"would still be comparatively unsubstantial till hailed by the "according public voice, enfranchised from its prejudices:—the "human mind is not so readily liberalized, as civil franchises "are extended by legislation*." On the 22nd of June, 1812, on the Motion of the Right Honourable George Canning, late one of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, Sir J. H. again expressed himself, as strongly, in favour of "regulations which should be interposed as barriers against the encroachments of the See of Rome,-and there were "not wanting instances, he observed, of the existence of such "encroachments. A prudent Legislature would not dispense "with the enactment of such provisions as might eventually "meet the evil whenever it might present itself-however small "the probability might be of its recurrence.-He had been uniform, he said, in his declarations from the first moment when "he took part in the discussion of the question, and he would "never assent to the measure, unaccompanied by those securities, "which had been sanctioned by the wisdom and experience of ages." * In a note, annexed to the Substance of Sir J. H.'s Speech on the Motion of Mr. Grattan, on the 24th of April, the facts stated were referred to, with the following observation:-If such be the "opinions of eminent ecclesiastics of the See of Rome, jealous "of the independence of their Church, shall the Members of "the Establishment wholly shut their eyes against the possibility of encroachment?-And shall they, who seek the protection of their Catholic fellow-subjects, equally with their "own, be calumniated, because they are not disposed to sur"render their reason to the voice of clamour?--If the represen"tative body of the nation-the guardians of its interests and security-should be so little alive to their duties, as to turn "aside from wholesome legislation, in yielding to those clamours-very little permanent good could be augured from "concessions exacted by such ill-grounded apprehensions." " S To these Extracts the opinions of some eminent Prelates of the Establishment, were subjoined. The late Bishop (Watson) of Llandaff, Regius Professor of Divinity, in the University of Cambridge, in an advertisement prefixed to a Charge delivered to his Clergy, in 1805, thus expresses himself, "A numerous and respectable part of the "Clergy of my Diocese requested me to publish the Charge now submitted to the world. I excused myself from complying with their request, because I considered the Catholic question to have been then settled, at least, for a time; and I "was unwilling to revive the discussion of a subject, on which "I had the misfortune to differ in opinion from a majority in "each House of Parliament.-I have still that misfortune; but "looking upon the situation of the Empire to be abundantly more hazardous now than it was three years ago, I have thought it a duty to declare publicly my approbation of a measure, calculated, I sincerely believe, above all other measures, to support the Independence of the Country-to secure the stability of the Throne-to promote Peace among fellow-subjects, "and Charity among fellow-christians—and in no probable degree dangerous to the Constitution either in Church or State." 66 The late Bishop (Law) of Elphin, in one of his publications observes, "By far the greatest part of the population of my "Diocese are Roman Catholics-I know I cannot make them "good Protestants-I therefore wish to make good Catholics of them, and with this intention I put into their hands the "Works of Gother, an eminent Catholic Divine." The same Prelate, in a Debate on the Catholic Bill, in 1793, declared, that, in his opinion, speculative differences on some points of "faith were of no account. His Roman Catholic Brethren and "himself had but one religion-the religion of Christians;" and that without justice to the Catholics, there could be no security for the Protestant Establishment." The various declarations in Parliament, made on this subject, in concurrence with these opinions, by the present Bishop (Bathurst) of Norwich, were preceded by a Charge to his Clergy in 1808, when speaking of the Roman Catholic Subjects of His Majesty, he says, "that it would be unfair to involve the guilt "of his mis-guided zealots of former days, a body of men of a "far different description, to whom it is our duty, and should "be our inclination to shew every mark of benevolence, both "as brethren and as deserving fellow-subjects." And in a Speech of the late Bishop (Horsley) of St. Asaph in 1805, His Lordship says, "I do not hold that there is any thing "in the Roman Catholic Religion at variance with the principles "of loyalty. I do not believe that any Roman Catholic of the present day thinks himself at liberty not to keep faith with "heretics-not bound by his oath to a Protestant Government; " or, that the Pope can release him from the obligations of his " oath of allegiance to his Sovereign. I have a perfect know"ledge of the questions proposed, and the answers returned by "the foreign Universities, in which those abominable principles 66 (the dispensing and deposing power) were most completely "and unanimously reprobated by those learned Bodies; and I am persuaded the Roman Catholics are sincere in their dis"avowal and abjuration of those pernicious maxims;-and I "hold that the Roman Catholics of this Country are dutiful and loyal subjects of His Majesty." Such are the Extracts and References which were circulated on the occasion adverted to in the preceding Address, and which, in conjunction with Sir J. H.'s motions in Parliament for the institution of a Select Committee, in the years 1813 and 1816, constitute the Corpus delicti, which gave birth to the grave "Remonstrance of the Board of Irish Catholics to the See of "Rome."-[Page 104.] In each subsequent Session Sir J. C. Hippisley maintained the same ground, and re-urged the appointment of a Select Committee of Inquiry. That measure was at length acceded to, and on the 24th of June, 1816, the Report of the Committee was delivered to the House. It has since been printed, by order of both Houses of Parliament. The chief Documents annexed to the Report, together with the supplementary Papers, communicated by command of the Prince Regent, on the 28th of March, 1817,-stand upon the authority of the Governments of the most considerable States of Europe, of the Roman Catholic, the Greek, the Lutheran, and the reformed Churches, and may be considered valuable, "especially "from throwing light,"-to use the words of the Report itself,"upon subjects of long and continual controversy regarding "those points, in which a regulated intercourse, with a foreign spiritual Jurisdiction, has been held to be necessary or allow"able, consistently with the rights of conscience, the integrity "of civil obligations, and the security of the state." Printed by J. Brettell, Rupert Street, Haymarket, London. FINIS. 呀 |