of England has a jast right to the title of Defender of the Faith, may be ascertained by a refer- ence to the circumstances under which that title was first obtained. It will, I believe, appear, that so far from this title having been bestowed by a Protestant Pope on a Protestant sovereign, for the defence of Protestant doctrine ; it was given by the head of the Catholic Church to a Catholic king for his defence of Catholic doctrine, against the extravagant innovations of the great apostle of the Reformation, Martin Luther ! 415 Let us, then, no longer suffer ourselves to be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine ; deliberation, and with the advice of so many of our bishops as might conveniently be called together, thought fit to make this declaration following : — " That the Articles of the Church of England contain the true doctrine of the Church of England agreeable to God's word ; which we do therefore ratify and confirm, requiring all our loving subjects to continue in the uni- form profession thereof, and prohibiting the least differ- ence from the said articles .... , . . . " We will, that all further curious search be laid aside, and these disputes shut up in God's promises, [Quere. That the spirit of truth should abide for ever with his Church, teaching her all truth ?J as they be generally set forth to us in the Holy Scriptures, [Quere. In the 16th chap, of St. Matt., i\ 18, 19 ?] and the general meaning of the Articles of the Church of Eiigland according to them. And that no man hereafter, shall either print or preach, to draw the Articles aside any way ; but shall submit to it in the plain and full meaning thereof; and shall not put his own sense or comment to be the meaning of the article, but shall take it in the literal and gramma- tical sense." Such is a Declaration proceeding from the head of their Church, binding upon the consciences of every member of the Establishment, under pain of the Church's censure and of the monarch's displeasure ; and subscribed to by every man who subscribes to the 39 Articles. Who shall henceforth revile Catholics for the dutiful submission de- manded of them by their Church, and for their ready com- 416 but, in accordance with the apostolic precept, listen to the authority of the Church : we are of God; lie that hnoweth God, Jiearetli iis ; he that is not of God, heareth us not : hy this we hnow the sjjirit of truth, and the sj^irit of error !^^ With this view let us also put the same question to ourselves, which Philip put to the Eunuch who was reading the Scriptures : Thinhest thou that thou understandest what thou readest 9 And if we answer in the same spirit, and with the same docility, Hoiv can I, tinless some man shew me 9^'*^ no doubt we shall be rewarded with the same success. Though, in hearing the Church, we seem pliance with it ? Who shall call us slaves to our priest- hood, and traitors to our reason ? As all must stand upon the basis of historical evidence, hence in discussing this or any other tenet or controverted point, it is surely the most natural method to refer, in the first instance, to the most ancient written evidence, namely, the Scriptures and the Fathers of the Church. If the Scriptures are not sufficiently full and satisfactory, we then go to those who followed nearest, in point of time, to the Apostles, and in whose writings we readily discover the sense in which the particular doctrine in question was understood in their days ; from them it was handed down to the succeeding generation; and from thence we may trace it, always with an accumulating weight of testimony, to our own times. ("-^ 1 Epist. St. JoJm., iv. 6. ^'^ Acts, viii. 80, 31. 417 to listen to men ; yet it is not men who speak therein, but God who speaks, by the ministry of men. Let us then listen, with proper dispositions, and we shall find her wisdom and her spirit irre- sistible/'^ It is thus, and thus only, that ^^ the ignorant can be delivered from the seductions of false teachers, and the learned from the pride and delusion of false wisdom. '^^^ Neither is it any reason for us to be satisfied, because, without diligent inquiry made with the necessary dispositions, we may feel already con- vinced. " They who allow their passions," — and I will add, their prejudices, " to confound the dis- tinctions between right and wrong, are criminal : they mxay be convinced, but they have not come honestly by their conviction." They are in that state in which it is to be feared, that the Almighty has sent them the operation of error to believe lying {^^ they are amongst those unhelievers in whom the God of this world hath so blinded their minds, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not ^'^ Acts vi. 10. ^''^ Though error may be innocent because it may be sincere, yet there can be no sincerity without inquiry, nor any inquiry without a solicitude to discover the truth, and a determination to follow it when discovered. <'^ 2 Thess. ii. 10. 2 e 418 shine unto themS'"^ They are suffered to be de- ceived, because they love deception : they are permitted to be confirmed in error, because they have been unwilling to behold and to embrace the truth. But if we wish to be preserved from such callous hearts and darkened understandings, let us, with the advice of the Apostle, anoint our eyes that we may see^""^ with sincerity and humility. Let us beseech the God of light to remove from us all blindness of heart : let us not forget that those who think themselves wise, may make them- selves fools,^'^ by the folly of their own conceitsy^ by vanity, pride, or obstinacy : let us fervently pray, that through the mercy of God,., .the orient from on high may visit us, may enlighten them that sit in darhness and in the shadow of death, and direct their feet in the ways of peace !'^^ As we cannot be too strongly impressed with the necessity of such dispositions, I will again request the reader, in the words of a pious, an excellent and an amiable man, now no more, to bear in mind, '' that candour and impartiality, necessary in all discussions, are particularly so where the passions are all engaged on one side ; that truth must come from the Father of light; that it be- hoveth the sincere inquirer to remove the obsta- ^""^ 2 Cor. iv. 4. ^""^ Apoc. iii. 18. ^"^ Ro7n. i. 22. ^^•^ Rmn. xii. 16. ^^^ St. Luke, i. 78 79. 419 cles which the ignorance and the pride of the human mind oppose to it ; and, in fine, that only the pure of heart see God, and that into a mali- cious soul wisdom will not enter, nor dwell in a body subject unto sin.'"^'^ CO " Xhe great reason, however, which renders men in general unwilling to resign their errors, and seriously in- vestigate the truth, is this : — that truth is rigid and aus- tere, condemning the self-love, and restricting all the bad propensities of the human heart. Hence, our divine Re- deemer has told us, that " Men love darkness better than the light." So that when even this great Being incul- cated his heavenly doctrines, — although he did it with all the force of the most tender eloquence, yet did the public refuse to believe him. It was so, too, with his apostles. For, when these holy individuals preached, although they also enforced their preaching by the attesta. tion of miracles ;— still, St. Paul informs us, they '' were every where contradicted." Tbe fact is, that to engage men to embrace the truth, or to resign their errors, there is required a spirit of fortitude and piety ; a spirit of dis- interestedness and humility ;— qualities, which, as they are extremely rare in the public walks of life, render it, hence, easy to understand, why falsehood and illusion pre- vail there so generally. It is, in short, with the under- standing, when once it has been seduced by error, as it is with the will, when once it has been corrupted by vice : — exactly as it is difficult, without some peculiar impulse, to reform the latter, — so, without some great cause, it is next to impossible to correct the former. There is, usually, when the attempt is made, some obstacle or other in the 2 e 2 420 If, in the course of the inquiry^ we meet with that which it is impossible to comprehend, and difficult to believe, we must remember that the Almighty has so ordained it for the exercise of our faith ; ioi faith is the evidence of things that apjiear not/'^ We must equally adore in humility and silence, the revelations of God to man, and the inscrutable counsels of heaven in the govern- ment of the world ; and Vv e must apply to both, these words of the apostle, the dej>th of the riches, of the wisdom, and of the knowledge of God ! how incomprehensihle are his judgments, and how unsearchahle his ivays!^'^ If we cannot reduce every thing to the standard of human rea- son, nor to the narrovv^ comprehension of our capa- cities, we must recollect that omniscience is an attribute not granted to man ; that we see now through a glass, and in a darh manner ; but the time will come when we shall see face to face : noiv ive hioiv only in part, hut then ive shall hnoiv even as ive are hnown!''^ We must be satisfied that every thing is in conformity with the inscru- table decrees of the wisdom of the Deity, because we knov/ we are not to enter into judgment with God, nor call our Creator to account for his con- way, — some fear, or interest, or self-love, or perplexity : Vesfujia nulla retrorsumy — (Dr. Fletcher's Comparative View.) ^'^ Heh. xi. 1. ^'^ Rom. xi. 33. ^"^ 1 Cor. xiii. 12. 421 duct towards his creatures. The God of all know- ledge has revealed to us enough for the purposes of our salvation, and that is sufficient. His is the province to command, ours to obey ; his counsels are righteous and his w^ays are unsearchable ; and it is not for us to question the equity of his provi- dence, nor penetrate the depths of his designs. He has taught us his holy will, and we must per- form it with alacrity ; not wait to discuss its utility, or question its propriety. Though in re- velation there is much beyond reason, yet there is nothing contrary to it. It is only the ' sophisms of reasoning pride' that would lead us into contra- diction and absurdity. Let us not lose ourselves in the intricate mazes of human speculation ; but taking a straight-forward path, let us 'adhere firmly to the sacred laws of truth, of reason, and of revelation : of truth undisguised by fashionable error ; of reason unbiassed by worldly motives ; of revelation unsullied with the infectious breath of pretended reformation.' In conclusion, let me call upon those who en- gage in polemic combat, to shake hands upon the field of battle, and to cleanse the venom from their weapons. We extract the sting from controversy, by discarding acrimonious invective and passionate hostility. Freedom of discussion is necessary in the cause of truth ; but that freedom must not be suffered to degenerate into licentiousness. As 422 reason should be subject to revelation, so should zeal be obedient to charity ; and though we differ in belief, we may live in harmony. Let it be our endeavour to promote the happiness of each other ; and if we are not likely to concur in opinion upon all points, let us rejoice that we agree in many ; and knowing with how much difficulty truth is sometimes found, let us not wonder that some should miss it. Whenever we are arrayed as ad- versaries, let it be under the banners of ' the meek and humble Jesus ;' and may the motto blazoned on them be that golden sentence of an eloquent Father of the Church : In necessariis Unitas, in DUBIIS LiBERTAS, ET IN OMNIBUS ChARITAS *, and while we display our triumph, let us also learn to show our moderation. Thus will error be over- thrown, the troubled passions be allayed, and the olive branch of peace proclaim that the waters of discord have subsided. May they never flow again, but be dried up in their sources, absorbed by Charity and Truth. FINIS. POSTSCRIPT. In offering to the reader the Traditionary Evi- dence of the Doctrines of our Church on the points to which it relates, contained in No. XL of the following Appendix, I beg leave to call his atten- tion to a rule laid down by the Bishop of London, in his Charge of 1826 (p. 11). " When we are acquainted," says he, " with the true state of the controversy, we may form our own conclusions ; and how is this to be done ? Not, surely, by retaliating mis-statements, invectives, and calum- nies, or crudely asserting an unqualified right of private judgment, but by reference to primi- tive ANTIQUITY ; disproving the allegations of our opponents from the silence oi Scripture, of general tradition, of ancient writers, which, in a case of this nature, is decisive ; appealing to the proceed- ings of Emperors, the acts of councils, the lan- guage of Father s,^"^ of Bishops, and even of Popes, (a) u -jjjg different manner in which these venerable witnesses of the faith are used by Protestants, is worthy of observation. While they imagine they can derive any support from their testimony, they treat them with be- coming deference. But, on finding them opposed to their own doctrine, then they condemn and renounce their authority. Of the latter class are the Socinians, in parti- 424 which contradict the pretensions of the Papacy, &c " The genuine records of ancient usage and practice, will, in like manner, supply us Yni\\ proof, &c." — Now, with all deference to the Rt. Rev. Prelate, we may surely be allowed to ask, what this silent evidence, to which he appeals, can weigh against the positive and speaVing testimony which we can produce ? As to the contradicting evidence, except on the point to which his Lord- ship refers, it is no where to be found : and even on that point, it will be seen only to contradict, 7iot the lawful and spiritual authority of the Pon- tiff, but the jjretens ions of the Papacy. To deduce proof from the genuine records of ancient usage and practice, is an admirable rule, and one by which every Catholic, in common with the Bishop, is ready to be judged. I trust I have shewn in another part of this work, that the silence of Scrip- ture is not proof. The contradiction of Scripture certainly is : for, if a doctrine be contrary to Scrip- ture, it cannot be true. But till the Scriptures cvilar. Of the former, are Protestants of a more mitigated cast, who are fond of preserving some relics of mystery in their creed, and of authority in their government. These latter wish to enlist the Fathers in their service; but, like many an impressed auxiliary, they are found, when free from restraint, to abandon their service, and join the ranks of the enemies." — Evidences of the Catholic Church, vol. ii. p, 268. 425 can be }3roved to be an independent rule of faith, and to have been delivered to us in this capacity, which the Catholic Church has ahvays proved not to have been the case, by ancient usage arid prac- flf^Q^ — the mere silence of Scripture cannot be taken in evidence. And as to the speaking and jwsitive testimony of the Sacred Writings, this unerring rule of ancient usage and practice will shew that the Church, and the Church alone, has ever been considered as the authorized expounder of t^m^^k^. In evidence of this, I will here content myself with citing the sentiments of only one of those STcat and learned men, whom all Christendom has agreed to honour with the distinctive title of Fa- thers of the Church, St. Irenseus, writing during the second century, observes : — " Paul says : ' God appointed in his Church Apostles, prophets, and doctors.' Where, there- fore, the holy gifts of God are, there must the truth be learned; with them is the succession from the Apostles, and there is the society whose com- munication is sound and irreproveable, unadul- terated and pure. These preserve the faith of one God, who made all things ; increase our love towards his divine Son, and expound, without dan- ger, the Scriptures to us, not blaspheming the name of God, nor dishonouring the patriarchs, nor contemning the Prophets.' {Adversus Hcer. /. iv. 426 c, 45,^;. 345.)—" To him that believeth that there is one God, and holds to the head, which is Christ — to this man all things will be plain, if he read diligently the Scriptures with the aid of those who are the priests in the Church, and in whose hands, as we have shewn, rests the doctrine of the Apos- tles." {Ihicl c. 52, p. S55) The infallibility of the Church of God, in ex- pounding the Scriptures, and delivering the doc- trines of Christ, is the only question which our adversaries have any right to attack; for tilUthis point be carried, all others must remain invulner- able : but it wears ' a panoply against which every arrow falls blunted to the ground.' There is no proposition more true than this — that if a Catholic be once separated from that great sheet-anchor of his faith, the indefectibility of the Church of Christ, he is drifted as a mere wreck upon the waters, and, in point of religious belief, becomes as mu- table as the waves, and as uncertain as the winds. " Where such are the pretensions advanced," vh, to infallibility, says the writer of the Charge to which I have alluded, " the truth or the falsehood of particular articles of faith becomes a secondary question. If Christ has appointed the Church of Rome the exclusive possessor of his promises, the sole depositary of his authority, the infallible judge in controversies regarding the faith, it is useless to debate on other matter. If this point is decided 427 in her favour, our only resource is to acknowledge our errors, to sue for reconciliation, and accept the system of doctrines which is proved to be true by her sanction."— (>. 16.) Now, if this point he not decided in her favour, by the Bishop's own rule, — the language of Fathers and of Bishops, and from the genuine records of ancieiit usage and practice, —\ pledge myself to desert her com- munion on the morrow/'^ (c) ^ny one who chooses may see the proofs in the work from which the following extracts are taken. — The Faith of Catholics confirmed btj Scripture, and attested by the Fathers of the first four Centuries of the Church. Booker, 1812. The learned Dr. Machale, whose immortal work* on the " Evidences and Doctrines of the Catholic Church," has just appeared, thus introduces his argument on the authority of the Church : — " Having thus conducted my reader to the establish- ment of the Christian Church, it might have been na- turally imagined that our labours would here terminate. But, unfortunately for the repose of the world, those who have thus far combatted for the truth, now strenuously controvert the nature of the revelation ; and no sooner do they triumph over the enemies of Christianity, than * In this work, worthy to be incased in cedar and gold, the philosophy of Christianity has been delineated with a beauty and sublimity worthy of the subject. The most refined and classic elegance, united with the rich genius of the writer, has strewn the rugged paths of theological disquisition with the choicest flowers, and bestowed fresh life and fertility on the trodden and exhausted field of controversy. 428 their strength is mutually wasted in intestine contention. Hence, every age has witnessed the most angry contro- versies amongst those, who, acknowledging the truth of the Christian religion, have zealously disputed its genuine possession. " In vain, then, should we have proved the existence of the Christian Church, if we were not able to distin- guish it from the counterfeit impostures with which it is attempted to be confounded. It is not enough to show that revelation has been once imparted ; it is likewise necessary to prove that this revelation has reached us unadulterated. Among the various claimants to the in- heritance of Christ, we must determine who are they whose pretensions are best founded. The name of Christianity does not necessarily imply the true pro- fession of the religion of Christ, since Christianity itself has branched out into as great a variety of discordant systems as the ancient philosophy. Yet, amidst this strange confusion, all are equally confident that they have inherited the religion of Jesus Christ. As then, the true Church, whatever it may be, can pretend to nothing more than the faithful possession of the Christian doctrine, it must be confessed that that Society is best entitled to the name, whose principles are best calculated to presei-ve and perpetuate its purity. " Important as the controversy always has been, it has acquired fresh interest since the era of that religious re- volution, called the Reformation ; in no country, however, more than our own, where the division of Christians into two powerful bodies has kept alive an incessant contest among the adherents of the rival Churches. Though there are many points at issue between Catholics and Protestants, on which much of polemical skill has been 429 displayed, yet the simple question of the authority of the Church, is that which is most deserving of their mutual attention. Instead of an intricate maze of disputation, through which one might wander for ever, without coming to any definite conclusion, the controversy on the authority of the Church is palpable to every apprehen- sion. It is one which, though not beyond the reach of the humblest capacity, may yet employ the range of the most vigorous and excursive intellects. Hence, ever since the celebrated conference of Bossuet and Claude, the two most distinguished champions of their respective creeds, the authority of the Church has been an important and unceasing theme of discussion. As it has been the centre of the union of Catholics, it has been the common point of the hostility of Protestants ; and however adverse the creeds, and rancorous the jealousies of the reformed sects, their mutual impatience of control has often sus- pended their intestine division, to league them in oppo- sition to that authority by which they have been pro- scribed. " In contemplating the character of the revolution, which, in the sixteenth century produced the separation of a large portion of the Church from the parent stock, we shall find it marked by a peculiarity which distin- guishes it from every other. Each preceding error was opposed to some particular tenet of Catholic belief; and if it was cherished for some time, it was because authority was rather eluded than resisted. The most contumacious unbelievers were ready to profess their respect for the de- cisions of the proper tribunals; and if they refused acquiescence, it was because they affected to doubt the legitimate exercise of its power, rather than to question its existence. The restless love of novelty exhausted. 430 at length, the circle of human errors, by resting upon one when driven from another, until, finding no new ground on which to repose, it turned upon that authority by which it had been pursued through the labyrinth of its wanderings. This is the new feature that discriminates the errors of modern times. If the Donatists protracted their schisms, it was because they pretended the bishop of Carthage, from whom they separated, in conse- quence of the crimes with which he was charged, had been absolved by corrupt and interested judges. If the followers of Eutyches defended that there was but one nature in Christ after the incarnation, it was, they said, because such a doctrine was included in the definition of the Fathers of Ephesus. The council of Chalcedon, it is true, soon corrected their mistake, and those who were animated with a love of truth and vmity, soon returned to the bosom of the Church : such, however, as resisted the authority of the council of Chalcedon, affected to believe that it was opposed to that of Ephesus, and thus would fain palliate their resistance under the mask of respect for authority. These observations are applicable to almost every error that deformed the faith of the Church as well as to every schism that disturbed its tranquillity during fifteen centuries. The necessity of some coercive authority was generally acknowledged by all, while, in the application of this truth, they ingeniously discovered reasons to justify them in eluding its exercise. Tlie doctrines of one, it was said, had been misrepresented by envy : malevolence had imputed false crimes to another. The Eoman Pontiff had been often imposed on by the artifices of individuals, interested in misinforming him on distant transactions ; and the Fathers of a general council were not unfrequently represented as the factious 481 partisans of some powerful patriarch, jealous of the intiuence of a rival. Such were generally the arguments by which the heretics of former times endeavoured to shield themselves against the spiritual terrors of the Church, and such are the apologies that are still advanced by those historians who are partial to their memory. It was reserved, how- ever, for the spirit of a later age, to assert an unlimited independance of thinking, on the most important subjects of religion. Not content with controverting the truth, it controverts the authority by which truth has been de- cided. While others have sought to diminish Christ's doctrine, by the subtraction of some previous article of belief: it is now attempted to dissipate the whole, by wresting it from the possession of those to whom it has been entrusted. Heretofore, the New Testament was con- sidered as a precious inheritance, bequeathed by Christ to his spouse, for the benefit of her children. To protect it from profanation, it was confided to the apostles as a sacred deposit, and transmitted by them to their suc- cessors, who were to guard it with similar care. Equally vigilant against the craft of the thief and the violence of the robber, they have preserved it unimpaired. When per- secutors strove to destroy this legacy, by consigning the Sacred Volume to the flames, it was preserved by their zeal from the danger with which it was threatened : and when the prodigal children of the Church, abusing her bounty, would fain squander their portion of the in- heritance, and wander into a far country, like a tender parent she wept over their errors, recalling them again to feast in their father's house, and to partake of the ban- quet, in which they might still share, but which she would not suff'er to be dissipated. Now, however, the Church experiences a revolt unex- 432 amplecl in the history of former ages. The natural alliance which mutually converts the Testament of Christ and its guardians — an alliance sealed with his blood — is violated ; and the rich deposit which he bequeathed, is attempted to be scattered abroad ; not only to be enjoyed by the ob- servers, but to be rifled by the violators, of his covenant. Mixed with the impure errors that cover the earth, the truths of this divine Testament, when dispersed out of the Catholic Church, gradually disappear. Like the manna which fed the Israelites from heaven, and which, if col- lected as God had prescribed, became substantial nou- rishment, but vanished from those who sought it any other way ; the Word of God becomes life to those who seek it from the Church, while it eludes the search of all who follow their own caprices. In vain, then, is the world inundated with bibles : the dead letter may be circulated, without being informed by the Spirit, which maketh wise unto salvation. All maybe invited to slake their thirst with the divine word, but let them recollect, that after being forced out of the inclosures of that Church which is called, ' the sealed fountain,' its con- tents, instead of being pure, are the poisoned ' waters of the broken cistern.' "Hence, the strange alliance between infidelity and fanaticism, that characterises our period. Retaining, by the principle of resistance to authority, the very root of infidelity, men still affect to insult the inspired writings for what they ought to believe; the result is such as might be expected. Under the common name of Christ- ianity, infidelity lies disguised; and from the latitude of belief which has resulted from each one's sense of the inspired writings, unbelievers have discovered that to abandon them to the interpretation of each individual, is 433 the most effectual plan to propagate their infidelity. The contest does not now, as heretofore, turn on any peculiar tenet of the Catholic Church : its very authority is aimed tit ; and the abettors of the perfectibility of the human mind flatter themselves that they have superseded the authority of the Church, by having erected the monstrous system of Bible Societies. This is but giving another name to the principle of private judgment, from which the pretended Reformation sprang. The spirit of man is inventive, and one folly quickly succeeds another. However, in this vast design of reducing the world to a uniformity of faith, by the dumb authority of the Bible, the ancient feuds of the sectaries seem to suffer a tempo- rary respite. In the hope of deposing that authority which equally proscribes them all, they forbear advancing their own claims to any peculiar election. Weary of an incessant struggle, in which they had wasted each other's strength, without any prospect of victory, they have adopted more moderate counsels, in order to effect a stronger opposition against the authority of the Church. But this confederacy will soon be dissolved : the elements of discord, of which it is composed, are incapable of strong or lasting cohesion. Like the leagues which were often formed against the Church, this too will soon pass away, and its fleeting existence will be only remembered as another trophy of the strength of that Church, which it was intended to overthrow. " To fix then the faith of the true believer, as well as to enable those who have strayed from the paths of truth, to retrace their wandering footsteps, shall be the object of the succeeding chapters. In the prosecution of a work, in which the elucidation of truth is my aim, I shall abstain from every topic that can be considered only a subject of 2f 434 barren disputation. If candoiu: and temper are deemed essential qualities in every writer, who wishes to make a favourable impression, much more necessary is it for him who labours to promote the interests of charity and the salvation of mankind, to lay aside every acrimonious feel- ing. In entering on a discussion, in which the spiritual interests of millions are involved, a writer must not lose sight of the nature of the object in which he is engaged. It is not a philosophical discussion, of which the issue is to depend upon the subtlety of argument, or the variety of learning, with which either champion shall vindicate his cause. Much learning and ingenuity may be displayed in the support of an erroneous position ; and, if truth were never supposed to triumph, until the spirit of cavil should yield, the sum of certain and indisputable principles would be reduced to a small number. Of the force of subtle and metaphysical arguments, the people are incom- petent judges ; nor can he be supposed the best calculated to guide their belief, who leads them through a labyrinth where but few can follow. The advocate of one system may be satisfied with the evidence by which it is support- ed. But if the process of reasoning, by which he has ar- rived at his conclusions, be intricate, while he displays the force of his own mind, he ought to reflect that such a process is not obvious to every capacity. As the present controversy, then, regards principally the great bulk of mankind, it might happen that the mode of reasoning, in which most ingenuity could be displayed, would be the least adapted to their apprehensions. We are to recollect that it is to the poor that Christ chiefly preached the gos- pel, and that he gave thanks to his heavenly Father, for having revealed to the ' little ones, what he had hidden from the wise and prudent of the world.' [Luke x. 21.) 435 Having, therefore, in view, these words of Christ as our motto, we shall leave to others the subtlety of disputation, conscious that the poor and the little ones are our clients ; and our cause, the interests of their salvation." After a long and very able argument, on the method adopted by Christ of communicating and preserving his doctrines among mankind, or, in other words, on the Ride of Faith^ the learned writer goes on to say : " To preserve these truths, then, which will never cease to inform and vivify the great Catholic body, there must be an authority to guard them. This avithority resides in the living pastors of the Church, who transmit the sacred doctrine, which they inherited, to their immediate suc- cessors. Between them and those successors, there is a sacred covenant not to violate this inheritance. The study of each individual is to preserve unaltered the precious deposit, which he has received ; and thus, while the Pro- testant, like the prodigal child, dissipates his share of the patrimony, the Catholic is careful to treasure it up in the house of his Father. " In vain will it be insinuated, that in the Catholic Church, this treasure is studiously locked up from the necessities of the faithful. No, they are encouraged to use it, they are forbidden to abuse it. The treasure is destined for purchasing an everlasting inheritance ; and not for being wasted according to each one's caprice, in profligacy and riot. For, alas, how often have the profli- gate abused the authority of the sacred text, in giving a sanction to their own disorders ! In teaching the princi- ples of morality, her instructions are always enriched by the truths of revelation ; and, in illustrating her own doc- trines, she appeals to its written testimony. In the great voyage through life, the Protestant may have the chart, 2f 2 iS6 but, wanting" the knowledge which it requires, and bereft of a guide, he is exposed to all the perils of the way ; while the Catholic enjoys all the confidence inspired by the two-fold assistance of chart and guide. If he be ignorant, he trusts to the guide that has already conducted thousands through the same path ; and if he be enlight- ened, so far from his confidence being diminished, it is still heightened when he beholds the Church fearlessly spreading the Scripture before his view ; and finds the most admirable accordance between the instructions of the chart, and the skill of his conductor.,.." ^' Thus, the New Testament contains the inheritance which Christ has bequeathed to his children. Though destined for the benefit of all, therefore, it does not follow that all have a right to its administration. Nay, it is for the benefit of all, that this right should be reserved to a particular body, whose authority and wisdom might moderate those disputes, which could not fail to spring from the passions or ignorance of the people. Behold, then, the simple but infallible rule, by which the Catholic is guided — an adherence to the traditionary doctrine of those, to whom the Redeemer promised that they should never go astray. But it may be asked : is not this infal- libility of the Church proved solely from the Scripture ^ No : its promise is registered in the Scripture, it is true, but its operation lives and is felt through the entire his- tory of the Church. Thus, infallibility was in operation before the promise which sustained it was committed to writing. If, therefore, it never had been recorded in the Scriptures, our certainty of its existence would be still the same, since it reaches us through the equally infallible medium of the writings of the Holy Fathers ; and through the still more unequivocal medium of the power which the 437 Church has always exercised. In the mnl'orm authority which her pastors always enforced, and in the uniform reverence with which her decrees were received, notwith- standing the angry passions, which this exercise of power often awakened in the discontented, we behold a stronger evidence of the promises of Christ, than any writings could convey. " How different, therefore, the confidence of him, who thus relies on the collected wisdom of all ages and nations of the Christian Church, from the perpetual anxiety of the man, who trusts solely to his own, or to the fleeting opinions of a few individuals ? But is not the confidence of the Catholic unreasonable, who thus reposes on the au- thority of others ? Not more unreasonable, than when he commits his life and property to the guardianship of the civil authority of the state. If the moral and metaphysical truths, which form the source of our obligations to God and to society, are inherited by children from their fathers, without the reproach of credulity, why not comnumicate the more mysterious truths of revealed religion, through the same medium of authority ? Those principles which are connected with the preservation of society, are suf- fered to be strengthened by all the natural prejudices of infancy and education ; are the saving truths of the gos- pel, the only ones that should not be allowed to take such strong root, but be rudely torn from the soil, under the pretext that man himself had no share in planting them.? Alas ! in spite of all our efforts, the prejudices of education will prevail, and those who attempt to deprive truth of their alliance, must give their strong assistance to error. As well, then, might you say, that man is unreasonable when he adopts, on the authority ol mankind, those meta- physical truths, which he cannot comprehend ; as that 438 the Catholic is unreasonable, when he reposes on the au- thority of the Catholic Church. Every assent which is not founded on previous examination, is not, therefore, unreasonable. If it were, the number of truths of which we should enjoy conviction, would be limited indeed. Is it by a previous process of reasoning, that each individual is fortified in the conviction of the existence of a supreme Being? If so, it is a process which few are able to ana- lyze. Though it forces itself on the conviction of every mind, still it is so vague in the mode of its conception, that no one can define its form, or trace its origin. Yet, however undefinable, it is still so strong in its operation, that its faith could not be shaken in the most illiterate mind. The evidence of truth, then, is quite distinct from the process of reasoning, by which it is unfolded. Nay, the truths which are the simplest in their nature, and the least susceptible of argumentation, are those which act most strongly on our convictions. Such is the order of nature, observes St. Augustine, that when we learn any thing, reason is anticipated by authority. This profound observation is illustrated by the universal influence of authority over our education. But though truth may be poured into our infant minds, before we could distinguish it from error, we are not, on that account, when our facul- ties are developed, the less sensible of its evidence or force. This is the reason of the calm and settled tranquillity which accompanies the Catholic through life : and which the Protestant may mistake for an unreasonable prostra- tion of his intellect. Having found the truth by that method by which it has been transmitted, it would be folly for him to enquire for that, of which he is already in possession ; and, hence, he is secure from that anxiety which must agitate those who wander from one error to 439 another. All the arguments of uniformity, antiquity, and universality, which fail not to strike every mind, have their silent but powerful influence on the education of every Catholic, and must operate in checking those doubts which are generally the associates of error. From infancy to manhood, from the narrowest state of his intellect to the utmost expansion it can assume, the Catholic finds, in the treasures of his religion, sufficient truth to satisfy all the cravings of his mind. " If, in his youth, he is indebted to his parents for the rudiments of his faith, it is because, as St. Augustine remarks, the relations of nature require such subjection. His feeble mind must be yet fed with the milk of Christian doctrine, because it is incapable of stronger nourishment. He then receives those seeds of Christian faith, of which he beholds in every future instruction, nothing else but a f idler developement. Examination, therefore, instead of awakening doubt, only strengthens conviction. From his pastor he learns the same doctrine which he learned under his mother's tutelage, with this difference only, that it is accompanied with stronger reasons, which are accommo- dated to his growing understanding. Could we suppose that the activity with which man thirsts after knowledge, should prompt him to distrust the narrow source from which his science has been hitherto derived ; his distrust is checked or anticipated by the instruction which refers him to more abundant sources of information. He hears his pastor confidently declare : " The doctrine which I preach is not mine, but that of him who sent me." (John, vii. 16.) In- stead, therefore, of requiring that any rest their faith on his authority, the pastor raises the confidence of his people to a still higher authority on which his own is dependent. The Catholic, then, far from seeing his curiosity checked, finds it still invited to a more ample investigation He heai-s the bishop preach from his episcopal chair ; who, instead of arrogating" any power to himself, declares that he, too, is the organ of a Church, from whose decisions he cannot depart. The immutable decisions of this Church, to which the sincere and docile Christian is ultimately re- ferred, he finds written in her liturgies, and embodied with her public worship. They are identified with her cere- monies, they are palpable in her festivals ; and, if he can trace back her history, they will meet him in every period of her existence. Thus he discovers nothing isolated or solitaiy in his inquiry ; nothing partial or mutilated in his faith. Every testimony which he consults, is only a link which connects his belief with some other monument ; thus, as it were, stretching through every age, and spread- ing over every country ; in a word, he finds that the faith which he drank in his infancy, was but a partial stream, conveyed to him from the pure, the ancient, and the uni- versal doctrine of the Catholic Church." — Dr. ^>i achale's Evidences and Doctrines of the Catholic Church, Vol. I. pp. 268-279, 365-366, 379-386.^ APPENDIX. No. I. Observations on the Claim of the Reverend John Daniel on the French government, rejected by the British Commissioners; and which rejection has been confirmed by the judgment of the Privy Council. The Claim of the Reverend John Daniel, President of the English Secular College at Douay, to compensation for property confiscated hy the execution of decrees passed in France since the beginning of the year 1793, was duly presented within the time prescribed by the treaty of 30th May, 1814, and by the convention of 20th November, 1815, to the honourable Commissioners appointed to exe- cute the said treaty and convention. It has been shewn, to the satisfaction of the British Commissioners and of the Lords of the Privy Council, that the Reverend John Daniel was a British subject ; and that the property held by him at the time of its confiscation, on the 12th October, 1793, and then seized in execution of the decree passed on the 10th October, 1793, for the confiscation of the property of all subjects of his Britannic Majesty in France, was confiscated in consequence of his being a British subject. 442 APPENDIX. The claim of the Reverend John Daniel having been rejected by the British Commissioners, not for want of evidence in the documents produced to support it, but ou the ground (as alleged) that the English college at Douay was deemed a French establishment, and was not included in the view of the treaties ; reasons which the claimant deemed unsatisfactory : — an appeal was preferred to his Majesty's most honourable Privy Council, against the award of rejection given by the Commissioners. On Friday, the 25th November, 1825, the judgment of the Lords of the Privy Council was pronounced by Lord Gifford, confirming the rejection of the Claim. — The fol- lowing is a correct extract of the judgment, taken from Mr. Gurney's short-hand notes. Lord Gifford. — " In considering this question, it is necessary to attend to the nature and object of these esta- blishments, and to the intent and meaning of the treaties under which the indemnity is asked. — Now the institu- tions in behalf of which the Claims are made, although their members were British subjects, and their property derived from funds constituted by British subjects, were in the nature of French corporations : they were locally established in a foreign territory, because they could not exist in England ; their end and object were not autho- rised, but were directly opposed to the British law ; and the funds dedicated to their maintenance were employed for that purpose in France, because they could not be so employed in England ; and if other circumstances were wanting to ^Ji. their character, it appears that these esta- blishments, as well as their revenues, are subject to the control of the French government; and the conduct of that government, since the restoration of the monarchy, shews, that if all had been suffered to remain entire during APPENDIX. 445 the period of the revolution, the monarchical government would have taken the whole under its superintendance and management. — We think, therefore, that they must be deemed French establishments. " Then are such establishments, though represented by British subjects, to claim under the treaties ? — Treaties, like other compacts, are to be construed according to the intention of the contracting parties ; and looking at the occasion and object of those treaties, we think that it was not, or could not have been in the contemplation of the contracting parties, that the British government should demand, or the French government grant compensation for property held in trust for establishments in France, and for purposes inconsistent with British laws, and which were subject to the control of the French government. We therefore think that, having regard to the nature and character of the establishments which the claimants al- lege themselves to represent, and to the purjjoses to which the property, in resj^ect whereof compensation is claimed, was dedicated, the claimants have not brought their case within the meaning or spirit of the treaties ; that the rejection of their claims, therefore, by the Com- missioners was right, and that consequently the award must be confirmed. " Upon the hearing of the appeal, however, it was fur- ther insisted, that the appellants are entitled to compensa- tion for the loss they have individually sustained, by having been deprived (in consequence of the seizure of the posses- sions and property of the establishments) of the salary and income enjoyed by them as members of those establish- ments, and that it should be referred back to the Commis- sioners, to reconsider their award in that respect. — It is to be observed, that no such claim appears to have been 444 APPENDIX. made before the Commissioners ; and therefore that, in strictness, it cannot be urged upon this appeal ; but sup- posing that it could, we are of opinion that, as no com- pensation can, for the reasons already given, be demanded for the corpus of the property seized, no valid claim can be sustained by any members of those bodies for the in- come derivable from it." Though the claims of the Reverend John Daniel for the English college at Douay, of the Reverend John Bew for the English seminary at Paris, and of the Reverend Francis Tuite and others, for the English college of St. Omer, were presented as distinct and unconnected claims, yet they were confounded together by the Commissioners and by the Privy Council. The English secular college of Douay, for the property of which the Reverend John Daniel claimed compensa- tion, merely existed on French soil as an isolated English establishment, and was foreign in every respect to France ; to the government of which country neither the members nor superiors were ever bound by any oath or promise of allegiance. It had continued, from its beginning to the period of the French revolution, in the free exercise of its administration, and of the administration of its property, independently of any authority, superintendance, or con- trol in France. It was, indeed, subject to the municipal laws of the town in which it was situated, as any English commercial house in France would be subject to the same. This college was never connected with any French esta- blishment or institution. It was not incorporated in the university of Douay, neither was it subject to the rector or master of the university. The presidents of this college, all subjects of his Britannic Majesty, were never chosen, nor presented, nor nominated, nor appointed by any per- APPENDIX. 445 son, power, or authority, civil or ecclesiastical, in France. In no respect, therefore, before the French revolution, could this English secular college of Douay be deemed a French establishment. The Commissioners themselves, in their " Case in sup- port of the Award," of rejection, after citing an edict of the King of France, issued in the year 1763, which pro- vided for the future government of all colleges not de- pending on the university, whether the same were under the direction of " Congregations Seculieres ou Reguli- eres," or not, made this acknowledgment (p. 10 of the Case) : — " the Board further find, that there is no proof before them whether any letters patent were or were not issued by the King of France relative to the said college of Douay, in virtue of this edict." The continuation of the ancient form of administration of this English college of Douay, after the issuing of the above edict to the time of the French revolution, was a public proof that it was not affected by the provisions of the said edict, but that, being an English college, it was left, as before, to the free exercise of its own administration. This fact further shews, that, before the revolution in France, the college of Douay was not treated, nor considered as a French establish- ment. The revolutionary government of France considered and treated this college not as a French but as an English establishment. It sequestered and confiscated the pro- perty of this college, in the year 1793, not as the property of a French but of an English establishment, at the time, and not till then, when the property of all English indi- viduals and companies was confiscated. In proof of these two assertions, it was shewn in evi- dence, that when the French National Assembly, on the 5th 446 APPENDIX. November, 1790, decreed the property of all establish- ments of education in France to be national property, and ordered it to be disposed of as such, the same Assembly passed a law on the 7th of the same month and year, exempting the British property of this college, as well as that of other British Catholic Establishments in France, from the operation of the above-mentioned decree of the 5th. This law was grounded on the " Rapport des Comites Ecclesiastiques et Diplomatiques," made by M. Chassey, on the 28th October, in which these estabhshments were presented to the deliberation of the Assembly as foreign establishments. " Tel est Tobjet de petitions des etablisse- mens etrangers dont vous avez renvoye Texamen a vos devix comites reunis, pour y faire droit. Devez vous con- server dans le sein de la France des etablissemens etran- gers ?" See Chassey's Report of the law of 7th November, 1790, from which it will appear that the National Assem bly in exempting this college from the decree passed against French establishments, considered this not as a French, but as an English establishment. — Moreover, when the National Convention made a decree on the 8th of March, 1793, relative to the sale of goods belonging to colleges and other establishments of public instruction in France, it made an express exception in favour of the foreign establishments mentioned in the law of 7th Nov. 1790, article VI. " Sont exceptes pareillement les biens de tout genre formant la dotation de tons les etablissemens etrangers mentionnes dans la loi du 7 Novembre 1790." And under that exception the English College of Douay continued until the decree whereby British property was confiscated. 2ndly. It was shewn that the decree of the 10th Octo- ber, 1793, by the execution of which the property of the APPENDIX. 447 English College of Douay was confiscated, did not affect any French establishments (all which had been dissolved and disposed of as national property by the decrees of 5th November, 1790, and 8th March, 1793)but that it affected only British establishments and British property in France, whether held for the purposes of commerce or education. Therefore, this English secular college of Douay, for the property of which Mr. John Daniel claims compensa- tion according to the treaties, was not considered or treated by the revolutionary government of France as a French establishment, any more than English commercial houses established in different towns in France, and having property in the French funds, were considered as French houses of commerce. As the Reverend John Daniel was deprived of his col- lege in October, 1793, because it was a British Establish- ment, and because he was a British subject, he had reason to expect, that if compensation should ever be made to British subjects for the losses they had suffered by the execution of the confiscatory decrees of the revolutionary government of France against British property and Bri- tish subjects, he should be admitted to his share in the compensation. On the 30th May, 1814, a treaty was made, and on the 20th November, 1815, a more explicit convention was concluded between the French and English governments, for granting compensation to all subjects of his Britannic Majesty who had been deprived of their property in France in consequence of decrees of sequestration or confiscation passed by the French government since the beginning of the year 1793. The late much esteemed and respected Marquis of Londonderry, was the English minister who carried on and perfected the said treaty and convention. 