But whatever might be the points at issue between the Roman Catholic subjects of the British Crown, and the Roman Curia, the known state of the country, resulting, more or less, from the collision of religious dissensions, assuredly claimed the gravest consideration of the King's Ministers, and the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Scarcely forty years had elapsed, since the frenzied clamour of an individual Protestant Bigot, setting up the cry of "No Popery," had nearly laid the British capital in ashes;-the consuming fires of incendiaries blazed in various parts of the metropolis, at the same instant— the house of the Chief Justice of England, marked for destruction, was burnt to the ground, and the national Bank, as well as the Fortress or Tower of London, were, with difficulty preserved. "Quid non "religio potuit suadere malorum," is an adage, that will never be absent from the mind of the provident statesman.

If the British Government and Parliament, have pursued the light to which reason and nature point, in order to guide their steps, in defining the lines and boundaries of the religious communions of their fellow-subjects, so far as they fall within the protection of the State, they will not, in the candid estimation of His Holiness, be considered as having been influenced by any principle, or feeling, but that of a deep sense of justice, prudence, and loyalty. To define those boundaries, a knowledge of the doctrine and essential discipline of each communion must necessarily

be obtained, and even when this knowledge is obtained, the application of it will be best directed by an investigation of the existing ordinances of other states, similarly situated;-that is to say,-wherein a diversity of religious worship is known to exist, either by establishment, avowed toleration, or connivance, and where all the relations of good citizenship are preserved, without trenching upon, or wounding the conscientious scruples of the most rigid professor of any religious communion whatever; the true principle of legislation on such points, being ever to give unto Caesar, the things “ which are Casar's, and unto God, the things which “ are God's.”

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If, then, a competent knowledge of the dogma, and discipline of the Church demand our regard, the inherent rights of the Sovereign and the State, are not less to be contemplated; and, though the sacred symbolic Creeds, with the Canons and Decrees of the Universal Church, are held to be of primary obligation, they cannot, in this world of human institutions, be unattended and unaided by municipal laws of civil observance.-It is thus that, in the various existing institutes of extended legislation, various, as time, substance, and locality have made them, the provident statesman must principally collect his knowledge, and direct its practical application, accommodating his civil ordinances to the exigencies of the day, and the character of his government-and, if it be necessary to support

argument by authority, there are not wanting venerable fathers of the Church, who have justified such accommodation, by declaring, with Bossuet, that the discipline of the Church itself, may be rationally adapted to times and circumstances:-" Multa etiam "sunt decreta, quæ non pertinent ad invariabilem fidei regulam, sed sunt accomodata temporibus atque negotiis*.

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In this spirit of cautious, yet conciliating legislation, the British Government, and the Committee of Parliament, have necessarily carried their researches beyond the pale of their own limited state; and, to apply the fact to the second Head of Inquiry," they have been taught, that the application of the Regium Placitum, or Exequatur, to Rescripts, emanating from any foreign jurisdiction, is laid down by the most accredited Jurists, of every religious communion, as an indefeasible an indefeasible prerogative of the Sovereign.

As the "REPORT," and the various Documents annexed to it, have been transmitted to their Eminences the Cardinal Secretary of State, and the Cardinal Prefect of Propaganda Fide, it will be

[A striking instance of the application of this principle appears in the Decree of the 12th of April, 1818, since this Statement was presented to His Holiness, in the alteration of the Pontifical oath, to be generally taken by the Prelates of the Roman Catholic Communion throughout the British Empire.]

easy to trace the course, which, in this respect, has been taken by the Ministers of the Crown, and the Committee of Parliament. The authorities of the most eminent Jurists of their time, are therein particularly recognised: the ecclesiastical institutes of the reverend Fathers Schram and Zalwein, are also noticed, both Professors of Divinity and Canon Law, of the Order of St. Benedict, and whose works have been long in high estimation in all the Catholic universities of the German Empire. On the head of the Regium Placitum, or Exequatur, the Professor Schram observes, in the conclusion of his Chapter, entitled, Regium Placitum, quid? et ejus justitia.— "Est enim pars majestatis regiæ illi intime et essen“tialitèr connexa, quòd nullus Princeps in prejudi"cium successoris et reipublicæ abdicare potest."— and this principle he holds with Van Espen, and almost every Jurist, of whatever nation, or Christian communion. The recent state paper of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, entitled "Memoria Giuris"dizionale," of the 5th March, 1816-recognises the same principles as unalienable rights :" Dritti " inalienabili, che se fossero o ceduti, o' invasi, la Sovranità verrebbe a distruggersi."-adding, also, "La necessità dell “ Exequatur,” che è il Cardine preservativo dei dritti regali, è stata sempre riconosciuta sotto il Governo Mediceo ed Austriaco, ne ha trovata giammai opposizione questa massima, sempre gelosamente custodita ed osser"vata in rapporto agli atti proveniente da qua

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lunque potenza Estera, e più specialmente dalla

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Corte di Roma, come quella che per i rapporti di Religione e per le disposizioni dei Canoni e dei

Concilii, ha occasione più frequente di estendere "le sue determinazioni a tutti gli Stati Cattolici."

With the same caution was framed the recent Edict of the King of Naples, of the 2nd September, 1817, declaring "Le Bulli, i Brevi, ed i Rescritti "che perverranno dalla Sante Sede, non avranno effetto se non dopo che saranno muniti del Regio

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Exequatur,' volendo pur provvedere alla con"servazione di dritti inerenti alla nostra reale "Corona."

The "Ministre de l'Intérieur" of the French Government, also, in presenting the convention between His Holiness and the King, to the Chamber of Deputies, on the 22nd of April last, declares," Il "est règle dans la plupart des Etats Catholiques qu'aucune Bulle, ou Rescrit de la Cour de Rome ne peut y être publiée, n'executée, sans sous-vérification préable, et sans l'autorisation du Gouverne"ment." "Cette doctrine est fondée sur les véri"tables principes du droit politique."

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These precedents are noticed, not only as being of a very recent date, but as they stand in concurrence with similar ordinances of, almost, every state in Europe, to which the investigation of the Committee of Parliament has necessarily been directed. The Committee offer no opinion respecting their expe

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