lishman. I confess that since the union, the political rights of both countries, would I could add, of both peo to the feelings of a Catholic: he may Far from intending to irritate the quick sensibility of our Irish bre thren, I wish to prepare them for disappointment, to assuage the agitation of mind produced by the indulgence of extravagant hope, and to save them from the despondency which follows the conviction that hope has been groundless. I would also intreat them to moderate their present demands: let them petition, if they will, for the restoration of all their rights; but let them petition, at the same time, for any portion of them. I presume then to advise the Catholics of Ireland to declare their readiness to accept, with due gratitude, any portion of their civil privileges, now detained, which it may please the Goverment to restore; and I give this counsel, first, on the same ground which recommends to my judgment the practise of incessant petitioning. The admission of the Catholic into some rights, offices, or places, from which he is now excluded, will familiarize the Protestant with his appearance in public. present, the Catholic, "fænum habet in cornu," is marked as a dangerous animal: let the Protestant fancy then that he may in time be manui adsuetus ; let the insignia of his ferocity be as little ostensible, as little terrifying as possible. 66 At So I advise also this acquiescence in partial relief on the ground, that it will take from our opposers one of the arms with which they now combat us. "Nothing will satisfy them but grant"ing them all they ask. What can Before the introduction of the Re- " you expect from such insolent petilief Bill, it was said that the claims tioners, but that they will try to doought not to be granted, unless it were "mineer in the country, establish their agreeable to the Protestants that they "horrible superstition, and light again should be granted: this was the signal" the fires of Smithfield?" I advise it for Anti-Catholic Petitions, and these also on this most important consideraserved as a pretext for demanding Se- tion, that, to a grant of partial relief, curities. The infliction of the securi- no conditions will be annexed. ties was, most happily, superseded by long as the petition on one hand, and the rejection of the first clause of the the repeal of all disabilities on the Bill, by a majority of four; but the other, are regarded in some sort as a mere fact that such securities were an treaty on a grand scale, the real enenexed, and with the consent of our mies, and the seeming friends, of the best friends too, to a Relief Bill, ought Catholic claims, will always be ready to convince the Catholics of Ireland to urge the danger of unqualified, unthat the public mind in the ruling coun- conditional concession; but the heroes try is not prepared to restore to them of the French side of the Pyrenees their full birth-right. may possibly be allowed to obtain the I beg pardon for the phrase "ruling rank of Colonels in the army, without country" let it pass as an instance of paying the price of their consent, that that forgetfulness of right, which is their Bishops may be transported like engendered by habit. For four cen- felons, for no other crime than that of turies Ireland has been treated as a presuming to be Bishops, in an unesta onquered country, and I am an Eng-blished church, without civil licence.. The Irish Catholic, should he condescend to comment on my observations, may object, that our adversaries will say, "Do not grant them a "little; they will use that little as a mean to obtain more, and will be satisfied with nothing less than all. I admit the probability that they will argue thus, for thus they have argued: but I cannot admit the prudence of asking for all, and nothing but all, of those who, by supposition, are unwilling to grant even a little. ners, if they are not those of a courtier, or a man of the world, are those of a gentleman, frank, friendly, unassuming, unostentatious. It is not in the power of any set of men to disgrace him. Our brethren in Ireland have delighted in the endeavour to do him honour. We, whose immediate Pastor he is, in the Midland district, should answer to the still stronger call there is on us. You have announced in your last number a meeting on the first Thursday in March, at the most populous town of the district. The second object of this meeting may be to prepare a petition for reli f to our Representatives in Parliament: for, by constitutional construction at least, the House of Commons are our Representatives. In this letter I have hitherto addressed myself to the Irish Catholic: in England we seem willing to be taken in tow by the vessel of that great population, and to wait till our lot be decided in theirs. In truth, thanks to the Junta who take upon themselves to applaud the advocates of schismatical The third object may be to consider clauses in a Relief Bill, and to expel in what means the self-appointed Board from amongst them a most illustrious may be opposed. Bishop Milner has Bishop, the Catholic public in Eng-approved by his authority my proposal land is NOTHING. of opposition to it. He prefers indeed the method of reforming the abuses which subsist in it; but it is evident that the main abuse is its constitution, If it be thought right that there should still be a General Board; if the same noblemen aad gentlemen, or some of them, continue to act for us, let them act for us with our own consent. If it were possible, I could wish that those who have but one and the same object in both the islands of the united kingdom, and who propose to themselves the same legal and peaceable mode of obtaining it, should have but one Board, near the seat of Go Those of your readers, Sir, who peruse your Journal with the principles with which you conduct it, will acquiesce most heartily in the epithet with which I have designated Bishop Milner. Had his name been handed down to us from the early ages of the Church, it would have been placed on the same rank with the name of Athanasius or Ambrose. By the help of Divine Grace, he will, from the circumstances in which he is now placed, add the merits and character of a Confessor to all the other claims which he has to the respect and reverence of the English Catholics. Where is the Di-vernment, and that the district meetvine and Scholar among the Clergy of the Anglican establishment, with all the means and appliances which they derive from the piety of their Catholic ancestors, to be compared, as a Divine and Scholar, with Bishop Milner? Where, amongst any Clergy, his superior in laboriousness and disinterestedness? Where is the writer who excels him in his perspicuous style, DISDAIN- P. S.