448 APPENDIX. As the Reverend John Daniel is a British subject, and was deprived of the propert}^ of which he was in possession, on the 12th October, 1793, by the execution of the decree of 10th October in the same year, for the confiscation of the property of all subjects of his Britannic Majesty, it is submitted that he is included within the treaty and con- vention. As the Rev. John Daniel has this clear and positive right to compensation, it is submitted that he cannot in justice be deprived of it, unless it can be shewn that by the express terms and conditions of the treaty and con- vention, he is excluded from the benefit of compensation thereby stipulated for in favour of all subjects of his Bri- tannic Majesty, whose property had been confiscated. The treaty makes no exception, the commissioners can make none. The next question is, whether the claim to compensa- tion for the confiscated property of this establishment of Douay College was not within the spirit of the treaty and convention, or whether the same was excluded therefrom in the intentions of the contracting parties, the French and English governments ? It is true, that treaties, like other compacts, are to be construed, where the construction admits of doubt, through the intervention of the intention of the contracting par- ties, if such intentions can be ascertained. But whether it was, or was not, the intention of the contracting parties to exclude from the benefit of the treaties made in favour of all subjects of his Britannic Majesty, this Claim pre- sented by the Reverend John Daniel, a British subject, for the value of the property of his establishment, which had been confiscated like other British property in France, is a question of fact. No positive proof whatever of the APPENDIX. 449 fact of this intended and alleged exclusion has been pro- duced, and all that is said in the Judgment is, " Looking at the occasion and object of these treaties, we think it was not, and could not, have been in the contemplation of the contracting parties, that the British government should demand, or the French government grant, compen- sation for the property held in trust for establishments in France, and for purposes inconsistent with British laws, and which were subject to the control of the French government." Whether it could or could not have been in the contem- plation of the contracting parties, to stipulate for compen- sation for such establishments, is a matter of speculation, but not of fact. The question is, whether both the con- tracting parties, with the knowledge of the nature of this establishment, positively meant to exclude it from the benefit of the treaty which was made in favour of all Bri- tish subjects } And whether it is not virtually comprised therein, as well as all other British claims admitted to be so comjDrised ? Two Roman Catholic seminaries, and two religious houses in Canada, had property in the French funds be- fore the Revolution, which was confiscated, in 1793, by the same decree as confiscated the funded property held by Mr. Daniel for Douay College. — Did the contracting par- ties in the treaties actually intend to grant compensation for the property held in trust for Douay College } Can it be positively shewn by any document, that the latter was not as much in the contemplation of the contracting par- ties as the former ? The Commissioners having awarded a compensation for the confiscated property held in trust for the seminaries and religious houses in Canada, why have they rejected the claim of Douay College.? — The 2g ' 450 APPENDIX. compensation to the Canadian establishments was granted by an Inscription in the Great Book of the Public Debt of France, according to the mode of payment prescribed by the treaty. Would it have been inconsistent with any British law, if the Rev. John Daniel had received his compensation in France, according to the treaty, by a similar Inscription in the same Book? Against the assertion, " That it was not in the contem- plation of the contracting parties, that the British govern- ment should demand, or the French government grant, compensations for property held in trust for such esta- blishments in France as Douay College," positive docu- ments and proofs may be adduced. I. On the part of the French Government. The convention was signed November '20th, 1815. Considering that some sequestered property, belonging to Mr. Daniel's college of Douay, still remained unsold in 1816, and that there might be a considerable delay before the Commissioners appointed to execute the treaty would be able to put Mr. Daniel in possession of it, a petition was presented to the King of France for the immediate restoration of that tmsold property to Mr. Daniel. It was restored to him in his quality of President of Douay College, by an ordinance of the King of France, dated 25th January, 1816. But lest this act, putting Mr. Daniel in possession of the property which still remained unsold, should prejudice his right to claim by the benefit of the treaty and convention, that portion of the property of Douay College which had been confiscated, the King added this clause in the first article of the ordinance: " Le tout neanmoins sans prejudice de I'Article IV. addi- tionel du Traite de Paris, du 30 Mai 1814, et des Articles APPENDIX. 451 1" et V. de la Convention de Paris, du 20 Novembre, 1815." This was an affirmative acknowledgment on the part of the French government, that compensation should be granted through the treaty and conv^ention for property which was held in trust for Douay College, and which had been confiscated as British property. As the King of France, in 1814 and 1815, was the party made responsible, and who granted a compensation to British subjects for their property which had been confis- cated by the revolutionary government in 1793, an official act on the part of His Most Christian Majesty, referring a British subject to the Commission appointed to execute the treaty and convention, in order to his receiving com- pensation for the value of his confiscated property, is surely a positive proof, that, in the intention of the French go- vernment, that person was included in the benefit of the treaty. Mr. Daniel was referred to that Commission for compensation for the value of that very funded property which has been claimed of the British Commissioners. By the Ordinance of the 25th January, 1816, above alluded to. Art. I., Mr. Daniel was to be put in possession of all moveable and immoveable property, not sold, be- longing to his college. It appeared to some, that the term moveable property might include the funded pro- perty of the college, or the Rentes sur I'Etat ; an applica- tion was, therefore, made to the Minister of Finances to have the value of this funded property transferred by a new inscription to the name of the Reverend John Daniel, in the great Book of the Public Debt of France. The Minister answered, that this could not be done but through the Commission appointed to execute the treaty and con- vention made for the purpose of granting compensation to 2g2 452 APPENDIX. British subjects. — The following- is a translation of the official answer from the Ministry of Finances (the original of which is in the hands of Dr. Poynter) on the subject of this application, dated 5th April, 1816, and addressed to Mr. Deshajes, Public Notary, in Paris, who was employed to transact this business at the Treasury for Dr. Poynter, who acted in virtue of a power of Attorney from the Rev. John Daniel. The Chief Clerk of the Fmancial Dc- Ministry of Finances. partment to Mr. Deshiiyes, Notary in Paris. Sir, The Minister has received, to- Bepartment for the Debt gether w^th your letter of the 29th ult. inscribed. ^^g Statement of the Rentes to which the English Colleges and Seminaries esta- ===== blished in France are proprietors on the government. Office ofthe Great Book. lam directed by his Excellency to apprise you that he cannot, according to the legislation now in force, proceed in getting the Rentes in question in- scribed without a previous liquidation, which liquidation he is not legally au- Nota.— All letters in an- thorised to effect, and which can only swer, or others, must Ije . . . addressed, under cover, be done by the Commissioners appointed ll^t'lmir/eM^'^ in pursuance of the Treaty of the 20th fault of which they will ;N"oyejn]3ei. last; it is therefore abso- not be taken m. lutely necessary that Bishop Poynter of London, should, as has been recom- mended to him by the Minister, present direct to the said Commissioners, the APPENDIX. 453 claims which he has to prefer on account Observations relative to of the Inscription of Rentes belonging the Inscription ot the ^ r Rentes claimed by the to the Establishments, the concerns of English Colleges and Se- , . , i i • minaries. whicn are entrusted to nim. I have the honour to salute you very sincerely, (Signed) Harm and. {Sujjerscribed) Mr. Deshayes, Notary, No. 9, Qiiai de I'Ecole, Paris. By this official answer from the French government, directions were given to Dr. Poynter to present to the Commissioners appointed to execute the convention of 20th November, 1815, his claims for the inscription of the rents belonging to this establishment, for the inscrij^tion of that very funded property which has been claimed through the Commissioners. Probably this is the only British claim which was di- rectly and expressly referred by the French government to the Commissioners for compensation. As it appears from these documents, that it was in the intention and contemplation of the French government to grant compensation for the property held in trust for the establishment of Douay College, whether that establish- ment was or was not inconsistent with British laws, or subject to the control of the French government ; as the government of France did, in fact, place a sum of money in the hands of the British government, for the purpose of making compensation to the claimant for this establish- ment, as well as for the purpose of making compensation to other claimants for other British property confiscated in France, the British government, by accepting this money, engaged itself to pay the compensation to this claimant, in furtherance of the intentions of the French 454 APPENDIX. g"overnmeiit, provided the claimant should, like other British subjects, prove his right to compensation, accord- ing to the terms of the treaty and convention. If the British government had conceived, that it could not w^ith propriety undertake the commission of paying the compensation which the French government granted " for property held in trust for such establishments in France, and for purposes inconsistent with British laws, and which were subject to the control of the French govern- ment," it is humbly submitted, that the British govern- ment ought not to have received money from the French government for that purpose ; or, having received it, it ought either to pay it in France, according to the treaty, to the claimant for this establishment, or to return it to the French government, leaving to that government the charge of satisfying the demand itself. This claim was before the Commissioners in 1818, Wlien the British government, in 1818, received a capital jDroducing three millions, five hundred francs interest, as the final payment to satisfy the claims of all British sub- jects on the French government, which were then before the Commissioners; if it had in its calculation positively excluded the value of the claim of Mr. Daniel for Douay College, the British government would, and, as it is humbly submitted, ought to have signified to the French government, that it had reduced its demand in favour of British claimants, according to the probable amount of the excluded claims, and would and ought to have de- clared to Mr. Daniel and other similar claimants, that they must now seek compensation from the French government, and not through the British Commissioners appointed to execute the treaty, and would have signified to the Commissioners that they should not proceed any further with this claim, APPENDIX. 455 The Act of Parliament of the 19th May, 1819, to enable certain Commissioners fully to carry into effect several conventions for liquidating claims of British subjects, and others, against the government of France, thus enacts re- latively to the last convention of 1818 : " And whereas a convention, between His Majesty and His Most Christian Majesty, was signed at Paris, on the 25th day of April, 1818, for the final arrangement of the claims of his ma- jesty's subjects on the government of France, by the first article of which said last mentioned convention, it was agreed, that, in order to effect the payment and entire ex- tinction as well of the capital as of the interest thereupon due to the subjects of his Britannic majesty, and of which the payment had been claimed in virtue of the additional article to the treaty of 30th May, 1814, and also in virtue of the first herein before mentioned convention of the 20th day of November, 1815, there should be inscribed in the great book of the public debt of France, a perpetual annuity of three millions of francs, representing a capital of sixty millions of francs, &c. — And whereas his Royal Highness the Prince Regent was pleased, by this commis- sion, under the great seal of the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, dated the 15th June, 1818, to nomi- nate and appoint Colin Alexander Mackenzie, Esquire, George Lewis Newnham, Esquire, and George Hammond, Esquire, to be his commissioners of liquidation, arbitra- tration and award, for the purpose of acting on behalf of his majesty in England, according to the provisions of all the said herein before recited several conventions, and to take into consideration all the claims of his majesty's sub- jects, which may have been at due time and in proper form presented to them, and to award the payment of such sums, as may appear to be justly due, to his majesty's said 456 APPENDIX. subjects — Be it therefore enacted, that in order to enable the said commissioners to complete the exoneration and liquidation of the claims of such persons who shall have caused their names to be duly inserted in the herein before mentioned registers, &c." According to this Act, made since the assignment of the last sum called for in order to effect the payment and en- tire extinction, as well of the capital as of the interest thereupon due to the subjects of his Britannic majesty, we see that compensation was to be granted for property, the payment of which had been claimed, in virtue of the additional article to the treaty of 30th May, 1814, and also in virtue of the Convention of 20th November, 1815. — Hence, the claims grounded on the treaty and convention of 1814 and 1815 were not shaken or changed by the con- vention of 25lh April, 1818, nor by this Act of Parlia- ment, but they were thereby confirmed. The Commis- sioners were thereby appointed to act according to the provisions of all the before recited conventions, and to take into consideration all the claims of his majesty's sub- jects, w^hich may have been at due times and in proj^er form presented to them. — It is not pretended that this claim was not presented in due time and in proper form. This claim of Mr. Daniel was grounded on the treaty and convention of 1814 and 1815, and was presented to the Commissioners in due time and proper form ; conse- quently it was not shaken or changed by the convention of 25th April, 1818, and the commissioners having a de- posit in their hands for the payment of this as well as of all other British claims which have been presented in due time and in proper form, were bound to grant an award of compensation, in favour of this, as well as of others which are supported by such documents as are required by the treaties and conventions. APPENDIX. 457 This claim is supported by such documents. If no other arguments or observations were added, it is humbly, but confidently submitted, that the preceding appear to be abundantly sufficient to shew, that the claim of the Rev. John Daniel was included in the treaties, and that he is entitled to the benefit of compensation. II. On the part of the British Government. The late Lord Londonderry was the negociator on the part of the British government in the treaty of the 30th May, 1814, and of the convention of the 20th November, 1815, and being Secretary of State for the Foreign Depart- ment, he must well have understood the scope of all the articles and conditions of the convention of the 25th April, 1818. The constant support which Lord Londonderry gave from the year 1818 till August 1822 (the time of his death) to Dr. Poynter, who prosecuted the Claim for the property of Douay College, in virtue of a power of attorney from the Reverend John Daniel, was an undeniable proof that it was in the intention and contemplation of the British government, as a contracting party, to allow compensation for the property of this establishment, according to the treaties and conventions. It should here be remarked that, after the convention of 1818, and the act of parliament of 1819, the Commis- sioners proceeded with this Claim; and when, in 1819, the Commissioners had some doubts concerning the ad- missibility of this Claim to the benefit of the treaty, Lord Londonderry, in consequence of an application to him by Dr. Poynter, by a Letter addressed to his lordship, and dated the 11th June, 1819, directed them to proceed in it- 458 APPENDIX. The Commissioners did in consequence proceed with great activity for several months, in examining documents re- lating to this Claim, and preparing for its liquidation, till their work was suspended for want of certain papers, which the French Commissioners in Paris refused to furnish. The British Commissioners in London directed D. R. Morrier, Esquire, Br. Commissioner of Deposit in Paris, to demand the documents wanted. In their letter to Mr. Morrier, dated the 8th September, 1820, they express the conviction they were come to on this point, that they considered Dr. Poynter, w^ho was prosecuting this Claim for the property of Douay College, " as an object of the convention, and entitled to liquidation." (See the letter to Mr. Morrier.)— In fact, w^hy did the British Commis- sioners claim these documents, which they then deemed requisite for the liquidation of the Claim of Mr. Daniel, if they had not considered this Claim as included in the contemplation of the treaties they were then executing ? The documents called for were not obtained; which was chiefly to be ascribed to the opposition of one of the French Commissioners in Paris. To overcome this diffi- culty, Mr. Mackenzie, one of the British Commissioners, on the 29th August, 1821, made a proposition to Dr. Poynter, as coming from Mr. Hamilton, Under-secretary in the Foreign Department, that the English government would afford its assistance towards procuring the docu- ments required, if the English Catholic Bishops would sign a declaration, that the value of the property claimed by the Reverend John Daniel, when received, should be employed in ecclesiastical education in England, and not in France. The following declaration was signed by Dr. Milner, APPENDIX. 459 Dr. Poynter, and Dr. Smith, and was confirmed by Mr. Daniel, as soon as it was made known to him. Declaration. — " The undersigned declare to his Majesty's government, and to the honourable Commis- sioners, that as soon as, by their kind interposition and assistance, the value of the property attached to their English secular college, formerly at Douay, shall be re- stored to them, the whole of it shall be remitted to Eng- land, as it shall be awarded ; shall be placed in the English funds, and be for ever employed in England, and not in France, for the proper purposes of its ecclesiastical des- tination." This declaration, signed as above, was delivered by Dr. Poynter to Mr. Mackenzie, and presented by him to Mr. Hamilton, in the month of September, 1821 ; and Mr. Mackenzie reported to Dr. Poynter, that the declaration gave complete satisfaction. Is not this an affirmative proof that the Marquis of Londonderry, from whose office this proposal was made through the Commissioners, considered that this Claim for the property held in trust for Douay College was included in the contemplation of the treaty of the 30th May, 1814, and of the conventions of the 20th November, 1815, and of the 25th April, 1818? This proposal was made by the British government, not only with a knowledge of the ecclesiastical destination of this property, but even with a requisition that it should be employed in England for the proper purposes of this destination. The Catholic Bishops in England having performed the condition required on their part by the British govern- ment, the British Commissioners, by a Letter of the 28th day of September, 1821, addressed to the Marquis of Lon- donderry, requested his lordship to favour them with his 460 APPENDIX. diplomatic assistance, to overcome the difficulties opposed to the j)roduction of the documents called for : they sub- mitted to his lordship the propriety of instructing his Majesty's Ambassador at Paris to demand the documents in question. Lord Londonderry wrote to his Majesty's Ambassador at Paris, Sir Charles Stuart, in strong terms to that effect. The letters were at the house of the Embassy in 1823. It is submitted, that these facts constitute a continued chain of positive proofs that Lord Londonderry, than whom nobody could be better acquainted with the meaning of the treaties, considered the Claim of the Reverend John Daniel (for the liquidation of which he lent his diplomatic aid to obtain the required documents) included in the contemplation of the parties to those treaties. The documents were not obtained. — In August, 1822, Mr. Mackenzie, the Commissioner, informed Dr. Poynter that, if they were not procured, the claim of the Reverend John Daniel must be rejected. — Dr. Poynter went to the Marquis of Londonderry, to solicit his effectual inter- ference. His lordship promised to demand the papers in a diplomatic way, if the Commissioners would officially inform him that the documents had been called for and refused. He added to Dr. Poynter that, if he should go to Paris to expedite the business, he would give him a letter to Sir Charles Stuart. Dr. Poynter went to Paris, with a diplomatic letter of recommendation to Sir Charles Stuart. Still such was the obstinacy of the French Commissioners, that, notwith- standing all the demands and efforts of Sir Charles Stuart, the documents could not be obtained. Dr. Poynter stated these difficulties to the successor of the late Marquis of Londonderry, the Right Honourable APPENDIX. 461 Mr. Canning, in a letter, dated the 14th February, 1823, in which, citing article V. of the convention t^f the 20th November, 1815, applicable to this case, Dr. Poynter requested Mr. Canning to be so good as to direct the British Commissioners to proceed in liquidating Mr. Daniel's claim (as they might be authorized to do according to the article cited) without the formal documents, which had been refused by the French government, provided the Commissioners judged that other authentic documents, which Dr. Poynter had delivered to them, would supply the want of the papers refused. In his letter to Mr. Can- ning, Dr. Poynter clearly stated the nature and purposes of the monies which were the object of his Claim. Mr. Canning was pleased to give directions to the Commis- sioners to the effect desired. — Mr. Mackenzie communi- cated to Dr. Poynter the agreeable news of Mr. Canning's instructions, and congratulated Dr. Poynter on his suc- cess. The Commissioners, in consequence of these instruc- tions, immediately invited all other Catholic claimants for property belonging to their former ecclesiastical or religious establishments in France, to furnish them with the strongest proofs they could in support of their respec- tive Claims. The following is an extract of the circular, dated London, the 2nd April, 1823, which was written by the Secretary of the Commissioners to the superiors of the religious communities claiming compensation in virtue of the treaties. " The French government having refused to deliver up the papers belonging to the British Catholic establish- ments subsisting in France in the year 1793, and for which Claims were entered at this office, — the Commissioners have received instructions from his Majesty's government 46*2 APPENDIX. to proceed without further delay to the adjudication of these cases on such other proofs as can be adduced. (Signed,) " Chas. B. Baldwin, Secretary:" These claimants are not called upon to bring proofs to shew that they were included in the intentions of the French and English governments, the contracting parties in the treaties, but only to produce the strongest evidences they could to support the items of their Claims, and to supply for the absence of some formal documents, which might be called for, to prove certain particular points relating to the sums they fonnerly held in the French funds. — This carries, without doubt, it is submitted, an acknowledgment of their admission to the benefit of the treaties, provided they satisfy the conditions required for the liquidation of claims within the contemplation of the contracting governments. But what is it that the Commissioners here acknow- ledged 1 — They acknowledged that " The Commissioners have received instructions from his Majesty's government to proceed, without further delay, to the adjudication of these cases (of the Claims for property belonging to Ca- tholic ecclesiastical or religious establishments) on such other proofs as can be adduced." How could his Majesty's government give instructions to the Commissioners appointed to execute the treaties made between the French and English governments for granting compensation to British claimants on the French government, and direct them to proceed to the adjudica tion of the cases of particular British claimants, unless his Majesty's government considered these particular claimants as included within the benefit of those treaties.? With all these affirmative proofs supplied by the late Marquis of Londonderry, the British negociator in the APPENDIX. 463 treaty and convention, by Sir Charles Stuart, by Mr, Canning, and by the Commissioners themselves, shewing that, in iact, the Claim of the Reverend John Daniel was not excluded by the British government from the benefit of the treaties, but that it was equally included in the contemplation of the British government as the claim of every other British subject; it is difficult to conjecture on what documents, or on what information, the statement, that it was not in the contemplation even of the British government to include this Claim within the treaties made in favour of all British subjects, was founded. By the general terms of the treaties and of the act of parliament, this Claim is included; and by the conduct of the late King of France and of his ministers, explaining their sense of the treaty, there cannot be a doubt that the claimant for this property was considered by them as within the provisions and benefit of those treaties. The French government, which granted the compensa- tion, the English negociator, who accepted the compen- sation, both knew perfectly well the nature and object of the Catholic establishment of Douay College, and neither excluded it from the benefit of such treaties in common with other British demands. The property claimed was confiscated because it was British property ; why should not an indemnity be granted for it as such? If the British government had intended to exclude the claimant, the Rev. John Daniel, from the comjDcnsation he had a right to claim, according to the express tenor of the trea- ties, why was not this declared from the beginning .? Why did Lord Londonderry during so many years support Dr. Poynter, the agent for Mr. Daniel, in the prosecution of this claim before the Commissioners appointed to exe- cute the treaties ? Why did he direct the Commissioners 464 APPENDIX. to proceed in preparing for its liquidation, when they had entertained some doubts concerning its admissibility ? — Why did he require the before-mentioned declaration from the English Catholic bishops, the vicars-apostolic ? Why did the Commissioners include this claim in the list which they annually delivered to Parliament, of claims which still remained to be liquidated ? Why was the claimant put to great trouble and expence in prosecuting this claim, and in carrying it before the privy council ; when, by telling him at the beginning that he was not included in the treaty, all this would have been saved ? — Who was more qualified to know than Lord Londonderry, whether the claimant was an object of the treaty or not ? His lordship supported the claimant, as being entitled to the benefit of its provisions. — It is quite impossible to suppose that his lordship knew that the claimant was excluded from it, and, at the same time, gave him constant en- couragement and support in the ^prosecution of his claim. N. B. Consistently with the existing laws, the lords in council might not have had it in their power to pronounce any other decision, than that which they have placed upon record ; but had the claimants been any other description of persons, with a similar impediment in their way, there can be no doubt but a bill of indemnity would have been demanded, and passed, to enable the council to liquidate the claim, with the money which had been appropriated to the purpose, and which had been paid by the French government with that view. APPENDIX. No. II. SPEECH OF MR. SHEIL, At the Association y on moving an Address to the King, on the last Day of the Fourteen Days Meeting, Mr. Sheil rose and said — I gave notice that I should move that an address should be presented to the King, founded upon the letter written by the authority of his Majesty, by Lord Sidmouth, on the 23rd of September, 1 821 . I hold that letter in my hand. The following pas- sage deserves to be extracted: — "I am commanded (says my Lord Sidmouth) to state, that the testimonies of duti- ful and affectionate attachment which his Majesty has received from all classes and descriptions of his Irish subjects, have made the deepest impression on his mind; and that he looks forward to the period when he shall re-visit them, with the strongest feelings of satisfaction. His Majesty trusts, that, in the mean time, not only the spirit of loyal union which now so generally exists, will remain unabated and unimpaired, but that every cause of irritation will be avoided and discountenanced, mutual forbearance and goodwill observed and encouraged, and a security be thus afforded for a continuance of that con- cord among themselves, which is not less essential to his Majesty's happiness, than to their own, and which it has been the chief object of his Majesty, during his residence in this country, to cherish and promote." (Loud Cheers.) •2h 466 APPENDIX. I have read this extract from this epistolary sanative of the evils which afflict this country. — But, in reading it, I found it difficult not to pause and break into exclama- tion, at almost every section of this piece of amiable diplomacy — for, in reading it, the events by which this utterly abortive admonition, unsustained by any practical measure for the conciliation of Ireland, has been followed, pressed themselves upon my recollection, and I could not shut out from my memory, the scenes of ferocious discord which succeeded, almost immediately after the departure of our gracious Sovereign, and the bequest of his benevo- lent recommendation. Let me be allowed to revert to the passage which I have read, and put it into a free but re- sj)ectful analysis. The interpreter of his Majesty's sensi- bilities, my Lord Sidmouth, speaks of " the affectionate attachment" of the Irish people, and " of the deepest impression which had been made upon his Majesty's mind. Well might he speak of the " affectionate attach- ment" which was manifested towards our Sovereign. Do you remember, (you cannot fail to do so) the glorious spec- tacle which was presented upon his arrival amongst us ? I do not believe that in the annals of romantic loyalty, and in all the records of the wild chivalry of allegiance, an example could be found of more high and unanimous enthusiasm, than was displayed by the universal masses of ardent and devoted population, which hailed the entrance of King George the Fourth into this great metropolis. If most of you had not witnessed that extraordinary scene, I might attempt to describe it: — but the reality is too deeply imprinted in your recollections, to admit of any successful delineation, and you could not fail to feel that any picture, no matter how richly tinted, must be greatly below the dignity and grandeur of that important APPENDIX, 467 national event. I will not, therefore, attempt to paint what is inlaid in such fresh colours in the memories of every one of you. I will not tell you in what a noble triumph of peace, in what an ovation of concord, the Sovereign of the empire, of which Ireland constitutes so large a department, entered this great city. I will not recall to you the array of myriads, who were assembled to greet him, and who, with uplifted eyes and hands, and with voices, into which their hearts were thrown, sent up their invocations for his welfare : — I will not tell you how George the Fourth looked, and must have felt, upon that lofty and almost sublime occasion. If I made such an attempt, you would stop and chide me — you would say, that I fell far beneath the glory and magnificence of the scene which I should endeavour to present to you. — It is enough, therefore, that I should make a simple mention of that singular exhibition of national enthusiasm, in order to bring it back, in all its vividness, to your minds. It is stated, that the " deepest impression " was made upon his Majesty's mind. I entertain no doubt of it. How was it possible that he should behold such demonstrations of affection and of fidelity, without a profound appreciation of the qualities of the j^eople from which those noble feel- ings derived their origin ? How was it possible that he should witness what he beheld on his arrival — but above all, how could he behold what took place on his depar- ture, without a profound and thrilling emotion ? He stood upon the shore — he was surrounded by his people — he heard their prayers for his happiness offered up from hearts as honest as ever sent an orison to heaven — he saw the tears that flowed down many a manly cheek, and he beheld many a brawny arm stretched out to him in an affectionate farewell. He ascended the ship that was to 2 h 2 468 APPENDIX. waft him from the island, in which the traces of his foot- steps ought to have been left in measures of benevolence behind. The winds filled the sails — the vessel went slowly and majestically through the ocean. He stood upon the deck, and thence looked back towards Ireland, and saw the hills by which she was encompassed, crowded to the tops by hundreds of thousands, who sent their benedictions along with him. Is it possible that at such a moment his heart should not have melted and dissolved within him } Did not the tears of a generous sensibility rush into his eyes, and, as the shouts of his people came from the receding shores, across the water, did he not ex- claim : " I will — I will do something for Ireland." But, I forget myself. I am hurried away by the emotions which the recollection of those striking scenes cannot fail to awaken in the bosom of every one of us. I should re- sume a more sober and befitting tone of sentiment — and yet, even now, I cannot avoid relapsing for a moment into the feelings which had swept me beyond the limits of temperate discussion, and exclaiming ; " What, after all, has he done for Ireland?" But I return. His Majesty proceeds to say that he hopes " that every cause of irrita- tion will be avoided and discountenanced." Alas ! what imj)erfect views his Majesty must have taken of the real sources of the calamities of this country } How little he knew of the real character of the faction, which has so long trampled upon Ireland, when he conceived that his mere behest could have the effect of subduing the spirit of insolent domination, by which that ferocious confede- racy, as long as they are sustained by the law, never can cease to be influenced! What took place almost imme- diately after his Majesty's departure? He left us his advice, and gave us nothing else. How did the Orange- APPENDIX. 4()i) men of Ireland fulfil it! at their civic banquets, the watchword of ascendancy was almost instantly proclaimed. The banners of Ireland's shame were unfurled in a still more ostentatious and offensive publicity. The Sovereign himself, was insulted in the person of his representative, and Justice, when called in to avenge the affront, appeared dressed in orange ribbons. The spirit of faction got pos- session of the public tribunals of the country ; more vehe- ment hatreds, and more relentless detestations ensued, than had ever before taken place, and the contending parties wanted but a pretence, to rush, in a sanguinary conflict, upon each other. His Majesty hoped, indeed, " that every cause of irritation would be avoided." Did his Majesty then know so little of Ireland ? — Had he him- self learned so little from his Royal observation, or had he derived so few useful instructions from his early friend and adviser, Mr. Fox, as to think it possible that as long as the exaspei'ating disqualifications, which disgrace, and brand, and burn upon us, are permitted to continue, that the "causes of irritation" could be avoided.? His Majesty talks of " the continuance of concord." How can he imagine that concord can exist in a country where the law itself is the hot-bed of rancour, and foments and throws up nothing but poisoned plants ? Does his Majesty conceive that his mere admonition is sufficient to divest the spirit of political domination of its insolence, and to take from the consciousness of deep wrong, the indignation which, in all generous minds, it cannot fail to generate.? But, it is better, at once, to speak openly and unequivo- cally. I will no longer pursue the spirit of this letter throughout all its phrases, or dissect its syllables. Better to give a direct and undisguised utterance to the feeling which the perusal of that letter, with the commentary 470 APPENJ)IX. which events have furnished, cannot but create. — The King came here — he was received with acclamations — he told us to live in union, concord and peace — and he has done nothing to effectuate his benevolent wishes, and carry his own gracious injimctions into execution. What did our most gracious Sovereign mean, by directing his minister to indite such a document? I repeat the question — what did he mean ? we are told " that our concord is as necessary for his happiness as for our own." Would to heaven, then, that he had adopted some more effectual means of promoting his own felicity. Let him look at the condition of Ireland, and pronounce how far his bene- ficent aspirations for our w^elfare have been realised. Perhaps more deadly animosities exist at this moment, than at any previous period in those annals of discord, the history of Ireland. The two great classes into which the population is divided, are marshalled in a deep and well-disciplined array against each other. A most mon- strous state of things has grown up, whose features of anomaly are every day becoming more enlarged and marked. Seven millions of the j^eople of Ireland have become so much habituated to self-government, that they move and are regulated by exact and uniformly operating principles of universal organization. A great precedent of the power and of the union of the people has been es- tablished — on a single day, seven millions of the Irish people assembled simultaneously round the altars of their religion. Can things remain thus? — King of England, enjoiner of concord, answer the question ! I have prepared an address to his Majesty, founded upon Lord Sidmouth's letter, in which some of the topics which I have adverted to are introduced, but with that tone of respect which should mark the language of sub- APPENDIX. 471 jects towards their sovereign. Although I think that we have a good deal of reason to complain that his Majesty- has not followed up his own advice by any measures for the effectuation of his purposes, yet I think that his letter furnishes indications of a disposition to do so, whenever circumstances will allow of his royal interposition in our behalf. The conclusion of his letter is remarkable : — " His Majesty well knows the generosity and warmth of heart which distinguishes the character of his faithful people in Ireland, and he leaves them with a heart full of affection towards them, and with a confident and gra- tifying persuasion that this parting admonition and in- junction of their Sovereign will not be given in vain." It has been given in vain : but it depends upon his Majesty to take away from it the character of nullity and invalidity which is attached to it, and to embody his own wishes for the peace of Ireland, in an act of substantial and perma- nent conciliation. That he left us "with a heart full of affection," I entertain no doubt; but it is to be desired that the cordiality of his attachment should be exem- plified in some legislative exemplification of his royal predelictions in favour of Ireland. He has rightly said that we are a generous people ; let him also give us some materials for the exercise of our gratitude. He has a noble opportunity, not only of embodying his solicitude for our welfare in some practical act for the pacification of Ire- land, but of commending his own name to an everlasting glory. How splendid an epitaph (for even Kings must die) he may procure for himself. He has to make his choice. What shall be written upon his sepulchre? — Shall it run thus — " Here lies the King who was beloved by Ireland in his youth, who beguiled her in his manhood, and betrayed her in his age;" or shall it be — " Here lies 472 APPENDIX. the King who, by the tranquillization of Ireland, not only received for himself the attachment of seven millions of his subjects, but bound a great and povrerful people in an indissoluble allegiance to the state, and while he im- parted prosperity and concord to a vast portion of his dominions, gave an imperishable security to the empire, and rendered England immortal." — Let me be permitted to pursue the train of thought into which I have fallen, and enquire what sort of monument would George the Fourth desire? What emblems does he wish upon his tomb? Shall Ireland be presented upon it, with her arms bound in fetters behind her, with shame and sorrow, and reproach in her countenance ; or shall she stand, with her manacles fallen to the earth, and with her unfettered arms uplifted in freedom to heaven ? (Loud and continued cheers.) APPENDIX.— No. Ill SPEECH OF EDWARD BLOUNT, ESQ. At an Open Meeting of the General Committee of the British Catholic Association, held at their rooms, on Saturday, the 21st of July, 1827, Lord Stourton in the Chair, Mr. Blount said, — I feel it my duty, as Secretary to this Association, and Chairman of that Committee whose peculiar province it is to repel unfounded calumnies upon our principles, to bespeak your attention for a few minutes. —On Friday, the 29th of last month, a General Public APPENDIX. 473 Meeting was held at the City of London Tavern, for the purpose of forming an Auxiliary Society in the City of London, to the British Society for promoting the religious principles of the Reformation. The Right Hon. Lord Farnham was in the Chair. The Hon. Granville Ryder moved the formation of the Society, and Captain Gordon seconded the resolution. General Ord moved the next resolution, which was seconded by the Rev. Jos. Ivimey. It is to the substance of the speeches of Captain Gordon, and the Rev. Mr. Ivimey, that I think it my duty to call your attention, premising that not one word of disap- probation at the assertions made by these persons, or at the sentiments uttered, was expressed by the Chairman, or by any person present; and we are therefore compelled, with regret, to regard their sentiments as adopted by the meeting. Captain Gordon, after stating that " the vast mass of the population of Ireland were in a state of the most grievous moral degradation ; and that crime, rapine, and bloodshed were the effect of this moral degradation," in- quired to what this alleged depravity was owing; and he replied, that " he had no hesitation in answering, to the nature and essence of the Roman Catholic religion, and to the total ignorance of the word of God prevailing in that community. Hence the necessity of a standing army of 30,000 men, and an armed police throughout the whole country." He then proceeded to enumerate the number of criminals tried and condemned at the late assizes at Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, and Westmeath ; and exult- ingly declared again, that " all this he attributed to the nature and essence of the Roman Catholic religion." — (hear, hear.) — The Rev. Mr. Ivimey was not quite so strong in his pretended illustrations of alleged facts ; but 474 APPENDIX. in the coarseness of his ahiise, the Rev. gentleman out- stripped his competitor. '' He was one of those who would use no measured terms when speaking of Popery : it was the ahomination that maketh desolate ; it was a great lie, a long lie, and made up of every species of aggravation. It exposed its wretched followers to every sort of misery here, and eternal perdition hereafter." The assertion made hy these persons is, neither more nor less, than that the Roman Catholic faith produces the total breach of every moral obligation ; and that the professors of it are the most abandoned and worthless of mankind. This is the proposition distinctly avowed at a meeting held for the professed object of promoting the religious prin- ciples of the Reformation, — my Lord Farnham in the chair, with names around him of still higher note than his own, — and not one murmur of disapprobation was whispered ! — I should be wanting in my duty, did I not bring these facts before you. Are we then, indeed, the outcasts of society which these persons would teach the public that we are ? Does that form of Christianity which we profess really inculcate every breach of morality? This was the religion of our Alfreds, our Henrys, our Edwards, of our Mores, and our Fishers ; of the most splendid heroes, and exemplary characters that this country has known ; of those who founded our seats of learning, to whom we are indebted for the preservation of science and of letters, and for very numerous editions of the Holy Writings. Does this religion necessarily cramp the genius, or debase the heart ! God forbid that any form of Chris- tianity should teach its votaries to violate the dictates of Christian charity, or the laws that are instituted for the well-being of society. The long catalogue of atrocious crime that now stains the moral character of this Protest- APPENDIX. 475 ant country, and which is no where exceeded in enormity, is not attributed to the principles of the Protestant faith. These crimes sprang from the disregard of the moral obli- gations imposed by every form of Christian worship ; and if any cause, more than another, tends to loosen the bonds of religious duty, it is the conduct of the professors of one form of faith, who shew so little of the vital spirit of Christianity, as to pour out the most rancorous and in- sulting denunciations on the heads of the professors of another. The vast mass of the people of Ireland, who are declared to be in a state of the most grievous moral de- gradation, are, beyond comparison, more moral in their habits than the people of England ; nor is their ignorance so great as that of thousands here who affect a tone of insulting superiority over them. An immense unemployed population swarms over the land, without any legal claim to relief : and in such a state of society, where the severest pressure of distress weighs upon so many millions, crime must abound ; but is it honest to look into their faith for the causes of it.? Is there no source from which her various miseries may be deduced, without imputing them to the faith of the people ? Suppose that England, regarding the strength of Ireland as injurious to her in- terests, had made it the leading feature of her policy to degrade, to weaken, and impoverish her, she might be steeped in misery to the very lips, without owing her misery to her faith. Had England proceeded still further : had she mocked by insult, the misery she had created by violence ; traduced the morals as well as the religion of the population ; and then, to complete the climax, had she sent forth her modern apostles, with the Bible in one hand and the bayonet in the other, to wean the people from their veneration for a priesthood who, in the worst of 476 APPENDIX. times, had laboured to allay irritation ; whose influence had always been exercised in the exemplary discharge of their pastoral duties ; who had lived with their flocks, been sharers in their privations, and, in the midst of pesti- lence, had never shrunk from the bod of contagion ; if England had acted thus, would there have been need to search into the faith of Ireland for the cause of the de- plorable position in which she stands ? Thol position is not, as Captain Gordon states it to be, the work of the Catholic religion : the Roman Catholic religion has taught the miserable victims of English cupidity to submit to in- justice and oppression, and to seek consolation in the hopes of a better world ; it has been their only solace, and has effected what was beyond the reach of human power, — it has kept them loyal : and let the modern reformist pause before he attempts to rob the poor Irish peasant of these pastors and this religion, lest he remove the only barrier between Ireland and despair. No calculation of consequences, no estimate of politi- cal expediency, no debtor and creditor account of loss or gain, shall prevent me from raising my humble voice to repel such foul slanders on all that men of honour value most. Not that we will be induced by any provocation to retaliate : we know how to respect ourselves ; and neither Captain Gordon, nor Mr. Ivimey, shall be able to re- proach Catholics with being goaded by the foulest slan- ders into retaliation. We will not meet the insults cast on our religion, by imputing atrocities to the religion of others. Instances have frequently occurred of persons of other religious persuasions addressing our meetings, and expressing sentiments of hostility to our tenets ; they have been always attended to, not only with patience, but with marked attention and courtesy. We violate not APPENDIX. 477 the decencies of life ; on the contrary, if a person profess his opinions in the singleness of his heart, and from the real conviction of his mind, we can honour his sincerity, though we dissent from his helief. We take every occa- sion publicly to declare, on the word of men of honour, that we claim equal rights with our fellow-subjects, on the broad principle that human legislation exceeds its legitimate boundary when it presumes to visit with pains, penalties, or disqualifications, the conscientious followers of any form of Christian worship. We appeal from the verdict of violent and enthusiastic men, to a better tribu- nal, — to the good sense and honest hearts of our country- men ; w^e implore them dispassionately to examine our principles and our conduct, and to decide which is the best subject, which best merits the approval of his country, the Catholic who is obedient to the laws, performs with fidelity every relative duty, and disavows on his honour, and his oath, every obnoxious principle or opinion, and sincerely desires to live in harmony with all the world ; or the votary of the new reformation, who foments reli- gious acrimony by calumnious imputations, by reviving expiring prejudices, and invoking the continuance of those humiliating laws, that have been too long the bane of Ireland, and the disgrace of England. We court fair and honourable discussion ; it is the privilege of English- men, and the parent of truth : but we would ask Mr. Ivimey, and Mr. Gordon, and Lord Farnham, whether theirs is this description of discussion, this calm debate, that can alone advance a good cause ; whether these scan- dalous imputations, bearing falsehood on the face of them, are calculated or intended to promote the cause of truth .? We would ask whether Christian charity is a Reformation virtue ? In one word, we would ask the Protestants of 478 APPENDIX. England whether they are parties to such accusations as these ? If they are, let them no longer lavish abuse on others. The worst spirit of the darkest and most intole- rant times cannot, in the estimation of any sober-minded man, be his faith what it may, — cannot have exceeded the virulent and anti-christian spirit that appears to have ac- tuated these persons on this occasion, when they were met to promote the principles of the Reformation. If these are not the principles of the followers of the Reformation, and we should blush for our country if we thought they were, then do we implore them candidly to come forward, and to disavow being parties to such imputations, and by so doing, to rescue the principles of the Reformation from foul disgrace. Other meetings of a similar description will, perhaps, be held ; and we do hope that persons who are not Catholics, will be found ready to wipe so foul an aspersion from the character of Christianity. We ask the public to examine us with candour, to judge us by our conduct, and not to give credence to the accusations of persons, who evidently bear towards us the most rancorous hostility. We call on that large portion of our country- men, who certainly have not the leisure, perhaps not the means, to come to a dispassionate conclusion themselves, and who, from the first dawn of reason, have had their minds perverted with prejudices against us ; we call on the well-intentioned portion of the community, who can- not judge but through the eyes of others, to be cautious to whom they give their confidence. The clergy of the Establishment, almost to a man, are against us. It is necessary to state the fact in our own defence ; their hopes of advancement in their profession have been made to de- pend on their hostility to us. It is a fact beyond dispute, that no clers^yman of the Establishment, had his learning, APPENDIX. 479 his virtues, his attainments, been almost super-human, would have had a chance of preferment, if he had dared to advocate our cause : whilst, on the contrary, the bitterest rancour against us was the surest road to preferment. And are these the persons to whom those who seek im- partial information on the merits of our question, ought to apply for the knowledge of our real principles? Is there no other quarter where impartiality may be more reasonably expected, where may be found as much infor- mation and talent, united with as much general reading, more knowledge of the world and of society, and a more perfect acquaintance with the practice and spirit of British law, and of the various institutions of this country ? I mean the bar of England ; that bar, the members of which, without any solicitation from us, have become the spon- taneous advocates of our claims. On one of the last days of the session, his Majesty's Attorney-General presented a petition to the House of Commons, signed by 239 Ser- geants and Barristers-at-law, in favour of the Catholic claims; comprising in their number a weight of legal ta- lent, greater probably than ever before appeared at the foot of any document of a similar character. Can these dis- tinguished persons be suspected of want of knowledge of the subject which their petition embraces ? They must necessarily, from their general communication with the world, and the nature of their reading, be acquainted with it in all its bearings and details. Are they actuated by hostility to the institutions of their country ? They are by education, by habit, by birth, the firmest supporters of them. Or do they espouse our cause from interested mo- tives.? No possible personal advantage can accrue to them from their advocacy of it. What must have been their motive for this voluntarv act? Like honourable men. 480 APPENDIX. they scorned to remain parties to a base delusion ; they felt that their silent acquiescence in the state of the laws in our regard, stamped a share of the disgrace upon them, and they disdained to wear the imputation any longer. Are these the persons who would consent to lend them- selves to the free and unconstrained practice of a religion, " the nature and essence of which is, to plunge the great mass of a people into a state of the most grievous moral degradation," and, by their criminal delinquency, " to render necessary a standing army of 30,000 men, and an armed police throughout the country ?" I do not hesitate to express my full conviction, that if fair opportunities were afforded to the people of this country of judging this question on its merits, without having their prejudices studiously fostered, twelve months would not elapse be- fore they would see their own injustice, and join with the bar of England in petitions to the legislature for the total remission of the laws in force against us. The question is not now whether the Catholic Claims shall be granted, but when they shall be granted ? Whether it is better to prolong a system of irritation and insult, producing exas- peration and violence ; or whether it be not more wise, and more just, to allay the discontent without loss of time? Were the law in Ireland accessible to all, equal to all, and mildly administered, the people would soon learn to regard it as a protection, and not as a scourge. Their acquired propensity to violence would soften into habits of patient industry ; and that overgrown army, which helps to im- poverish England, and to prolong the discontent of Ireland, would convert their swords into ploughshares, and join in promoting the common prosperity. APPENDIX. No. IV. Extract from the Diario di Roma of July, 1822. "On the second reading of the Bill proposed in the house of Lords for the admission of Catholic Peers into Parliament, we read in the English journals, that one of the honourahle members, among other reasons for his opposition, adduces the following accusation against his Holiness : — ^ that he had manifested the greatest intole- rance by refusing to the burial place of the Protestants in Rome, that protection which his predecessors had granted, and that he had moreover resisted the representa- tions of all the ambassadors on the subject.' " To the above imputation we give the most unqualified contradiction, and will prove it to be perfectly false and calumnious ; indeed, we are at a loss to comprehend how it can be said ' that the present pope has refused to the burial place of the Protestants in Rome that protection which his predecessors had granted.' " Preceding pontiffs merely granted permission to Pro- testants to be interred in the Campo di Testaccio. This permission has been extended to the present day, and Protestants are still buried in the same place ; nor can it be said that this place is unenclosed or unprotected, being sheltered on one side by a part of the city wall, on another, by a wall which separates it from the public road, and on a third also by a wall which separates it from several 2i 482 APPENDIX. adjoining- vineyards. There is likewise a guard stationed in the same field, and another in the field adjoining, for the protection of the gunpowder manufactory, and the pyramid of Caius Cestius. It is true that access to the above field is allowed to persons going to the Monte di Testacch, which adjoins, as well as to those who visit the pyramid, yet it can by no means be said, that the burial ground of the Protestants is in an open, unprotected, or unguarded situation. " Nevertheless, several Protestants, (and not all the Ambassadors, as has been falsely asserted) having ex- pressed a desire to have a burial g^round which should be entirely enclosed, or to speak more correctly, separated from the rest of the field, and having afterwards requested permission to encircle with a wall that portion of land destined for the said burial ground, — the pope, so far from having refused to extend, as was most falsely stated, the protection of his predecessors to the tombs of the Protest- ants in Rome, even exceeded their generosity, by grant- ing to the same Protestants, permission to surround with a wall that portion of land in the same field destined for their interment. If this concession was never acted upon, the cause must be attributed to the slight alteration which the Roman government found it absolutely necessary to make respecting the situation of the former burial ground. The ground then proposed, was in the same field, and only a few paces from the former. The following will clearly explain the whole.^ " In the first instance, the burial place of the Protestants was situated directly facing the pyramid of Caius Cestius, and almost immediately adjoining to it. It was no sooner reported that two walls were to be raised, one in front of the pyramid, and another on the side, to form the enclosure APPENDIX. 483L for the burial place of the Protestants, than the Academia di San Lucca, the Societa delle Arti, and other establish- ments, as well as the commissioners entrusted with the inspection and repair of the public works of antiquity existing in Rome, immediately represented to the govern- ment in the strongest terms, that in case the said enclo- sures were effected, the consequence would be, that the height of the walls, and the trees which Protestants are accustomed to plant round their places of interment, would materially obstruct the view of so noble and inter- esting a monument as the pyramid, unique in its kind, holding so distinguished a rank among the ornaments of the capital, and claiming the attention and admiration of all connoisseurs and lovers of the Fine Arts. To these representations, made in very strong terms, were added other still stronger on the part of the public ; carriages and pedestrians can at present approach the pyramid by a direct and short passage, but the new enclosure would oblige them in future to take an indirect route, at a con- siderable increase of distance, and much inconvenience. These certainly were arguments quite strong enough to excite in the public just cause for remonstrance and dis- content. '^ After this, tlie government could not most assuredly consent to the formation of an enclosure in a place, where it could not be executed without sacrificing so much of the interesting view of the above remarkable monument, and without depriving the public of the convenience they now enjoy. Neither justice nor good taste could allow of such infringements. Still, in substance, his Holiness wished to comply, as far as laid in his power, with the request of the Protestants for the formation of an enclo- sure ; and though the above reasons induced him to 2 i 2 484 APPENDIX. refuse permission for the same in front of the pyramid, he expressed his willingness to grant a new portion of land for that purpose, situated in the same Campo di Tes- taccio, but on one side, and not in front, of the pyramid, and a few paces only from the site of the former ground. At the same time, he repeated his permission to Protest- ants to enclose it entirely, by surrounding it with a wall ; thus fully providing for future interments, and even for the preservation, in part, of the former burial ground, a portion of which came within the precincts of the one about to be formed. The remaining part of the interred might, if it were thought proper, be transferred at any time to the new enclosure ; if not, they would remain in perfect security in their present situation, which, as we have already shown, was neither unprotected nor un- guarded. " Again, if the enclosure of the newly allotted ground was not carried into eifect, the reason was, that the pa- rents and friends of the deceased, finding themselves pre- vented by the urgent remonstrances made to the govern- ment, from the quarters already named, against surround- ing with a wall the jilace where the greater part of the deceased actually lay, had withdrawn their names from the subscription necessary for the completion of the second enclosure. " Still, this circumstance did not prevent his Holiness from carrying his own concession into effect. He gave orders to the treasury to raise at their expence, the above mentioned wall on the side towards the pyramids ; so that Protestants can no longer say that their place of interment is unenclosed. " The foregoing is a true and simple statement of the whole transaction, for the entire correctness of which we APPENDIX. 485 can fully vouch. Let the public now judge whether it can be affirmed with truth or with justice, ' that the present pope has refused to the tombs of the Protestants in Rome, that protection which his predecessors had granted.' It cannot be a matter of surprise, that, among the numerous foreigners who are received in Rome with the most cour- teous hospitality and marks of particular kindness, to which the generality of them are willing to testify, some should be found, who, instead of evincing the least grate- ful feeling for their courteous reception, take every op- portunity of giving vent to their ill feeling by slander and falsehood. If to such men gratitude be too weighty a burden, we willingly free them from all obligation whatsoever ; nay, if they even wish to dispense with those sentiments professed by every individual of proper edu- cation and feeling, they have our permission so to do : but honour will ever demand that due respect be paid to truth; and whatever may be our private opinions, we should not seek to support them by recurring to the base and dishonourable arts of misrepresentation and calumny."* Such are the merits of a case, which, as I know not that the calumny founded upon it has ever been refuted in this country, and especially in the place in which it was brought before the public,t I cannot, in justice to * Since the above was written, the spot of ground which gave rise to this misrepresentation, has been entirely enclosed by a deep sunk fence. t " The intolerance of the Romish church at the present day, was also displayed in the most marked manner, by the present 486 APPENDIX. our cause, pass it by unnoticed. It is important on many accounts; — from the quarter from which it proceeded — from the circumstances which accompanied it — from the total absence of truth which characterized it — but above all, because it was urged as an argument to prove, not the intolerance of the court of Rome, but of the Romish Church; and, consequently, as a reason why the rights of free-citizenship should be denied to an immense portion of the subjects of the King of England. It is evident that the noble lord was unconscious of the calumny he was uttering ; but its effects have, hitherto, been precisely the same as if it had been founded on the most indisputable facts, instead of resting on hearsay and misrepresentation. An unfounded accusation, advanced upon slight authority, and circulated only within a nar- row sphere, may, without much injury, be permitted to float its hour, and 'sink unheeded into the stream of oblivion. But, as the speech of a member of the Bri- tish Parliament, travels not only into every village and every ale-house of the united kingdom, but to every region of the universe, and thus disseminates both the opinions and the statements which it contains, almost ad infinHum, and becomes either the fortunate harbinger of truth, or the evil messenger of falsehood, calumny, and injustice, to the larger portion of the civilized world ; it is the duty as well as the interest, of the parties more immediately Pontiff refusing to grant any protection to the tombs of the Pro- testants who have died at Rome, ahhough that protection had been requested by the Protestants of all countries residing at Rome, and by the ministers of Protestant sovereigns." — Lord Colchester's Speech, as reported in the Courier, on the second reading of the Catholic Peers Bill, June 21, 1822. APPENDIX. 487 concerned, to repel the accusation by every means in their power. Coming", too, from so grave a senator, from an individual who is considered to have filled one of the most arduous and honourable stations in the kingdom, with peculiar dignity and justice — who was known to have been upon the spot to which his statement relates — to have had every facility of information — and who may be thought to have himself borne a share in the transac- tion : — all these circumstances combine, by giving weight to the accusation, to render its refutation the more im- portant. It is a grievance severely felt, and much to be lamented, that calumny of what kind soever, (so prone is mankind to believe evil rather than good,) is always sure to carry such a degree of conviction with it, especially among the weak and ill-disposed, as to leave the refuta- tion, however complete, a difficult task to perform, in attempting to remove the stigma^^the tale is always sure to meet the eye of many who never see its dis- avowal, and the evil impression is carried with them to the grave. The authority of the calumniator will also be weighed against the reputation of the calumniated ; and it is not difficult to determine where, in the mind of prejudice, the better credit will be supposed to lie. People will feel it impossible to believe that a British senator, lately elevated by his merit to the House of Peers, from the first rank in the House of Commons, and who must necessarily have to maintain a character for truth and justice, should so far allow himself to be misled by prejudice, as to give implicit credit to mere reports, which he must have had a full opportunity of investigating; and that too, for the pur- pose of founding upon them an ungenerous accusation against a government from which he had received the 488 APPENDIX. rights of hospitality in the most marked manner, and of establishing thereon an argument against extending the benefits of the Constitution to seven millions of his fellow subjects. This, certainly, must appear incredible to all who are unacquainted with the darkness which habitual prejudice spreads over the mind, depriving it of the will to reason, and robbing it of the faculty of judging. Such men will rather question the testimony of the accused, though sup- ported by facts, than believe it to be true, in opposition to such an authority. But even supposing, for a moment, the accusation to have been founded in fact, was there a shadow of justice in the inference drawn from it? Does either the Pope, or the government of Rome, constitute the Catholic Church ? How absurd, then, to bring forward any act of theirs, as a proof of the intolerant spirit of the Catholic Church in general; and how much more absurd, to make the declara- tion with the same breath with which so intolerant a speech was delivered ! But so far from a spirit of illiberality being prevalent at Rome, it is directly the reverse. The late venerable Pontiff,Pius VII., a man revered by all, and against whom, save in this solitary instance, the breath of slander never breathed, was proverbially humane, liberal, and enlight- ened : and, among the many proofs that the same spirit of liberality also presides over the councils of his successor, the election of Torwalsden, as a member of all the acade- mies in Rome, may be mentioned. Since academical ho- nours are as much ambitioned there, as civil offices are here, this honour is a high and enviable object of distinc- tion ; and much to the credit of the capital of Catholic Christendom, which knows that merit is not the exclusive APPENDIX. 489 possession of any religion or of any country, both Foreign- ers and Protestants are freely admitted to enjoy them. The same liberality allows the free exercise of their religion to Protestants : nay more — (unless according to the Bishop of St. David's Protestant's Catechism, it be a tenet of the Established Church to revile and calumniate Catholics, which I cannot yet believe) for though some, not content with the duties of their ministry, and with worshipping God in charity and peace, so far abused their licence, as to cast aspersions and obloquy on the religion of the state that tolerated them, from which, especially under the circumstances, good sense and good feeling ought to have protected it 3 yet no interruption was given to the free and continued exercise of the religion, during the celebration of whose service these insults had been offered. All this was going on at the very time the noble Lord is reported to have said, that the celebration of High Mass ought no longer to be tolerated in the do- minions of the king of England ! Let me ask, was it charitable, was it just, was it politic, to send such statements and such opinions, into every tavern and every ale-house in the kingdom, among men heated with wine and liquor ; extending the guilt of the imagined crime to every Catholic in the United Empire, teaching his fellow-countrymen to despise and to detest, perhaps, every tenth individual whom they met here, and nine out of ten whom they encountered on the other side of the water ? It was a long series of calumnious accusations against Catholics which inflamed the public mind to that degree of insanity to which it arrived in 1780, when a mob of 50,000 Protestants put the very state into jeopardy, for the sake of demolishing what in their folly and fanaticism they believed to be, and what calumny had 490 APPENDIX. taught them to consider, the temples of the idolater. It was a system of calumny and misrepresentation, carried on by a succession of writers, (copying one another, and darkened by bigotry — the blind leading the blind)— which at various periods during the three last centuries, caused torrents of innocent blood to be shed, and crimes to be perpetrated, which called to heaven for vengeance. It was the spirit evoked by this system, that, at one period, infuriated bigotry with such fiend-like rivalry, that the two conflicting parties in the state exhausted their strength in endeavouring to affix on each other the odium of toleration. APPENDIX. No. V. Extracts from "Letters shewing the inutility, and exhibiting the absurdity, of what is rather fantastically termed the New Reformation," — by George Ensor, Esq. — This intelligent writer thus prefaces his work : *' The following Letters, on what is called the New Reformation, were published at different intervals, the first in 1827, the last in the present year. They were written by one who could have no prejudices in favor of the Irish Catholics, his father being born in England, and all his relations, both by father and mother, being of the Established Church." APPEM)1X. 491 Letter I " This is, certainly, one evil of making* the bible a sort of primer in schools. But, without pur- suing this matter to its extent, we may ask, why should the Catholic priests be abused by the Kildare Street society, and the Established clergy, and the saints and missionaries, who are to the ecclesiastical body what the Cossacks and Guerillas are to the regular troops of their respective nations, because they (the priests) object to the bible being taught without note or comment. If persons are taught the bible without note or comment, they will, probably, be of no particular sect — at least this is the opinion of able and zealous churchmen, as well as of Catholic priests. Respecting this very circumstance, a right reverend bishop asserted, that learning in Lancas- ter's schools, where the bible only was taught, was an 'education without religion, and leaving the rising generation to pick up their religion any where or no where.' Professor H. Marsh, since Bishop of Peter- borough, in a sermon preached in the Cathedral, St. Paul's, London, June 13th, 1811, says also : — " ' Where children go daily to school, the religion which they are afterwards to profess, should be an object of daily attention. They must learn their religion as they learn other things, and they will have much or little, ac cording as their education supplies them. To assert that our religion is not dependent on our education, is to con- tradict the experience of all ages and nations.' " He proceeds to state, that the Bible, without the Church Catechism, &c. is generalised Christianity — as- serting in aggravation, that such teaching is calculated to create indifference and even dislike to the Established Church. I could quote scores of authorities to the same effect. No Catholic clergyman has ever spoken so timo- 492 APPENDIX. rously of such practices to his Church, as the Protestant divines of that identical evil to theirs. Therefore, let the saints be moderate in their censure of the Catholic priest- hood, lest while they wound them, they slay the ministers of pure Protestantism. * * * " That any Catholic should, on judgment and consi- deration, honestly precipitate himself from the faith of his youth and manhood, and stop at Protestantism, is, I repeat, surprising ; but that hundreds, so excited and in activity, should not rush into the bye-ways and highways of dissent, is utterly incredible. I should as soon expect balls impelled along an inclined plane to stop at the brink of a flight of many steps. No — if they thought, and read, and changed, they would join the Presbyterians or the Quakers, who hate tithes as well as the parson loves them — or the Free-thinking Christian Dissenters, who are making war on that tyrannical law, which forces Dissenters in England to contract marriage inauspiciouly, or they would form a new sect or sects. This is so ob- vious, that some zealots for conversion have dreaded that, if the Catholics be discontented with their religion, they will soon overleap the petty bounds of Protestantism, and that then the evils to the Establishment will be increased. The Rev. Mr. Phelan has remarked, ' if they (the Catho- lics) should become Calvinists, or Socinians, Baptists, Methodists, or Independents, what will they have gained in real edification, or the united Church in strength and security } On the contrary, is it not evident, as to this latter point, that the present peril of the Establishment will be fearfully increased — if, sanguine by nature as they are, and heated by fanaticism, as they would then be — the great mass of our lower orders should ever be diawn into the ranks of sectaries.' And, most certainly, these APPENDIX. 493 Catholic converts would necessarily settle in their ranks, if, as I said, they did not add new sects to the increasing Dissenters. Poor Protestantism ! in jeopardy from the converted and the unconverted. " But whence should we conclude, that any great number of Catholics would be permanently converted? There is no trade — food is scarce and dear — some miserable men may give a willing ear to false friends, and to their desperate attempts. Neither do the rhapsodists consider, that in Ireland affairs advance by gusts, and revolutions follow quickly and fortuitously. No : they expect the paltry conversions will go on like the Pontic sea, Whose icy current and compulsive course Ne'er feels retiring el)b.' Yet, even now, the very speech that announces the con- verts, announces their relapse. ^ Twelve or fourteen persons have reverted to Popery,' says his Lordship. — What, could not the hungry and houseless be fixed by the good things of Cavan, till the swallows return ? * ** " Those who labour in tumultuary meetings, or insidi- ously in private conference, to disturb the faith of the people, act foolishly or wickedly. " There are various reasons to make wise men hesitate to convert ordinary men even from a less perfect religion ; for it must occur to them that the convert may only suffer a transient conviction. Besides, almost all religions are based on morality ; even the religion of Budh inculcates the following precepts : — ' Not to take away life — not to steal — not to commit uncleanness — not to utter a false- hood — not to diink intoxicating liquors, &c.' I wonder very much that our proselytizers do not reflect on the dangers and difficulties they prepare for their ignorant 494 APPENDIX. hearers. If a Catholic be converted, what surety is there that he will be fixed in his new creed ? and while I write this, it appears by the newspapers that a converted Jew has made a second slip in the settlement of his religious opinions ; nor is it improbable that a slip more will bring down the whole fabric of Wolf's predispositions. Reli- gious belief depends mainly on educated opinions ; when these are so disturbed as to be rejected, the poor ignorant man is at the mercy of many accidents — he is torn up by the roots, which are too rigid to strike in a new and ex- posed situation. Suppose the man relapses — what must be his sorrow, and contrition, and agony ? Suppose he wan- ders through diflferent creeds — what his disquiet ? Sup- pose he wanders out of all creeds, without intelligence, or those principles which secure morality in educated indivi- duals— his race is sinful, and his goal maybe the gallows. Suppose he stops at his first conversion — what does he not risk and suffer ? Lord Farnham has mentioned the forlorn state of these very converts; they are reputed traitors — as having changed for mercenary motives — as reflecting on their kindred — as abandoning their country- men, now seeking their emancipation ; while their fellow Protestants have no one motive to treat them with confi- dence or kindness — they despised them as Catholics — they despise them as renegades — they dread them as impostors — and, moreover, they fear them as new compe- titors for the favours and the lands of the lords of the soil. Consider the freak of converting the Irish, politically, civilly, and religiously. The Irish have been an oppressed people for centuries; but the conquered and oppressed throughout the world are emerging or triumphant. The Irish were few and unknown — they are now many; and their afflictions command the sympathy of many nations, APPENDIX. 495 while America feels intensely for them, as kindred by blood and situation, for they have not long, themselves, been relieved from colonial tyranny. Let governors, and proprietors, and hierarchs pause. It was a maxim older than the Protestant Church, * that no prescription lies against the Church,' and the great civil code of Europe, concurring with natural right, declares, there is no pre- scription for masters against slaves. Will you, in power and place, lay and spiritual, not permit the despoiled and the abused to forego their rights ; but force them, by your eternal persecution, to keep account in order to exact their entire dues? It seems so — thus shall you be signally punished for your vices, by your vices. Look to this, ye marauders, through Church and state. You endeavour, by your sermons and missionaries, and by grants of money to societies, the well-head of such infatuations, to render infuriate the devout passions of a very susceptible people. Are you prepared for the result.? Is England disposed to aggravate the hate of one third of the empire .? Thus acted the Jews, who warred in Jerusalem on points of faith, when the city was besieged by the Romans. Eng- land is now beset w ith a heartless, unbending aristocracy — an educated people — an unemployed and starving populace — a prodigious debt — decreasing means and in- creasing expenditure. Abroad she is involved* in some- thing worse than war — the Holy Allies are averse, and France inimical, through all her factions and parties. Is this a time to support Converting Societies by parlia- mentary grants, or to countenance, in any way, practices that must necessarily add another grievance to the Irish nation r" Letter II. — "I noticed, in the former letter, the conversions, and the acknowledged relapses in Cavan. 496 APPENDIX. * Never came Reformation in a flood, with such a heady current.' That some helpless persons recanted, under the auspices of Lord Farnham, I do not doubt. ' Misery acquaints us with strange bed-fellows.' One great cause of slavery is hunger. To prolong life, men sell their children and themselves. Then, it is not wonderful, that some lied, to escape present distress. In Cavan, probably, malignity aided famine. She who brought a perjured charge of incontinence against a priest of the same county, would have, with equal ease, had it appeared as profitable, embraced, sacramen tally, the New Reformation. " The New Reformation ! Indeed, Dr. Magee stated, that the Reformation had been only lately preached in Ireland. Yet, it began with Henry the Eighth, and was continued unremittingly in every reign. In Edward the Sixth's reign, the Book of Common Prayer was printed in Dublin, and the Archbishop laboured to extend it to all those who could read English. In 1571, Queen Eliza- beth sent over types to have the New Testament printed in the Irish language. Bedell endeavoured to protest- antize through the Gaelic, and Boyle had the Church Catechism published in the Irish language. The New Testament appeared in 1680, and the Old a few years afterwards, in the same dialect. Soon after this, the English was substituted for the Irish. This change of purpose fully evinced the impotence of the means used to reform the Irish. Then came the Revolution. Again and again, various efforts were made to bring the Irish to the Englishman's creed. The means were complicated and extreme ; hope and fear, favouritism and persecution, remunerative and penal laws ; a Catholic was a/ APPENDIX. ants of the Establishment obtained 20 of the 24 places — a majority equal to the English members above the Irish members in the imperial parliament. The Canadians were disgusted with this notorious imposition. Let me, however, observe^ that this mockery must be rectified. The Canadians, though few, in comparison to the Irish, are not helpless — they have a legislature— their House of Lordc is, to be sure, much like the other, and named by the crown ; but their House of Commons is elected by independent voters. This house abounds in popular and economical views — they will grant supjilies only by the year, and these thriftily ; and they have not long since voted 27 to 3— that the superfluous property of the Church should be disposed of for the benefit of the nation. — Hear this ye sticklers for the New Reformation — this is a re- formation both of church and state. " An objection is made to the Irish Catholic Clnnch, that its ecclesiastics are nominated by a foreign power — and are the ecclesiastics of the Irish Protestant Church appointed by domestic authority .? No ! — The king of Eng- land is truly foreign to Ireland, and he sometimes appoints foreigners — Englishmen to fill the offices of archbishops and bishops in Ireland. But it is false that the pope appoints bishops — they are elected in Ireland, and truly the pope merely countersigns the return. The appoint- ments in the two Churches are not to be compared, but contrasted. In the Catholic Church there is no simony, nor its similar — no quartering of sons and sons-in-law on dioceses — 7io mcunihency hay-gains — no transfers to pkfraUze according to law — no grand touring, perambu- lating the ecclesiastical domain, north and south, first as rectors and then as bishops. The Protestant Church is just so much stuff for patronage and influence — to be APPENDIX. 513 2)reyecl on by boroughmongers, to relieve the beggarly afterbirth of the aristocracy, or as perquisites for minions and mistresses. Thus the Protestant Church corrupts religion, debases the mind and morals, and utterly per- verts the principles of legislation and government. Hence, the clergy are idle and sordid — returning nothing, seizing all, and while possessing the revenue of principali- ties, griping, heartless, and rapacious. But the Catholic priests are uncontaminated by the court — they labour and are beloved — they are paid by voluntary oblations. Can, then, their people be won from them by the hierarchy of the establishment.? — If so, the powers and propensities of matter and mind are inverted. " Here I must notice the prodigious insolence of those saints, who hold a gibing warfare with the Catholic priest- hood, respecting certain dogmas, and who insinuate the insincerity of their belief in them, because they do not square with their own interpretation. They who say so are ignorant of the grounds of belief, and of the history of the world. But I charge the Irish Established Church as proclaiming by its acts a disbelief in its principles — not whether this or that expression should be understood literally or figuratively, and the like ; but by the practices and habits of the clergy contradicting the clearest injunc- tions of Christ rejjeatedly enforced. " No topic was ever more pertinaciously enforced by writer or speaker, than the destructiveness of riches. The salvation of a rich man is compared to a camel passing through the eye of a needle. Again^^ Verily I say unto you, a rich man can hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.' Yet those whose self-salvation is in jeopardy, are the savers of the souls of others. The Munster bishops have, according to bishop Jebb, only £5000 annually, on . 21 514 APPENDIX. an average; but others have £12,000, £14,000, and £20,000 a year, and every year adds to their greediness. Bishops raised their rents ; and the fines, from being paid every five or six years, have become an annual exaction : hence, a late bishop of Clogher died worth 300,000 pounds, and the late primate's hoarding exceeded this sum, which was transferred to England. The beneficed clergy prepare themselves for bishoprics, by similar demands, insiduous and exorbitant — the tormented peasantry are cited to the bishop's court, where an aggravated selfishness prevails. There the bishop acts by deputy. Is he better in his per- sonal acts ? A few months since, the rector of the parish of Armagh did, after some negociation, agree to receive a certain revenue under the Composition Act. Yet the pri- mate refused to sanction the agreement, though one tithe proctor (the rector of Armagh has three) served 400 pro- cesses for tithes. The system destroys justice, and reason- ing, and humanity, even in the best. The bishop of Cloyne, a man distinguished for science, and for that science which should eminently approach him to heaven, refused a high rate composition for tithe, for a parish held by him in coinmendam — not because he thought it too little, but, as he intimated, because, if he consented on his own ac- count, he should be obliged to authorise similar composi- tions by others. Thus, it seems, the ease and satisfaction of the man, and his own notions of propriety, as regarding himself, were postponed for the possible reduction of a few clerical expectancies. On the same principle he should have stopped his observations on the parallax of the fixed stars, or sunk his discoveries, because his brother astronomers could not see what he had observed; but had he so comported himself, he who should have ob- tained the first prize, would not have received, nor deserved any prize whatever. APPENDIX. 515 " The Church is the worst of money-getting coq)ora- tions ; every unfair practice is used to enforce dues and swell exactions : even at this instant, in this city, while one man is pressing the New Reformation, the son is raising a three pounds rate on most miserable houses. These are the fjrimitive Christians : ' where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.' The clergy have been requested to pay the quarta pars to the poor, which prac- tice existed until a late period in Connaught. The Pro- testant clergy pay to the poor their ancient appropriation ! They who with unsparing avarice force many from com- fort to poverty ; they who hope only to obtain consequence by their riches. Hence Mr., now Lord Plunkett, said, last session : — ' I believe, if we had not a respectable hierarchy, holding valuable possessions in the state, in times like these, religion itself would sink into contempt.' Riches are the Established Religion. The Protestant Es- tablished Church is respectable as are the Jews in Change Alley ; and this Church is to the state what the national debt is to the happiness, or rather misery, of all payers of taxes. The earth and nature are weary of this Establish- ment — it is not with them virtus post nummos— no ; money first, and midst, and last. Iliey cannot contribute to their own special purposes ; — if churches are to be built, parliament is resorted to — if churches are to be repaired, the Catholics pay ; — they pay for the elements of the Sa- crament; — the Protestant clergy refuse the first fruits granted them by the crown for church purposes — this Church which holds two millions of acres in Ireland, and the tithe of the capital and labour employed in agricul- ture, with various other exactions : and this is the Church which shall win the Catholics from their teachers, — for the Protestant clergy, gloating and unsatiated with riches, •2 1 2 510 APPENDIX. announce themselves to be the primitive state of Christ- ianity. They Christians ! * You cannot serve God and Mammon.' — Christians ? — M ammonites ! ' They are dumh dogs which never have enough, they all look their own way, every one.' " These are the persons who are to succeed against the Catholics and their priests, when there are various schisms in their own Church, arid one Archbishop condemns openly the New Reformation. Their prime of might, their Pope has seceded — their congregations are melting away in every direction; 150 Methodist preachers alone are now in full itinerancy in Ireland. Thus old sects are increasing, and new sects rising up, separable from the Establishment, like suckers round a decaying stock. What, if some Catholics change and change ; is there no counter operation — no controlling influence ? To expect that the New Reformation would succeed in Ireland, from what happens by varying individuals, is not less vain than to pronounce, from the precession of the equinoxes, the upset of the world. " The prospect of converting the Catholics could not succeed. Christianity is, in the letter and the spirit, the religion of the poor and humble — it began with the people, and will continue with them. Besides, no rich Church ever succeeded, by tranquil means, against one systemati- cally poor. As a Church becomes rich, it loses its activity ; it becomes gouty and paralysed — it has so many spurious wants, that it cannot afford means for its own necessities ; while the poorer Churches, as the Catholic and Dissenting, always raise means to build Chapels, and supply stipends to the teachers of their respective congregations. — Opu- lence and decline are associated even in sects of the same Church. The Knights Templars, so celebrated for cou- APPENDIX. 517 rage and enterprise, became voluptuous and enervated by their wealth, while the rival order, the Knights of St. John, continued their virtue with the mediocrity of their circum- stances. But the Protestant Church is not only enor- mously rich, but its members are aristocratic. The aris- tocracy, when not recruited by the people, have, in all countries, ceased to exist. The people are the source, and they must continue so. Tlie Malthusians may say, that men will multiply with the means of living — all aristocracies contradict the position. — The Protestant Church consists of the prerogative class, and is rich to plethora. " But the Catholic Church is poor and popular ; and it enjoys also a principle of great vitality and excitement — it is persecuted. Religions spread by i3ersecution, as the surface of the dry earth kindles and expands against the wind. Christianity sprang into vigorous life by the oppo- sition it encountered — so with sects and persuasions ; and with none more than the Catholics in Ireland, which, like the distinctive herb of the soil, thickens and multi- plies on the trodden land. * * * * " The whole system is breaking down. The British and Foreign Bible Society has been exposed by the Quarterly Review. This strong hold of the saints is unmasked. Their rage for translating the Scriptures was boundless, for they read, ' teach all nations ;' but wanting ' the gift of tongues,' they sought the sons of Babylon. They em- ployed one man, with a name as long as three Welsh mountains, Teyoninhokorawen, to translate the Gospel of St. John into the Mohawk language — no doubt a valuable work; and among other achievements, they printed the Testament in the Irish character. This eifort of the con- versionists was denounced by St. George Daly and Leslie 518 APPENDIX. Foster, as containing material and very numerous errors — yet, with all these errors, the Society to which those two very gentlemen belong — hear this, all saintlings ! re- quested that two thousand copies should be struck off, of this very erroneous version, for present circulation, for great was the demand. The facts are published by Tho- mas Pell Piatt, M.A. F.A.S. in his defence. Such is the bewildering zeal of the Irish Society. Moreover, the officers of this British and Foreign Bible Society, seem to have had itching palms — £8,450 are charged for managing £40,333 ; and Leander Van Ess distributed his own ver- sion, at the expence of £360 annually to the Society — but the report states without requiring any earthly emolnjment. Thus they lie, in a righteous dialect, and the very essence of saintship is peculation. Before these good men evan- gelise the Mohawks, let them reform their expenditure; and before the Irish Society converts the benighted Ca- tholics, I advise them (as, according to the ancient Romans, things sacred should not be used, though they might be destroyed) not to distribute, but to destroy their Irish APPENDIX.— No. VI. DOCUMENTS RELATIVE TO THE STATE OF IRELAND, IN 1828. A^.^. The following Extracts are throtvn together merely with a reference to dates, which will he found sufficient to shew their general connexion. The case of Daniel O'Connell, and the confu- '5 sion of the law. We have arrived at the ne pins ultra of legal absurdity ; and have gone on piling one law on another ; repealing, in part, or in the whole, or enacting, in the same degree; at one time for England only, then for Ireland only ; now in the character of one state — separate and independent ; then in the name of another, in the like manner; and following them in the united name of both, or of two-thirds of the state ; and these in the name of the whole three, until the dependency and relation of statute on statute have rather been presumed, than digested and studied, with each fresh addition to the multifarious code. The cunning- of law sometimes overshoots its j3urposes ; the craft of one intolerant is amended by the superior and more intense bigotry of another ; and the game is followed up until, as in a patched garment, you can neither trace the original form nor colour. The 5th of Elizabeth calls for the oaths of supremacy, &c., to be taken by members of parliament, under penalties stoutly set forth, and making the non- performance of them as a vacation of the seat obtained. The Pope-denouncing Charles II. added the declaration against Transubstantiation. But these acts do not relate 520 APPENDIX. to Ireland, except so far as they are referred to in the Act of Union. The 3d of William and Mary, to the same general intent^ relates exclusively to Ireland and to the Irish parliament. The 6th of George I. was repealed. The repeal recognised the independence of Ireland ; and hence the act of George I. was considered as null and void. Next in succession are the 21st and 22d of George III. of the Irish Parliament, called Yelver ton's Act; the 33d of George III., and the 39th and 40th of George III. (the Act of Union), and on the construction of which the question of Mr. O'Connell's power to sit in the House will, as it is said, depend. The Act of Union of England and Scotland directs, that all persons not taking the oaths thereby pre- scribed, shall be subject to the same penalties and disabi- lities as are imposed by the statute prescribing them; but there is 7io such provision in the Act for the union of England and Ireland. There is the 41st of George III., which recapitulates former disabilities in a summary sort of way ; but not distmctively. The act of the 39th and 40th George III. enjoined the oaths, &c., but attached no penalties on non-compliance ; and it is conceived that, in an extreme and severe act, penalties cannot be enacted by implication. The result of this legal research seems to be, that Mr. O Connell's refusal to take the oaths can only be made a subject of indictment, on the resolution of the Hon-se ; and here a thousand obstructions may be formed, and the matter fenced off ad injinitmn. The last act ap- plying to the subject is the 41st of George III., but it disables a Catholic from sitting for amj place in Great Britain. It likewise says, that persons disabled from sitting in the Irish parliament shall be disabled from sitting in the united parliament. There is another clause which would attach at once, if there were any act of the English, APPENDIX. 521 Irish, or united parliament, that prevented Mr. O'Connell from sitting for any place in Ireland ; but this is not the case. From all that we learn from this chaotic jumble of the statutes — the affair of Mr. O'Connell is in the hands of the same majority that voted f substantially ) for emancipa- tion. 'Hie great terror of this new stumbling-block in the way of the ultra tories is, that Mr. O'Connell will, in all human probability, e^iter the House of Commons, and take his seat ; and that it must rest with the majorities of that House to place a constmction on the statutes which affect his presence there ; and supply the light which the dense- ness and complexity of the law have shut out from com- mon eyes. " There is more terror in this fact, than in a thousand swords ;" because, if it come to a mere disputed point, on which men will judge differently, all the tories in Christendom will never be able to carry a new law, that shall replace the arbitrary power of the Church in a mo- nopoly of Christian qualifications for the post of an honest man. Supposing the post to be thus gained, and that a proscribed race of our fellow-citizens shall advance edge- ways, as it were, into the exercise of their rights and privi- leges as men ; it could no longer be contended — supposing the old barrier to remain good against the Catholic peer- age, or that the majority of the upper House were able to wield a different power — that a Catholic commoner should enjoy a privilege which was denied to a Catholic peer. In this view of the case, the Catholics are already eman- cipated. It will be a happy thing if this sudden turn in Catholic fortunes should spare the Duke of Wellingto?i the invidious trouble of some fractional measure for putting the question at rest. The Irish priesthood have been ac- cused, time out of mind, of politically exercising their power over their flocks ; and hence, all the discontent of 522 APPENDIX- Ireland, and the obstructions thrown in the way of govern- ment : but we have now an open and avowed interference of the priests ; and we see what their power is ; — a suffi- cient proof that the presence of that power cannot be traced in minor bye-gone events. By this power (as may be seen in the events of the week) all the ordinary relations of society can be changed ; why then should it be wan- tonly provoked ? If Ireland should rise in rebellion, the priests will find the level of their influence ; and so will the government of the Lord Lieutenancy. Ministers have had warmings sufficient ; it is perhaps well for them that an accidental diversion of the national mind from its bent course, has changed the aspect of the future. We cannot help noticing, without some slight degree of ridicule and contemj^t, the advice which has always been given to the Catholics by the adherents of the minister of the day. No matter who he is ; whether Mr. Pitt or Lord Liver- pool — Mr. Canning or the Duke of Wellington — whether one speaking for emancipation, or one voting against it — the gist of the advice is ever — '''good manners and delag ;'^ — " Wait patiently and behave yourselves quietly." — " You Catholic Association, disperse yourselves, and let me hear no more of you ; O'Connell, go you to your briefs ; and Sheil, to the cold bath. Priests, let politics alone ; mind the sick and infirm, and compose sermons, recommending small beer and silence to your flocks. Peers and orators all, rein in your energies, and turn your hands to some- thing else," &c. &c. This is the sagacious mode ever recommended to the Irish Catholics, as a trial that could do no harm ; time, and the disuse of all agitation, were to work them out of their political purgatory ; and when " experience" shall have proved how worthy they are, and that their sincerity can be no longer doubted — the noble APPENDIX. 523 Duke will " recoimder the subject ^ The effect which such sapient counsel would have on the minds of reflecting men, might have heen foreseen. We much question whe- ther the Duke himself can now sleep on it. A state of things has developed itself in the sister country, which is no longer remediable by the old quack applications. Something of an alterative must now be administered; — whether in the shape of conciliation or coercion, will soon be learnt. June, 18-28. In a speech of Mr. O'Connell, on occasion of the dinner given to celebrate his election, as member for Clare, he made the following observations. Mr. O'Connell, M.P., rose amid loud and enthusiastic cheers, which continued several minutes. — '^ I cannot begin without telling you one thing that you never heard before — you never heard a Roman Catholic Member of Parliament. (Loud cheers.) Yes, there is novelty in that, at least ; and now I can tell you what you never heard before — you never heard of any county in which there was a contested election but Clare, in which the resemblance to contest and controversy was totally avoided — where there was not even the appearance of conflict — where not one angry expression was heard, and not the slightest observa- tion used hurtful to the adverse candidate or his voters Catholic and Protestant 40^. freeholders both supported me, and I had a greater proportion of Protestant than Catholic supporters. — It was accordingly right that those who were approaching the threshold of freedom should conduct themselves in the manner the Clare freeholders have done at the late election. But by whom was this election principally conducted ? The very men who are 524 APPENDIX. the bugbears of poor John Bull— the Popish priests. Did they interfere at the election for criminal and unworthy purposes ? Oh, no ! Did the persons they supported conduct themselves unworthy of the sacred ministry under which they were led on ? It was not to sell themselves, or that they might be retailed to the best bidders they came forward ; but, with the spirit of martyrs, they went to the hustings to discharge their duty to God and to their country, with boldness, manliness, and firmness, and regardless of the consequences. Let it be told all over England, that an experiment had been made in a Catholic county in Ire- land, to turn out a Member of Parliament, because he, being a Protestant, voted for us, who differed from him in religion, and whose religion he declared to be idolatrous; yet he, a Protestant, voted against his fellow Protestants; it shewed that it was his interest obliged him to vote for one, and that his principles did not compel him to vote for both ... .1 now tell you, that instead of our urging on the spirit of the people, (as we have been accused) we are actually a drag, and the only one, upon the political wheel which is rolling on its gigantic career, and bears along (if not impeded and prevented) results as important as they may be deplorable. Recollect, I am speaking that which is part of Irish history, and that this is a great day for Ireland. We are beginning a new era. There is, you know, a great mili- tary disposition amongst the Irish people, and it not un- frequently distinguishes itself in the most ridiculous and criminal way, by party feuds. There is a party called the " Two Years Old," and another the " Three Years Old." Tliere is one party called the " Black-hens," and in opposition to them, the " Magpies." (Laughter J APPENDIX. 