-I have communicated the piFUL OF TRICKERY, in native strength, ous wish of the Anglican divine, so in right feeling, in sound judgment, politely intimated to a Catholic,and in practical usefulness? His man-("These men, the Protestants, do not ings in Great Britain should resemble the county meetings in Ireland. At any rate, according to the above-cited authority, which all will allow to be that of an experienced man, there is but one alternative" Support the Board, or oppose it." I am Sir, your humble servant, AN ENGLISH CATHOLIC. know when they are rude," said a Catholic gentleman to me)in the desperate hope of making some men ashamed of the brutal excess of their prejudices. Many there are in this country, who, if they were assured that all the true Protestants were safely landed, by miracle or otherwise, in the Isle of Anglesey, would not grievously lament the submersion of the Emerald Isle, with all its Papishes. Yet Ireland is, I trust, to England, Κλήμα ἐς άει TO THE CATHOLICS OF ENGLAND. manner the interest which, as Catholics, and as Patriots, they feel in the discussion of this important question; and their conduct for several years past in preparing their petitions has, upon all occasions, been such as to reflect upon them the highest credit: meeting with open doors, admission to every one, and permission for all persons to deliver their sentiments. The consequence is, that they have for ever put suspicion of their motives to flight; and the contemptible calum-nies, formerly in constant circulation, impeaching the loyalty of the Irish Catholics, are now consigned to a few interested bigots. By acting in a manner becoming their dignity, as sub Friends, and Fellow Subjects, The immediate object of the present address to you is, to excite, if possible,jects of a country blessed with a free in your breasts, a more lively sense, than you hitherto appear to have entertained, of the duties you owe to yourselves, and particularly to such part of your body as are, from differhent motives, prevented from taking Pany decided steps for procuring the redress of those grievances which, as Catholics, you labour under. constitution, they have already received a recompense in their minds, superior to any reward in the power of monarchs to bestow. As Catholics, they have the satisfaction of knowing, that by the stand made by them in defence of our holy religion, the faith of their forefathers will descend to their posterity as pure as they received terial intrigue, the machinations of avowed enemies, and the treachery of pretended friends. As Patriots, they have, by the publicity of their proceedings, aroused the moral and intellectual faculties of the people, and occasioned a thirst for information, by which the nation will be a gainer sto an extent unparalleled perhaps in the annals of the world; and the faithful historian, when depicting the improvément effected in the minds and condition of the present race of people in Ireland, will ascribe the merit to the diffusion of knowledge occasioned by the exertions of the Catholics of the present day. Let us see if the Catholics of England have done themselves equal honour. Alas! my friends, the contrast is so great, that an impartial person would scarcely believe they could be equally aggrieved by the laws which oppress their Irish bre 1. It has long been a subject of asto-it, in spite of all the efforts of minisnishment and regret, that, not withstanding the learning, the public and private virtues, the splendid talents, and political ability, to be found among the Catholics of England, they have never yet petitioned for the reopeal of the oppressive enactments against them, in a manner becoming the respectability of their body; and it is a fact, highly discreditable to -them, that, while hundreds of the dis-senters were labouring in their cause, by their writings, sermons, and by petitioning, for them, the English Catholics lay in inglorious silence, and suffered the "good fight" to be fought without their interference; this is a fact so inconsistent, and so unaccountable, that were it not too well known to be doubted, it would be considered almost incredible. Let us for a moment survey the contrast presented by our brethren in Ireland; we see that not a county throughout that king-thren. dom, but has testified in the fullest It appears that notwithstanding all will, I think, be sufficient to shew, that the acceptance of it by the Ca tholics would be a degradation of them, as members of a free state, and incompatible with the purity of the Catholic religion.-This Bill, which received the unqualified censure of Catholic Ireland, was eagerly hailed, and would have been as eagerly ac cepted, by the "English Catholic "Board" and, as if they were de sirous of shewing themselves still less entitled to your approbation, they pass a Resolution, declaring it "inexpedient that the Right Rev. Dr. "Milner do continue any longer a member of their Select Committee," in consequence of his having, in the memorial alluded to, exposed the dan gerous tendency of the Bill then before the House of Commons. the discussions which have taken 66 66 If any thing could tend to increase the estimation of the Catholic Public towards the Right Rev. Prelate, which he had previously gained by his courageous advocacy of their cause, it was his answer upon this occasion, contenting himself with merely requesting them not to turn him out of the "Catholic Church, and, not to exclude "him from the Kingdom of Heaven." Here, my friends, we find the genuine spirit of Christianity, and a proof that Forgiveness to the injured doth belong; "He never can forgive, who doth the wrong." 