525 Ridiculous as the names of these factions may appear, twenty lives have been lost within the last four years, in quarrels between them. I addressed them last Sunday Aveek. I used every topic, which reason or religion could give to my aid. — I addressed myself to their feelings and their interests. One and all they promised to listen to my voice, and that of the Catholic Association ; they told me they should meet the next Sunday, arm in arm to- gether, like friends and brothers. I called upon their wives and their mothers, that they would keep them to this promise, and cordially they consented to do so. I left them with this promise. Within a week and a day from this, I again met them, and their priest came for- ward at their head to meet me, and he said " I am. Sir, bail before Heaven, and to you, that there shall be no more quarrelling amongst those men— like friends, linked arm in arm, they now go before you." The men them- selves said, " Sir, we are all Irishmen, we know it would be wrong to take an oath without sufficient cause, but you may rely upon us that our differences are put an end to for ever." (Cheers.) I told them, I should send down to them four of the medals of the Order of Liberators, for the leaders of the " Magpies and Black-hens." When I came to Drumker, I found there the Cummings and the Mahers ; these also I reconciled, and they would take but one medal for each of the parties. I now ask, have I not, in my political struggles— T, a Member of the Catholic Association, done more in putting an end to outrage and to crime, before God, to injury and abuse to man, than the Imperial Parliament itself has been able to effect } What I now say, I wish to reach England, and I ask what is to be done with Ireland ? What is to be done with the Catholics.? One of two things. They must 526 APPENDIX. either crush us, or there is no going on as we are. There is nothing so dangerous as going on as we are As for myself, I do, I confess, expect very little fair play from them. I only wish the Catholic people of Ireland to he prepared for this event, for never shall a rehellion be attempted while I have life. When those who have the power to grant peace and tranquillity to the country, are asked to emancipate the Catholics of Ireland, they are not asked to put down Protestantism — we never asked, never sought, never would accept of emancipation, if it were the means of putting down Protestants. We would not debase the dissenters — no, we would rather continue slaves as we are, than injure a fellow Christian. Yes, Sir, this is one of the tenets of our calumniated Church. It is one of the tenets, too, which has, if possible, made me cling with still greater affection to it — that the greatest possible good was not to be reached even by the smallest crime. We would not then accept of emancipation, ex- cept we were to be upon the same ground of equality with our Protestant brethren. We wish for no ascendancy, and if there were in this country a Catholic ascendancy, I would as anxiously labour to put it down as I would any other ascendancy. "VMiat has been my object, but to es- tablish the security of the throne, and the respect and ad- miration of my sovereign ?.... Let Wellington and Peel but do justice to Ireland, and the Catholic people of Ireland will be found to collect around the throne— they will form for their sovereign troops far better than the armies of the Holy Alliance. — But let justice be done, and all will be found to rally round the throne — its best security and safest protection If they refuse to conciliate us, the other alternative is to crush us. But can England afford to crush us ? They APPENDIX. 527 cannot crush the people of Ireland. Will they then con- ciliate her.? We are ready and prepared to afford them every assistance. Do they want information ? — I am able to give it to them. Did any man think that the Leth- bridges and Evanses would repeat their dull fables, if they had one to oppose them able to contradict them ? No — good temper, good sense, and good feeling, would prevail in the debate. I might tell, but I cannot adequately de- scribe, the scene which for the last three days I have wit- nessed. When I looked at my county, and the people with whom it was filled, my heart overflowed, and my eyes were filled with tears, as I thought upon the lovely land that met my sight, and had to consider that the people were like slaves in their native land, and that it might not be free for their children. I saw, in the month of July, rivers dashing down from the mountains, sufficient to turn all the machinery of England — water power in profusion to save her from the steam machinery, which, though it makes money abundant, renders man weak and miserable — there I looked upon the healthful power which nature supplies, cheering by the merry rattle of its waters through the machinery, giving joy by its sound, and adding to the hilarity of the workmen. I traced those rivers to their mouths, and I found them opening into the wide and ex- pansive ocean, with no sand banks to impede their course, but widening into capacious harbours, secure from every storm, and where the navies of the world might ride in safety. There the commerce of the world might be tran- shipped. It might be made the sacred deposit for the united storage of the two great nations of the earth. I know not whether I am more loyal, who would contend to render Ireland thus, or those who would raise the blood- stained standard of Orange Ascendancy. But, humble as 528 APPENDIX. I am, I shall still contend for " happy homes and altars free." My talisman is not the sword ; hut my watch- word — Liberty /" July, 1828. On another occasion Mr. O'Connell said : — " It was not for myself, God forbid it should, that I contended at the Clare election for the County Clare— no, it was for Ireland and for Liberty. It was that the noblest and the bravest people should not be fettered with the chain of slavery — it was that the finest country in the world should put forth her moral energies, and, shewing herself too big for the chains that were cast around her, break through them by the mere moral effect of her own internal eleva- tion. Our governors do not know this country. I did not know it myself, until I mixed personally and politi- cally with the people — and, so help me God ! my mind was never so overcome with admiration, as in witnessing the heroism and magnanimity which the people of this country were able to exhibit : — never did fiction or " fabled story " invent a tale — never did poetry ornament or em- blazon an achievement — never did history recount more noble and heroic chivalry than my countrymen have ex- hibited. For the cause to which he was pledged, the in- dividual who is but an atom in the scale of existence was ready to sacrifice all ; for that he was ready to sacrifice himself— the wife whom he loved, and the children who were the consolation of his sorrows and his cares ; for that cause he was ready to ofi'er himself a willing victim upon the altar of his country. Such a people cannot, must not, shall not, be enslaved. What is it we seek? Is it revo- lution — is it convulsion ? — No, it is not. We seek to make the throne more secure, by changing it from what it is like at present, a c^ne resting upon its summit, and turn. I Ain'ENDlX. 529 ing it on its base, which shall be as broad as the universal empire. What — do we seek to pull down the aristocracy of the country ? — Why should we seek to deprive the aris- tocracy of the station which they fill ? — and oh, how well some of them do fill it ! — As to those who do not follow the illustrious example now before us, we should not lower them, but seek, my lord, to raise them to the elevation of the station which you hold. Do we desire to lessen the privileges of the House of Commons, or to curtail the proper representation of the people in Parliament : it is no vanity in me to say, that the j^eople do not err in the representatives they choose ; but it is not for me to say this, who happen to be the object of the choice of one county in Ireland — a county unstained by crime, and untarnished by violence — one that has suffered much from absentee landlords, and still more from the cruel, ema- ciating and grinding spirit of biblical persecution. It is not for me to speak of the people who have made me the object of their choice ; but, putting my case altogether out of the question, look to those who have been the object of the people's choice ; and from the Villiars Stuart of Waterford, to the Alexander Dawson, of Louth, I would ask, are there not the very best men to be found in Parlia- ment.?....! am, I own, fervently attached to the principle of universal suffrage — I think that every man unstained by crime — that every man who pays taxes, and personally contributes to the support of the state, has a right to have a voice in the appointment of him, who is to be the pro- tector of his person and his property. This was the an- cient Catholic constitution, and to the electors of Clare I have pledged myself to maintain this principle We now have embodied the spirit of that agitation which has been continued for eight and twenty years. We want to sub- 2 m 530 APPExXDIX. vert nothing. We seek but to follow the glorious example which Ireland has already set. This country once saw a glorious change, in which not one particle of property was disturbed, in which no man suffered in his person or his fortune, and not one single drop of blood was spilt, and in which, sacred God ! this country became, from a pitiful, pelting province, a free and independant nation, with a national legislature of its own. For this, we want agitation, and to accomplish this shall be the business of my life. (Loud cheers.) Is there one amongst us who desj^airs of such a consummation ; if there be, let him lis- ten to me for one moment. I recollect the period when it was with the greatest difficulty that eight or ten of us could be got together. We were sneered at by some, scorned by others, and it was not at all the fashion to belong to us. Now we have overcome the coldness of op- ponents, the laugh of scorn, the taunt of ridicule, and the perpetual calumny that has made us insensible to abuse, and we now find our cause in the present situation it holds in the eyes of the empire ; and after this, will any man dare to tell me that I shall despair of Ireland. Ireland ought to be connected with Britain by the golden link and tie of having one sovereign ; but she ought to be inde- pendent, and have an independent legislature ; she ought to have her parliament, the members of which should be solely selected by the people ; and I now think that we have arrived at the 'vantage ground, to enable her to take the spring, which will give her this great prize for all her labours, and, thank God, I am young enough yet to see her independence accomplished. I will not " tear the strings of the harp asunder." I feel that the harp of Erin shall yet sound boldly and strongly, and that we shall live to hear the song of her triumph resound through the green fields of old Ireland." APPENDIX. 531 Mr. Shell said — ^' The Clare election was pregDant with instruction, and held out great admonitions. It was important, as a phenomenon exhibiting the intensity of national emotion, and the profound sympathy which all classes of the people experience in what is regarded as the freedom of Ireland. That event has gone by ; but it has scarcely passed when others have succeeded. I have just returned from the county of Tipperary, in which the great provincial assembly was recently held, and I have come with still deeper impressions of the awful condition in which we are placed, than I had previously entertained. There are two matters for serious reflection, afforded by the manifestation of public feeling in the south of Ireland. The state of the Catholics is not only very remarkable, but the disposition of the Protestants is becoming almost equally conspicuous. To these two topics I mean to apply myself. First, let us consider the condition of the Catholic mind in the south of Ireland. I own that I regard it with some degree of alarm. I was present at a public meeting in Thurles, where not less than ten thousand 23ersons had assembled upon the warning of an instant, and I will not hide from you that the passions which they displayed conveyed to my mind much melancholy intimation. At the town of Borriscleigh, which had been the arena of savage faction, and where men slew each other with scarcely a motive beyond the abstract love of fight which predominates in the character of the people, a reconcilia- tion has just taken place. The peasantry obeyed the orders of the Association, and laid down their ancient animosi- ties. In Clare they had been persuaded to abandon the maddening beverage for which they were supposed to have an unsurmoun table predilection: this was doing much; and the sobriety of the people was accounted formidable ; '2 m 2 532 APPENDIX. but, in Tipperary, even more has been effected, and the omnipotence (for such it is) of the Association has been evinced in the system of brotherhood which has been produced among-st contending factions, 'vj^o_ had inherited hatred, and carried their detestations in^i^ blood. The mandate of the Association has done more than the law, with all its terrors, could accomplish. The manner and circumstances of this reconciliation were almost as remark- able as the fact itself. They moved in a vast procession which covered miles of the country, in perfect order, mar- shalled, disciplined, and regimented. Their leaders were attired in gaudy green, and although they offer to the imagination figures sufficiently fantastical, yet the smile which their strange attire might at first produce, will speedily give way to the serious reflections which such accompaniments ought to create. These incidents afford incontestable proof of the extent of the national organiza- tion, and of the perfection of the popular discipline. They have almost reached the excellence of military array. It is unnecessaiy to suggest that an immense population thus united, thus affiliated, thus controlled — in such a state of complete subordination, affords matter for the most solemn meditation. I have spoken thus far of the condition of the Catholics, and it is enough for me to say, that a feeling of expectation has begun to manifest itself among the people. They put painful questions, and awful interrogatories. It is not our fault if this condition of things exists. The government who, by the disfranchise- ment, have produced the consolidation of seven millions, are responsible for present calamities, and will be answer- able for evils to come. But, if the state of the Catholics be deserving attention, that of the Protestants calls also for remark. It is in vain for us to hide it from ourselves? APPENDIX. 533 the Protestants are becoming every day more alienated, by onr display of power. The division between Catholic and Protestant is widening. They were before parted, but they are now rent asunder : while the Catholic Asso- ciation rises up from the indignant passions of one great body of the community, the Brunswick Club is springing out of the irritated pride and sectarian rancour of the Protestants of Ireland. The Catholic Association owes its political parentage to heavy wrong, operating on deeply sensitive and strongly susceptible feelings. Oppression has engendered it. The Protestant Association has its birth in the hereditary love of power, and inveterate habits of domination; and thus, two great rivals are brought into political existence, and enter the lists against each other. As yet, they have not engaged in the great struggle, they have not closed in the combat ; but as they advance upon each other, and collect their might, it is easy to discern the terrible passions by which they are influenced, and the full determination with which they rush to the encounter. Meanwhile, the government stands by, and the minister folds his arms, as if he were a mere indif- ferent observer, and the terrific encounter only afforded him a spectacle for the amusement of his official leisure. He sits as if two gladiators were crossing their swords for his recreation. The cabinet seems to be little better than a box in an amphitheatre, from whence his Majesty's ministers may survey the business of blood. . . .This, then, is the state of things — there are three parties concerned, the Catholics, the Protestants, and the government. The Catholics advance upon one hand, the Protestants upon another, and the government, by whom both ought to be controlled, look passively on. What, then, does it behove us to do ? I will tell you ; and it is for that purpose that 534 APPENDIX, I have risen to-day to speak. We know that our adver- saries pant for a rebellion. They have frankly and openly avowed it. — ' The sooner it comes the better,' was the fero- cious yell with which they assailed their quondam leader ^ Now, mark me — we must not indulge them in the luxury of a massacre, nor bare the throat of Ireland to the knife. Being well aware of the objects of our adversaries, and of the excited state of the Catholic mind, we should always guard against any, the least violation of the laws. Do not attribute my advice to weakness or pusillanimity. The peasantry of the south might, by a single spark, be ignited into an explosion. We should watch them as we would a powder magazine. The enemy is well aware that our real strength lies in our tranquillity, and that they have no chance of arresting our progress to perfect liberation, excepting through a premature display of physical power, which they are now able to put down. Like skilful generals, they are anxious to bring us to an engagement, when they dread the diminution of their own forces, and apprehend the hourly augmentation of ours. We should retreat — and they will be exhausted and worn out in the pursuit. But let me drop all figurative phrases, and speak with a direct simplicity of matters that are of fearful con- sequences, and should be treated with that jDlainness that becomes what is of such vast moment. The case stands thus — by the exercise of pacific means, the whole Catholic population have been completely organised ; immense power is placed in our hands, but it is of a moral kind. The Orangemen, aware of our progress, and of the expe- dients by which it has been effected, well know that they cannot stop us, as long as we persevere in the same course. They, therefore, use every stimulus to provoke us to aggression. We should act with a moderation propor- APPENDIX. 535 tioned to their intemperance, and adhere, with undeviating fidelity, to the system on which we have hitherto acted. Thus we must inevitably succeed in their overthrow. We shall consume and waste them away. As it is, how rapidly we are every day encroaching, and making inroads upon them ! Every where, Orangeism is giving way. The nurseries of Protestantism are broken up in the charter- schools ; Kildare-place is on the wane ; and even the Foundling hospital has ceased to be the cradle of religion, as well as the resource of love. Mr. Seymour, in his late speech at Sligo, informs us that, within a short period, 25,000 Protestants have emigrated from the north; and he piously laments the increase of Popery and of pig-sties, in the favourite district of orthodoxy. Thus we are, on all sides, pressing upon them, and nothing but our own rashness can interrupt our march to success. All your might, whatever power you have, arises from peace — be tranquil, and you must be triumphant.'* On another occasion, Mr. Sheil made the following eloquent appeal : — " What country has ever presented such a spectacle of universal organization as this ? Open the pages of history (I address myself to some one of your haughty rulers, in whom recent events may have f)roduced an abatement of disdain) and tell me, whether in the annals of mankind,, an instance of national confederacy can be found, which can be brought into any comparison with the mighty union of the Irish people } I do not hesitate to say that in no page of history will there be discovered such an example of a consolidated passion, and concentrated energy, and of systematised action, as is at this moment pre- sented to the contemplation of every political observer, by the actual state of Ireland. In other countries, large masses of the population may be found, who, under the pressure of o36 APPENDIX. penalty and disqualification, have been brought into ad- herence, and felt a community of interest in a community of wrong. The Huguenots of France, for example, were a powerful body, but still they did not exhibit a union so perfect and complete as the great seven millions of dis- franchised subjects, who, shut from the pale of the consti- tution, are drawn up beyond it. (Cheers.) I repeat it — there cannot be found in the annals of any people an in- stance of combination as complete, and let me add, or appalling, as the marvellous confederacy of the Catholics of Ireland. — From the palace of the proudest peer amongst us, to the lowest hovel of the meanest peasant in our marshes, one single undivided sentiment prevails. The language in which utterance is given to the national feeling is diversified, according to the condition of those who employ it ; but whatever may be the difference of phrase, I will venture to assert that there is but one great political thought which occupies all ranks and classes of our body. The country is in a state of the most dangerous organiza- tion, and the greater the peril the more imperative the reasons for a change of that system from which these results are derived. I therefore draw away the veil ; I throw off all disguise ; I put aside all sophistication ; and I bid the government contemplate our condition, and look out a little into that future, of which the past and present afford such alarming omens. Where is all this to end > The public passions must be either retrograde, or sta- tionary, or progressive. Will they be retrograde ? Will the tide which is now rushing on, but is not yet at full flood, go back — or is it not rather like that sea which ' feels no returning ebb ?' — What man knows so little of human nature, as to say that the mind of Ireland will recede of itself from the point of agitation which it has APPENDIX. 537 reached ? Is there any just reason so to think ? Let us look a little back, and endeavour to find in what has al- ready taken place, the means of calculating what is to come. I do not mean to traverse many years of retrospect. I refer merely to what we have all seen, and to events in which we have been ourselves the actors. During the last eight years what has happened ? The Catholic Asso- ciation arose. Its first beginning^were humble indeed. All classes of Catholics felt at last that it was only by a manifestation of national power, that any thing useful for Ireland could be accomplished — a remarkable event, showing how much had been done in raising the moral character of Ireland. The elections of Waterford and Louth called up the spirit of the peasantry, and the Pro- testant aristocracy were in an instant overthrown. The simultaneous meetings, which I had the honour of sug- gesting, came next, and seven millions raised up their arms together. Let me not pause upon this great incident. It speaks enough in its own behalf, and requires no com- ment. I hurry over other inferior circumstances, all of which, however, furnish illustration of the state of moral and political feeling which has been created amongst us, and I come to the great event which is now taking place before us. The election of Mr. O' Conn ell is the crowning and consummating incident. It has, more than any other, developed our resources and our power, and given a deeper insight into the mind of Ireland. What statesman can contemplate that triumph without also looking into the feelings which beat at the nation's heart. That triumph is not a mere example of ephemeral popularity ; it is not the mere demonstration of evanescent favour which the populace manifests under their temporary feelings. All Ireland has started up in acclamation. I revert to what 538 APPENDIX. I originally laid down, and ask whether it be possible that the public passions which have made this extraordi- nary way can be retrograde ? I think it clear that they cannot. Will they be stationary ? It is not in the nature of things. They must then be progressive ; and if they are, where, in the name of all that is dear to us, are they to pause and rest.? The torrent will not go back ; it will not freeze and stand still ; it will rush on : and I, who cannot retard or accelerate, do but point out the gulph into which the vessel is swept by its very smoothness, I do but bid you listen to the rapids which are, perhaps, not far away ;— I do but warn you of that tremendous whirl- pool to which we are drawing by an increasing suction, and in which, if the ship be not more wisely steered, we shall be inevitably swallowed up. Seven millions of the Irish people are united and organized. That organization is hourly on the increase. The gentry, the middle classes, the peasantry, and above all, that powerful and enthusi- astic body, the Catholic priesthood (whose hearts have room for political and religious passion, because they have exiled every other) are all blended in one mass of accumu- lating discontent, — and animated by a sentiment which is at present, indeed, under the just controul of constitu- tional duty, but to whose vehemence it may at last be dif- ficult even for those who have most contributed to excite it, to prescribe a limit. I repeat my question — where is all this to end.? I said there was nothing comparable to the organization of the people. I should have said, that there was nothing to be compared to it but the infatuation of the government." The Rt. Rev. Dr. Coppinger to his R. C. Parishioners of Cove. My Dear Friends.— You are already informed APPENDIX. 539 by the public prints, that the House of Lords, that august branch of the British Legislature, after two nights' ad- journed discussion of the Resolution presented to them by the House of Commons, and strenuously recommended to them by that honourable assembly for their dispassion- ate consideration, have, notwithstanding, resolved not even to examine or discuss our question. — This intelli- gence is certainly painful, but yet, under all the circum- stances of the case, is far from discovu'aging. It now clearly appears, that the more this question is agitated and discussed, the more favorably has it advanced in pub- lic opinion. All the most sj^lendid abilities and convincing eloquence of Lords and Commons are now ranged on the Catholic side ; and if the Catholics of Ireland persist in the line of conduct hitherto so creditably adopted by them ; — if with union, firmness, peaceable submission to the law, they continue to urge their question on constitutional grounds, the number of their friends must increase, and the number of their enemies be diminished. The peace- able and orderly demeanour which characterized our late simultaneous meetings, while it powerfully pleaded for the Catholic body, was a most mortifying disappointment to their enemies. I trust in God we shall continue in that commendable and efficacious mode of attaining the object of our wishes. Those who would rivet our chains have very opposite views, and to glut themselves in the dismal consequences of violence, or illegal proceedings, to which they would gladly provoke their Catholic fellow- countrymen, will, we fear, lose no opportunity which, in their enmity to us, they Avould consider likely to create confusion. My intention, in submitting this state of our case to your attentive consideration, is, in order to put you on your guard against any manifestation of turbulent dis- 540 APPENDIX. pleasure, at a reformation meeting which is publicly an- nounced to take place in Cove to-morrow. Judging from the language adopted by the speakers in every similar meeting heretofore announced, it may be expected that the most calumnious and venomous aspersions will be vomited against the Catholic Church. As for theological argument, wherever it has been advanced, the most tri- umphant refutation has rebutted it, in Cork, in Carlow, in Waterford, in Downpatrick, and in Dublin. When assailed by virulent publications they were as powerfully and triumphantly refuted. Dr. Doyle, Dr. M'Hale, the Rev. Mr. Kinsella, and of late the first Earl in England, the Earl of Shrewsbury, have overwhelmed these un- blushing charges and imputations with the irresistible weight of truth. To descend, therefore, again, into the arena of contro- versy, with petulant pretenders to ability in this way, would be at once to lower the divinity of religion, and to expose the community to the evils of rancorous division. We behold its dreadful effects in what lately took place in the town of Balinasloe, where the bayonet was recurred to when argument had failed, where blood was spilled, and where lives were in imminent danger. If, therefore, malignant individuals shall calculate upon the warm feel- ings of Irish Roman Catholics, when provoked by the slanderous abuse of their religion, and shall combine in their meetings of the New Reformation, as they call them, to incite the Catholic population to be their hearers, I trust that you, my friends, know your interest too well to be caught in that detestable snare. I trust you have too high a respect for yourselves, as professors of the Catholic faith, to gratify such men by swelling their congregations. I trust that if they be determined, as I presume they will, APPENDIX. 541 to abuse and to vilify that ancient faith, once delivered to the Saints, you will leave them to themselves, and consign them to our common Judge, upon the great accounting day, before whom it surely cannot be very enviable to present themselves as reformers of a religion which he himself delivered: promising to be with its accredited teachers throughout the world to the end of time. A du- ration of 1800 years has verified his promise. May the God of heaven, who has so miraculously exhibited the power of that promise in this our native land, preserve you all from being aggregated in communion with any body of men, who shall appear before Christ as professing a better religion than he himself established. On these several grounds I feel it my duty to prohibit you, under the severest spiritual penalties, to appear at this projected meeting to-morrow. I announce this prohibition for your sakes, and in my capacity of your bishop, answerable for your souls at the great tribunal of Him who is to judge us ; and I here beseech him to enlighten, to support, and to guard you, against every danger, in your progress through this world unto eternal life, — a blessing I wish you all. — (Sunday Morning, June 22 J In reply to a communication from the Chairman of the Association, the same venerable prelate says : " As being the oldest, by creation, in the Catholic prelacy of Ireland, I must naturally feel myself identified with the concerns of the Irish Catholic people, and with their constitutional efforts for the furtherance of civil and religious liberty to all ; essential as I conscientiously deem it, to the pros- perity of the empire, to the consolidation of the state, to the stability of the throne, and to the happiness of the community. Predominant sectarian sway over fellow- 542 APPENDIX. men, whatever be their creed, I abjure and reprobate, in full accordance with the Catholic Association, as do my clergy, and the Catholic hierarchy of Ireland. Let us then hope, that the misconceptions of our religious and political principles, gradually giving way to the general conviction of what they really are, will, ere long, change hostility, not alone into Christian forbearance, but into universal brotherly love." Address to the Roman Catholics of the North. — At a Catholic meeting held in Dublin, on Saturday, 5th July, 1828 : — David Lynch, Esq. in the chair, — it was moved by A. Carew O'Dwyer, Esq. and seconded by the Rev. F. J. L'Estrange : Resolved unanimously — That the following address be printed, and forthwith circulated in the North of Ireland, as a means tending to ensure the preservation of the public safety, on the approaching 12th of July. ADDRESS. Fellow Countrymen. — Influenced by the most lively wishes for your welfare, and animated with feelings of affection and sympathy towards you, we address you upon a subject of very great importance, and, by virtue of our common and undivided interests, we implore you to listen to our appeal. We have been informed that the armed Orangemen of the North, have for some time been engaged, and are now actively employed, in making extraordinary preparations to commemorate the battle of Aughrim, on the approach- ing 12th of July. We have been apprized by authentic accounts, that this festival of insult and oppression will be celebrated on the coming occasion with unusual pomp, APPENDIX. 543 and with an exhibition of insolence and triumph likely to excite a disturbance of the peace amongst you. Listen, then, Countrymen, to our advice ! As fellow- sufferers, we call upon you to abstain on the 12 th of July from every act of resistance to the insulting proceedings which are contemplated. We call upon you, neither by word nor deed, to provoke a breach of the peace, nor to ex- pose yourselves, unarmed and defenceless as you are, to the violence of these men, who are well organised, and sup- plied with arms and ammunition, which they might turn to the most deadly purpose. Do not assemble in numbers on the 12th of July. Do not come into the towns; and, above all, refrain, we beseech you, that day, from the use of intoxicating liquors, which, by stimulating your pas- sions, might render you more liable to be drawn into a disastrous conflict, if there were an attack made upon you by your enemies. Keep within your respective homes, and, if possible, avoid the roads and streets through which Orange processions may pass. Remain in the society of your wives and children on that day, and unite with them in prayer to the Almighty God, the Father of us all, that the time may soon arrive when intolerance shall not exist in the land — when the Protestant and Catholic will know no distinction between each other, and when no Irishman shall pervert religion, of which charity and love are the essence, into the source of discord and social strife. Depend upon the law for protection — if you be injured, trust not to violence for «dress. The glorious cause in which we are all embarked, has made a mighty progress in the public opinion. Each year brings to us an acces- sion of friends, and exhibits the conversion to our side of many who, at one time, were hostile to our principles. Do not then tarnish our great and virtuous cause by any act unsanctioned by the laws of the land. o44 APPENDIX. Fellow Countrymen ! One of the highest authorities, Lord Plunkett, has pronounced Orange processions to be contrary to the law, and every magistrate is bound to dis- perse them wherever they appear. Of course the magis- trates of the North will do their duty, and will enforce the dictates of the law, by suppressing all incitements to dis- turbance. The Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Sir Anthony Hart, by whom all magistrates are commissioned, is a pure and upright judge, and upon him you may depend for equal and impartial justice. In every case where you entertain a reasonable apprehension that the public tran- quillity is likely to be disturbed, you should apply to a magistrate of your district — tender an affidavit of the fact, and the magistrate is bound to prevent, by the adoption of vigorous measures, such anticipated violation of the peace. We beseech you, then, to obey implicitly the advice of yourvirtuous and affectionate priesthood, and to be guided by their example. They will tell you, as we do, that the time is fast approaching when freedom will smile upon our country ; and that obedience to the laws, and reliance upon them for redress of injury, are the best means of ac- celerating the completion of our national happiness. In conclusion, we conjure you to avoid all secret asso- ciations and illegal confederacies. The fact of secrecy implies illegality, and whatever is illegal must be bad, and subversive of good order. If a cause be good, it need not fear publicity— if it be good, it must triumph, in pro- portion as it is generally known. Farewell ! We rely upon you to attend to this sincere admonition. You know we are your friends, and that our interests are identified with your own ; we give you that advice, which we are convinced is most calculated to make our lovely country what she ought to be, and what APPENDIX. 545 she will yet be, with the blessing of heaven — prosperous, tranquil and contented. David Lynch, Chairman. Bart. Corballis, Sec. " Carloiv, August 11, 1828. '^ Dear Sir. — On my return here, after an absence of several days, I was honoured, on Saturday last, by the receipt of your very kind letter, inclosing a resolution of thanks to me, passed at a meeting of the Catholic Associa- tion, on Saturday, the 2d of this month. " I wish I had merited this mark of public favour, so liberally conferred on me, by so large and respectable a body of my fellow-countrymen. The thanks of a whole people, or of those who in any way represent them, is a reward commensurate to the greatest services ; and, to an Irishman, thoroughly devoted to his country, j^erhaps the thanks of the Catholic Association should be more estim- able than those of any other body in the world ; but for me, who am conscious of my own infirmity and inutility, and whose pursuits are feeble and constrained, when they diverge into politics, the thanks of my own fellow-suf- ferers serve only to remind me of the calamities which press upon our dear country. They compel me to ask, — why have we a Catholic Association, not, indeed, usurping empire, yet ruling without laws to guide it, without pre- cedents to regulate it, without power or authority to en- force its injunctions ? and why am I compelled often to quit the sanctuary, and participate in the proceedings of those who are an anomaly in the state } God is my wit- ness, how much I deplore this state of things, even while I concur in its maintenance, and contribute, however 2 n 546 APPENDIX. feebly, to its support. But necessity is our charter ; and we must continue till it cease. Injustice prevails, and is prolonged against us ; and we are bound by tbat law which is written in our hearts, to struggle — to agitate — to strive against its pressure. In doing this, if obliged to press upon the limits of the laws, let us not transgress them ; let us not be elated by success, nor depressed by defeat. A people such as ours, is made drunk by a sudden and unforeseen advantage; they are also liable to de- spond, when under failure or defeat. — But whether they recede or advance, union will preserve their struggle, moderation will mature it, and perseverance will crown it with success. Our duty is, to sustain the hopes of the people, to combine their energies, and direct them to one single and attainable point. Let us not aim at what is above our reach, or beyond our competency, or occupy ourselves about business which is not j3roperly our own. Let us burst the penal code, and enter into the enjoyment of existing privileges and rights. Then will the Catholic Association cease ; then can I, and those of my calling, return to the work of the ministry, and to that alone ; then you, sir, and your fellow-labourers, merged into the great mass of the nation, with the glorious principles of 1688 as a beacon before you, may deliberate about Irish inter- ests, and endeavour, not as Catholics, but as British sub- jects, to promote them. " This is the only result for which I have hitherto la- boured, or will labour hereafter. I am grateful, exceedingly grateful, to the Catholic Association ; and did I cease to support it, to the utmost of my power, while those laws which it seeks to have repealed have destroyed more lives by their operation in Ireland, even during the last eight APPENDIX. 547 years, than have fallen in Greece under the Turkish sci^ mitar, I should be a rebel to my conscience, and the accomplice of those who afflict the oppressed. " I have the honour to be, dear sir, your most obliged and obedient servant, " To John Chester, Esqr " J. DoYLE." August 12. The anniversary of" the relief of Den-y" was celebrated at Derry, on the 12th instant. A pillar had been lately erected in that town, on the top of which was placed a statue of Walker, who signalised himself at the siege of Derry. The statue was uncovered for the first time that day. A considerable number of the Orange peasantry assembled, and walked in procession. In the evening, upwards of two hundred gentlemen, svibscribers to the Testimonial, dined together in the Corporation Hall, the Right Honourable Sir George F. Hill, Bart., M.P., in the chair. At the President's table were Mr. Dawson, M.P., Sir Hugh Stuart, Bart., Sir R. Ferguson, Bart., the High Sheriff of the county, Mr. Barre Berresford, Mr. Connelly Gage, and others of the leading interests of the county of Londonderry, and the neighbouring counties. The health of George Robert Dawson, Esq. M.P. was given and received with loud cheers. The honour- able gentleman returned thanks in the following terms: — " Sir George Hill, and gentlemen — It may seem affecta- tion in a man who has so often had the honour of address- ing you on similar occasions, to say that he rises with diffidence and pain to return you thanks for such a grati- fying proof of your regard and approbation as you have just bestowed upon me ; but the eulogiums which have been lavished upon me by the kindness of my friend, 2 n 2 548 APPENDIX. (cheers) and the consciousness of my own unworthiness, must give rise to those feelings in my mind. I have, however, a great public duty to perform ; and in appearing before you on the present occasion, I have no other wish than to express my sentiments with that openness and sincerity which I have always used, and which I hope will be the best passport to your favour, as it ever shall be to me the best reward. — Gentlemen, in gratifying my own wishes, and in obeying the summons which you sent to me to become a steward of this meeting, I shall briefly state the motives which have induced me to be present, and describe the character which, in my opinion, ought to be given to the celebration of this day. After the lapse of near a century and a half, it has pleased the inhabitants of this enlightened and wealthy city to erect a splendid testimo- nial in commemoration of the valour, the fortitude, the unparalleled patience, under sufferings of every descrip- tion, and success of their forefathers in the defence of their city against a foreign foe and a domestic enemy, in sup- port of their religion, their propertty, and their liberties. If there were any topics calculated to rouse the feelings of the heart ; if any impulse were wanting to animate the emotions of a manly breast, where can we find a more noble incentive for any true patriot, than in claiming his sympathy for men who risked their lives, and encountered all the horrors of a lingering death amidst plague, pesti- lence, and famine, in support of their religion, their coun- try, and their liberty, (loud cheers,) What words are more heart-stirring, or penetrate more deeply into the human breast, than the triumphal song in celebration of the warriors who have defended our altars, our homes, and our country (cheers) ; what theme can be so ennobling, both as a mark of gratitude to the illustrious dead, and as APPENDIX. 549 an example to those who live, as the record of daring ex- ploits and successful valour ; and where could a poet of the warmest imagination find a more glowing picture of the brave, the patriot, the invincible soldier, than in the description of those scenes of carnage, of pestilence, and famine, which aggravated in an unspeakable degree the approach of death, and which history has recorded to have occurred within these very walls? f cheers.) To be dead to such emotions is to confess that we deserve not to have illustrious ancestors ; is to refuse our tribute of admiration to the valour of our forefathers ; is to teach our own children that virtue and merit are unworthy of imitation. It has been said by Dr. Johnson, who well knew the character of the human heart, that he did not envy the man whose piety did not grow warm amid the ruins of lona, and whose patriotism did not glow on the plains of Marathon. Sir, I agree in this noble sentiment ; my heart thrills with responsive concurrence in this natural effusion of a pious and a generous spirit. I am sure that every man in this room is animated with the same feeling ; and it is in obedience to this irresistible appeal that I am present at this festival to commemorate the valour of the defenders of this city. f cheers J But, gentlemen, I cannot say that my feelings are of an unmixed nature ; I do not feel that single and overwhelming impulse of enthusiasm which ought to pre- vail in the attainment of a great national victory ; and I trust when I have explained the nature of the alloy, which in the contemplation of these occurrences imparts a taste of bitterness to the cup of enjoyment, that there will not be found an Irish heart which will impute an improper motive to these melancholy reflections. Gentle- men, I have said that we are called upon to celebrate the valour and success of our forefathers in the defence of 550 APPENDIX. their city against a foreign foe and a domestic enemy. What a multitude of recollections does such an unnatural combination present; what a painful retrospection for every true lover of his country — a foreign foe and a do- mestic enemy ! (cheers J In such an union are combined the horrors of a foreign invasion and a civil war, the two greatest curses which can afflict a country, and where victory itself is robbed of half its glory. Would that the deeds which we now commemorate, were confined to the songs of triumph over a foreign enemy, with what un- mixed pleasure should we lift the cup to our lips, and raise the shout of tiiumph in commemoration of our noble defenders ! Would to God that we were called upon alone to record the defeat, the disgrace, and rout of the execrable De Rosen and his French squadrons ; but what person bearing the name of Irishman will say, no matter whether a follower of King William or a suj^porter of King James — ^but what man bearing the common name of Irishman, will say, that he peruses the narration of those scenes where the glory and the misery of his country are blended toge- ther, without mixed feelings of triumph and disappoint- ment? Let us give our utmost meed of praise to the valour, the fortitude, and skill of Walker ; (cheers) but what man, in the exultation arising from the display of national virtue, can refuse the same praise to his gallant adversary Sarsfield ? (loud hisses.) If I thought any gen- tleman could intend to put me down by clamour, no per- son should ever see me at a meeting of this kind again. It is right that at a meeting such as this I should express my opinions openly and fearlessly, and I shall do so in despite of every attempt to interrupt me. I am here. Sir, as a servant of the crown, and no one can blame me for expressing the honest conviction of my mind. I say, Sir, APPENDIX. 551 that no Irishman can blame me for bestowing* upon the adversary of Walker that praise to which his valour so justly entitled him. (cries of no, no, no.) If it be the opinion of the person that we are to withhold our meed of approbation from Sarsfield, what a pitiful cringing crea- ture must he be. (loud hisses.) Both were Irishmen, both were brave, both skilful, and both have conferred immortal honour on the character of the Irish soldier ; but their prowess was proved in the shedding of each other's blood; and though both were heroes whose personal qualities were calculated to shed a lustre on our national annals, the misfortunes of the times have compelled our historians to paint them according to the bias of their po- litical feelings, either as martyrs or as traitors. In the struggle between King William and James the Second, the citizens of Derry were the first to show their attach- ment to the principles of liberty, and to set the example of a devoted sacrifice in defence of the freedom of con- science, and the support of the Constitution against a ty- rannical and cruel king. But let it be recollected, amidst all the triumphant feelings of those glorious days, that the enemies with whom our ancestors had to contend, were natives of the same soil, (no, no I J that they adhered to the religion of their forefathers — that they fought in defence of a king to whom they had sworn allegiance, (hisses) from whom that allegiance had never been withdrawn, and under whose sway they were content to live. Hap- pily, in the struggle, the cause of justice and of liberty was triumphant. The whole kingdom has felt the bene- fit of that glorious trial, and the descendants of men who contributed so largely to the salvation of the empire, have a right to feel a just pride in the exploits of their ances- tors, and to commemorate, with becoming gratitude, their 552 APPENDIX. deliverance from danger. As one of the descendants of the warriors of that day, not indeed of those who endnred the siege in the city of Derry, but of those who volun- teered their services to King William, I attend this anni- versary. I attend here to mark my approval of the prin- ciples of the Revolution of 1688 ; and since it has pleased the descendants of those brave men, even at this late period, to raise up a trophy in commemoration of their exploits, I most willingly contribute the aid both of my purse and my presence, to establish what I hope will be a never-fading memorial of our respect and gTatitude. But, gentlemen, I wish it to be particularly understood, that I do not attend here to mark any triumph over my Roman Catholic brethren ; I wish to blot out for ever the recollection that the triumph of those days was achieved over natives of the same soil. I cling only to the bless- ings which we have gained, namely, the enjoyment of a free constitution ; and I will not diminish the value of such a legacy, by a heart-burning reference to a national strife, and by tearing open afresh the wounds of civil warfare. Having made these declarations, and thanking you sincerely for the honour which you have done me, I might now close my task ; but it is impossible not to see that, under the present very peculiar circumstances of the country, something more is expected from a man who has^ the honour of being your representative in Parliament, and who is no inactive spectator of the passing events, than the mere formal ceremony of making a complimen- tary speech. I shall, therefore, take this opj^ortunity of making a few observations upon the internal condition of this country, begging of you at the same time to bear in mind, that my remarks are made without reference to the opinions of any other individual, that they spring from APPENDIX. 553 my own observation of the events of the day, and that they are totally uninfluenced by party connections, or official station. It is a source of the most gratifying pleasure to me to be able to state most unequivocally, that I see a marked improvement in the condition of the people ; it is visible in every class ; it is corroborated by a reference to those tests in which there can be no deceit. If we were to believe the rumours of the day, if we were to be guided by the reports of the public newspapers, we might fancy ourselves in a state of insurrection, and in a country where there was no security for life or property, from whence industry had fled, where commerce w^as ex- tinct, and where poverty and starvation had almost com- pleted their work of degradation and destruction. It is astonishing to see with what avidity the public mind is ready to receive even the most incredible fabrications with respect to Ireland, and how little the real condition of this country is understood. But what are the facts? The English newspapers teem with reports that Ireland is in a state of insurrection, because a couple of regiments have received orders to march from England, to replace other regiments that are about to leave this country — they land at Belfast, and the whole of the north of Ireland is supposed to be in a state of alarm ; but what is the fact ? I will venture to assert, that so perfect is the state of tran- quillity in this province, there is hardly to be found a single family which would think it necessary to fasten the latch of their door. But let us refer to more convincing evidence than mere assertion. The assizes are just finished ; there, at least, are to be found the tests of crime and out- rage, if they exist in the country ; but when, within the memory of man, have the gaols been emptied with so few evidences of the demoralization of society t When can we 554 APPENDIX. recollect so few instances of sanguinary ontrage, of mid- night robbery, or party violence? I heard the judges declare their perfect astonishment at the tranquillity of the country ; and we heard their congratulations in this city, that they found no crimes on the circuit, but such as must exist in every mixed state of society * Is trade extinct ? Has commerce fled, and is starvation staring us in the face ? Look at the quays of Belfast and Derry ; look at the numerous steam-vessels departing every day for Glasgow, Liverpool, and London, and can any man say trade is extinct ? Look at our fairs and markets, and * MoNAGiiAN. Baron M'Clelland — *' There was no case, widi the exception of one, which miglit not occur in the most peaceable country. Fermanagh. Judge Vandeleur — "He felt great satis- faction in being enabled to congratulate the Grand Jury on the tranquil state of the county. It was gratifying to see no charge of an insurrectionary nature." Cavan. Judge Torrens — "I am happy to inform you, that your calendar is unusually light." These are what are called Orange Counties, and notwithstand- ing the excitements which have been applied to the passions of the lower Orangemen, it is creditable to them, or perhaps, we should rather say, to the magistracy, that no breaches of the peace have occurred in these places. Now we shall turn to the south of Ireland, and we shall begin with Clare, the scene of the elec- tion, or as the London journalists will have it, the focus of the revolution. Clare. The Chief Baron—*' I have to congratulate you, that the state of the civil and criminal calendar will not detain you long, for you may discharge the latter in the course of the day/' Limerick. Baron Pennefather— " He congratulated the country on the light state of the calendar, and contrasted it with the heavy duties they had to perform in former years." Now, with regard to the Home Counties. Carlow. Lord Plunkett " congratulated the county on the lightness of the calendar. Kildare. The Lord Chief Justice complimented the county on its tranquillity. Queen's County. The Chief Justice felt no necessity to charge the Grand Jury, from 'the tranquil state of the county. Wicklow. There was one man in the gaol of Wicklow. We are not informed whether he was acquitted or not. APPENDIX. 5^5 let us ask ourselves if industry has fled ; more animated scenes of business and activity cannot be found, and no complaint is heard, save the never-failing one of the low- ness of prices. Where are to be found the proofs of general poverty and starvation ? Food is so cheap, that it is within the reach of every individual of even the least industry; potatoes vary, from fourpence to sixpence a bushel, a price which will enable a man to maintain him- self for little more than a halfpenny a day ; and provisions of all kinds are so abundant, that the markets of Liver- pool, Glasgow, and Bristol, are actually overloaded with Irish produce. Such is the condition of this part of Ire- land ; I speak only of this province, with which I am best acquainted, and I will defy any man to contradict the statement which I have made. It may be said that I have exaggerated the picture of our prosperity, and that such a state of things is incompatible with a general confession of the distracted state of Ireland. But the elements of prosperity are to be found in the never-failing resources of a rich soil, a hardy and industrious people, and a neighbouring market, ready to receive all our produce. But, with such advantages, and with such re- soui'ces, there is one ingredient which poisons all our blessings, and which, it is vain to deny it, meets us in every station, in every society, and in every undertaking — I mean the state of our religious and political dissen- sions, or, in other words, the Catholic Question. I have not staid here for a trifling object, such as to drink the ' Glorious Memory,' or cheer the 'Prentice Boys. It is my duty, as I am here, to state to the Meeting my opi- nions with respect to that great question ; and I beg the attention of this company to the description of the condi- tion to which, in my opinion, this subject has reduced the 556 APPENDIX. country. Instead of an exclusive devotion to the busi- ness of life, and an industrious pursuit of professional oc- cupations, the only certain road to wealth and eminence, this question has made every man, from the peer to the peasant, a politician ; it is the absorbing topic of every man's discourse, and it is, in consequence, the fruitful parent of exaggerated fears, of unmeasured pretensions, of personal hatred, of religious fury, of political strife, of calumny, of abuse and persecution, such as is not to be found in any other part of the civilized world. No matter what your pursuits^no matter what your disposition may be, the subject pursues you in every part of the country. It is the prevailing topic of your breakfast table — of your dinner table — of your supper table ; it is the subject of debate among men — it is the cause of alarm among women ; it meets you at the Castle of Dublin — it meets you at the house of the country gentleman ; it creeps into our Courts of Justice; it is to be found at the Grand Jury : it is to be found at the Petty Sessions ; it is to be seen in the vestry room ; it is to be seen at the markets and fairs ; it is to be found even at our places of amuse- ment — it meets you wherever you go. Would that the evil ended here — but we may see what the mischief of such a state of things must be in the convulsed state of society, and the annihilation of all those ties upon which the well being of society depends. The state of Ireland is an anomaly in the history of civilized nations — it has no parallel in ancient or modern history ; and being con- trary to the character of all civil institutions, it must ter- minate in general anarchy and confusion. It is true that we have a Government to whom an outward obedience is shown, which is responsible to Parliament, and answer- able to God for the manner of administering its functions ; APPENDIX. 557 but it is equally true, that an immense majority of the people look up, not to the legitimate Government, but to an irresjjonsible and a self-constituted Association, for the administration of the affairs of the country. The peace of Ireland depends, not upon the Government of the King, but upon the dictation of the Catholic Association. (Cries of move's the shame ; why not pnt it down ?) It has defied the Government, and trampled upon the law of the land — and it is beyond contradiction that the same jjower v^rhich banished a Cabinet Minister from the representa- tion of his county, because he was a Minister of the King, can maintain or disturb the peace of the country just as it suits their caprice or ambition. (Hear.) The same danger impends over every institution established by law. The Church enjoys its dignity, and the clergy enjoy their revenues by the law of the land ; but we know not how soon it shall please the Catholic Association to issue its anathemas against the payment of tithes ; and what man is hardy enough to say, that the Catholic people will dis- obey its mandates. It depends upon the Catholic Asso- ciation, no man can deny it, whether the clergy are to re- ceive their incomes or not. fUjwoarJ The condition of the landlords is not more consoling ; already they have been robbed of their influence over their tenantry — al- ready they are become but mere ciphers upon their estates ; nay, in many places they are worse than ciphers, they have been forced to become the tools of their domineer- ing masters, the Catholic Priesthood, and it depends up- on a single breath, a single resolution of the Catholic As- sociation, whether the landlords are to be robbed of their rents or not. So perfect a system of organization was never yet achieved by any body not possessing the legiti- mate powers of Government ; it is powerful, it is aiTo- 558 APPENDIX. gant, it derides, and it has triumphed over the enact- ments of the Legislature, and is filling its coffers from the voluntary contributions of the people." (Uproar, cries of 710, no, they are not voluntary.) The Chairman here interfered and said, you are bound to hear every observation that falls from a speaker. When the next gentleman rises to speak to the succeeding toast, he will, on his legs, have an opportunity of controverting the statements of my honbl. friend. But, surely, in an as- semblage like the present, common courtesy demands that every gentleman should be heard to the end. Mr. Dawson resumed and said, — '' As far as I know this country, I did not think I should have required the in- terference of my friend. Sir George Hill, to procure me a hearing of what my views were of the present state of the country. What I say is, that the Catholic Association, by securing the voluntary contributions of the people, conso- lidates to itself a power from which it may supply the sinews of war, or undermine by endless litigation and persecution, the established institutions of the country. Such is the power of this new phenomenon ; and I will ask any man, has it been slow to exercise its influence } In every place where the Catholic population predominates, it is all-powerful and irresistible — it has subdued two- thirds of Ireland by its denunciations, more completely than Oliver Cromwell or King William ever subdued the country by the sword. The aristocracy, the clergy, the gentry, are all prostrate before it. In those devoted regions, a perfect abandonment of all the dignity and in- fluence belonging to station and rank, seems to have taken place ; or if a struggle be made, as in Clare, it is only to insure the triumph of this daring autocrat. In those parts of Ireland where the Protestant and Catholic popu- APPENDIX. 559 lation is pretty equally divided, the same influence is felt, if not in so aggravated a degree, at least so mischievously, that comfort and security are alike uncertain. Amongst the two classes we see distrust and suspicion, a perfect alienation from each other in sentiment and habit, and an ill-suppressed desire to measure each other's strength by open warfare. The institutions of society are reviled, the predominance of authority is lost, the confidence of the people in the impartiality of the courts of justice is im- paired, the magistracy is condemned or supported accord- ing as it is supposed to lean to the Orangemen or the Roman Catholic, and even trade and barter are regulated by the same unhappy distinctions of religious feeling. Such, gentlemen, is the picture of this country, a country possessing every material by the bounty of God, and the intelligence of its natives, to become great, powerful, and wealthy, but in which every hope is blasted, and every exertion frustrated, by the unhappy dissensions of its in- habitants. And now, gentlemen, it is time to ask our- selves the question, what must be the result of such a disordered state of things, and such a complete overthrow of all the relations of society ? Some gentlemen will say rebellion — and the sooner it comes, the sooner we shall be able to crush it. (Loud cheers, which lasted for several minutes.) Now, I entertain a very different opinion — it is not the interest, and I firmly believe it is not the wish, of the Roman Catholic leaders to drive the people into rebellion. (Loud hisses.) We have the best security for the purity of their intentions (hisses) in that respect, in the stake which they hold in the country, and in the moral conviction that they would be the first victims of a rebel- lion. (Loud cries from several voices, no, no, we shoidd be the first,) If a rebellion should take place, it will not 560 APPENDIX. be from the orders or example of the Roman Catholic leaders — but from the readiness of the two contending parties to come into conflict with each other, and from the total impossibility of checking the ebullition of popular phrenzy, if the two parties be goaded raid exasperated against each other by inflammatory speeches, or exagge- rated misrepresentations. But the result will be a state of society far worse than rebellion — it will be a revolution — a revolution not effected by the sword, but by undermin- ing the institutions of the country, and involving every establishment, civil, political, and religious. There never was a time when the whole Catholic body (and it signifies very little whether their number be two millions or six millions) — there never was a time when the whole body was so completely roused and engrossed by political pas- sions as the present. They have found out the value of union ; they have put in practice the secret of combina- tion ; they feel a confidence in the force of numbers ; they have laid prostrate the pomj^ and power of wealth ; they have contended against the influence of authority, and the decrees of the legislature, and they have enjoyed an easy triumjih over both. At present there is an union of the clergy, the laity, and the people. The clergy and the laity are the contrivers, but the people are the tools by which this extraordinary power has been gained ; but soon they will find their own force, and some audacious democrat will start up, who will spurn all restraints, civil, political, and spiritual, and who will consign the whole power of Ireland to an absolute and senseless mob. Now, gentlemen, with such a state of things staring us in the face, (and I do not think that I have overcharged the picture,) there comes the last question, what is to be done.? The country confessedly contains great advantages ; it has APPENDIX. 561 made a wonderful jn-ogress, notwithstanding these draw- hacks ; it has confessedly the elements of wealth and prosperity within itself, but all is checked and counter- balanced by these unhappy discussions, and the invariable conclusion of every speculation on the state of Ireland is? what is to be done ? Can we go back to the penal laws ? God forbid that such an experiment should be made; it is revolting to common sense — it is revolting to the dignity of man. Can we persevere in our present system ? The statement which I have made, and the firm impres- sion made upon my mind by an anxious attention to passing events is, that we cannot remain in our present situation ; something must be done ; there is but one al- ternative, either to crush the Catholic Association — [Loud cheers, which lasted for several minutes J — there is but one alternative — either to crush the Catholic Association, or to look at the question with an intention to settle it. Let us exercise all our ingenuity— let us argue with all our subtilty — there is no other alternative ; and with such a conviction on my mind, I feel myself called upon to ex- hort my countrymen — men whom I have the honour of representing — to abstain from irritating harangues, to pause, and to weigh well the dangers of the country — to dismiss all personal bitterness from the contemplation of a whole nation's welfare, and to devise some means, with satisfaction to all parties, for restoring the predominance of established authority, and giving security to the recog- nized, the legal, the constitutional institutions of society. I speak here as a member of Parliament, as a member of the Government, and as a citizen of the world. Is it possible that I can look with apathy upon the degraded state of my Catholic countrymen ? (Loud hisses. J — I can- not express too strongly the contempt I feel for the per- 2 o 562 APPENDIX. sons who thus attempt to put me down. If the represen- tation of the county depended upon the votes of those who interrupted me, I would not condescend to ask them, though their suffrages would secure my return. I must know, mixing as I do in the world, and holding the high situation I do, how the interests of Great Britain are wrapped up in the safety of Ireland. There is but one topic more before I conclude an address already too long. A threat has been held out that the North of Ireland, and this county in particular, is to be visited by some itinerant demagogues, to stir up the elements of discord. Let them undertake this task at their own peril. There never was a time when the Protestant proprietary were more deter- mined to rise as one man to resist such an invasion. The attempt will be hopeless, utterly hopeless ; but let them pause well on the consequences. They will meet here a sturdy, a bold, a determined, and, if driven to retaliation, a fierce yeomanry — they will be answerable to God and man for the floods of blood that will flow from such an attempt ; no power can control it ; but ujDon them be the responsibility. Let their deluded victims also reflect up- on the fate which will attend them. If once the kindly tie which binds them to the landlord be broken, the result will be, not a quiet submission of the landlords, but a transfer of their lands to Protestant tenants ; thousands are to be found in this county who want such lands, and the force of numbers will no longer protect them, as it has hitherto done their deluded brethren in the south. I speak these words in kindness and advice to them. With respect to myself, I shall be found at my post, and ready to make every sacrifice in defence of the rights of my country, the character of its gentry, and the support of the constitution." Thehon. gentleman then resumed his seat. APPENDIX. 563 This speech appeared to cause a great sensation in the room. A reverend gentleman wished to question Mr- Dawson concerning his new principles, but the chairman would not permit the order of the meeting to be disturbed. It was alluded to in the course of the evening, in rude and angry language, by several of the speakers, who expressed generally sentiments of the most hostile nature against their Catholic countrymen. Extract of a Letter, dated TJiurles, September 1. " The scene which took place in this town yesterday, puts all description at defiance. Picture to yourself a dense mass, comprising about 40,000 persons, filling our entire town, of which nearly half were from the distant and neighbouring parishes, and composed of the ci-devant belligerent factions, their friends, allies, and relatives, all marching in one grand procession, one half mounted, the rest on foot, preceded by their respective rustic musical bands, and coming to lay upon the altar of their country, in the face of the world, their quarrels and strifes ; and to cement, by a glorious union of heart and hand, that happy reconciliation, for the introduction and establishment of which alone, the hero of the Clare election should be immortalized, and for the consummation of which, Irish feeling has entitled itself to a well-deserved reciprocal tribute, in the removal of those flagitious laws, to the existence of which is traceable all the unfortunate dis- cord and lawless insurrection, that have been generated and fomented by the prolonged political mismanagement of as fine, generous, brave, a,nd magnanimous a people, as ever nation could rejoice in. Good God ! what reflections do not these facts call up ! By what preposterous de- 2 o2 564 APPENDIX. moniacal iiifatuity is such a noble people outlawed upon its own soil, and consigned to the fatal consequences of premeditated misrule, and the anomalous delegation of authority, so basely abused, to the paltry minions of a heartless, pusillanimous faction ? Why is not such a people judged by the conduct that it can prove itself capable of evincing, if (as in the present instance) but a glimmering of hope aj^pears in the perspective ? " I have the strongest guarantee for the assertion, when I pronounce that disposition unsophisticated, that I was witness to the illustration of, in the zeal of every individual in that vast multitude, to diffuse and generalise the spirit of kindly feeling, union, and brotherhood. The incidents and anecdotes of the day, which would be too far beyond the limits of my purpose to detail here, would put down all scepticism upon the subject, and convince any man who was not unwilling to believe it, that the congregation of such numbers of people was exclusively directed to the noble and sacred object of establishing peace and unity, and of annihilating for the future, by an obvious recurrence to the past, all those intestine feuds which the Catholic Association has at length taught them to dis- cover, were calculated only to bring home to them disgrace and misery, and blight every prospect of happiness at their peaceful firesides. " To see them in their rudeness — to witness the singular propriety and decorum they observed — and, above all, the remarkable forbearance and self-denial studiously prac- tised in such an assembly of ' mere Irish' (for they re- freshed themselves only with a single pint of beer and a little bread) one could hardly, even shrouded in his preju- dices, withhold from them the homage of candour, in an APPENDIX. 565 unqualified admission of their sincerity and admiration of their views. They would win even Peel himself, if he be at all possessed of a soul. " They called themselves ' pacificators,' and they incon- testibly proved that it was not a misnomer. — They are so in reality. The ' schoolmaster' has been amongst them, and they can now use a Ug word, and understand its meaning" too, for pacification was the reigning ruling principle." Tipperary, September 18. About 4,000 men, belonging to some of those parties which have hitherto disturbed and disgraced this county, peaceably assembled in Golden, on Sunday last, for the purpose of being reconciled to each other. — Major Carter, at the head of a large party of police, commenced reading the Riot Act, when the Earl of Llandafi" appeared, and requested that the Major would withdraw the police, which, being complied with, his lordship placed himself in the centre of the people, by whom he was received with the greatest enthusiasm, and addressed them on the neces . sity of conducting themselves temperately; — they told his lordship that they met to be friends, and to follow in future the advice of Mr. O'Connell (whose portrait they bore on a flag) never to quarrel again. His lordship approved of their good intentions — admonished them to refrain from the use of spirituous liquors, and to return quietly to their respective homes, adding, that they would always find in him a friend and protector. The immense multitude then heartily cheered the noble and popular Earl, and soon after separated in peace. 566 APPENDIX. " Cortolvm-Hills, Monaghan, Sept. 23, 1828. " SiE, — I inclose £25. Catholic Rent, and I request the honour of being admitted a member of the Catholic Asso- ciation, I need not, I am sure, remind my Catholic coun- trymen, that I have long been a zealous and an ardent advocate of their just rights. Hitherto, it is true, I have not been in the habit of attending the Association ; it was because I knew the battle of Irish freedom must be won in England — and I conceived that I could 23resent myself with more effect to that generous, manly, but sometimes mistaken people, as one unconnected with Catholic pro- ceedings, and be a better evidence, divested of the cha- racter of a partisan : but now, when I find an infatuated few congregate themselves into political clubs, and miscall themselves ' the Protestants of Ireland ;' when I find them anticipating torrents of blood (to be shed to preserve an invidious monopoly), telling the King's Representative * he should be made to know their power ; and that 400,000 men were organized, and ready to spring into the field ;' when I perceive that such proceedings were calculated (if not intended) to dictate to the authorities, to supersede the equitable administration of the laws — to arrest the progress of liberality and intelligence, and bring the unhappy party divisions of this country to an appalling crisis; I think the best evidence I can give Eng- land of my deep abhorrence of such dangerous measures is, openly, distinctly, and unequivocally to identify myself with your Association ; the objects of which are just and natural, the proceedings of which are open, and founded, not upon the principles of the ascendancy or domination of any one class over another, but upon that j^rinciple which at once combines the perfection of legislative wis- dom with Christian charity — ^equal rights and privileges APPENDIX. 6t)7 to all. I therefore feel I am called upon, as a Protestant, to enrol my name, at this juncture, among the active and energ-etic friends of civil and religious liberty. I call upon every honest Protestant to do the same, and to pro- test against the name of Protestant being usurped and profaned by those who, whatever may be the private virtues of some of them, neither represent the sentiments, the rank, the property, nor the intelligence of the Protest- ants of Ireland. Permit me, sir, to take this opportunity of expressing my sincere conviction of the utility and justice of the steps the Catholics have lately taken, to purify the representation of this country. A great law authority has lately said, ' he had been averse, when in the Irish Parliament, to the Union, because he dreaded Irish questions would be neglected, in the United Parlia- ment; that he found his error by the readiness with which all Irish questions were attended to.' I am at issue with this learned authority. The affairs of Ireland are not attended to in the imperial legislature — measures relating to this country are usually introduced late — after the Irish members are departed, — are generally passed without dis- cussion, or discussed without ability. Some excellent, able, and patriotic members for Ireland, there undoubt- edly are ; I have the happiness of knowing some of them. But, neglected and ill-treated as Ireland has been, it requires representatives of no ordinary qualifications to regenerate her fallen fortunes ; men peculiarly gifted by nature, and prepared by cultivation, for the arduous task of bringing the affairs of Ireland, as they ought to be, before the British House, are now required: one such representative you have — Mr. O'Connell. I have not had the honour of personal intimacy with that gentleman — I know him only as a public man — neither do I always 568 APPENDIX. agree with him in isohxted expressions, or particular measures. But he possesses so high an order of mind — has acquired, by habit and cultivation, so just and inti- mate a knowledge of Irish affairs — and an eloquence so commanding, so varied, and so calculated to impart the knowledge he has acquired; his general principles of public policy are so wise and just, and withal he has an integrity of purpose so unquestionable, that he seems as if proved and prepared — as one destined to be the great instrument of regenerating our unhappy country. Mr. Grattan got ^50,000 from his country (and he merited it) for an act which only gave political freedom to a small portion of the people. Mr. O'Connell aspires to make the nation free. I believe, in law, he is entitled to exercise the full privileges of a representative in Parliament, as member for Clare. It remains to be seen whether the tribunal which exercises the power of constructing the law, will misconstrue it, in order to exclude him. If not, he will be the representative of Ireland. But, whenever he can exercise the privileges of a member of Parliament, and that period cannot now be long delayed, I trust, I shall find the munificence of a grateful people enabling Mr. O'Connell to devote the great powers, now divided with his professional duty, solely to the benefit of his native land. — I have the honour to be, sir, your very sincere servant, " To Edward Dwyer, Esq. RossMORE." This letter was received by the Association, at a meeting of which it was read, with the most enthusiastic cheers. September 26th. In a speech delivered at the Association, Mr. Shell said : I rise in obedience to a strong sense of political duty, to APPENDIX. 569 call upon the Association to adopt immediate measures, if not for the controul, at least for the regulation, of the extraordinary excitement, which has recently manifested itself in the south of Ireland, I am well aware, that I have heen considered as an alarmist. My fears, however, spring not from any danger of my own ; but I confess, that if courage consists in seeing my country covered with the blood of its people, with indifference, I do not possess that kind of intrepidity. It does appear to me, that men are not sufficiently aware of the results which may ensue from the unparalleled excitation, (for it is without exam- ple) to which the passions of both Catholics and Protest- ants have been raised. It is recorded, that in a great combat, so fierce was the fury of the contending armies, that they were not conscious of the earthquake by which the field of battle was shaken. In this terrific contest, in this shock of faction, we do not perceive that the country is rocking beneath our feet. I do here repeat, that the government, (for with them all the blame must ultimately rest) by allowing the Catholic question to convulse the country, and not at once interposing for its adjustment — by their strange procrastination, and almost imbecile indeci- sion — by their fantastical irresolution, and unaccountable infirmity of purpose, have caused the mind of Ireland to be infuriated to such a point, that we are almost at the mercy of accident, and that any unfortunate contingency might throw the country into a convulsion. The oldest man who hears me, does not remember a parallel of na- tional passion. Before the rebellion, the people were not organized and determined as they are now. The reason is this, that at present, it is not needful that conspirators should go forth amongst them, and swear them into reso- lution : their own emotions have thrown them into an 570 APPENDIX. ^ almost self-created confederacy, the sense of injury has pressed them into combination. It is not the conspiracy of a few, but the union of all ; it is not the machination of individuals, but the organization of a whole people. — What is to be done by the Catholics, or rather by the Association, in which the Catholic power is concentrated and condensed ? Turn your eyes to the south of Ireland. Do you see nothing- there.? For my own part, I behold not only most extraordinary objects, which are visible to every eye, but I see great results, rising like phantoms, from the events which are actually passing, and of which the transition from prognostication to reality is not diffi- cult. What is taking place .? [Here Mr. Sheil described the meetings of the peasantry, of which an account has been given above.] Now, Sir, 1 am at a loss to see any benefit to be derived from these meetings, beyond the bare evidence which they afford, of the colossal power of the people,which bestrides the aristocracy; and of that amazing strength perhaps there has been given proof enough. I had rather show the government the giant in repose, than exhibit the mighty stirring of his limbs. It is excellent to have this giant strength, but it is rash to use it after this gigantic fashion. The people are reconciled; the government must see pretty clearly what they would do, at a signal. (God forbid it ever should be given !) Enough has been done — and I own that I see many objections to these assemblies. First, they are not of our calling. We may have prepared the public mind, and rendered it sus- ceptible of the feelings from which these meetings derive their origin; but we have not called them. I do not desire to see any assemblies of Roman Catholics, except- ing such as shall be under the immediate directions and controul of that government which we have established. APPENDIX. 571 We have hitherto exercised a useful controul over the passions of the people, and have taken care to present to them none hut legal and constitutional objects of political pursuit. But let us have a care. Let no spirits he per- mitted to rise, except such as we shall evoke. Let us be so wise in our magic, that no power shall ascend except at our bidding ; and let us beware, lest some spirit may appear, who shall disobey the spell — who may trespass on the boundaries we have traced — who shall destroy the circle, and hurry the enchanters away. Mark me, then. We have not called the strange meetings which have re- cently appeared ; and let us in time, and while the dis- positions of the people are still under our dominion, let us forbid their recurrence We are assailed as the dis- turbers of the i:>ublic mind, and as the authors of national confusion. It is alleged, that we play in wantonness with the popular passions, and thrive upon the disturbances of the country. Of this calumny, let us afford, in the mea- sures of this day, a triumphant refutation. Let us shew ourselves the guardians of the nation's peace, and the sen- tinels of its tranquillity. Let us prove to the government our profound solicitude for the pacification of Leland, and how willingly we should co-operate, if they would give us leave, in lulling its turbulence into peace. Let us also hold out the people themselves a great and most useful lesson. Let us teach them that the only true road to liberty, is through the exercise of those prerogatives and powers, which are not only compatible with, but are given by the constitution. Let us tell them that they will, that they must, at length overthrow all obstacles, by acting upon a system of peace and bloodless union. We should speak to them thus : ' Become masters of the representation of Ireland ; consummate the great work of Waterford, and 572 APPENDIX. Louth, and Monaghan, and Clare. Annihilate the power of the Orange faction, and set the aristocracy at nought ; fight them at the hustings, for that is a field in which victory is secure.' " Mr. Sheil concluded by moving a series of resolutions, among which were the following : " That while the Asso- ciation congratulated the people upon the cessation of party feuds and animosities, they implored them to dis- continue their meetings ; humbly requesting the different parish priests of the county of Tipperary, to second the views of the Association in this respect, and requesting Mr. O'Connell to use his interference, by an address to the fjarties concerned." How far this was effected, will be seen in the two docu- ments that follow. October 1st. O'Connell's Address to the Peasantry of Tipperary. "....E-ely on the Catholic Association; we will not sleep at our posts — we desire to obtain liberty for the Irish people ; but we desire to do it by raising the moral and religious character of that people. Let me strongly ad- vise you to be regular and constant in your various duties ....we disclaim the assistance of the idle, the profligate, the vicious. Religious and moral men are those alone who can regenerate Leland. The greatest enemy we can have, is the man who commits any crime against his fellow-man, or any offence in the sight of his God. The greatest enemy of the liberty of Ireland, is the man who violates the law in any respect, or breaks the peace, or commits any outrage whatsoever. " My friends, my beloved brothers, cultivate your moral and religious duties. Avoid every kind of crime ; avoid APPENDIX. 573 as you would a pestilence, all secret societies, all illegal oaths ; seize upon any man who proposes to you any oath or engagement of a party of a political nature. I denounce every such man to you as a ' blood-hound ' in disguise. Treat him as such, and drag him before a magistrate for conviction and punishment. " Rely on it, also, that I will not lose sight of the great work of the pacification of the county of Tipperary. I am proud of having begun that great and glorious work. We, my friends, and brothers, will not leave that work unfinished. You will, I am sure, desist from those large and unnecessary meetings, and I promise you to mature a most useful plan. That plan, when matured, I will sub- mit to the Catholic Association of Ireland — and if it meets the approbation of that learned, intelligent, and most pa- triotic body, I am sure you will adopt it, and that it will spread all over the land. " The outline of that plan will be to divide the people for all political, moral, and religious purposes, into num- bers, not exceeding one hundred and twenty. That those one hundred and twenty should elect among themselves a person to take charge of the whole, under the name of a ' Pacificator.' — No man to be a ' Pacificator,' but a man regular in his religious duties, and, at least, a monthly commvmicant. The ' Pacificator' to have power to nomi- nate two persons to be called ' Regulators,' under him, and the three to be responsible that no crime, or outrage, or violation of the law should be committed by any of the one hundred and twenty. On the contrary, that they should assist in the preservation of the peace, in the pre- vention of all crimes, in the suppression of all illegal societies, in the collection of the Catholic Rent, and in all other useful^ legal, and honest purposes. 574 APPENDIX. " It would be part of my plan, that the name and resi- dence of each ' Pacificator' should be transmitted to every neighbouring magistrate and police station, be advertised in the newspapers, and enrolled in the books of the Ca- tholic Association." '' October Sth. " Address to the Catholic Association of Ireland. " Three thousand of your countrymen — that portion of the mechanics, working classes and inhabitants of Clon- mel, who, on Sunday, the 28th instant, were prepared with flags, music, dresses, and decorations, to proceed to Clogheen, to join the immense body of their countrymen there assembled, for the purpose of sacrificing their feuds and differences on the altar of our common country; ap- proach your enlightened body, with the expression of our confidence, admiration, and gratitude. " We yield not to any class of his Majesty's subjects in attachment to the throne, and obedience to the laws. We belong not to any faction — we wish not to exhibit any party colour to injure the feelings of any portion of the community. The green badge which we intended to wear, we believe would be worn by Irishmen of every creed, in any other country, and is considered as the national colour of our emerald isle, as the rose is of Eng_ land. " Sensible of the great benefits which our beloved country would derive from the establishment of internal peace, we hailed its general announcement with joy — beheld its celebration here with the liveliest emotion — and we were therefore anxious to be witnesses of the last bond of union at Clogheen ; our venerated clergy, how- APPENDIX. 575 ever, perceived and admonished us of danger. Your mandate of prohibition was received. We reverence our clergy — we respect you — we refrain from joining the meeting; and thus render the tribute of our submission to your guidance, and of obedience to your advice ; and trust that, when your wishes are sufficiently manifested in this country, that our fellow-countrymen will follow our example." October 25. ^ From a Speech of Mr. Sheil, at the Provincial Meeting of Munster. " The Irish ascendancy do not elect the Irish members. They are returned by the Catholic body, and, at this day, the Association commands far more votes than the whole of the Irish proprietors. We are masters of the represen- tation. This is the pivot of the case. We have wrenched their influence from the gentry; and the Protestant who draws rent from thousands of acres, is almost as much destitute of power at an election, as the peasant without a rood. Is not the country agitated by the most dreadful passions.? Does not a tremendous organization extend over the island } Have not all the natural bonds by which men are tied together, been broken and burst asunder } Are not all the relations of society, which exist elsewhere, gone ? Has not property lost its influence — has not rank been stripped of the respect which should belong to it ? Do Waterford, and Louth, and Clare, supply no remini- scences and no warnings ? So much for Catholic indigna- tion, while we are at peace — and when England shall be involved in war — I pause — it is not necessary that I should discuss that branch of the division, or that point of the cloud which, charged with thunder, is hanging over our 576 APPENDIX. heads. One act of legislative wisdom can break and dis- perse it. I have done — I have treated the qviestion as one of mere expediency, and put the great Captain to his election. One of the two parties is to be offended, ac- cording to his view. Conciliate both, if you can — if you cannot, which is it wisest to please ? Let him choose — let him elect between a nation and a faction ; between thousands and millions ; a powerless aristocracy, and an almost irresistible people. Does he want votes in Parlia- ment? We have them. Does he want soldiers? The Orangemen will give him the blood of the Catholic — the Catholic will give him his own. (Cheers.) I do not think he will long continue to hesitate. Events have become our advocates. The Russian trumpet is pealing in our favour — a voice is heard from Constantinople, which cries, ' set Ireland free !' and inscribed on the white flag that streams from the navies of France, as, laden with gallant men, they are wafted to the Morea, it is easy to discern, through the telescope of the mind— Emancipa- tion." (Loud and continued cheering.) APPENDIX.— No. VII. Letter of Dr. Doyle, to His Grace the Duke OF Wellington, K.G., &c. &c. i&c. " My Lord Duke, — It ought not to be a matter of surprise to any one, that the writer of this letter should address your Grace. Your late speech on the Catholic question has led some to think, and confirmed others in the opinion, that you are anxious to settle that question finally. I have been at different times engaged in the APPENDIX. 577 consideration or discussion of the Catholic claims. I have bestowed on them all the attention and study of which I am capable, and should I now be so fortunate as to render the slightest assistance to your Grace by the further appli- cation of that study and attention, I should both gratify my own wishes, and contribute something to the public good. It is true that your Grace is supposed by many to have entered fully into the views of those who have doomed the Catholics to perpetual exclusion, notwithstanding that you have thought proper, as head of the government, to abstain from harsh language towards so large a body of the King's subjects, and even to let in a glimmering, re- sembling the light of hope, upon the gloom which enve- lopes them. There are others who think that your Grace, like all the statesmen who have gone before you, would be regulated in your policy more by necessity than by preconceived opinions ; and that whilst, in compliance, perhaps, with your own sense of duty, or if not, with the wishes of those on whose support you depend, you would willingly postpone the Catholic question to an indefinite period, yet that you are disposed to watch the course of events, and even to enter into an alliance with your Ca- tholic countrymen, should your foreign allies cease to be your friends. Fear is the beginning of wisdom; and though the Irish were not to be feared, the state of Eng- land, and of her foreign relations, may produce a salutary dread, even in your mind; and out of that fear may spring those wise and healing measures which it is our most anxious desire you should adopt. Having before us, the state of Europe, and not of Europe only — knowing, as we do, the difficulties which beset us at home, we may, though not endowed with more than ordinary foresight, discover that, at no very distant period, your Grace may be •2 p 578 APPENDIX. seriously and sincerely disposed to settle finally and ami- cably the claims of the Catholics. My object, therefore, is to offer before-hand my feeble assistance to your Grace, so that if the time should arrive ' when something may be done,' you may avail yourself of it ; but should that time not arrive — should peace be re-established on the continent, should our trade and manufactures flourish — should our income exceed our expenditure, and England enjoy as heretofore, both peace and plenty, then the reflections which I am now about submitting to your Grace, may lie, with the parchment of our petitions, buried in oblivion. " I will proceed, however, on the supposition, that men in power are upright and sincere ; and with a most anxious wish on my part to assist in pointing out the way to avoid those difficulties which appear to impede the pro- gress of our claims to a satisfactory adjustment. " From a perusal of the late debate in the House of Lords, I infer that the opposition to the Catholic question, on constitutional grounds, was and is confined to a very small number, a number, perhaps, not exceeding the minority who voted against the repeal of the Test and Corporation Laws, and that the majority opposed to the Marquis of Lansdowne's motion consisted principally of noble lords who are only anxious to have competent securities provided against the danger apprehended to the Church and State, from the admission of Catholics to the privileges of the constitution. The position of the question is thus altered ; and if circumstances urged the settlement of it, that settlement could not be long re- tarded. It is difficult to suppose in a case where great interests are concerned, and those engaged in conducting them have only to settle details, that an agreement may not quickly be come to, if the parties so engaged are ani- APPENDIX. 579 mated by a spirit of peace and concord, if they proceed with good faith and a sincere desire, by mutual allowance and concession to hasten — not obstruct, the consummation of their labours. In political questions, as in war, the end pro- posed is security and peace; and whilst the parties combat in the field, or employ all their resources in preparing for action, they secretly make overtures of peace to each other, and often sign the preliminaries with arms in their hands. 'Tis so at present with the Catholics, and those who are opposed to them : they have contended, and will still contend ; but they are, on both sides, wearied of the com- bat, and anxious, many of them, to bring it to an honour- able and safe conclusion. Let wisdom, then, supersede violence, and amicable discussion take the place of force. To you, my Lord Duke, it belongs to proclaim a cessation, not in any ambiguous language, which only serves to excite to new exertion, but in terms plain, distinct, and intelligible. You cannot say to the sea of our troubles, * be still,' nor to the tempest which rages in Ireland, ' do not blow.' We are a nation grown up to manhood, and the only force which can subdue us, without ruin to the State, is the force of equity. But, though strong, and daily waxing stronger by exertion, w^e desire most earn- estly to conclude our struggles. Our cause is just ; those great principles which have informed Europe, are operat- ing in our favour ; we are supported by the voice of wis- dom herself, and by the sympathies of the entire world ; we are not doubtful of the issue of the contest in which we are engaged ; for if young, we are vigorous — if poor, we are frugal — though dispersed, we are united ; there is no luxury, nor corruption, nor wasting principle, within us ; and, such is our devotion to the cause in which we are engaged, that, let it require a sacrifice of 1 per cent. 2p2 580 APPENDIX. or 20, upon our time, our labour, or our income, we are prepared, from the peer to the peasant, to offer it up on the altar of our common wrongs. But, with all the con- fidence which this knowledge of ourselves and of our situation inspires, we are prepared to desist from our pur- suits if your Grace only invites us to do so, in a manner suited to your own dignity, and to the justice and im- portance of our cause. We are willing even to precede your Grace, and to assist you hy our most zealous co-ope- ration, to remove whatever obstacles are opposed to the adjustment of our claims. You are reported to have said, ' let our agitations cease, and, perhaps, something may be done.' Even in those expressions, vague and inde- finite as they are, we would fain discover a disposition to peace ; and though they will not cause us to desist from exertion, but rather prompt us to increase it, they induce me to offer to your Grace the following reflections on the subject of those securities, on which the adjustment of our question is now admitted to depend. *' The nature and object of 'Security' is to provide against danger, either existing or apprehended. — The principle of the securities required of us is, 'to provide against the danger to which the Constitution in Church and State may be exposed, if Catholics be placed on the same foot- ing in the State as their Protestant fellow-subjects.' The danger to be guarded against is supposed to arise from the encroachments of the See of Rome, or from the influence which the Irish Catholic Clergy are supposed to possess over the laity of their communion. "In providing security against the apprehended danger, it is required on the part of the Catholics, and conceded by those opposed to them — 1st, That the former are to enjoy the free profession and exercise of their religion in APPENDIX. 581 all its integrity — 2d, It is required and conceded in like manner, that the relations of the Catholic Church in Ireland with the holy see, is a subject distinct from the influence of the Irish Priesthood over the Irish Catholic laity — 3d, The danger apprehended from Papal influence, and that supposed to arise from the influence of the Irish Priesthood over their flocks being distinct, the securities to be applied to them should also be distinct. " Thus, in the re-establishment of the Gallican Church, under Buonaparte, the future relations of that Church with the See of Rome were determined by a Concordat, whilst the co-operation of the French Clergy with the Government was provided for, and secured by, the ^ Lois orgamques.'' ''T^x^ Concordat and these organic laws are referred to, not as precedents to be followed, but as illustrations of the distinctness to be observed in treating of the relations of the Catholic Church in Ireland, and of the influence of the Catholic Clergy over the Irish People '.—these are, in reality, two subjects not only distinct but difl'erent — nay, so difl'erent, that the influence of the Pope over the Irish Clergy, and that of this Clergy over the Catholic people of Ireland, might increase or decrease in an inverse ratio ; and hence it is that, supposing danger to be apprehended from both these sources, the securities to be provided should not only be distinct but different. " Let the latter of these subjects be first examined. " The influence of the Catholic Clergy over the laity of their communion, arises partly from the nature of the Christian religion, and the ministerial duties which the Clergy in every Christian Church, but especially in the Catholic, are called on to perform, and it arises in part from the state of society produced by the past and present system of government pursued in Ireland. 582 APPENDIX. " Tliis influence, so far as it arises from the first of these causes, cannot be removed, if, as has been conceded, the Ca- tholics are to enjoy the free profession and exercise of their religion in all its integrity; nor is it desirable either to re- move or diminish it, as it tends, of its own nature, to preserve order, to inculcate submission to the law, and obedience to every constituted authority. But on the other hand, the clerical influence arising from the state of the law and the system of the Government is liable to great abuse, and may be justly considered dangerous. " How is this danger to be remedied, and what security can be devised to provide against it? It appears to me, that if the cause which produces this influence were remo- ved, the influence itself would cease, so far as it arises from that cause ; and if the laws were made equal, and the Government administered impartially, that such cleri- cal influence as is liable to abuse would disappear altoge- ther. At all events, this mode of providing security should be first tried ; for if novel or suspected measures were re- sorted to, new evils might be created, the salutary influence itself of the Clergy might be impaired, even religion might become less sacred in the eyes of the people, than which no greater evil could happen in Ireland. " If, after this mode of proceeding were adopted, the Catholic Clergy were found to exercise an improper in- fluence, to excite apprehension, the Government, supported by the good sense of the people, and assisted by the Catho- lic Bishops, could make and enforce such regulations as would effectually confine the Priesthood to the discharge of their own professional duties. As this influence now exists, it is likely to increase and become still more liable to abuse- — It may be found, in some time, regardless of all restraint, or employed in the subversion of that which APPENDIX. 