66 I do not desire to recur to any charges of long standing against them; some of their recent proceedings are, I think, quite sufficient to shew that self-interest is more predominant in their minds than the welfare of the whole body; witness their readiness in acceding to the measure of the Veto, when proposed to them in the form of the Fifth Resolution, and their feeble and impotent attempt to censure the Right Rev. Dr. Milner, for his magnanimous resistance to a measure so pregnant with ruin to our Church, by their famous Resolution of the 29th May, 1810, declaring, that they did not consider themselves as implicated in, or responsible for, the political opinions, conduct, or writ-rances of private regard and public ings of Dr. Milner. If it were possible for such empty blustering to have occasioned the ve nerable Doctor a moment's uneasiness, it surely must have been removed by the consolatory, the gratifying, assu approbation, which rewarded the unpro-deviating rectitude of his conduct from all parts of Ireland, commencing very properly with the Clergy, who, in a general meeting of the prelates of that country, declared, "that the Right "Rev. Dr. Milner, Bishop of Casta. "bala, our vigilant and incorruptible agent, the powerful and unwearied "champion of the Catholic Religion, continues to possess our esteem, our "confidence, and our gratitude" and followed, as it was, by the thanks I pass over their intermediate ceedings, and come to an act, which, in my opinion, renders them totally unworthy and undeserving of the confidence of the Catholic body. I allude to their extraordinary and unaccountable readiness to accept of the late falsely called," Bill for the relief "of the Catholics." A reference to the exposure of its clauses, in the first" number of the Orthodox Journal, and by Dr. Milner in his brief memorial, ANTI-VETO. latter I have never seen, and is only known to me by his writings. ON THE BIBLE-DISTRIBUTING SCHEME. For the Orthodox Journal. of every Catholic meeting since held | the "Board" know, that though they there. Compare this, for a moment, may not consider it expedient that he my friends, with the return bestowed remain any longer one of their numin England on this unwearied advo-ber, the Catholics of England will cate for the rights of his oppressed universally declare it highly expedient brethren; insult and persecution from that a lasting memorial be preserved of the "English Catholic Board," and their opinion of his transcendant merits, silent neglect from the whole body. and his unwearied and disinterested Let me then beseech you to reflect for fidelity to the cause of his religion and a moment on the merited reproach his country. Hoping to have an early which attaches to us, for such ill-opportunity of congratulating you on treatment of one of our best advocates. your unconditional emancipation, Does it arise from any indifference to I remain yours, &c. the great cause in which we are engaged, or from an ill-judged confidence P. S. In order to avoid misreprein those who have so improperly called sentation, it may be necessary to obthemselves your representatives? I am serve, that the members of the Board, willing to believe the latter; but the and Dr. Milner, are both equally unveil is now removed. I hope, there- known to me. I know the former fore, you will no longer suffer your-only by their public proceedings, the selves to be deceived or deluded; but that, arousing from the lethargy in which you have so long been kept, you will testify, universally, your sense of the merits of the illustrious individual, who, for upwards of twenty years, has been our principal defender from the attacks of all our adversaries; who has, by his unequalled exertions, prevented our being guilty of the crime of schism; who, while he has advocated with consistency our poli-and think that the Catholic Public are tical interests, has stood almost alone in preserving our ecclesiastical faith; who, unawed by the threats of men in power, and undeterred by the persecution of "false brethren" of his own religion, has, upon all occasions, stood forth to defend our cause, from whatever quarter attacked; and who has accomplished more for its success than all the members of the "Board" put together. Let public meetings of the Catholics be called, when it can conveniently be accomplished, and when our petition is again presented to the Legislature, let it be duly and truly "The Petition of the Cathol cs of "England." That done, let us no longer hesitate to emulate the conduct of our brethren in Ireland, in our approbation of the splendid services, the zeal and ability, of the Right Rev. Dr. Milner; but let the members of MR. EDITOR, I have read with much satisfaction the article in your sixth number, entitled, "Liberality and Consistency," under obligations both to Mr. Blair and yourself; to Mr. B. for exposing the weakness of himself, and those for whom he acts; to you, Sir, for your noble and successful defence of Catholic principles. The scheme for propagating Christianity by the distribution of Bibles, being certainly novel in itself, like many another novelty, at first attracted considerable notice. To the Clergy of the Established Church, it afforded a favourable opportunity of manifesting a quality, with the want of which they had frequently of late years been reproached, zeal for religion. To this want of zeal was ascribed the defection of so great a proportion of their flocks, who were seen running in crowds to conventicles, eagerly exchanging their cold and careless pastors for guides, apparently at least, animated with a desire |