583 it would be its duty to preserve; but if the laws were equalized, and the Government impartial, it would be powerful only for good ; or if it diverged into any undue course, it could be restrained by measures which, if now adopted, would be liable to suspicion, and therefore should fail of their purpose. " As to the intention, perhaps generally entertained, of neutralizing this influence by the employment of gifts or pensions, in purchasing the Irish Catholic priesthood from among the people, to whom by blood and profession they belong, that is impossible. Whether a legal provision could hereafter be made for them on such terms as would be satisfactory to all parties, is to me extremely doubtful ; but I know that, if it were attempted, the attempt should be made only when Ireland is pacified, and a new mind and temper infused into the people : — even then, the ar- rangements should proceed on the principle of afl'ording relief to the laity, rather than of providing comforts for the clergy. " A provision, as now spoken of, is confessedly intended to attach the clergy to the state, by detaching them from the people, and the people from them. The consequences of it, as calculated, are ' to diminish the strength and purity of the Catholic religion, and thereby promote the secu- rity of the Established Church.' With such impressions abroad, no arrangement of the kind can be made — indeed, no such arrangement ought to be made. The Catholic clergy never will partake of any provision, of whatsoever description, which will render them liable to even a sus- picion of being detached from the people, and the Esta- blished Church can never find her security in the moral degradation of any priesthood. Let the question which excites all the passions, which generates every where 584 APPENDIX. distrust, jealousy, and contention, be settled ; and then, such an arrangement as that now mentioned, may be calmly considered, and, if found practicable, equitably adjusted. Tliere is no necessity for its hasty adoption, and in the present circumstances of the country, and of the opinions prevailing with different parties, it cannot form any part of the designed securities. "Having thus briefly, but with perfect candour, placed before your Grace my ideas as to one species of danger, against which security is to be provided, and having pointed out that security, which is, in my opinion, effectual, and placed within our reach : I shall now discuss the other apprehended danger, point out the security suited to its nature, and which, like the former, is of easy application, and by no means inaccessible to your Grace. " In considering the means whereby to guard against the encroachment of the see of Rome, it is necessary to have precise ideas of the dangers to be apprehended from it, as there can be no necessity of guarding against that see more than against any other, unless it be in the j)ower of the Pope to do some injury to the British state or govern- ment, or interfere with the legal rights or privileges of its subjects. " One class of the encroachments of the see of Rome, against which our ancestors were often called upon to guard, was the collation to ecclesiastical benefices, whe- ther the subjects were natives or strangers — a second class, nearly connected with this, were the legal privileges claimed by the clergy, for both their persons and property, as exempt from the civil jurisdiction ; of which privileges the Pope was the official and legally recognised guardian. " The statute of Elizabeth, abolishing the papal supre- macy, power, and jurisdiction within this realm, and APPENDIX. 585 establishing in its place that of the sovereign, has put an end to these two classes of encroachment, and to all the matters of provision and appeal growing out of them. " The next danger or encroachment proceeding from the see of Rome, consisted in the ancient and often-exercised pretension of the Popes to depose the Sovereign of these realms, and to absolve his subjects from their oaths of allegiance to his Majesty. This danger is removed, or sufficiently guarded against, by the univeral and uniform opinion of Catholics and Protestants in this country, if not throughout Christendom, that the Pope has no such power of deposing sovereigns, or of absolving subjects from their oaths of allegiance. This danger is still further removed by the disclaimer of the above-mentioned papal preten- sion being embodied in the oath of allegiance as taken by Catholics. " As every species of apprehended danger or encroach- ment of the see of Rome might justly be reduced to one or other of the above heads, and as the papal supremacy and jurisdiction within these realms are abolished by law, and as the oaths taken by Catholics and Protestants include a direct and express disclaimer of the doctrine of the deposing and dispensing power of the Pope, it would seem to follow that all the securities which could be desired for the safety and protection of our constitution and go- vernment against the encroachments of the see of Rome, are already in our possession — and that whilst we profess, and perhaps think, many of us, that we are seeking se- curities against papal encroachments, we are only apprehen- sive of our own Irish Catholic subjects, and endeavouring, at the suggestion of our own fears, to provide against the growth of the Catholic religion in Ireland. This is a reflection worthy of serious consideration ; for if this be 586 APPENDIX. the case, all the efforts to settle the Catholic question, whilst it continues on its present hasis, must prove abor- tive. They cannot succeed ; for if the proposed settlement proceed on the admitted principle that * the Catholics are to be permitted the free profession and exercise of their religion, in all its integrity,' and that its existence in this shape is at the same time sought to be weakened or coun- teracted, under the pretence of guarding against papal encroachment, good faith is wanted, and the parties treating can never arrive at a satisfactory adjustment. " I would, therefore, presume to submit to your Grace, that if the existence of the Catholic religion in Ireland be an object of apprehension, or a danger to be guarded against, it ought to be met fairly, and considered upon its own merits ; or let the proselytizing societies be reinforced ; or a second crusade organized and employed against it ; but let not the danger supposed to arise from it be con- founded with the encroachments or apprehended dangers from the see of Rome, with which, in reality, it has no connection. " I know this religion is hated gratuitously by some, and your Grace has, on a late occasion, witnessed the excess and folly into which a person of high station has been betrayed, in yielding to the zeal which animated him against it. You have heard another, of a widely different character and mind, endeavouring to conciliate prejudice by indulg- ing in remarks upon this religion totally unworthy of his talents and his wisdom. You have heard it said ' that the Irish once had a Christianity pure and undefiled, but which afterwards Norman English overlaid with super- stition.' It should have been said, * that previous to the arrival of the English, and for centuries before their com- ing, the Irish Church was perfectly independent, though APPENDIX. 587 in occasional communication and uninterrupted commu- nion with the see of Rome ; but the lumber of the decre- tals, the tithes, and all that was odious and burdensome in papal power and clerical dominion, were of Norman-Eng- lish importation ;' and as to superstition, that ' it is an excrescence of our rude nature rather than of religion, but an excrescence from which no church or nation ever was exempt.' To men labouring under superstition may be applied the saying of the poet ; — Nemo nam sine vitiis nascitur Optimus est qui minimis urgetur. What one man calls religion, another calls ceremony; whilst a third designates it 'superstition.' Where the extreme begins, or the mean ends, whether in belief or practice, a wise man will not pretend to determine ; and he who looks at human nature, passing through ages like sand through a time glass, may abound in his own sense, but will not pretend to fix a standard to which mankind must conform under the penalty of losing their reputation. One thing, however, is certain ; additions made to the essential practices of true religion, and which may be de- signated ' superstitious,' are not so noxious in themselves as that casuistry which would trifle with the name of God, and call him to witness what is true only by implication, or in a sense inconsistent with the words we utter. " But to return to the subject under consideration. " That the state of the Catholic Church in Ireland, or rather the attitude and movements of those who belong to it, excite strong apprehensions, is evident ; but in my poor opinion, a thorough knowledge of our position, good faith, and conciliatory disposition, such as ought to exist between the inhabitants of the same country, and the sub- jects of the same king, are alone necessary to remove 588 APPENDIX. those apinehensions, and bring all our unhappy differences to a satisfactory adjustment. " It may appear to your Grace, as it does to many others, that the Catholic Church in Ireland ought to be paralyzed, by inducing the Pope to co-operate in placing the appoint- ment of her bishops in the hands of the King, whilst the arrangement entered into for that purpose would be desig- nated ' a security against papal power or encroachment.' But this would be a proceeding inconsistent with good faith, equity, or any of those principles whereby freemen should be governed, or their hearts united in affection to the throne, leaving out of view the anomaly of a Protest- ant government, calling in the aid of the Pope to assist them in pulling down the liberties, whether civil or reli- gious, of their own subjects. I would say to those who would cherish such views, " Be generous to the Irish — spare the Constitution — do not indulge your jealousy of us to the enslavement of our priesthood — the King does not require the patronage of our Church — he cannot un- derstand her interests, nor be a Protestant and be anxious to promote them. Leave us a free people — let us exert all our energies, and if you confide in our oaths, which have never been violated, or in our honour, which has never been tarnished, you will not have hereafter to re- pent of your own generosity, or to complain of our ingra- titude. You may, by imposing bonds upon us, remove the alarm felt by some timid churchmen ; but you will give a death-blow to freedom in Ireland, and inflict upon our common Christianity the deepest wound. The Ca- tholics of Ireland excite apprehension ! They do, and justly ; for they are numerous, powerful, and discontented ; but let them be admitted fully and freely to all the bless- ings of the Constitution, and if their hearts be of flesh, if APPENDIX. 589 they have children and love them, if they have property and value it, if they have law and privilege and prize them, if they have a country and almost adore it, they w^ill he among the hest, the most loyal, the most devoted subjects in the realm. The Pope to them w^ould he almost unknown or un thought of; but their country, their laws, their religion, and the government which promoted their interests and watched over their welfare, would engross all their respect and all their affection.' *' It is thus, may it please your Grace, that the danger from the growth of the Catholic religion in Ireland, which danger, fear, or fanaticism alone has created, should be provided against, and not by measures founded upon false pretences — measures having for their object to weaken or disturb our Church, whilst it was virtually or expressly stipulated that she should be left free to struggle against all the difficulties with which, in her humble state, she must always and necessarily be encompassed. But then, it may be asked, is nothing to be done to secure the Constitution in Church and State against the danger to arise from papal encroachment ? Yes ; these encroach- ments are to be even still more effectually shut out than they are at present, by closing up the only channel through which by possibility, they might operate. The state is already perfectly secure against them ; but I would be anxious to see the Catholics of Ireland equally secure. At present, and for the whole of the last century, they have not been molested ; but they are liable to inconveni- ence, and even to be vexed and troubled by the Pope, whilst he holds in his hands, as he now does, the unqua- lified right of appointing bishops to the Catholic Church in Ireland. My object would be to have the right of electing those bishops vested in those who have the most 590 APPENDIX. direct and immediate interest in their appointment; and by an arrang-ement which would effectually exclude all foreign influence or encroachment — providing- at once for the interest of the Irish Catholics, and satisfying those Protestants who are still so weak-minded or misinformed as to entertain apprehension of the Papal power. " How a measure of this kind could be effected, appears to most people a question difficult of solution. It is diffi- cult, without doubt, but the difficulty arises, not from the nature of the thing itself, but from the state of distrust and alienation in which the Catholics are kept by the government. Were the government to act frankly and cordially with the Catholic clergy and people, and availed themselves of the support to be thus obtained, propose to the Pope an aiTangement, having for its object to render the Catholic Church in Ireland more national, and the appointment of its prelates entirely domestic, there is little doubt but such a proposal, properly urged, would be acceded to. " An arrangement of this sort, by which the Pope would agree to vest in some one of the Irish Catholic prelates such power in matters of conscience and ecclesiastical discipline as is now exercised by some congregations of Cardinals in Rome, or such as has often been committed to legates of the holy see, and which would also authorise some persons or body of persons to elect native clergymen to the office of Bishop, so often as such office became vacant in the Catholic Church in Ireland — reserving to himself the same right only of rejection, as is reserved to him with regard to the Bishops-elect of France, Belgium, or Germany — such an arrangement as this, simple and precise as it might be, would answer every purpose which could be reasonably desired. The question then above APPENDIX. 591 proposed, which appears to many so difficult and intricate, is in fact simple and easy of solution. By the arrange- ment, the outline of which has just been sketched, the right of electing che Catholic Bishops in Ireland would be transferred from foreigners to some body of electors, natives of the country, subjects of the King, to men bound by their allegiance, by their oaths, their interests, and their duty. The intercourse with Rome would be diminished, and almost cease, if the extensive powers, relating to cases of conscience and matters of discipline before alluded to, were vested in some Irish Bishop or Bishops, selected by the Pope, and approved of by the government. Any remaining correspondence on spiritual or ecclesiastical matters, might be made to pass through the hands or office of such Bishop or Bishops, and be subjected to such rules and regulations as would be agreed upon, and specified in the arrangement with the See of Rome. " In treating of this subject, two reflections naturally suggest themselves — the first is, that if the government thought it advisable to imitate the conduct of other states, by entering into an arrangement with the Pope for the regulation of the Catholic Church in Ireland,, it should not proceed on the principles ofjdistrust, but of confidence in its own subjects ; for, to depend more on papal aid, to adjust our civil relations, than on the tried fidelity, loyalty, and interests of the Irish Catholics, would be, in my opi- nion, not only an oversight in policy, an infringement of our rights as British subjects, and a disparagement to our government and country ; but it would give an advan- tage in the discussion to the court of Rome which she ought not to have. For what has Rome to lose by the re- jection of a proposal to which the Catholics of Ireland are not a party ? 592 APPENDIX. " The second reflection is, that a proposal made to Rome by the Government, acting in concert with the Irish Catholic Clergy and people, would not only be irresistible, if well conducted, but would, at the same time, operate most beneficially on the public mind and feeling at home, and ensure a favourable reception to an arrangement, which if entered into under suspected circumstances, might be looked upon with indignation or treated with contempt. " I have said thus much upon securities, not because I consider them necessary, for danger to the Constitution is as likely to proceed from Mecca as from the Vatican ; but because I think an arrangement such as I have mentioned would be useful to Ireland, and would serve to allay the apprehensions of those whom your Grace is, perhaps, obli- ged to satisfy. Were I a Minister of the King, I would say to His Majesty — ' Sire, if you govern Ireland justly, and give to your Catholic subjects the full benefit of equal law, they will be contented, faithful, and loyal, and among the foremost to resist all encroachments on the constitu- tion of the country, or the prerogatives of the crown. But should they act otherwise ; should they become forgetful of their allegiance — regardless of their oaths and interests — traitors to their King and country, which I deem im- possible, — then your Majesty can earn the applause of mankind, and the approbation of your own conscience, by restraining and punishing them — even as much as you now do, by not extending to them all the constitutional blessings to which they aspire.' " To my colleagues in office, I would say — * The Papal influence which is feared, may be considered as it has been found to operate since the gradual but general, and now universally acknowledged, extinction of that power in the APPENDIX. 593 civil concerns of the European states. If, then, in the first place, this power were to continue such as it now is, and such as the present notions of mankind doom it to be hereafter, no security beyond those which we possess is at all necessary. For a disposition to revive a power which would not be respected, but condemned, cannot exist on the part of the Pope, unless he be totally destitute of common sense ; and to suppose that the Catholic bishops in Ireland would be induced, by such a Pope, to violate their oaths, and become hostile to a government and coun- try which cherishes and protects them, is to suppose them not only capable of the most atrocious crimes, but equally destitute as the Pope himself of common sense and com- mon prudence.' " The other light in which this papal power may be considered is — by supposing that Europe may retrograde to that state of feudalism and barbarity from which she has been advancing for the last four hundred years. Sup- posing that this may happen, and that the temporal power of the Pope may advance even more rapidly than it has declined, and that, in its progress, it may attempt to influence the Irish Catholic clergy to become disaffected to the state ; we ought to reflect that, in this country, the Pope can have no means of exercising this influence, unless such as are purely spiritual ; and is it credible that, with such auxiliaries, he can persuade any body of intel- ligent men to adopt his interpretation about the two swords of Peter, or persuade them that the kingdom of Christ is other than the Redeemer has described it? But, admitting the worst that can be imagined, is this nation and government to be also blindfolded, and the legislature rendered incapable of providing for the safety of the state 2q 594 APPENDIX. — endangered, as you suppose it may be, by those ecclesi- astical traitors, and their fanatical adherents ? " I have done, my Lord Duke, with this subject — at least for the present ; I should not have noticed it, but for the purpose of proclaiming that, as far as my senti- ments prevail, there is, in the Catholic body, combined with the most firm determination to persevere in their constitutional pursuits, a disposition to concur, earnestly and zealously, with the King's government, in settling this great national question, on the basis of preserving and securing every existing institution, whether Catholic or Protestai^t, in all their integrity. I have the honour to be, my Lord Duke, " Your Grace's most obedient, humble servant, " Carloiv, June 19, 1828. + J. Doyle." APPENDIX.— No. VIII. On the Irish Tithe System, from " Letters on the actual state of ireland." LETTER IV.—" My dear . I approach the subject of this letter with a feeling of reluctance amounting to disgust. The Irish tithe system has long been the theme of reprobation to the most eloquent and enlight- ened members of the community; nor do I recollect that a palliation of its excesses has been attempted by any person distinguished for integrity or talents. But, al- though little has been said in defence of the tithe system, a great deal has been done of late to facilitate and strengthen the exercise of those oppressive powers with APPENDIX. 505 which the clergy of the Established Church were already suj^plied in abundance. An annual exposition in Parlia- ment of Irish tithe g-rievances, has now become a matter of course ; and, amidst the general acquiescence in the severity of the hardship, some new law is introduced, to place the unfortunate tithe payer more securely within the grasp of his reverend oppressor. Such, for the most part, has been hitherto the result of imploring legislative attention to the vexations, the unfairness, and the ruinous policy of this mode of providing for the clergy of the Established Church in Ireland. At the very first step, the injustice is manifest, of compelling a people to support the ministers of a religion differing from their own, and from whom, consequently, they cannot receive those spi- ritual services on which the only rational claim to that support must be founded. A Church living is not an inheritance; the embryo rector has no special grant from heaven of the unrequited toil of his fellow Christian. His right rests on the express understanding, that spiritual duties should be performed towards the tithe payer; and, where it is notorious that such duties cannot be in any way discharged, what other name than consecrated rapine, can we give to the exaction of tithes by an ecclesiastical sinecurist } The difficulty can be solved only by the good old adage — * For, Protestants still laws shall make, And Papists still obey; All gain and honour one shall take, The other toil, and pay.' The impious pretence of a divine right to tithes, has been abandoned of late years ; but the legislative provisions, by which the wholesome conviction was wrought, were of that fostering and favourable nature, that left the advocates of the tithe system little to regret, in exchanging 2 q2 596 APPENDIX. the authority of Leviticus for that of King, Lords, and Commons. To say truth, there are certain passages of Holy Writ, touching the allotment of part of the tithes to the maintenance of the stranger, the widow, and the orphan, which make a reference to scriptural authority uncomfortable and injudicious. " But, dismissing the question of the justice, or the in- justice of the principle, as aj^plied to Ireland,* there cannot be a second opinion as to the unfitness of this mode of provision for the clergy. A Christian pastor is supposed to be called by the immediate inspiration of the Divinity, to take on him the duties of his sacred office. His whole existence should be devoted to the worship of his Creator, and the welfare of his fellow-men. To cheer the afflicted, to counsel the inexperienced, to succour the distressed, to protect the weak, to reprove the wicked, are peculiarly his province ; thus causing religion to be re- spected and loved, by the exemplification of its pure and amiable precepts in his own conduct. What a contrast to all this does the tithe-hunting Irish parson present ! From the hour that he is nominated to ^ the cure of souls,' his attention is incessantly occupied in watching the ad- vance of industry, that he may seize on a proportionate in- crease of produce. He has scarce any intercourse with his flock, except what arises from pecuniary altercations. * " I utterly deny the assertion that the enormous sinecure temporalities of the Irish Church have any necessary connection with the estabHshment o^ the Church of England. For the cases to be at all similar, the majority of the English nation, being Pro- testants, should be compelled to build churches and pay tit lies, for the benefit of the Roman Catholic minority. In England, the church property is enjoyed by priests who profess the religion of the payers ; and if the latter, thinking themselves aggrieved, should claim redress at law, no one dreams of accusing them of radicalism, or of disaffection to tlie state." APPENDIX. 597 If Providence should crown the labours of the husband- man with a plenteous return, the clerical harpy is at hand to sully and diminish the blessing ; and, if a season of blight should frustrate his expectations, the inexorable tithe proctor, nevertheless, attends to make that little less, and to fill up the measure of divine wrath. " The landlord gives his ground as an equivalent for the rent he is to receive ; the amount of that rent is fixed, and the means of recovering it are the known and ordi- nary laws of the land. But, the amount of tithe is as un- certain as the nature of the claim itself is indefinite and perplexed. It is hardly to be expected that an Irish Ca- tholic should contribute, without some reluctance, to the emoluments of a corporation, which he cannot but consi- der as the enemy of his religious faith, and which the ex- perience of every day proves to be the inveterate opponent of his political rights. How then can rural improvements be looked for from an Irish farmer, when the first and necessary consequence of the exertion of industry, or the expenditure of capital, is an increase of the unearned and riskless profits of that privileged class, to whom the sweat of his brow was mortgaged even in his mother's womb ? The case has been of recent occurrence in my immediate neighbourhood. A farming society has been established and premiums were offered, for the purpose of favouring the introduction of green crops. No sooner had this been attempted, than the bishoj) of the diocese, in the receipt of many thousand pounds a year, claimed his share of these green crops, in a parish of which his lordship was the rector, although that description of tillage was alto- gether new there ; and, not finding the usual law author- ities sufficiently ample, proceeded to enforce his demand by a suit in equity. 598 APPENDIX. Having thus lightly touched on some of the leading features of this onerous and destructive tax, and exhi- bited to your view the relative position of the payer and receiver, you may, perhaps, desire to know what remedy is left to the farmer, if he should conceive himself injured by an unjust or excessive demand on the part of the incumbent. " As the payment of tithes sometimes rests on custom and precedent, and in other instances is defined by written law, it is very possible that without intending to exceed his legal right, the parson may often inflict intolerable hardship) on his parishioners. To give the protecting powers of the legislature their due merit, it must be ad- mitted, that though little facility of obtaining redress has been afforded to the tithe payer, much has been done to confirm the doubtful claims of the Church, and to render the mode of enforcing them more distinct and efficient. If a poor man should be aggrieved by the demand of a cler- gyman of the Established Church in Ireland, and can pay it without utter ruin, it is best for him to submit ; if the amount claimed be such as he cannot discharge, he must fly. For, as to contesting the point in the ' Court Christ- ian,' nothing, save the very phrenzy of despair, could sug- gest such a hopeless undertaking. Involved in the bar- barous intricacies of ecclesiastical law, the tithe system sits secure ; the approaches are guarded by extravagant costs and by harassing regulations ; and when, after great expence and trouble, the seat of judgment is at length reached, a parson most frequently presides there ! " A clergyman may cite his parishioners to the ecclesi- astical court for a very small sum ; or he may cite him for a sum already paid. If the farmer submit at once and pay, all is well ; he is * a loyal subject' and ^ an honest fellow.' If, how^ever, he should dispute the parson's de- APPENDIX. 599 mand, he instantly becomes ' a combining knave' and ' a conspirator against church and state,' at an unavailing ex- pence to himself of about fifty pounds — imavailing, be- cause, when his case comes on, his counsel, however re- spectable, may be silenced at once, ex cathedra r"^ and when thus exposed defenceless to the attack of his reve- rend antagonist, if he should call a witness, his testimony may be rejected, unless fresh fees are paid ; and, moreover, if the defendant should have contributed to a fund for the purpose of procuring legal redress, whatever evidence he may produce, even should he bring forward the very carman who had been employed by the parson to draw home the tithes for him, and whose testimony can scarce be considered objectionable, the parishioner may never- theless be compelled to pay the full amount of tithe claimed. No matter at what distance of time the claim is made, nor what degree of credit ought to be attached to a valuation got up under such circumstances, the farmer must pay the demand, though, perhaps, it may be double or treble the real value of the tithes that he had given out fairly so many years before, and which had been regularly drawn away by the incumbent. " It is true, the parishioner may appeal ; but the very first step is an expence of five pounds, and the appeal lies to another ecclesiastical court superior in jurisdiction, but agreeing in princij^le, if not in practice, with the court below ; and out of which besides, if the complainant es- cape at the expence of an hundred pounds only, he may consider himself as comparatively fortunate. * " Exceeding even the hard rule of Rhadamanthus, the surro- gate punishes without hearing the accused either before sentence or after, unmindful of the precept, ' non licet civem inauditum damnare.'" 600 APPENDIX. " Now, it may so happen, that an extra demand of ten, or even of five pounds occasionally repeated, according to the conscience of the parson, might be more than sufficient to ruin a poor Irish farmer, who has seldom the means of entirely discharging all the regular legal demands against his property, and must he but indijOferently prepared for these ecclesiastical gambols. What is he then to do? The most unfeeling heart must shudder at the last fearful alternative that remains. It has been exem- plified too often, and too fatally, in various parts of Ire- land. " If any individual member of the community, urged by an imprudent indignation at such extortion and mockery of justice, or terrified at the usual consequences of these inhuman proceedings, should endeavour to substitute le- gal redress for brutal retaliation ; then, indeed, the sad condition to which Ireland has been reduced becomes visible in all its weakness and deformity. You may re- vile religious tenets, you may cmnplain of exclusive laws, 5'ou may even load the Orange party with every sort of abuse, and they may rebut the charge with a yeomanry bayonet, or fill the columns of their newspapers with all manner of blasphemous bufi"oonery about the Cross and the Virgin Mary, as objects of peculiar veneration to Pa- pists : all this may be said and done with impunity ; in short, there are few displays of theological rancour, or of political vituperation, however offensive to decency and good feeling, that may not be freely indulged in as occasion suits, jjrovided you keep clear of the Church Esta- hUshment. At the bare mention of any resistance, however just and lawful, to that tremendous power, the ascendancy men, one and all, break out into the most ungovernable fury. Moderate Protestants are alarmed for what they APPENDIX. ()0l are pleased to term * the Keystone of the Constitution,' and feel their growing liberty abate ; the very victims of ecclesiastical rapacity themselves, tremble and decline the fierce and unequal conflict. " One would imagine that the existence, or the welfare at least, of the human race, were at stake ; or that the order of the universe were menaced with interruption, when the slightest attemj^t is made to check the power, or to inquire into the irregularities of the Irish Church establishment. It would seem that among all sects and conditions of men, the very abuses of that establishment are held more sacred than the most essential rights of the people. Thus it was with the inquisition abroad : whoever fell under the dis- pleasure of its ministers, was shunned as if infected by the plague ; his friends deplored his fate, and fled from him ; and even they who in their souls abhorred that diabolical institution, shrank in dismay from the fearful duty of opposing its abominable jurisdiction. " It is evident that although the existence of public opinion has been recognized, there is yet but little ap- pearance of public spirit in Ireland. Knowing, by re- peated experience, the difficulty of procuring redress in ecclesiastical matters, and, that not content with the defeat and the ruin of the audacious complainant, the victorious party mark him for persecution at the first favourable opportunity. The Roman Catholics of Ireland, generally speaking, submit to all the demands of the Church, and witness with desponding resignation, the usual course of oppression, suffering, retaliation and outrage. Neither w^ll the impugner of clerical preten- sions receive any decided support from the Roman Catholic priesthood. It has been said, but I am persuaded without foundation, that they are averse to laymen meddling with 002 APPENDIX. rights, or property which, though for the present in other hands, may ultimately revert to their own. There may, perhaps, be a few individuals of that body who are weak enough to imagine, that if the nation were once fairly rid of this incubus of the establishment, it would again court the yoke, and revive these rights, privi- leges, and perquisites for the clergy of the Church of Rome; but I am convinced, that the great majority of the latter are too well informed, too rational, and, I will add, too sincerely pious, to indulge in any such extravagant vision : ' Quae bellua ruptis Cum semel ePx'ugit, reddit se prava catenis?* There is little fame, scarce any gratitude, and still less personal satisfaction to be derived from rousing the im- placable hostility of the church, by exposing the tenacity with which it adheres to obsolete claims, and the greedi- ness with which it incessantly seeks to augment its enor- mous and anti-Christian possessions. " He who, in pursuit of public justice, enters the lists with the Church militant of Ireland, must prepare for heavy expence, and for innumerable legal impediments : he will have to encounter all that malice, calumny, and perverse ingenuity can devise to afflict, to injure, and, if possible, to destroy him. Far from meeting that support he deserves, from those for the sake of whom he exposes himself to such annoyance and loss, they look on him as a foolish man, rashly undertaking a desperate and super- fluous task, from which no advantage can be derived, and which will probably end in drawing down a heavier vengeance on their heads. Many who would not contribute a shilling to the attainment of constitutional redress, would not hesitate to assist to the uttermost in deeds of APPENDIX. G03 violence, when the terrible account has been opened be- tween sacerdotal injustice and popular retribution. " The ordinary vindicators of Catholic grievances care- fully avoid interfering in a contest which, they are well assured, must prove troublesome and expensive. If they do express themselves on the subject, they touch it tenderly and briefly, abstaining altogether from any thing in the shape of a practical measure. " It has been said, I know not how truly, that previous to passing the act for the suppression of the Catholic As- sociation, in one of the demi-official, mysterious negocia- tions that we hear of between the government and the ' agitators,' an offer was made to tolerate the continuance of the assembly, provided a distinct pledge could be given that all discussion of matters relative to the church esta- blishment should be precluded. — However this may have been, the leaders of the New Catholic Association, with one exception, seem to have an intuitive feeling, that it is safer to avoid an interference with the ^ noli me tangere ' of church property. " It is surprising that the Irish Roman Catholics have not long since perceived that the church establishment is the grand obstacle to the acquirement of their constitu- tional rights ; that the possessors of that unearned and unhallowed opulence are invariably ranked among the foremost and most inveterate of their antagonists ; and, what is also important to observe, that the morbid sensi- bility they betray with regard to the system, t'le quick and angry alarm with which they bristle up at the mere allusion to the most flagrant abuse, clearly point out how vulnerable the object of such irascible anxiety must be. Shakspeare tells us that ' a rotten case abides no hand- ling.' The day will come, however, when the Irish church f)04 APPENDIX. establishment must submit to ' handling'. Revision and consequent reform cannot be averted for ever : — " Capta quidem sero Pergama, capta tamen.'' " The sooner this investigation takes place, the greater the probability will be of a peaceable arrangement to the satisfaction of all j^arties ; but how, or whenever so salu- tary a change may be effected, there can be no doubt that it must ultimately tend to exalt the character of the Re- formed Church, and to promote the real interests of Christianity. In the mean time, I pity the man from my soul, who ventures on the forlorn hope of procuring legal redress for the sufferers under clerical aggression in Ire- land. If he should advance boldly to the contest with the sable host, what fearful responsibility he incurs, what days of care, what nights of waking anxiety he must pass ! Uncheered in the moment of doubt and of peril, — un- thanked for hard-earned victory, if, by next to a miracle, he should achieve it, — overwhelmed with censure for un- merited defeat ! " Some few gallant spirits may be found at his side, who, disregarding the dangers and the obstacles in the way, look only to the principle, and generously cling to the remote possibility of success. But, the patriots are dumb, the moderate stand aloof, the press is silent, while the church is vigorous. Treachery, intimidation, and falsehood, are unblushingly and unsparingly employed. They who contribute large sums for the conversion of the Jews, or for the spiritual illumination of the distant heathen, and who can weep over the wrongs of Hottentots — they, too, who figure at the head of public charities, and would make any sacrifice to place Solomon's Canticle in the hands of every youthful female in the land — the illus- trious patriots, also, who are in the habit of risking thou- APPENDIX. 605 sands on tlie turn of a card, or the fidelity of a horse-jockey — Protestants, Catholics, Dissenters, Deists, Atheists, all, all refuse to part with a farthing for the truly chari- table, meritorious, and patriotic purpose of curbing tyranny and preventing outrage ! " The editors of the English newspapers, also, appear to take a much more lively satisfaction in recording the excesses of ' the wild Irish,' than in recommending mea- sures that might lead to the prevention of crime among them. When these journalists do condescend to occupy a portion of their columns with the sad consequences of tithe exactions in Ireland, the merits of the case are seldom investigated, but a contemptuous malediction is hurled alike at the oppressors and the oppressed, for pre- suming thus to disturb the imperial tranquillity of Great Britain with their barbarous clamour. confounded be your strife, Presumptuous vassals ! are you not asham'd With this immodest, clamorous outrage, To trouble and disturb the King and us ?' " As a curious specimen of the proceedings in Irish consistorial courts, I shall copy the notes of a late trial, in a tithe case, taken, among others of the same descrip- tion, by a Protestant gentleman of fortune and respecta- bility, who was so good as to send it to me, and on whose accuracy you may place the fullest reliance. " ' Another case was called on : same plaintiff against another parishioner. " ' The tithe proctor swore to the value of the crops, and amount claimed by the plaintiff. " ' The defendant's proctor then urged in defence, that this citation must now be dismissed, as the statute enacted that two suits could not be instituted for the same tithe. That a citation had been served on his client for the same tithes for a former court day. That e06 APPENDIX. his client had attended, and the cause was actually heard, for a decision had been made by the surrogate. He now, therefore, prayed a dismiss, with costs against the plaintiff. The court admitted there had been a former citation in this cause. It was true the case had been called on a former day, but the merits had not been entered into ; it had been dismissed without prejudice, and therefore did not come within the meaning of the statute. Defendant's proctor stated that he was instructed by his client dif- ferently ; for that a positive decision had been made ; that his client had been decreed, and that with costs; and which costs so given against him by the cornet, his client had actually paid to the Rev. Mr. , the plaintiff, and he had got his receipt, and that the court could not now proceed, without violating the statute. '' ' The court remarked that there was no proof of this assertion, and that it must now proceed. " * Defendant's proctor replied, the court had the means of knowledge within itself; it could refer to its own re- cords. And he appealed to the registry-book then in court, lying before them on the bench, and would now proceed to examine the registrar as a witness. " ' The court said it would not order the registrar to give evidence, the registrar might do as he liked. That, if the defendant wished to have a search made in the registry, he must pay the fees for making it, and that the court would not exert authority to deprive the registrar of fees he was entitled to. " ^ Defendant's proctor then called on Mr. , the registrar, to say, whether his client had not been de- creed with costs, on a former day, in this cause ? " ' The registrar said he would not answer, unless or- dered by the court. " ' The coiu't said it would not order the registrar to APPENDIX. 607 forego his fees : that it was open to the defendant to take out an attested copy of the entry in the court-book ; he was sure Mr. would make the copy on being paid his fees, and the court would receive it as evidence : that the court could not tell which way the former entiy might cut, but if the defendant wished for it as evidence,, this was the regular way to obtain it. " * Defendant's proctor wished to know what was the legal fee ? " ' The court understood an attested copy was six sMl- lings and eight pence " * Defendant's proctor thought he could arrive at the fact by another way ; as the court did not think it neces- sary to search its own records to ascertain whether it could legally proceed now. He now held in his hand a receipt in the plaintiff's own hand-writing, for the costs paid by the defendant pursuant to the decree obtained on a former court-day. He trusted this would be conclu- sive that there had been a decision already on this cause. He then handed the receipt to the court. The surrogate, perceiving that there was no stamp on the receipt, ap- parently became very indignant, that His Majesty's revenue should suffer by such a fraud on the stamp act, rolled up the receipt, and flung it at the proctor, ' won- dering he could presume to offer such a document to a court ! ' [Query. Was a stamp required by law, the sum being under two pounds, Irish currency ?] " ' The poor defendant, nearly distracted, in a very feeling manner said, Mr. ■ is sitting there opposite to me ; I am sure he is an honourable gentleman ; I ap- peal to himself, he knows I paid him the amount of the costs, and that he gave me this receipt ; I am sure he will not deny his own hand-writing. 608 APPENDIX. u i Mr. stood up and said, ' Indeed, my good man, I would, in any other place, be most happy to answer any question you might ask me. You know I never refused to converse with any of you ; hut Jiere I cannot answer you ; I am under the guidance of my proctor.' " ' The defendant gave a long sigh. His proctor said he supposed he had no resource now left, hut to pay a fee to the registrar for making a search. To which the court assented, and wished he had done so long since, as the time of the public had been wasted by this useless discus- sion, and there were a great many other causes to be dis- posed of. " ' Defendant's proctor then handed the registrar two shillings and sixpence, and requested him to take his legal fee out of that, which the registrar did, returning the ba- lance ! " ' The registrar, on referring to the entry made in the book of the proceedings of the former court-day, after a considerable pause, said, * Before I read the entry I find here, I must state that I am not answerable for any mis- take that may be in it ; I was absent on that day, and two persons were sworn in court to do the duty of registrar for the time.' He then read the title of the cause, and that defendant had appeared, and was decreed with costs ; he supposed it must have been a mistake. " ' The court agreed that it must be a mistake. Defen- dant's proctor contended his client had a right to a dismiss noAV against the plaintiff, with costs. That an extract from that book would be evidence in the superior court, and was, of course, evidence in this ; that his client was not to suffer for the mistakes of the officers of the court, and had already, if it was a mistake, been substantially injured in having to pay costs under that order of the court. APPENDIX. 609 When the surrogate suddenly exclaimed, ' It Is a mistake, I know it's a mistake; I have a right to correct the mis- takes of this court, and I now deci'ee the defendant in the full sum claimed by the plaintiff.'' " * The registrar had pocketed his fee ; the former record stood amended ; and the defendant, who was at the ex- pence of setting the court right, now hoped, atl east, the ccurt would deduct the sum he had paid in his own wrong by the former order of the court, from that which it now ordered him to pay to the reverend plaintiff. He was answered, that the court had nothing to do with it, and would not interfere ; it was a private transaction. The poor fellow, then, with tears in his eyes, made a similar application to the Rev. Mr. • , who, however (out of consistency, it must be presumed, the question being asked in court) returned no answer; and, in order that justice might be no longer impeded, the crier shouted ' silence !' and the other causes were then disposed of, according to the rules and regulations of a ' Court Christian.'* " I shall make no comment on this report ; but you can no longer be surprised at the harsh terms in which I have expressed myself relative to such modes of administering ^justice.'' " The Church rates exhibit another very oppressive feature of the ecclesiastical proceedings in Ireland. It is galling enough for people to be taxed without their con- sent, for the purposes of building or ornamenting Churches, for the accommodation of a few persons of a diiferent Com- munion. Formerly, the limits of the law were frequently exceeded; but, from the difficulty and expence, as well as the danger of seeking redress, the imposition was paid ** * I have given this trial verbatim from the notes." 2r 610 APPENDIX. with ^ curses, not loud but deep.' At length, the enor- mous abuses did attract the notice of the legislature ; and what was the result ? Why, in order to prevent the pos- sibility of an unlawful charge in future, a law was made to authorize, in the fullest manner, every demand that human ingenuity could devise. This is the sort of relief that has been afforded to the Irish people, when they utter any complaint affecting the wealth or the influence of the Church, as by law established ! " I am the landlord of two rather extensive parishes, united with several others, to form a leviathan living for the minister of Him who had not where to lay His head. In these two parishes, there is not one single individual professing the reformed faith, nor is there even a tradition of a house of Protestant worship having ever been in either. Nevertheless, my tenantry have always paid a heavy acreable church-rate, and we have been deprived, by a late ' relief,'' ox vestry act, of the wretched satisfaction of knowing that the levy was illegal, as it is exorbitant and oppressive. It is not necessary for me to qualify what I have written regarding the treatment that the majority of the esta- blished clergy inflict on their parishioners in Ireland, by the trite admission that there are among the reverend com- munity, as amiable, as pious, and as benevolent individuals as exist in any human society. I am acquainted with several whose conduct is above the reach of censure in every respect ; and I am inclined to believe, that if the number of irreproachable ecclesiastics be not greater, the fault may, in a great measure, be laid on the debasing nature of the vile system from which their income is derived; a system that confers recompense for service unperformed, substitutes tables of interest for the tables APPENDIX. Oil of Divine Law, and converts the pious offerings of reve- rential gratitude into an insulting tribute, rigorously exacted from a vanquished, injured, and therefore not to be forgiven, people." APPENDIX.— No. IX DR. POYNTER'S OBSERVATIONS ON THE SPIRITUAL SUPREMACY. The following observations on that declaration in the oath of supremacy, which says, that '' No foreign Prelate ought to have any Jurisdiction, Power, Superiority, Pre-eminence, or Authority, Ecclesiastical or Spiritual, within these Realms^' were made by the late Dr. Poynter, in March, 1821, and transmitted, by him, to the Managers of Mr. Plunkett's late Catholic Relief Bill. He has herein placed the distinction between spiritual and tern- poral, ecclesiastical and civil, power and juris- diction, in so clear a point of view ; and has so happily illustrated his positions by one or two cases, in which the two powers would seem to conflict, that our most strenuous adversaries may rectify their confused or erroneous notions on this subject, and thus be induced generously to cease from alarming the ignorant, the prejudiced, and the bigotted part of the community, by the un- founded versions that are continually promulgating of this article of our doctrine. •2r 2 61-2 APPENDIX. " If the Pope ought not to have any ecclesiastical or spi- ritual jurisdiction, &c. within these realms, he ought to have none at all ; for he has no civil jurisdiction here. The ahove clause denies the divine right of the Pope, as head of the Church of Christ, to govern the universal church. " What is the proper and obvious meaning of the terms ecclesiastical and spiritnal ? " The term spiritual does not here mean the same as incorporeal or internal : but it means that which in its nature directly tends to a supernatural end, or is ordained to produce a supernatural effect. Thus, sacrifice, which is an external oblation of a sensible victim to God ; and the sacraments, which are visible rites, are spiritual things, because they tend to the worship of God and to the sanc- tification of souls. That is called temporal, which in its nature and institution, tends directly to the good order of civil society. " The power of the Church is spiritual ; and the power of the state is temporal. " By the term ecclesiastical is properly meant whatever in its own nature belongs to the spiritual power and go- vernment of the church — as by the term civil is meant whatever in its own nature belongs to the temporal power and government of the state. " This is the proper and limited meaning of the terms ecclesiastical and civil, when the two powers are in a state of separation from each other, and act without any mutual co-operation. Such was the ecclesiastical power of tne Church under the heathen emperors ; such was the civil power of the Roman state during the same period. " When the two powers are associated together by a friendly concordate, the ecclesiastical power has sometimes exercised acts of a civil nature, by the concession of the APPENDIX. 613 State ; and the civil power has sometimes exercised acts of an ecclesiastical nature, by the concession of the church. In these cases, the term ecclesiastical, when applied to courts and causes of a mixed nature, under the jurisdic- tion of an ecclesiastical person as judge, is to be under- stood in a less strict and less proper sense. In this sense some of our courts in England retain the name of eccle- siastical. It is not in this mixed sense, that the spi- ritual power of the Pope, and of Catholic bishops in Eng- land, is now called ecclesiastical. " At the change of religion in England, the state totally divorced and separated itself from the Catholic church, and withdrew every portion of civil power from the Pope and Catholic clergy, which they had ever exercised in England by the concession of the state. Consequently, the spiritual powers which the Pope and Catholic clergy now hold and exercise over the Catholics in England, are PURELY ecclesiastical without the least mixture of any civil or temporal power whatever. " This power and authority, purely ecclesiastical, is that vfhich Christ gave originally to his apostles ; and which was, by his ordinance, to be transmitted from them to their legitimate successors, to the end of time, for the pur- pose of enabling them to preach his faith, to promulgate his new law, to administer his sacraments, to govern his church, and to enforce the observance of his general commands by particular and efficacious regulations. By the exercise of this ecclesiastical power, the church, from the earliest ages, without the co-operation of the civil power, has issued many laws and ordinances relating to the form of divine worship, to the manner and circum- stances of administering or of receiving the sacraments, to the observance of the great Christian festivals, to the rules of abstinence and to the fast of Lent, to the impedi- 6*14 APPENDIX. ments and celebration of matrimony, to the conduct of the clergy, to the qualifications requisite for holy orders, to the limits of the jurisdiction of the different orders of the hierarchy, &c. Many such external and purely eccle- siastical regulations, were made by the Church, and en- forced among the faithful in different parts of the world, before the Church had any where any connection with the state. The object of the Church in making them was, to enforce the observance of the commands and institu- tions of Christ ; which are not of a temporal nature, but which tend directly to the worship of God and to the sanc- tification of the souls of men. The means by which the Church enforced the observance of them, were not of a civil nature, but were ecclesiastical and spiritual ; viz. the influence of her authority, and the privation of the benefits of her communion. ' TJie weapo7is of our warfare are not carnal.'' 2. Cor. x. 4. " In establishing and enforcing these ecclesiastical laws and regulations, the Pope has from the earliest ages borne a principal part. Every Catholic must acknowledge that the Pope, as head of the Church, has ecclesiastical and spiritual authority over all the members of the Catholic Church. This authority, which he now exercises over the Catholics in England, is purely ecclesiastical and spiritual ; it has not the least mixture of any portion of civil or tem- poral authority annexed to it. It is chiefly exercised here in appointing bishops, and in giving them powers for the spiritual government of the Catholics in their respective dioceses or districts ; in superintending the religious con- duct of the Catholics ; and in granting dispensations from the ecclesiastical impediments of matrimony, when neces- sity requires. But this ecclesiastical and spiritual autho- rity of the Pope in England, as well as that of the Catholic bishops here, is not invested with any civil formality, nor APPENDIX. 015 has it any civil effect. In its object and in its means, it stands in a very distinct order from the civil power of the state. This may be illustrated by one or two cases. " A Catholic confesses to a priest that he has injured his neighbour in his property or good name. The priest admonishes him of the obligation of making restitution as far as he is able, to the extent of the injury done, if he wishes to be reconciled to God, and to be admitted to the sacraments. The man refuses to make restitution. In this case the priest can only urge him by advice and by command, to comply with this moral obligation ; and if he persists in his refusal to do his duty, by refusing to admit him to the participation of the spiritual benefit of the sacraments. But the priest cannot employ any civil means, such as imprisonment, fine, &c. to compel him to make that restitution to which he is bound by the law of nature, and by the positive law of God. " In the same manner, the pope cannot enforce in England the observance of a divine or ecclesiastical pre- cept by any civil or temporal punishment, but only by ecclesiastical or spiritual means ; such as depriving a Ca- tholic clergyman of his spiritual powers, or others of the particijjation of the sacraments and of the communion of the church. " In cases of impediments of matrimony, on which the laws of England are different from the laws of the Catholic chvu'ch, the laws of the church have their proper and dis- tinct effect, and are not enforced by any civil means. Suppose then that two Catholics, first cousins, marry according to the forms of the law of England, their mar- riage is valid and good according to law, as the degree of first cousins is not a legal impediment; but their marriage is considered by the Catholic church as invalid and null, ah initio, in conscience and in the sight of God ; because 616 APPENDIX. the degree of first cousins is an impedimentum dirimem, totally annulling the matrimonial contract in the sight of God. In this case, the Catholic bishop or priest would infoi-m the parties of the invalidity of their marriage, and of the conscientious obligation of their separating. If they refuse to separate, he cannot compel them by any civilmeans; if they have children, he connot declare them illegitimate, so as to make them incapable of suc- ceeding to the titles and estates of the father, or of enjoying the temporal benefits of legitimate children. But if they refuse to separate, the priest can refuse to admit them to the sacraments of the Catholic church ; and if they have children, these children will be ecclesiastically illegiti- mate, so as to be incapable of being admitted to holy orders. Hence it evidently appears, that the ecclesiasti- cal and the civil powers are clearly distinct from each other in their means>nd effects. Whilst the Catholic is bound by the law of God to acknowledge that the king has temporal authority for the government of the state, he is equally bound by the law of Christ to acknowledge that the pope has ecclesiastical and spiritual authority for the government of the Catholic church, and of aU the members of the Catholic church wherever they are. If any Catholic were to swear that the Pope ought not to have any ecclesiastical authority in England, he would abjure the divine right of the Pope to govern the members of the Catholic church; he would abjure the principle of the supremacy of the Pope ; he would separate himself from the centre of Catholic unity and communion; he would, ipso facto, cease to be a Catholic. (Signed) William Poynter, V. A. 4, Castle Street^ Holborn, March 6th, 1821. APPENDIX.— No. X. GENERAL PROOF OF OUR DOCTRINE ON THE EUCHARIST FROM THE CATECHESES. PARTICULAR PROOFS FROM THE FATHERS. I. Every one who has studied the monuments of tradi- tion on the subject of the Eucharist, must have remarked a singular difference in the expressions of the Fathers, when they speak of the sacrament of the altar. Some- times they explain themselves with all imaginable clear- ness, on the reality of the presence of Jesus Christ under the species, and on the change of substance. At other times they designate the gifts offered, by the expressions of symbols, types, signs, figures, representations, or alle- gories of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. This diver- sity of language, occurs not only among different doctors, but often even in the same Father ; for example, in St. Chrysostom or St. Augustin. The Catholics, with good reason, attach themselves to the passages of the former kind, while they give the most satisfactory explanation of the others. The Protestant sacramentarians build upon the passages of the latter kind, which suit their opinions ; and at the same time glide hastily over those of the first description, which overthrow their system. Both parties agree that the Fathers are not to be accused of being con- tradictory to one another, and still less to themselves. But, as far as I know, neither Catholics nor Protestants have ever yet asked themselves the cause of this difference of language on the same subject; why the fathers, after 618 APPENDIX. having spoken entirely in the sense of the real presence, appear in other places to express themselves in that of a figurative presence. It is however a duty to make such enquiry ; and this is the precise point to be investigated and cleared up, in order to dissipate the slightest cloud, and bring forth in the full blaze of day the true doctrine of the Fathers — the real belief of the primitive Church. II. The answer to this important question is by no means difficult ; and I am persuaded, Sir, that you have not arrived thus far, without foreseeing it yourself, with- out my suggestion. The Fathers, as you know, lived under the discipline of the secret, and observed it so strictly, that they were ready to shed their blood, as were the faithful after example, rather than violate it by betray- ing the mysteries ; and among others, that of the Eucha- rist. They could speak openly of it, without fear, to the faithful, either in their family circles, or in the Church, in discourses delivered before them exclusively : they were ohliged to expose them with all possible clearness to the neophytes, previous to admitting them to communion, and on the following days.* On the contrary, in presence of * *' On the eve of the great clay of Easter and of your regene- ration, we shall teach you with what devotion you must come forth from baptism, approach the altar, and partake of the spiritual and heavenly mysteries which are there offered, that your souls being enlightened by our instructions and discourses, each one of you may know the greatness of the presents which God gives him." (S. Cyr. of Jems. Catech. 18.) " We shall only speak now of things which cannot be explained before catechumens, but which it is necessary, nevertheless, to lay open to those who have been recently baptized." (St. Gaudentms to the Neoph.) " In this paschal solemnity," said St. Augustin, (Serm. on the 5th Day after Easter) " these first seven or eight days are devoted to the instruction of the children (the newly baptized) upon the sacra- ments.*' APPENDIX. 619 the unbaptizecl the secret was scrupulously kept. And you will readily conceive, that if it were prohibited to confide the least portion to a single individual uninitiated, it must have been much more so to speak openly of the mysteries in writings intended for public circulation. " How could it be allowed," says St. Basil, " to publish written explanations of what the uninitiated are forbidden to contemplate?" III. What then, in these days, has he to do, who would understand clearly the sentiments of the Fathers on the Eucharist? What course will he take to attain his object? It would be the height of folly to seek their belief m writ- ings tvhere they were not 'permitted to divulge it ; in those, for instance, which they published against the pagans and heretics of their times : or in discourses pronounced with open doors before catechumens and gentiles. Any sensible man wishing to learn in the school of the Fathers what has been revealed on the subject of the Eucharist, will open those instructions which they gave to the newly baptized. He will take his place, not among the catechu- mens, before whom they concealed the mysteries; but among the neophytes, to whom it was a necessary duty to display them. These are, in the outset, the writings which any man of sincerity will consult, when desirous of knowing with certainty the doctrine of the Fathers ; but the catecheses before all, and even them alone, if he would spare himself much labour and research. For with them he is sure to discover what the Fathers believed, and what they taught: and by consequence, with them he may save himself all farther trouble. Nevertheless, I would advise him to consult another kind of monuments, from which he will derive particular edification without any trouble, and a firmness in faith 6-20 jiPPENDIX. most valuable in the evil days in which we live. I allude to the liturgies, which are so evidently connected with the catecheses. In fact, what did these latter teach the neo- phytes? They taught what passed at the altar. And what else do the liturgies describe ? Both then necessarily contain the same mysteries, the same doctrine, the same creed. What the catecheses put forth in theory, the liturgies exhibit in action. There are the principles, motives and reasons for believing : here, the sentiments of gratitude, love, and adoration which faith inspires. If a more extensive knowledge were de- sired, it might be found in the sermons preached before the faithful exclusively ; for then the orator felt no re- straint in expressing himself openly, whenever his subject led him to speak on the Holy Eucharist. IV. But, at our distance from the primitive times, how are we in these days to distinguish, among so many homi- lies and sermons, those at which none assisted but the initiated, from those attended by other persons ? How, after so many centuries, are we to understand, whether the audience was composed purely of the faithful, or was made up of the faithful and the profane, attracted, per- haps, by the reputation and eloquence of the orator? We shall be supplied in this case, with certain rules, by sound criticism. If the language of the sermon accords with that of the catecheses, if the preacher speaks of the Eucha- rist as openly as the catechist, we may conclude, with certainty, that the auditory was wholly Christian. But, when the preacher premises, like Theodoret, in his first Dialogue, that he shall express himself " in mystic and obscure terms, because, perhaps, he is speaking before persons uninitiated," when he testifies, like St. Cyril of Alexandria, " a fear of discovering the mysteries to the APPENDIX. 621 uninitiated ;" — when he declares, like St. Clement of Alex- andria, that he shall " endeavour to say certain things under a veil, and to shevr them, while he, in a manner, is silent upon them ;" or when he uses that expression, so common to S.S. Chrysostom and Augustin : " the initiated understand me, the itiitiated know it ;''' or finally, when he seems to use expressions contradictory to those which he has elsewhere employed before the faithful ; — then, and in all cases, we are perfectly assured that there were some of the profane among his hearers. V. These preliminary observations will not appear to you, Sir, as I love to believe, inspired by prejudice ; but rather dictated by the spirit of impartial criticism : and if you are desirous of acquiring an exact and thorough knowledge of the primitive doctrine on the Sacrament of our altars, you will doubtless seek out, in the first place, the elementary discourses still extant for the instruction of the neophytes ; then the ancient liturgies of the Chris- tian Churches ; and finally, the discourses composed exclu- sively for the faithful. As to the sermons addressed indis- criminately to Christians and others, as also those works intended for the public ; knowing that the discipline of the secret required the mysteries to be concealed, you will not think of seeking for them in writings of that kind ; and when you see your own divines attaching themselves by choice to such works, and quoting passages from them, with self-complacency, you will say to yourself: " what can they mean by such a method } Why enquire of the holy Fathers their sentiments on the Eucharist, in circum- stances in which they were obliged to conceal them? What they said at those times was never intended by them to guide us in this matter. To persist in taking them for judges, contrary to their known intention, is 622 APPENDIX. wilfully to deceive oneself and others." This is entirely my opinion. To seek to discover what the Fathers thought on the Eucharist, in writings where they were obliged to conceal their sentiments, and not in those where duty made it a law to expose them openly, is assuredly fol- lowing a method totally opposed to the dictates of com- mon sense.* VL Open then with me the instructions addressed to the neophytes ; read again the extracts which I shall point out to you ; and remark, if you please, their con- formity in doctrine with that of the liturgies. The vener- able patriarch, St. Cyril, addressing the neophytes of Jerusalem, thus expresses himself if " As then Christ, speaking of the bread, declared and said, this is my body, who shall dare to doubt it ? And as, speaking of the wine, he positively assured us, and said, this is my blood, who shall doubt it, and say that it is not his blood ?" (Who ? Mr. Faber would reply to St. Cyril ; I shall doubt it.) " Formerly, at Cana in Galilee, Jesus Christ changed water into wine, by his will only ; and shall we think it less worthy of credit, that he changed wine into his blood? J. -Wherefore, with all confidence, let us take the * Here observe that your divines, when combating the Real Presence, Transiibstantiation, or the adoration of Jesus Christ in the blessed Sacrament, never reason from the catecheses, the liturgies, or the sermons preached before the faithful exclusively. At most, they will quote a few insulated phrases from them, carefully concealing what precedes and follows them. You will soon see more than one example of this. t Catech. Mystag. iv. No. 1 and 2. \ After quoting thus far, the rector stops short, and says in a note, page 68 ; "I have selected this passage, because, so far as I know, it is the strongest which can be produced from antiquity, in favour of the Latin doctrine of Transubstantiation." What an appearance of candour ! How could it fail to deceive his readers ? He knows that the very contrary to what he says is the fact. For APPENDIX. 623 body and blood of Christ. For, in the type or figure of bread, his body is given to thee, and in the type or figure of wine, his blood is given ; that, so being made partakers of the body and blood of Christ, you may become one body and one blood with him. Thus, the body and blood of Christ, being distributed in our members, we become Christophori, that is, we carry Christ with us ; and thus, as St. Peter says, we are made partakers of the divine nature.*.... Wherefore I conjure you, my brethren, not to consider them any more as common bread and wine, since they are the body and blood of Jesus Christ, according to his words ; and altlioiigh your sense tnight suggest that to you, let faith confirm you. Judge not of the thing hy your taste, but by faith assure yourself, without the least doubt, that you are honoured by the body and blood of Christ. This knowing, and of this being assured, that what appears to you bread, 'is not bread, but the body of Christ, although the taste judges it to be bread ; and that the wine which you see, and which has the taste of wine, is not wine, but the blood of Christ.^'f And in the succeeding catechesis, where he describes the liturgy of St. James, in use in his time in Jerusalem, St. Cyril prescribes the manner of receiving the chalice in these words : " After having thus he sees in the same page, and he has seen in my book, the words I have cited in continuation ; and yet he has the effrontery to suppress them ! I blush to record so unworthy an artifice. How can a man, pretending to prove to his countrymen the truth, con- ceal it thus wilfully from their sight? I am at a loss for expres- sions which, without incurring impoliteness, might inflict well- merited correction on this shameful want of good faith. I defy any one, and above all, the champion of figure and moral change, to express Transubstantiation more clearly than St. Cyril does, in the words Mr. Faber has so artfully suppressed. * Cateeh. Myst. No. 3. t Catech. Myst. No. 6—9. 624 APPENDIX. received the body of Jesus Christ, approach to the chalice of his blood, not extending your hands, but bowing in an attitude of homage and adoration, and answering — Ameny* General Proof — from the Discipline of the Secret. I. I now pass on to the general proof which I extracted from the discipline of the secret ; not, however, that I ever insisted that the Eucharist was its sole, exclusive, or even principal object. The rector makes me assert this, in his book, though he knows that I never said it in mine ; he repeats it to satiety, as if to shew me up to his readers as in error, and enjoy a victory as easy as imaginary. Let him exult ; I offer no interruption ; I shall not disturb his triumph ; I am ambitious of one more real and substantial ; I will establish it upon incontestable monuments. With- out producing them all, I will present you with several ; and if I fatigue you with their number, you must blame the man who compels me to it. You shall see the discipline of the secret in vigour, from the epoch of the council of Ephesus, in 431, up to the days of the Apostles. II. Century 5th. I begin with the celebrated president of the above council : these are the words of St. Cyril of Alexandria, in his seventh book against Julian. He does not notice the objections of that emperor against baptism, but contents himself with saying, that" these mysteries are so profound and so exalted, that they are intelligible to those only who have faith ; that therefore he shall not undertake to speak on what is most admirable in them, lest, by discovering the mysteries to the uninitiated, he t Catech. Myst. v. No. 22. This adoration is the same which we have seen in the liturgies rendered to Jesus Christ, under the species, and consequently the adoration of latr'ia. APPENDIX. 625 should offend Jesus Christ, who forhids us lo give what is holy to dogs, and to cast pearls hefore swine." Observe, sir, that according to this learned patriarch, the precept of the secret discipline comes from Jesus Christ himself: and pray bear in mind this imj^ortant testimony, which will furnish later the solution of a difficulty which the rector imagines to be insoluble. After saying some little of baptism, he adds : " I should say much more, if I were not afraid of being heard by the uninitiated : because men generally deride what they do not understand ; and the ignorant, not even knowing the weakness of their minds, despise what they ought most to venerate." '' It is requisite," says St. Isidore, of Pelusium, " to have in the heart zeal, and the love of virtue, in order to eat worthily the true and div'me passover. They fully comprehend my meaning, who, following the sanction of the Legislator, have been initiated in the mysteries." It was, therefore, by order of the Divine Legislator that they spoke clearly of the mysteries only to be initiated ; and the mysteries of the Eucharist were comprehended in the number. Innocent the first wrote thus to the Bishop Decentius : " I cannot transcribe the words [the form of confirmation] for fear of appearing rather to betray, than to reply to your consultation"... and fartherjon : " as to those things which it is not lawful to write, I can tell you them when you arrive." In the first of his three Dialogues, Theodoret introduces Orthodoxies speaking thus: " Answer me, if you please, in mystical and obscure words ; for perhaps there are persons present who are not initiated in the mysteries. Eranistes. — I shall understand you, and answer you with the same precaution ;" and farther on, " You have clearly proved what you intended, though under mystical terms." In the second Dialogue, Eranistes asks : " How do you call 2s 626 APPENDIX. the gift which is offered hefore the invocation of the priest ? We must not mention it openly," replies Orthodoxiis, " because we may be overheard by persons who are not initiated. Therefore speak in disguised and enigmatical terms ; a food made of such seed." The same Theodoret, in his preface to Ezechiel, traces up the secret discipline to the precept of Jesus Christ. " The divine mysteries are so august, that we are bound to keep them with the greatest caution; and, to use the words of our Lord, these pearls ought never to be cast before swine. For, indeed, men finish with despising what they have obtained without difficulty." St. Augustin in his discourses before catechumens, or in such writings as might fall into their hands, never failed to conceal from them the mystery of the Eucharist. His ordinary expression was/^ the faithful know it.'" In his fourth sermon on Jacob and Esau, speaking of this mystery, he does not venture to call it the sacrament of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, but only " the sacrament known to the faithful, made from corn and wine." In his epistle to the catechumen Honoratus, he says, " We render thanksgiving to the Lord our God in the great sacrament, in the sacrifice of the new law : when once you have been baptized, you will know where, when, and how it is of- fered." Speaking of the manna in the 12th Treatise on St. John : "We know what the Jews received; and the cate- chumens do not know wdiat the Christians receive." And in the preceding treatise : " Ask a catechumen if he eats the flesh of the Son of man, and drinks his blood; he does not know what you mean; the catechumens do not know what the Christians receive the manner in which the flesh of our Lord is received, is a thing concealed from them." "What is there hidden from the public in the church ?" he says in his first dis. APPENDIX. 627 course on the 1 03d psalm, '^ The sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist. The pagans see our good works, but not the sacraments. But it is precisely from those things which are concealed from their sight, that those spring which cause their admiration." And in the 10th sermon on St. John, " Those whe know the scriptures understand perfectly what Melchisedech offered to Abraham ; we must not here make mention of it, because of the catechumens : nevertheless the faithful are acquainted with it." III. Fourth century. — St. Chrysostom takes occasion from baptism to express himself as follows on the secrecy of the mysteries in general : fHomil. 40 on 1 Corinth.) " I wish to speak openly, but I dare not, on account of those who are not initiated. These persons render explanation more difficult for us, by obliging us either to speak in obscure terms, or to unveil the things that are secret : yet I shall endeavour, as far as possible, to explain myself in disguised terms. ' " Take care not to give that which is holy to dogs, and to cast pearls before swine," says he in his first book on compunction of heart. He takes occasion from this divine precept to declaim against the abuses of granting baptism to catechumens not properly disposed, and admitting to the holy table impure and corrupt Christians. In the let- ter in which he informs the sovereign pontiff. Innocent the First, of the tumult excited against him in his church, he relates that " the seditious persons, among whom were many of the uninitiated^ forced a j^assage to the place where the sacred things were deposited : that they saw every thing there, and that the most holy hlood of Jesus Christ was spilt upon their garments.'" Palladius giving an account of the same sedi- tion in his life of St. Chrysostom, says only that the sym- bols were spilt. You see here the difference of expression : the Patriarch uses no circumlocution in a confidential 2 s2 628 APPExNDIX. letter to the head of the church ; but Palladius speaks with reserve, and in disguised terms in a history intended for the public. For the sake of brevity, I will repeat to you the words of your learned Casaubon. " Is there any one so much a stranger to the reading of the Fathers, as to be ignorant of the usual form of expression, which they adopt when speaking of the sacraments, the initiated know what I mean ? It occurs at least fifty times in the writings of Chrysostom alone, and as often in those of Augustin." " I am ashamed," said St. Gregory of Nyssa, to an aged catechumen, " to see that after having grown old in proba- tion, you still suffer yourself to be sent out with the cate- chumens, like a little weak boy who does not know how to take care of what is entrusted to him ; join yourself to the mystic people, and become at length acquainted with our secret dogmas." St. Gregory Nazianzen says, that the greater part of our mysteries ought not to be exposed to strangers ; and fur- ther, that " we ought rather to shed our blood than publish them." (Orat. 42, et 35.; "We receive," said St. Basil, " the dogmas transmitted to us by writing, and those which have descended to us from the apostles, beneath the veil and mystery of oral tradition — the words of invocation in the consecration of the bread, and of the Eucharistic chalice ; which of the saints have left us them in writing ? The apostles and fathers, who prescribed from the beginning certain rights to the church, knew how to preserve the dignity of the mysteries by the secrecy and silence in which they enveloped them. For what is open to the ear and the eye can no longer be mysterious. For this reason several things have been handed down to us without writing, lest the vulgar, too familiar with our dogmas, should pass from being accus- APPENDIX. 629 tomed to them, to the contempt of them. A dogma is very different from a sermon, Beautiful and admirable discipline ! For how could it be proper to write or circu- late among the public what the uninitiated are forbidden to contemplate?" (On the Holy Ghost, c. 27.) Listen to the synod of Alexandria, speaking of the Eusebians, enemies of St. Athanasius, in 340. " They are not ashamed to celebrate the mysteries before the cate- chumens, and perhaps even before the Pagans ; forgetting that it is written, that we should hide the mystery of the King ; and in contempt of the precept of our Lord, that we must not place holy things before dogs, nor pearls before swine. For it is not lawful to shew the mysteries openly to the uninitiated; lest through ignorance they scoff at them, and the catechumens be scandalized through indiscreet curiosity."* St. Epiphanius {Anchor. No. 37) wishing to prove that the allegories of Origen were to be rejected, and that we must believe things without always seeing the reason for them, quotes the Eucharist as an example. " We see that our Lord took a thing into his hands, as we read in the gospel, that he rose from table, that he resumed the things, and having given thanks, he said, this is this of mi?ie. Hoc memn est hoc.'' This singular turn of ex- pression and reservation conveyed no meaning to those who were uninitiated. But ought it not to speak very loudly to Mr. Faber? What think you, sir? Does it favour the opinion of a figurative presence ? and do you not, at first sight, penetrate the meaning of the enigma ? * These motives were no less strong in the first century, in which the rector gratuitously conjectures that the mysteries were open to the catechumens. The synod was accountable to all the bishops for the catholicity of its condemnation of the Eusebians. 630 APPENDIX. St. Jerome replying to Evagrius, who had consulted him on an ohscure passage of the apostle touching the sacrifice of Melchisedech, says; " You are not to suppose that St. Paul could not easily have explained himself ; but the time was not come for such explanation : he sought to persuade the Jews, and not the faithful, to whom the mystery might have been delivered without reserve." St. Cyril, of Jerusalem, expresses himself as follows, (Catech. 6, No. 29.) — " We do not speak clearly before the catechumens on the mysteries, but are obliged often to use obscure expressions, in order that while we are un- derstood by the faithful who are instructed, those who are not so may not suffer injury." And in Catech. 18, No. 32, 33, " at the approach of the holy festival of Easter ;....you shall be instructed, with God's grace, in all that it is proper for you to know ; with what devotion, and in what order you are to enter the laver of regenera- tion,.... with what reverence you must proceed from bap- tism to the holy altar of God, to taste the spiritual and heavenly mysteries which are there dispensed. ...after the holy and salutary day of Easter,. ...you shall hear, if it please God, other catechetical instructions. ...and on the mysteries of the New Testament which are celebrated upon the altar, and had their beginning in this city : all that is taught of them by the divine Scriptures, as also what is their force and power ; in fine, how you are to approach to them ; and when, and how they are to be celebrated." Nothing marks more forcibly the impor- tance of the secret, than the notice placed by St. Cyril at the end of the preface at the head of his Catecheses ; the last five of which disclose the mysteries of Baptism, Con- firmation, and the Eucharist. It is as follows : "Give APPENDIX. 631 these catecheses, made for their instruction, to be read by those who approach to baptism, and by the faithful who have already received it. But as for the catechumens, and those who are not Christians, take care not to com- municate them to such. Otherwise take notice, you will be accountable to God. If you transcribe a copy o them, do it I conjure you, as in the presence of the Lord." St. Gaudentius, Bishop of Brescia, contemporary with St. Cyril, speaking to the neophytes on their return from baptism, said to them, '' In the lesson which you have just heard from Exodus, I shall choose such parts as cannot be explained in presence of catechumens, but which it is necessary to disclose to neophytes." In ano- ther place he proclaims, "that the splendid night of Easter requires him to conform less to the order of the text, than to the wants of the occasion ; so that the neo. phytes may learn the established rule for eating the pas- chal sacrifice, and the faithful who are instructed, may recognize it." [Treatise 5, on Exodus.) St. Ambrose, in his Book on the Mysteries, c. 1. n. 2, says — " The time admonishes us to treat of the mysteries, and to explain the meaning of the sacraments. If before your baptism and initiation we had thought of speaking to you on these subjects, we should have appeared rather to betray than explain them." " It is not given to all to contemplate the depth of our mysteries. Our Levites exclude from them at first, that they may not be seen by those who ought not to behold them, nor received by those who cannot preserve them." In his book, De Officiis, " Every mystery should remain concealed, and covered by faithful silence, lest it should be rashly divulged to profane ears.' And upon this 63*2 APPENDIX. verse of Psalm 118, / have hidden thy words in my soul, that I might not sin against thee : " He sins against God, who divulges to the unworthy, the mysteries confided to him. The danger is not only of telling falsehoods, but also of truths, if persons allow themselves to give hints of them to those, from whom they ought to be concealed." And he opposes such indiscretion by the words of our Sa- viour : "Beware ofcasting pearls before unclean animals." IV. Tliird century. — Zeno, Bishop of Verona, in a dis- course on continence, exhorts the Christian woman not to marry an infidel, for fear she might betray to him the law of secrecy, ne sis proditrix legis. And he adds, " Know you not that the sacrifice of the unbeliever is public, but yours secret ? That any one may freely ap_ proach to his, while even for Christians, if they are not consecrated, it would be a sacrilege to contemplate yours?" In a discourse on the 126th Psalm, we read these words. — " Custom has given the name of the house of God, or temple, to the place of our assemblies, which are surrounded with walls, in order to secure the secret celebration of our sacraments." St. Cyprian thus begins his book against the proconsul of Africa : " Till now I had despised the impieties and sacrileges which thy mouth discharged incessantly against the only true God ;" he adds, that if he had been silent, it was not without the command of his Divine Master, " who forbids us to give that which is holy to dogs, and to cast pearls before swine." He contents himself with establishing the unity of God, without saying a word on the Trinity, or the sacraments of the Church. Origen, in his 13th homily on Exodus, preparing to treat of the mystery of the Eucharist, says : " I am afraid and doubt much if I shall find suitable hearers, and that APPENDIX. 633 I shall be demanded an account of the pearls of the Lord; where, how, and before whom I have produced them." And in a homily on Leviticus, " Do not stop at flesh and blood, [the lambs and goats spoken of by Moses] but learn rather to discern the blood of the Word ; hear what he himself says : This is my hlood which shall he shed for you. Whoever is instructed in the mysteries knows the flesh and the blood of the Word of God. Let us not dwell on the subject, which is known to the ini- tiated, and which the uninitiated ought not to know." The very ancient author of the Apostolic Constitutions, book 3, ch. 5, admonishes, " that in speaking of mystic things, care must be taken not to be indiscreet, and to express oneself prudently, bearing in mind the words of our Saviour, ' do not cast pearls before swine, lest they trample them under foot.' " St. Clement of Alexandria, in the 1st book of his Stro- mata, says : — " I pass over intentionally several things, fearing to commit to writing what I took great care not to say, lest those who read these writings should take my words in an improper sense, and we should be accused, as the proverb says, of putting a sword into the hands of a child. There are certain things which the scripture will shew me, though they are not there openly expressed — there are some which it will only touch upon ; but it will endea- vour to say them under a veil, to disclose them while it conceals them, and to shew them while it is silent." Tertullian seeking to deter his wife from marrying an infidel if she should survive him, says to her among other reasons : " You would thereby fall into this fault, that the pagans would come to the knowledge of our mysteries . . . Will not your husband know what you taste in secret, before any other food ; and if he perceives bread, will he 634 APPENDIX. not imagine that it is that so much spoken of?" There- fore secrecy covered the mysteries of the Eucharist. In the liturgy called that of the Apostles, and later of St John Chrysostom, the priest and deacon howing down, and each holding a part of the sacred host, make together an admirable confession, which begins thus : " I believe, O Lord, and confess that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, who didst come into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief; let me partake of thy mystical supper. I will not reveal the mystery to thine enemies." — Therefore the Eucharistic mysteries were co- vered by secrecy * The author of the Recognit'ionf^, which are very ancient, since they were translated by Rufinus in the fourth cen- tury, proves as follows, the difficulty of preaching before a multitude : " For what is, cannot be said to all as it is,t on account of those who give a captious and malignant ear. What then tvill he do who imparts the word to a crowd of people unknown ? Will he conceal the truth ? But how then can he instruct those who are deserving .? If, how- ever, he exhibits the clear ti-uth before those who are in- different about salvation, he is wanting to him by whom he is sent, and from whom he has received orders not to cast the pearls of doctrine before swine and dogs who would be furious against it by arguments and sophisms. * This liturgy is still followed by all the Greeks who are in the West, at Rome, in Calabria and Apulia, by the Georgians, the Bulgarians, the Russians, and Muscovites ; by all the Christ- ians, the modern Melchites, under the patriarch of Alexander, resident at Cairo, under the patriarchs of Jerusalem and of Antioch, resident at Damascus. — See P. Le Brun's Cereinonies of the Mass, T, 4, in 8vo. t Book 30. APPENDIX. 635 envelop it in the mire of their sordid and carnal under- standing-, and by their barking- and disgusting replies would tear and fatigue the preachers of God." V. Second and first centuries. — The secrecy of the first Christians on the Eucharistic dogmas is demonstrated from the unworthy calumnies spread and believed in the pagan world against their assemblies ; by the punishments employed to extort from the Christians an avowal of what they practised, and by the origin of these calumnies and cruelties, which dates from the first century. Tertullian, in his Apology y exclaims, when repelling the accusations of infanticide and impurities : " Who are those who have made known to the world these pretended crimes ? Are they those who are accused ? But how could it be so, since it is the common law of all mysteries to keep them secret ? If they themselves made no discoveiy, it must have been made by strangers. But how could they have had any knowledge of them, since the profane are excluded from the sight of the most holy mysteries^ and those are carefully selected who are permitted to be spec- tators ?" The Pagans then were ignorant of what passed in the assemblies of the Christians; and this ignorance evidently pre-supposes the secrecy preserved by the faith- ful. The object of this secrecy was the Eucharistic bread ; the mysteries of the altar. For these alone could have given rise to the calumnies, while at the same time the sight of them was forbidden to the profane, and permitted solely to chosen spectators. These reports indicate mani- festly the sacrament of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Let us hear the pagan Csecilius, in the curious and in- teresting dialogue of Minutius Felix, which I recommend you to read : " Shall we allow men of an infamous and desperate faction to attack the Gods with impunity ; and gathering together an ignorant rabble and credulous 636 APPENDIX. women, instruct them for a profane society, not to say a conspiracy, which is not done by any holy ceremony, but by sacrileges, nocturnal assemblies, solemn fasts, and hor- rible meats : people who love darkness and fly from the light ; who say nothing in public, and talk incessantly when assembled together , — this evil sect increases every day ; wherefore we must endeavour to extirpate this exe- crable society. They know one another by certain secret signs, and love one another almost before they are ac- quainted. ...Certainly, if there were not such crimes among them, there would not be so loud a cry against them. The ceremony which they observe, when they admit any one to their mysteries, is not less horrible because it is public They place before the new comer an infant covered with paste, in order to conceal the murder which they will have him commit. At their bidding he gives it several stabs with a knife. The blood runs on all sides ; they eagerly suck it up; and the common crime is the common pledge of silence and secrecy. Their banquets are also known ; and our Cirtensis makes mention of them in his harangue ....I pass over many things designedly ; and indeed, here are already too many. And, truly, the darkness which they seek for their mysteries, are sufficiently evident proof of all we say, or at least the greater part of it. For why conceal all that they adore.? We are not afraid to publish what is proper : crimes only demand secrecy and silence." Mr. Faber could have no motive to make him afraid of communicating openly to Caecilius his opinion of a figu- rative manducation, of a moral change in the substance of the bread, of the real absence of Jesus Christ. The Christian Octavius has no such replies to make. He does not disclose what is believed, nor what is done : he con- tents himself with re^jelling the infamous calumnies. " I would now," he replies, " address myself to those who APPENDIX. 637 say, or who believe that the murder of an infant is the ceremony of introduction to our mysteries. Do you then think it possible that a poor infant, a little body so tender, is destined to die beneath our violence ; and that we shed the blood of a being newly born, as yet of imperfect form, and scarcely a human being ? Let those believe it, who could be cruel enough to perpetrate it. You, indeed, ex- pose your children to savage beasts and birds ; as soon as they are born you strangle and suffocate them : there are even some who by cruel potions murder them in their wombs, and kill them before they see the light. This you have learned from your gods.... Nor are those far removed from such a crime, who feed on savage beasts just come out of the amphitheatre, all bloody and full of those whom they have just devoured. As for us, we are not allowed to see murders nor to hear them ; and blood so fills us with horror, that we do not even eat that of animals. As to the incestuous banquet, it is a calumny invented by the devils to sully the glory of our chastity, and deter men from our religion by the horror of so great a crime. What your orator Cirtensis has said, is rather an injurious accusation than a testimony . . . But the Christians do not place chastity only in the exterior ; they place it in the mind, and do not so much study to appear chaste, as to be so in reality : — and if we are chaste in our assemblies, we are no less so in all other places. Many preserve the holiness of celibacy even until death " " If our accusers are asked," said Athenagoras, " if they have seen what they assert, there will none be found im- pudent enough to say that they have. How can they accuse those of killing and eating human beings, who, it is well known, cannot bear the sight of a man put to death even jusi^ly ? Men like us, who have renounced the spec- 638 APPENDIX. tacles of gladiators and wild beasts, believing that there is little difference between seeing a murder and commit- ting one ?" " Those," said St. Justin,* " who accuse us of these crimes, commit them themselves, and attribute them to their gods. For our part, as we have no share in them, we do not distress ourselves, having God for the witness of our actions and thoughts . . . We entreat you that this request may be made public — that it may be known what we are, and that we may be delivered from these false sus- picions which expose us to punishment. It is not known that we condemn these infamous deeds which they pro- claim against us, and that, for this very reason, we have renounced those gods who have committed such crimes, and require such. If you command it, we will expose our maxims to the world, that, if possible, it may be con- verted." Observe, he does not say, we will expose our mysteries to the world. VI. Punishments employed to extort from the Christians the secret of what passed in their assemblies. Eusebius has preserved for us the admirable letter which the churches of Lyons and Vienne wrote to those of Asia and Phrygia, on the persecution which they had just suffered in Gaul. We find in it the following passages : " They took some of our servants, who were Pagans, and being filled with the spirit of the devil, and apprehensive of the torments which they had seen the faithful suffer, deposed falsely, through the violence of the soldiers, that we made feasts like Thyestes, that we indulged in the pleasures of (Edipus, that we committed abominations which it is not lawful to think or speak of; and of which we cannot believe that * Second Apology addressed to M. Aurelius in 166. AI'PEXDIX. 6S9 any one would have been guilty. When these black ca- lumnies were spread among the public, every one rose up with such fury against us, that our neighbours, who had previously treated us with some moderation, became the most enraged The number and cruelty of the tor- mentSjWhich the holy martyrs suffered, are beyond all that we can express. . . .This happy woman (the heroic servant Blaudina^ felt new strength as often as she renewed her prolession of faith, and found relief and pleasure in re- peating — ' I am a Christian, and no evil is committed among us.' Sanctus also supported the torments with a constancy more than human ; and when in the midst of the most cruel punishments, the impious wretches inter- rogated him in the hope of e,vfortin(/ from him by the vio- lence of pain some word unicorthij of him, instead of reply- ing to their questions. . . .he answered nothing else, but ' I am a Christian' . . The devil, who thought he had over- come Bibliada, because she had renounced the faith like certain others, was desirous oi crowning her condemna- tion by calumny; and caused her to be tormented afresh, in order that, weakened as she was by her lall, she might depose against us. But this violence served only to rouse her from her profound lethargy. The punishments which the executioners exercised upon her, made her remember the lire oi hell, and she said to them — ' How should the Christians devour infant^, when they are not even permitted to eat the blood of beasts?' She then confessed that she was a Christian, and was numbered with the martyrs Tliosewho had renounced the faith were shut up in prisons, as well as those who had confessed it : so far from deriving; any benetit fi'om their apostacy, they were aiTcsted as cri- minals and tnurderers, and tormented more cruelly tlian the others.... They were moreover despised by the Pagans 040 APPENDIX. as cowards who had renounced the glorious character of Christians to become their own accusers of murder Attalus having been placed upon the iron chair and burnt, said to the people in Latin, pointing to the intole- rable smoke which rose from his body, * It is truly eating men to do as you do : but for our part, we do not eat them, nor commit any other crime.' " In the second apology which St. Justin addressed in 166 to Marcus Aurelius, I read as follows: "But kill yourselves then, all of you, you will say ; and you will thus find God, without troubling us with your persons any longer." St. Justin tells them in reply, that the faith which the Christians have in Provi- dence does not permit them so to do ; and he adds, that to justify the calumnies propagated against the Christians, they put to the torture, slaves, children, and women ; they made them suffer horrible torments to extort from them a confession of the incests and banquets of human flesh, of which the Christians were accused. " They who accuse us of these crimes, commit them themselves, and attribute them to their Gods. For our part, as we have no share in such horrid crimes, we do not give way to uneasiness, having God to witness all our thoughts and actions." Pliny the younger, governor of Bithynia, giving an ac- count of the Christians to Trajan, occasioned by the report which had gone abroad against them,»says, that he had deter- mined to take proper measures for ascertaining the truth. " This made me consider it the more necessary to extort the truth by the force of torments from the female slaves, who were said to belong to the ministry of their worship : but I discovered nothing except a bad superstition carried to excess." VII. These calumnies and cruelties take their origin from the first century. Celsus, who writing with grey APPENDIX. 641 Jmirs ill the first years of Adrian, must have been born between the years 70 and 80 at the latest, begins with the reproach of clandestine practices, which he often repeats against the assemblies of the Christians. Origen replies, that the doctrine of the Christians was better known than that of the philosophers. " It is true nevertheless," he adds, " that there are certain points not communicated to every one : but this is so far from being peculiar to the Christians, that it was observed among the philosophers, as well as ourselves Celsus therefore attemj^ts in vain to decry the secret kept by the Christians, since he does not even know in what it consists.* One w^ould think that Celsus sought to imitate the Jews, who when tlie gos- pel began to be preached, disseminated false reports against those who had embraced it : that the Christians sacrificed a little child, and eat its flesh together."* " For my part," says St. Justin, " when I, who am a disciple of Plato, heard the Christians denounced in so unworthy a manner, and saw them walking with such in- trepidity to death, and to all that was terrible ; no, said I to myself, it is impossible that such men should live in the depravity of vice, and the pursuit of infamous plea- sures. Is there in fact a man so enslaved to voluptuous gratifications, or of such outrageous intemperance, as to find supreme luxury in a banquet of human flesh ; and who at the same time will run gaily to punishments, and throw himself into the arms of death, to deprive him- self voluntarily of what he loves ?" From the testimony of Eusebius, Saturninus and Basilides sprung from Menander, who himself sprung from Simon. " The devil," he adds, " who has no pleasure * Grig. Book 1, No. 7— Edit. Bened. T. 1. * Ibid, Book 6, No. 28. 2t 642 APPENDIX. but in evil, made use of these monsters to give oc- casion to the infidels to cry dov^^n our religion."* " We are traduced," exclaimed Tertullian,t " as the most vricked of men, bound to each other by an oath of infan- ticide, guilty of regaling ourselves upon the flesh of the infant which we have just slain ; The imputation of these works is dated, as I have said, from the reign of Tiberius. Hatred of the truth began with it; it was de- tested as soon as produced to the world." Finally, we learn from Tacitus, speaking of the burning of Rome, that Nero accused people of it who were odious by their crimes, and called Christians " They first ap- prehended those who confessed ; afterwards a great mul- titude were convicted upon their information, not so much of the burning of Rome, as of hatred of the human race." J He afterwards speaks of them as criminals deserving of death. Could we conceive that a society of men so pure and perfect could have been devoted to the hatred of man- kind, if we were not informed by Eusebius and TertuUian of the abominable calumnies which the emissaries of the Jews had spread abroad against them, as early as the reign of Tiberius ? VIII. If Sir, you have paid attention to the passages from the Fathers, which I have now laid before you, re- lative to the affecting and admirable discipline of the secret, you can no longer entertain a doubt on either of the following points — 1st, That the origin of this disci- pline is to be dated as early as the preaching of the gos- pel, and that it was in vigour in all the churches during the first four centuries — 2dly, That the Eucharistic dog- "^Eus. Hist. Eccl. Book 4, chap. 7. t A200I. ch. 7. X Annal. Book 15. APPENDIX. 643 mas were concealed beneath the secrecy obsei-ved during this long- period. 1. In fact, either we must attribute the discipline of secrecy to apostolic institution, or say, that the Church, after having delivered the mysteries to the public during a century, more or less, decided all at once upon de- priving them of the knowledge of these mysteries. To impute to her such a decision, would be to charge her with a conduct most absurd and extravagant; or rather to accuse ourselves of absurdity, and lie open to just re- proach. The secret so religiously observed in the fourth century demonstrates by the very fact, that it must neces_ sarily have been so observed up to the days of the apos- tles.* Positive proof of this is furnished by the testimo- nies which have just passed in review before us. You must have remarked that the greater number of the Fa- thers, whose words I have cited, many more of which I could have produced, trace the discipline of secrecy up to the precept of Jesus Christ : " take care not to cast pearls before swine." We have seen moreover that the atro- cious calumnies spread abroad against the Christians, arose from the privacy of their assemblies, and the invi- olable secrecy as to what was done in them ; and we learnt at the same time that these calumnies began even in the reign of Tiberius. In fine, it is here that the solidly true axiom of St. Augustin becomes applicable : " Whatever the universal Church holds, and has always held, without its having been estaUished hy any council, is to he justly considered to have come doivn from ajyostolical tradition:' We know of no council which established * You will find the proof of this full developed in the 1st vol. of the Discussion Amicale, p. 350, et seq. •2t 2 614 APPENDIX. the discipline of secrecy ; and we are sure that it was observed in all the churches in Christendom. Our wit- nesses are — for Rome and the whole of Italy, Julius the First, and Innocent the First — for the Milanese, Ambrose — for Aquilica, Rufinus — for Dalmatia, Jerome — for Brescia, Gaudentius — for Verona, Zeno — for Carthage, Tertullian and Cyprian — for Hippo and all Africa, the great Augustin — for Alexandria, Clement and his disci- ple Origen, and the patriarchs Athanasius and Cyril, and the synod of that famous metropolis in its encyclical letter to all the bishops of the world — for Jerusalem and Palestine, the celebrated catechist Cyril — for Cyprus and the islands of the Archipelago, Epiphanius — for the country about the Euphrates, Theodoret — for Antioch, the queen of oriental cities, Chrysostom — for the towns of Nyssa and Nazianzum, the two Gregories — for Cappa- docia and Pontus, Basil — for Helenopolis, Palladius and Sozomen — for Constantinople, Isidore of Pelusium. In a word, if the discipline of secrecy had been dis- regarded in one single church of consequence, it soon must have ceased every where else. Suppose that at the end of the first century, some one of the churches founded by the apostles had not conformed to this discipline: what would have been the result .? The mysteries would have been divulged from one to another by persons tra- velling from that diocese into the neighbouring countries, and in a short time the secret would have been published every where. Put these various considerations together, and you will agree with me that the apostolicity and universality of the discipline of secrecy are of the number of facts the best attested in history. 2. It is no less certain that the dogmas of the Eucharist were concealed beneath the secret. Mr. Faber would APPENDIX. 645 maintain the contrary. He must forgive me if I prefer the testimonies of contemporary Fathers to his views and opinions. You have read them ; ahnost all declare it in terms so positive, that it is impossible to be mistaken. They even go so far as to name among the mysteries con- cealed from the profane, the Eucharist, the Christian Passover, the sacrifice of bread and wine, prefigured by that of Melchisedech. And in fact, what could be the object of the infamous calumnies spread against our bre- thren from the birth of Christianity, but the Eucharistic mysteries } To what could they allude by their tales of infants murdered, their flesh served up as meat, and their blood as drink — of banquets of Thyestes, &c. if not to the dogma of the real presence, to the manducation of the body of Jesus Christ ? And is it not clear that these abominable imputations were grafted on the communion of the faithful, and ridiculed in the most revolting man- ner by the Jews, in order to excite the hatred and horror of mankind against the rising Church ? IX. And now. Sir, that you see these two points solidly established; and the apostolicity of this discipline fol- lowed in all the churches during the first four centuries ; and the Eucharistic dogmas concealed beneath the secret ; address yourself, I pray you, to the Rector of Long New- ton. Ask the teacher of a moral change, of a figurative presence, of a real absence, the champion of literal bread and literal wine, and the adversary, in consequence, of the adoration of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist — ask him how an opinion so simple as his own, so conformable to our natural ideas, could have been ranked by antiquity among the mysteries? how the Fathers could have taught the faithful of their time that they must rather shed every drop of their blood than divulge it ? how the numerous martyrs 646 APPENDIX. of Lyons could suffer themselves to he tormented and torn in pieces, rather than loudly declare it ? and how the reply of the magnanimous Blandina has excited and will excite the admiration of ev ery age ? What, Sir! are we to imagine, that while the most horrid calumnies were disseminated on all sides against the primitive Christians; while they were accused of murdering new-born infants in their secret assemblies, of feeding upon their palpitating flesh, and intoxicating themselves Avith their blood — and of abandoning them- selves afterwards like blind furies to excesses unheard of upon the earth ; while they were devoted as a race accursed to the execration of mankind, and to atrocious tortures ; that they would not open their mouths to de- clare their innocence ? At least for the purpose of cha- ritably saving the magistrates and the multitude from the horror of commanding or contemplating so many barba- rous and protracted massacres ? From what motive could they have forbidden themselves an innocent and natural defence ? Why at least did they not say to their fellow- citizens : " Come then to our assemblies ; see what passes there amongst us ; we take a little bread and wine in memory of our good Master, who delivered us from sin and opened for us the way to virtue. He himself com- manded us to use this simple and affecting ceremony : come, and you will learn to know us better, and under- stand what we really are ?" X. Nay more; if the faith and practice of the first Christians had corresponded with the belief of Mr. Faber ; if the Eucharist had been viewed in the same light by them, as it is by him, not only would it never have formed part of the discipline of secrecy, but it never would have occasioned the malignity of their cruel enemies, who, so APPENDIX. 647 far from believing their unworthy calumnies, would never even have thought of inventing and propagating them * I assert, Sir, with full and entire conviction, that in this ancient discipline of secrecy, there is a certain mute, but perpetual and decisive, evidence in favour of the real presence. It is in vain for the rector to contend ; he will always find himself borne down by its irresistible force ; and struggle as he may, he will never rise from his over- throw. T say the same of your whole Church ; let her assemble all her champions ; let her put forth, through them, every resource of wit and learning — and undoubt- edly she possesses much of both — she can never account for the establishment of secrecy with regard to the Eucha- rist. It will ever be to her a problem, whose existence will be as incontestable as its solution will remain impos- sible. To discover it, recourse must of necessity be had to Catholic principles ; and she must behold with us, in the primitive Church, the belief of the real presence of our Saviour in his Sacrament, the heavenly, the ravishing object of our faith and adoration. Then it will be readily conceived that, by divulging the mystery so exalted and inaccessible to reason, scandal would have been given to the pagans and catechumens, and railleries provoked, which would infallibly have been poured forth by men who were not Christians, since you hear them incessantly, even now, from the mouths of your theologians and preachers. Then we can conceive that, by speaking openly of the real presence, and of the change of substance, they would have shocked the imagination of the Pagans, * See page 363, vol. 1, of the Discussion Amicale — the fine theory of the two Anglican Bishops, Pearce and Hoadley, and of Prebendary Sturges, on the manner of presenting the Eu- charist. 648 APPENDIX. and kept those at a distance from the religion, whom it was their duty to attract to it. Then we can understand the precept of Jesus Christ, and the prohibition of the primitive Church, " to cast pearls before swine." Then, also, we can well conceive that, through obedience to the law of their divine Legislator, and the command of his Church, the faithful would rather shed their blood, than betray the secret. Then are we in admiration at the faith and heroism of those martyrs, who, without revealing the secret, were contented modestly to reply, in the midst of torments, " there is no evil committed among us." Then, in fine, every thing, in those illustrious ages, is understood and explained ; the rule of the Church — the exact con- duct of the faithful — the self-devotion of her martyrs — and the frightful calumnies and atrocious torments, of which they were the glorious victims. I finish with one final conclusion. The discipline of secrecy, in the first four centuries, is evidently incompatible with the actual doctrine of your Church ; but perfectly conformable with that of ours. I had reason, therefore, to say, that it was a general j)roof that, in the first four centuries, the Christians believed what the Catholics have believed, still believe, and will ever believe, — the reality of the presence of our divine Saviour in the most holy and most adorable Sacrament of the Eucharist.* * Whoever may be curious to see other specimens of the can- dour and Jidelity of Mr. Faber, may find them exposed to public view, in part 3d of the work from which the above extracts are taken ; as also in The Catholic Doctrine of Transuhstantiation, ^c, by the Reverend G. Corless ; and in A Letter to the Reverend G. J. Faber, ^c, by the same. APPENDIX.— No. XL TESTIMONIES IN FAVOUR OF THE DOCTRINE OF TRANSUBSTANTIATION, AND OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. THE EUCHARIST. It is an article of Catholic belief, that in the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, there is truly and really contained the body of Christ, ivhich was delivered for us, and his blood, which was shed for the remission of sins ; the substance of the bread and wine being, by the power of God, changed into the substance of his blessed body and blood, the species or appearances of bread and wine, by the will of the same God, remain- ing as they were. This change has been pro- perly called Transubstantiation. SCRIPTURE. John, vi. 51, 52. / am the living bread, which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live f 07' ever : and the bread, that I will give, is my flesh for the life of the world. — 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59. Except you eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. — He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day. — For iny flesh is meat indeed ; and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my 650 APPENDIX. blood, abideth in me and I hi him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live hy the Father : so he that eateth me, the same also shall live hy me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead. He that eateth this bread shall live for ever. Matt. xvi. 26, 27, 28. — And while they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke, and gave it to his disciples, and said : Take ye and eat : TJiis is my body. And taking the chalice, he gave thanks : and gave it to them, saying ; Brink ye cdl of this. — For this is my blood of the New Testament, which shall be shed for many for the re- mission of sins. — Mark, xiv. 22, 23, 24. And whilst they were eating, Jesus took bread ; and blessing^ broke, and gave it to them, and said: Take ye, TJiis is my body. And having taken the chalice; giving thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. — And he said to them : TJiis is my blood of the New Testament, which shall be shed for jnany. — Luke, xxii. 19, 20. And taking bread, he gave thanks, and broke, and gave it to them, saying : TJiis is my body, whicJi is given for you ; Do tJiis for a commemoration of ine. In like manner, the cJialice also, after Jie Jiad supped, saying : This is tJie cJialice, the New Testament in my blood, whicJi sJiall be sJied for you. — 1 Cor. x. 16. TJie cJialice of benediction wJiich we bless, is it not tJie communion of the blood of CJirist ? And the bread wJiicJi tve break, is it not the partaking of tJie body of the Lord ? — Ibid. xi. 23, 24, 25, 26. For I Jiave received of tJie I^ord, that wJiich also I delivered to you ; TJiat tJie Lord Jesus, tJie same nigJit in wJiicJi he was betrayed, took bread, and givi/ng tJianks, broke it, and said: Take ye, and eat: this is iny body, which shall be delivered for you: this do for a commemoration of me. In like manner also tJie cJialice, after Jie Jiad supped, saying : This cJialice is the New Testament in my blood : APPENDIX. 651 this do ye, as often as you shall drink of it, for the comme- moration of me. — For, as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink this chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord until he come. FATHERS/^^ CENT. I. S. Ignatius/*^ G. C— These Gnostic heretics abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they do not acknowledge the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ/"^^ which sufi'ered for our sins, and which the Father, by his goodness, resuscitated. Rejecting, there- fore, this gift of God, they die in their disputes." Ep, ad Smyrn. p. 36, T. ii. PP. Apost. Amsfelwdami, 1724. CENT. II. S. JusTiN,'''^^ L. C. — " Nor do we take these gifts as (^"^ The capital letters L. C. are used to designate the Fathers of the Latin Churcli, and G. C. those of the Greek Church. ^^^ St. Ignatius was bishop of Antioch, the second from St. Peter ; and having governed that Church about 40 years, suffered martyrdom at Rome, by the command of the emperor Trajan, in the beginning of the second century, leaving behind him seven epistles, addressed to different Churches, and acknowledged to be genuine. He had been the disciple of St. John, and his letters breathe the whole spirit of that apostle. '^^ ^la TO f.n] ofxoXoyeLV ti^v iv^apLcmav crapKa eivai rov aurripoQ y/uuv ^Iqaov Kptoroi/. C^^ A Christian philosopher, by birth a Greek, who suffered martyrdom at Rome, about the year 166, having, a few years be- fore, addressed two apologies in favour of the Christians, to the emperor Antoninus Pius, and to the Roman senate. In these is contained much curious matter on the doctrine, the manners, and 652 APPENDIX. common bread and common drink /^^ but as Jesus Christ our Saviour, made man by the word of God, took flesh and blood for our salvation ; in the same manner, we have been taught, that the food which has been blessed by the prayer of the words which he spoke, and by which our blood and flesh, in the change, are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus incarnate."'^^ Apol. \.p. 96. Edit. Londini, an. 1722. Tertullian,^^^ L. C. — " Our flesh is fed with the body and blood of Christ,''''^ that the soul may be nourished with God." De resurrect, carnis, c. viii. p. 569. — There are Christians worse than Jews ; " for these laid violent hands on Jesus but once, but they daily insult his body."'^*^ De Idol. c. vii. p. 240. CENT. III. Origen,''*^ G. C. — You that have been accustomed to the religious ceremonies of the early Christians. Justin is also author of other works, particularly of a Dialogue with the Jew named Tryiihon. (ej ov yap lOQ Kotvov aprov, ovce kolvov ttojici. (f^ EKeua Ts (TapKO'KOLr]Q(.VTOQ \r], and inherited all his zeal against the Arians. He was one of the most eloquent fathers of the church, and the most strenuous supporter of her faith during a period of forty-seven years. He died about the year 373, leaving us many monuments of his erudition, piety and zeal. (*^) lxov(^ ffefjivvvofjieva tu> aifiaTi tov Kpiffrov. W Tjjy TTopcpvpa)' TOO ai'afxaprtjTOv mofxcirog. 656 APPENDIX. holy things to dogs." Serm. de Incontam. Myst. T, ii. p. 45. Collect Nova. Montfaucoii. — Parisiis, 1706. S. Hilary/"^ L. C. — " If the word, truly, was made flesh, and we, truly, receive this word for our food :^-^^ how can he he thought not to dwell naturally in us, who assumed the nature of our flesh inseparahly united to him, and communicates, in the sacrament, that nature to us ? For thus, we are all one : because the Father is in Christ, and Christ in us.— We are not to speak of heavenly things as we do of human.^^^ Of the natural verity of Christ in us, whatever we speak, we speak foolishly and wickedly, unless we learn of him ; for it is he that said : my flesh is meat indeed, and my hlood is drink indeed. (John vi. 56.) There is no place left to doubt of the truth of Christ's flesh and blood i''^'^ for now, by the profession of the Lord him- self, and according to our belief, it is truly flesh, and truly blood. But he himself attests how we are in him by the sacramental communication of his body and blood ; And the world, says he, sees me not, but you see me, because 1 live and you shall live: for I am in 7ny father, and ijou are'inme,andIaminyou. (John xiv. 19,20.) If he wished the unity of will alone to be understood, why would he establish a certain order and progression in the formation of it; but that he should be in the father, by the nature ('> St. Hilary was bishop of Poitiers, in France, and the great champion of the orthodox faith in the Western Church, against the Arian heretics. He wrote a work, in twelve books, 0« the Trinity; a Treatise on Synods or Councils ; and three Discourses against the Arians, addressed to the emperor Constantino. St. Hilary died in the year 367. (f^ Verbum carnem cibo dominico sumimus. C9) Non est humano aut sseculi sensu in Dei rebus loquendum. (^^ De veritate carnis et sanguinis non relictus est ambigendi locus. APPENDIX. 657 of the divinity; we in him, by his corporal birth; and he in us by the sacramental mystery." De Trin. L. wiu. p. 954, 955, 956. S. James of Nisibis,^*^ G. C— In his fourth discourse, On Prayer, he says : " None will be cleansed unless they have been washed in the laver of baptism, and have re- ceived the body and blood of Christ; for the blood is expiated by this blood, and the body cleansed by this body." S. Epheem of Edessa,^^^ G. C— " His body, by anew method, is mixed with our bodies; and his most pure blood is transfused into our veins. He is wholly incorpora- ted with us/^^ And because he loved his church, he was made the bread of life that he might give himself to be eaten." Hymn, xxxvii. de VirginUate, Blhl. Orient. Asse- mani, T. \. p. 97. C^^ St. James was bishop of Nisibis in Mesopotamia, and was held in much estimation by his contemporaries. He was present at the council of Nice in S25, and died about the year 350. His works, mentioned by Gennadius in the fifth century, were pub- Hshed at Rome in Armenian and Latin, by Antonelli, in 1756. (N. B. Copies of this work are rare in England; there is one in the Collegiate Library at Manchester.) C^^ St. Ephrem was a disciple of the above mentioned father, and a deacon of Edessa in Syria. He wrote many works in the language of his country, which were translated into Greek during his life ; and were held in such estimation, that in many churches, as St. Jerome testifies in his Catalogue, they were publicly read after the canonical books of Scripture. They were published in Latin by Gerard Vossius, at Rome; and in Greek by Twaites, at Oxford. In 1732 and seqq.. Cardinal Quirini, with the aid of J. S. Assemani, gave a new and splendid edition of his works, in six volumes, folio. The three first contain the works which had before been published in Greek and Latin; the three latter, those which he found in the Vatican Library, which are in Syriac, with a Latin translation. St. Ephrem died about the year 379. (') Corpus ejus nova ratione nostris corporibus immistum est; ipsius quoque sanguis purissimus in venas nostras difFusus, totus ipse nos totos pervasit. 2 u 658 APPENDIX. " You believe that Christ, the son of God, for you was bom in the flesh. Then why do you search into what is inscrutable? Doing this, you prove your curiosity, not your faith. Believe then, and with a firm faith receive the body and blood of our Lord/*"^ — Abraham placed earthly food before celestial spirits, (Gen. xviii.) of which they ate. This was wonderful ; but what Christ has done for us greatly exceeds this, and transcends all speech and all conception. To us that are in the flesh, he has given to eat his body and blood. Incapable as I am of compre- hending the mysteries of God, 1 dare not proceed; and should I attempt it, I should shew only my own rash- ness." De Nat. Dei. T. iii. p. 182. Ibid. S. Cyril of Jeru salem,^''^' G. C. — In his instructions, addressed to those who had been newly baptised, he says : " The bread and wine, which before the invocation of the adorable Trinity were nothing but bread and wine, be- come after this invocation, the body and blood of Christ."^"^ Catag. Mystag. 1. 7i. 4. p. 281.—" The eucha- ristic bread, after the invocation of the Holy Spirit, is no longer common bread, but the body of Christ."''''^ Ibid. Catech. iii. n. 3. p. 289. — " As Christ, speaking of the bread, declared and said : This is my body ; who shall dare to doubt it? And as speaking of the wine, he positively assured us, and said: This is my blood; who shall doubt W Si ista curiose rimaris, non jam fidelis nuncupaberis, sed curiosus. Esto itaque fidelis. Participa immaculatum corpus et sanguinem Domini tui fide plenissima. (") St. Cyril was patriarch of Jerusalem, and died about the year 385. The works which he has left, in twenty-three Cate- chetical Discourses, form a full and very accurate abridgment of Christian Doctrine. ^"^ o iiEV apTog yLVETCu cwyua Kpiffrov^ 6 ce OLVog lufia KpiffTOv. CpJ 6 apTog Ttjg iv)(apL(TTuig, fxera Tr]v ciriKXtjffiv ru ayta Trvevfiarogf ovk: iari aprog Xirog, aXXrt o-wyiia Kpirrrov. f.::; ;; appendix. G59 it, and say that it is not his hlood?"*^^^ Catechu iv. n, 1. p. 292. " Jesus Christ, in Cana of Galilee, once changed water into wine, by his will alone ; and shall we think it less worthy of credit, that he changed wine into his blood ?^'^ Invited to an early marriage, he wrought this miracle ; and shall we hesitate to confess that he has given to his children his body to eat, and his blood to drink .^^*^ Where- fore, with all confidence, let us take the body and blood of Christ. For in the type or figure of bread, his body is given to thee ; and in the type or figure of wine, his blood is given ;^^^ that so being made partakers of the body and blood of Christ, you may become one body and one blood with him ; thus, the body and blood of Christ being dis- tributed in our members, we become Christofori, that is, we carry Christ with us; and thus, as St. Peter says, ' we are made partakers of the divine nature.' " Ibid. S. Optatus of Milevis,''"^ L. C— " What is the altar, but the seat of the body and blood of Christ .^*^ What offence had Christ given, whose body and blood, at cer- tain times, do there dwell r'^-''^ This huge impiety was (9^ avTOV ovv a7ro(l))jvaijievov, kcu etirovroQ Trepi rov aproVf tovto ixov iart to (Tiojia, tic ToXjuLrjcreL an£ aapKu Koivrjv hexofJ-tvui' fxri yevoLTO. 668 APPENDIX. flesh to give life, as we have said, because it is the tlesh of the word that gives life to all things, let him be ana- thema." Ibid. p. 409. S. Peter Chrysologus,'''''^ L. C. — " Let Christians understand, who every day touch the body of Christ/"^ what helps they may draw from that body, when the woman was perfectly cured by only touching the hem of his garment." Serm. xxiv. p. 872. Edit. Lugdimi, 1676. Theodoret,^"^ G. C. — " After the consecration, the mystical symbols lose not their proper nature : they remain in the former substance, figure, and appearance, (or rather in the shape and form of the former substance,)'^^^ to be seen, and to be felt, as before ; but they are understood to be what they have been made ; this they are believed to be ; and as such they are adored." Dial. ii. T. iv. Edit. Paris. 1642. Sylvianus,^^^ L. C. — "The Jews ate manna; we ('"^ He was placed on the archiepiscopal chair of Ravenna, about the year 430, and governed that Church about twenty years. We have 176 of his discourses, which were so much esteemed in those days as to procure him the name of Chrysologus. ^"^ Qui quotidie corpus Christi attingunt. ^^^ Theodorei is best known as the author of an Ecclesiastical History. He was Bishop of Cyrus, a city of Syria ; was connected with many of the great men of the age, and involved in various controversies. Few men have written more, or with so extensive a knowledge of all the subjects he treats, scriptural, moral, and historical. He died at an advanced age, about the year 4:57, or perhaps later. ^^^ fxevEL yap ettl rrjQ irpoTtpag bumag, Kai rs (T-^rifxarog, kul ts ei^sg. — The word Trporepag (former) seems to imply the second trans- lation. ^^' Sylvianus was a learned priest of Marseilles, who flourished from about the middle to the end of the fifth century ; and of whom we have eight books " On the Government of God," and four books " Against Avarice," addressed to the Catholic Church, under the name of Timotheus; besides some epistles. Baluze published them, together with the " Commonitorium" of Vincent of Lerins, at Paris, 1684. APPENDIX. 669 Christ : they the flesh of bh'ds ; we the body of God : they the dew of heaven ; we the God of heaven."^'^^ Adv. Avaritiam, L. ii, p. 246. Edit. Paris. 1684. S. NiLUs/'^ G. C. — " Before the prayer of the priest, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, the things laid on the table are common bread and wine ; but after the solemn invocations, and the descent of the adorable spirit, it is no longer bread, and no longer wine, but is the body, and pure and precious blood, of Christ, the God of all.*^'^ Ep. xliv. L. \. p. 21. — " Let us not approach to the mystic bread as to mere bread, for it is the flesh of God, the venerable, and life-giving flesh." ''"^ Ep, xxxix. L. iii, p. 322. THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. Our Saviour, in leaving to us his body and hlood, under two distinct species or kinds, insti- tuted not only a Sacrament, but also a Sacrifice ; a commemorative sacrifice, distinctly shewing his passion and death until he come. For as the ^'■^ Nos Christum, — nos corpus Dei — nos Deum coeli. (*^ St. Nilus was a disciple of the great St. Chrysostom. After having been governor of Constantinople, he retired into the desart of Sinah, and there led a solitary life. He flourished under the emperors Arcadius and Theodosius, and died about 451. He has left us several treatises, and a great number of letters on religious subjects. ' ovK eart y^JiKov liprov, kui koivov olvov ra eTrireS^eifJieva rrj ayiq. TpaTre^rj, aXX criofjia, Kai aifxa rifiLoy, Kai cf)(^pai'TOV KptoTH, ra 0f» Tiov airavTon'. ^*^^ fir] wg ^^ fivcmKo), crap^ yap VTrapj^EL 0£«, aap^ Tifjiia, Kcti irpoffKvyrjTt], Kai iiooiroioc. 670 APPENDIX. sacrifice of the cross ivas performed hy a distinct effusion of his Mood, so is that sacrifice comme- morated in this of the altar, hy a distinction of the symbols, Jesus, therefore, is here given not only to us, hut for us ; and the Church is hereby enriched with a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice, usually termed the Mass : propitiatory, we say, because representing i?i a lively maimer the passio7i and death of our Lord, it is peculiarly pleasing to oiir eternal Father, and thus more effectually applies to us the all-sufficient merits of the sacrifice of the cross. SCRIPTURE. As the bloody sacrifices ordained by the Jewish law, are understood to have prefigured the sacrifice which the Redeemer of Mankind was once to offer on the Cross, by the effusion of his blood ; so do we believe that the un- bloody offerings of the same law, but much more than these, the bread and wine, which Melchisedec, " the priest of the most high God,'^ j^resented to Abraham, (Gen. iv.) were a type or figure of that unbloody sacrifice, which Christ, the priest for ever, according to the order of Mel- chisedec, (Ps. cix.) would continue to ofi'er, through all ages, under the symbols or species of bread and wine. Malach. i. 10, 11. / have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hands. — For, from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, my name shall he great among the Gentiles ; and in every place incense shall he offered to my name, and a clean APPENDIX. 671 offering. — Matt. xxvi. 28. This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many I ^^ for the remission of sins. — Mark, xiv. 24. This is my blood of the New Testa- ment, which is shed /or manyS"^ — Luke xxii. 19. This is my body that is given for you :^^^ do this for a commemo- ration of me. — 20. Tliis is the chalice, the New Testament in my blood, which is shed /or you. — 1 Cor. xi. 24. 77m is my body which is broken for you ;^^^ this do for the com- memoration of me. — 25. This chalice is the New Testament in my blood ; do ye this as often as you shall drink it, for the commemoration of me. — 26. For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink this chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord until he come. According to the translation of these passages, which is conformable to the Greek, our Saviour speaks in the present tense (or time) of the actual immolation of his body, and the actual effusion of his blood /or the remission of sins; because at that moment, he really, but mystically, offered up his body and blood for the salvation of the apostles and of all men ; while the words, do this for a commemoration, or in remembrance of me, plainly denote the institution of a sacrifice to be celebrated to the end of time. Thus Christ seems to say : As I now immolate my body and shed my blood for the remission of sins ; so do you offer up this same body and this same blood in re- membrance of me. What I now do, do you and your successors. — In this sense, as we have seen, and shall see, have the words of Christ always been understood in the Catholic Church. 1 Cor. x. 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21. Wherefore, my ^^^ TO vTrep TToWiov EKyyvofJLEvov. ^y^ TO virep vfxiov hi^oixevov. ^'^ TO VTTEp VfjLWV liXoJIXSPOV. 672 APPENDIX. dearly beloved, fly from the service of idols. — / speak as to wise men; judge ye yourselves what I say. — The chalice of benediction which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ ? And the bread which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord ? — For we beiny many are one bread, one body all that partake of one bread. — Behold Israel according to the flesh : are not they that eat of the sacrifice, partakers of the altar ? — What then 9 Do I say that what is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing ? Or that the idol is any thing ? — But the things which the heathens sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God; And I would not that you shoidd be made partakers with devils. — You cannot drink the chalice of the Lord, and the chalice of devils ; you cannot be partakers of the table of the Lord, and of the table of devils. As the Apostle speaks of the participation of the victims among the Jews, which were offered on their altars, and of a similar participation among the Gentiles ; so, insti- tuting a comparison, he plainly speaks of Christians par- taking of the hody and blood of our Lord from the Eu- charistic altar. Heb. xiii. 10, 11, 12. We have an altar, whereof they have no power to eat who serve the tabernacle. — For the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanc- tuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. — Wherefore, Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. The meaning of the passage is not plain, but it seems to intimate the superiority of the Christian worshippers. Not only the Jews, but even their priests, were not allowed to taste of the victims which were solemnly offered for sin ; whereas we have an altar and a victim, typified by those of the Jews, of which we may at all times partake: a APPENDIX. 673 victim once offered for sin, and represented by the daily oblation of his body and blood. Acts xiii. 2. And as they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Ghost said to them. — The breaking of bread is often mentioned in the same Acts ; and in the two quotations just given from St. Paul, the altar and table^^^ are mentioned, which must refer to sacrifice. — Rev. V. 6. And I saw : and behold in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the ancients, a lamb standing as it were slain. — 8. And whe.i he had opened the book, the four living creatures, and the four and twenty ancients, fell down before the lamb. — 9. And they sung a new canticle, saying : Tliou art worthy, O Lord, to take the book, and to open tlie seals thereof: because thou wast slaifi, and hast redeemed us to God in thy blood, out of every tribe and tongue, and people and nation. — 10. And hast made us to our God a kingdom and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. FATHERS. CENT. II. S. Justin, L. C. — " Truly we are the sacerdotal offspring of God, as he himself attests, saying, that in every place among the nations, we offer to him well-pleasing and clean victims. These victims he accepts from his own priests alone. Wherefore, shewing preference to all those who, through his name, offer the sacrifices which Christ or- dained to be offered ; that is, in the Eucharist of bread and the chalice,''''^' which in all places of the earth are ^) dvmaffrrjpiov — rpaTrei^t]. •2 X ^"^ tn Ti] ev-^apicTTiq r« apT» /cat -h TroTrfpis. 674 APPENDIX. celebrated by the Christian people, God declares that they are well-pleasing to him. But the sacrifices of you Jews, and of your priests, he rejects, saying : / will accept no offering frotn your hands ; hecause from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, my name is great among the Gentiles, hut ye have prof aned it.'''' Malach. 1. — D'lal. cum Tryphon. Judseo^p. 386. S. Iren^us,^*^ L. C. — " Christ took bread into his hands, and giving thanks, said, Tliis is my hody. Like- wise he declared the cup to be his blood, and taught the new oblation of the new Testament, which oblation the Church receiving from the apostles, offers it to God over all the earth ,^^^ of which the prophet Malachias spoke : / will not accept offerings from your hands. For from the rising of the sun to the going doion of the same, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place incense is offered to my name, a clean S'fcrifice.{\.) Manifestly hereby signifying, that the first people [the Jews] will cease to oflfer to God ; and that in every place a sacrifice, and that clean, will be offered to him,'''^^ and that his name is glo- (*5 St IrenceuSy though by birth a Greek, was bishop of Lyons in the second century ; and in his youth had lived with St. Poly- carp, bishop of Smyrna, the disciple of St. John the evangelist : this brings him near to the apostolic times. In what year he died is not ascertained; probably about the close of the cen- tury. He left behind him a Treatise against the Heresies of the Age, in five books. Of this work, which contains much that is highly valuable, and which was written in Greek, a Latin version of great antiquity, but harsh and often obscure, alone remains, some passages excepted, which have been pre- served in their original language. Some fragments also are ex- tant. '■ Calicem — suum sanguinem confessus est, et novi Testament! novum docuit oblationem, quam ecclesia ab apostolis accipiens, in universo mundo offert Deo. (^^ Omni autem loco sacrificium offeretur ei, et hoc purum. APPENDIX. 675 rifled among the gentiles. "^'^ Adver. Hw9\ L.iv. c.xxiiu. p. 3-23, 324.—" As then in simplicity the Church offers, her offering is accepted by God as a pure sacrifice." Ibid. c. xxxiv. p. 326. CENT. III. S. Cyprian, L. C. — " It is the sole duty of the ministers of the gospel to attend to the altar and sacrifices/-^^ and to prayers and supplications. Those who are promoted by cle- rical ordination, should not be called away from the service of God, nor perplexed by worldly business; but, receiving aliment from their brethren, should not withdraw from the altar and from sacrifices,''^^ day and night intent on heavenly things." " In the priest Melchisedec we see prefigured the sacrament of the Christian sacrifice,'^'''^ the holy Scriptures declaring: Melchisedec king of Salem brought forth bread and ivine ; and he was the priest of the most high God, a7id he blessed Abraham. (Gen. xiv.) And that he bore the resemblance of Christ, the Psalmist announces : Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedec.''' (Ps. cix.) He afterwards adds : (^) On this passage, the learned Protestant editor of Irena?us, Dr. Grabe, observes: "It is certain that Irenaeus and all the Fathers — either contemporary widi the apostles, or their imme- diate successors, whose writings are still extant — considered the blessed Eucharist to be the sacrifice of the new law, and offered bread and wine on the altar, as sacred oblations to God the Fa- ther ; and that this was not the private opinion of any particular Church or teacher, but the public doctrine and practice of the universal Church, which she received from the apostles, and they from Christ, is expressly shown in this place, by Irenaeus, and before him by Justin M. and Clement of Rome." — Nota in Ire- nceum, p. 323. (•^^ Altari et sacrificiis deservire — debeant. (s'' Ab altari et sacrificiis non recedant. ''^ Sacrificii Dominici sacramentum. 2x2 676 APPENDIX. " If Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, be himself the high priest of his Father ; and if he first offered himself a sa- crifice to him, and commanded the same to he done in remembrance of him ; then that priest truly stands in the place of Christ, who imitates that which Christ did, and then ofi'ers in the Church a true and complete sacrifice to God the Father,''*^ doing what he ordained. For the whole discipline of religion and of truth is subverted, if that which was commanded be not faithfully complied with." Ibid. p. 155. I could quote many other passages from the letters of S. Cyprian, and from his other tracts, in which he speaks of the Christian sacrifice of the new law, in terms the most plain and obvious, such as : " We are mindful of you day and night, and when we off'er up prayer in the sacrifices." Ep. xxxvii. p. 72. — " As often as we cele- brate the anniversary days of the martyrs, we offer sacri- fices for them [the relatives of Celerinus]." Ep. xxxix. p. 77. — " To God and his Christ, whom I serve, and to whom with a pure and undefiled conscience, in persecu- tion and in peace, I unceasingly offer sacrifices."''*^ ^j^.lxvi. p. 169. — " Whilst we were offering sacrifice,'^ ^^ the girl was brought in by her mother." De Lapsis, p. 132. CENT IV. EusEBius OF C^SAREA, G. C. — " And as he [speak- ing of Melchisedec,] who was the priest of the Gentiles, seems never to have offered animal sacrifices, but wine alone and bread, while he blessed Abraham ; so our Sa- ^*) Ille sacerdos vice Christi vere fungitur, qui id quod Christus fecit, imitatur, et sacrificium verum et plenum tunc offert in ecclesia, Deo Patri, ^^ Sacrificia indesinenter offero. ^'^ Sacrificantibus nobis. APPENDIX. 677 vioar and Lord first, and then the priests who are de- scended from him, performing, in all nations, according to ecclesiastical ordinances, the sacerdotal function, re- present, in bread and wine, the mysteries of his body and salutary blood,'''"^ which mysteries Melchisedec had so long before by the divine spirit foreknown and used in figure. The Scripture of Moses says : And Melchisedec , &c." (Gen. xiv.) Demonst. Evang. L. v. c. iii. f. 223. Co- loniee, 1688. S. Cyril of Jerusalem, G. C. — He mentions the various prayers and ceremonies which accompany our sacrifice of the altar, and adds : " When this spiritual sacrifice, this unbloody worship over the victim of pro- j)itiation, is ended,*^"^ we supplicate God for the common peace of the Churches, for the tranquillity of the world, for kings, for their armies and their allies, for the sick and the afflicted ; and in a word, for all who want assist- ance. Again, when we ofi"er this sacrifice, we commemo- rate those who have departed this world before us. — We offer up that Christ who was slain for our sins, that he who is most kind, may be propitious to us and them." Catech. Mystag. v. n. 6, 7. p. 297, 298. S. Gregory of Nazianzum,''''^ G. C. — " Julian, in (*") otv6) Kai dpTu, TUTS ffwfJLaTOQ dvTH Kai TH ffojTTjptti hip^aroQ diVLTTOVTUi -a fxvarrjpia. ("' TrvEvfxaTiKi]v Bvffiav, rrjv dvaLfxaKTOi' Xarpeiav, etti ryjc dva-iag EKEivr]Q TH iXaafiH. ^"^ St. Gregory ofNazianzum was the friend of St. Bazil, with whom he studied at Athens ; he became bishop of Constan- tinople, which see he afterwards relinquished, retiring to Nazi- anzum in Cappadocia, near which city he was born, and where he died, about the year 389. He was much celebrated for his elo- quence, in which he is said to have excelled the greatest orators of the age ; and of that eloquence many examples are yet extant in the various discourses or sermons, which form the principal body of his works. 678 APPENDIX. impure and wicked blood, washes away his baptismal rite, opposing- initiation to initiation — he defiles his hands in order to purify them from that unbloody sacrifice''^^ through which we communicate with Christ, with his divine nature, and his sufferings." Orat. iii. in Julian. T. 1. p. 70. S. Optatus of Milevis, L. C. — See the quotation from him above, p. 659. — "What is the altar," &c. S. Ambrose, L. C.' — Commenting- on the appearance of the angel to Zacharias, (Luke I.) he says : " It were to be wished, that while we burned incense on our altars, and offer sacrifice, the angel would assist and become visible to us. That he does assist, cannot be doubted, while Christ is there, while Christ is immolated ^^^ L. 1. in Evang. Luc. c. T. iii. p. 12. " Although Christ is not now seen to offer, yet is he offered on earth, when his body is the victim.''"^ Indeed he manifestly offers in us, since it is his word that sanctifies the sacrifice that is offered." Enarr. in Psal. xxxviii. T. ii. p. 740. In a letter to his sister Marcellina, giving- an account of some disturbances at Milan, when an attempt was made to seize the church, he relates : " The next day, which was Sunday, after the reading and sermon, when I was explaining the creed, word was brought that officers were sent to seize the Portian church, and that part of the people were flocking thither. I continued to discharge my duty, and began Mass {'^ but as I was offering, I was in- formed that the people had laid hands on an Arian priest. 0') rr\Q dvaL^atCTH Bvatca aTroKci^aipojy . (9) Quando Christus assistit, quando Christi corpus immolatur. (') Ipse offevtur in terris, quando Christus offertur. W Missam facerc Ccepi. APPENDIX. 679 This made me weep, and I prayed to God in the midst of the offering/'^ that no blood might be shed in this quar- rel." Ep. xiv. T. V. p. 205. — Having" heard from the em- peror Theodosins, of the victory which he had gained over the tyrant Eugenius, Ambrose writes to him. " I took your letter with me to the church ; I laid it on the altar ; and whilst I offered sacrifice^"^ I held it in my hand, that by my voice you might speak, and your august letter perform with me the sacerdotal office." Ep. Iviii. T. v. p. 32-2. As the Mass has just been mentioned in a quotation from S. Ambrose, I will here subjoin a passage on the subject, from the learned and pious cardinal Bona, who flourished at Rome in the seventeenth century. — '' There is an epistle of Pius I., acknowledged to be genuine, written about the year 166 to the bishop of Vienne, in the opening of which he thus speaks : ' Our sister Euprepia, as you well recollect, made over her house to the poor, where we dwell and celebrate Mass.'" Cone. Gen. T.l.p.576. — A letter also from pope Cornelius to another bishop of the same city, written about the year 254, remarks, that on account of the persecutions, the Christians could not publicly " celebrate Mass." Ibid. p,6Sl.—ln the fourth century, St. Ambrose writing to his sister, mentions the Mass, as likewise in his thirty-fourth discourse : " I ex- hort you, you that are near the church, and can do it without great inconvenience, to hear Mass daily. T. v. p. 48. — In his preparatory prayer before Mass, he says ; " Grant me thy grace on this day, and on every other, with a pure mind and clean heart, to celebrate the solemn w Et orare in ipsa oblatione. (") Cum ofFerrem sacrificium. 680 APPENDIX. service of Mass."''*^ Ibid. p. 335. — " St. Augnstin and other ancient Fathers use the same expression, and they use it as if it were common and generally received at the time." Z. 1. Rerum Liturg. c. iii. p. 17, EdH. Parts, 1678. In this fourth century, various councils vrere held, which in plain terms speak of the Christian sacrifice. Council of Ancyra,''^^ G. C. — Against such priests who, in the times of persecution, had shown great weak- ness, it enacts : " That they be not deprived of their stations ; but that they be not allowed to offer ^^^ nor to address the people, nor to perform any priestly function." Can. 1. Cone, Gen. T. \.p. 1455. Council of Neoc.es are a,''"^ G. C. — "Country priests, in the presence of the bishop, or the priests of the city, cannot offe¥^^ nor give the sanctified bread, nor present the chalice. Ihid, Can. xiii. p. 1483. Council of Nice^'^^ G. C. — " The holy synod has been informed that, in some places and cities, the deacons pre- sent the Eucharist to the priests. This thing no canon nor custom has taught — that they, who have themselves no power to offend ^^ should present the body of Christ to those who possess that power." Can. xviii. Cone. Gen. r.ii.jt?.38. ^^"i The two works quoted by Cardinal Bona, as productions of St. Ambrose, are not allowed, by the learned, to be his, though of some ancient author. ^y'> This council, held about the year 314, consisted of bishops from all the principal sees of the East, to the number of, at least, 118. — They enacted twenty-five canons for the estabhshment of discipline. ^^^ 7rpoor0£p£fv. '"^ This council was called soon after that of Ancyra, and con- sisted of nearly the same bishops. '*) 7rpocr0£pct»^. '-^^ Held in 325, against the errors of Anus. ^^^ Trpofjipipew. APPENDIX. 6St Council of Laodicea/*^ G. C. — Having established certain rules to be observed in the service of the Church, it adds : " And after the priests have given the kiss of peace to the bishop, the laity must do the same one to the other, and thus the holy offermg'^^^ be completed: but the ministers alone may approach the altar, and there communicate." Ih'id. Ca/i. xix.^. 1499. Second Council of Carthage''^^ L. C — It enacts that, if any priest, having been reprimanded by his bishop, withdraw from his communion, and " offer sa- crifice privately ,'^'^^ erecting altar against altar, contrary to established discipline — he be deprived of his office.'' Ihid. Can. viii. r. ii. j9. 1161. S. John Chrysostom, G. C. — On the words of the prophet Malachias ; And in every place incense shall he offered to God, and a clean offering ; he says, address- ing the Jews : " When did this happen ? When was in- cense thus offered? When this clean sacrifice? You can produce no other time than this, after the coming of Christ/'^ And if of this time the prophet had not spoken ; had he prophesied, not of our sacrifice but of that of the Jews, his prophecy would have been contrary to the law ; for Moses forbids sacrifices to be offered in any other place than that which God had chosen : to this he con- ^^^ This council met about the middle of the fourth century, and has left us sixty canons, which have ever been held in the greatest estimation. ^ Trpo(T(}>opav. (^) This council was called by Genethlius, bishop of Carthage, who presided at it, in 390. It enacted thirteen canons, respecting the celibacy of bishops, priests, and deacons, and other points of discipline. ^•^^ Separatim — sacrificium Dei obtulerit. ^') OvK civ txoi^ erepou enrew Kaipop, dW ri tutov, top fiEra ti]v r« KptoTiJ wapaaiay. 682 APPENDIX. fines them. But Malachias declares, that in every place incense shall be offered, and a clean sacrifice. In the first j^lace, the prophet foretels that, not in one city, as among the Jews, l3ut from the rising- of the sun to the going down of the same, offerings shall be made. Then, by calling the sacrifice deem, he plainly denotes of what victim he spoke. And finally, the offerings will be made, not in Israel, but in all nations. In every place, says he ; evidently showing, that wherever the sun sheds its light, there the gospel shall be preached. He speaks of a clean offering, not as if by its own nature, that of the Jews had been unclean, but only through the will of the of- ferers. Nevertheless, if our present sacrifice be compared with the former, so vast will the difi'erence be found, that ours alone can merit the name of clean." Adv. Juddeos. Orat. ii\. T. l./>. 437. — "When you behold the Lord im- molated, and the priest at the altar ofi'ering sacrifice, and pouring out jDrayers, and then the surrounding multitude partaking of the sacred blood,''*^ can you, at that moment fancy you are among mortals, and dwelling on the earth ? Rather, are you not transported to the heavens?" De Sacerd. L. iii. c, iv. 2\ iv. p. 27. — " But when the priest shall have invoked the Holy Spirit, and shall have com- pleted this tremendous and awful sacrifice, the common Lord of all being handled by him ;^^^ I ask you, what in- tegrity of life, and what sense of religion shall we not demand from him ? Meanwhile, the angels stand by the priest, the army of heavenly powers cry out, and the space around the altar is filled by them in honour of him C^ Tov Kvpiov Tsdvfjievov K'ai KELfiEvovy Kai Tov tepEa e(f)e(7T(0Ta r&> dviiari — /cai TravraQ zkelvc^ tu) tl^k^ (poiviaGo^EVHQ dijuari. (') TOV (ppiKii)cecrra-}]v imreXi] -S'vaiaj/, fcai r» Koii's TravTOJV (7vye')(^cj£ APPENDIX. 683 who lies there." Ihid. L, vi. c. iv. p. 82. — These senti- ments he often repeats. — " He has ordained a sacred rite, changing the victim ; and in the place of animals, commanding himself to be immolated."''"'^ Horn. xxiv. in 1 Cor. 71 x. p. 256. — "All the people being present, and raising their hands to heaven, and the sacred victim lying there,*^''^ shall not God be rendered propitious to them?" Horn. iii. in c. 1. Ep. ad Philip. T. ci. p. 32. — *' But do we not (it may be asked) ofter sacrifice daily ?" We do ; but in remembrance of his death. And the vic- tim is one, not many. But how is this ? Because it was once ofTered and brought into the sanctuary. This sa- crifice is a copy of that ; the offering is the same. Not one on one day, and on the next another ; but always the same*^"^ Thus then the sacrifice is one. But are there many Christs, as the ofi"ering is made in many places ? By no means : it is the same Christ every where ; here entire and there entire ; one body. As then, though offered in many places, there is one body, and not many bodies : so is there one sacrifice. He is our high priest, who offered the victim of our expiation : that same vic- tim we now ofi'er that was then offered ; which cannot be consumed. This is done in remembrance of what was done. Do this, he said, in rememhrance of me,'''' Horn. xvii, in c. x. Ep. ad Hebr. T. xi. p. 856. S. Jerome, L. C. — " According to thee, the Roman bishop does wrong, who ofi'ers sacrifices to the Lord, over the bodies of Peter and Paul, which bodies we call vener- W rriv lepspyiav jjiErecrKevaore, kul ttjv %