as on yours, are propagated against you with so much systematic pains. I think the Committee would do well to do something of this kind in their own name. I trust those men of great ability in that committee who incline to think that the Catholics ought to melt down their cause into the general mass of uncertain discontents and unascertained principles, will, I hope, for the sake of agreeing with those whom, I am sure, they love and respect among their own brethren, as well as for the sake of the kingdom at large, wave that idea (which I do not deny to be greatly provoked) of dissolving the Catholic body before the objects of its union are obtained, and turning the objects of their relief into a national quarrel. This, I am satisfied, on recollection, they will think not irrational. The course taken by the enemy often becomes a fair rule of action. see, by the whole turn of the debates against them, that their adversaries endeavoured to give this colour to the contest, and to make it hinge on this principle. The same policy cannot be good for you and your enemies. You Sir George Shee, who is so good to take this, waits, or I should say more on this point. I should say something too of the Colleges. I long much to hear how you go on; I have however said too much. If Grattan, by whom I wish the Catholics to be wholly advised, thinks differently than me, I wish the whole unsaid. You see Lord Fitzwilliam sticks nobly to his text, and neither abandons his cause nor his friends, though he has few indeed to support him. When you can, pray let me hear from you. Mrs. Burke and myself, in this lonely and disconsolate house, never cease to think of you as we ought to do. I send some prints to Dublin, but, as your house is not there, I reserve a memorial of my dear Richard for your return. I am, ever, my dear Sir, faithfully and affectionately, EDMUND BURKE. Pontifical Oath. London, April 15, 1796. In consequence of the proceedings of the infatuated people in some parts of Ireland, called Defenders, reports have been circulated highly injurious to the Court and See of Rome, and which, if unchecked, may hereafter be destructive to many salutary arrangements of civil policy intimately connected with the interests of his Majesty's Government. The conviction of a man of the name of Levery at the last Belfast Assizes, for administering an oath "to be true to the Duke of York and his Committees," has been cited as a presumption that there is still a considerable remnant of persons active in the desperate cause of restoring the proscribed family of Stuart, and probably finding abettors at Rome. On such an occasion, it seems an act of strict justice to refer to authentic documents which sufficiently manifest the anxiety of the See of Rome for the peace and good order of these kingdoms. Of this description is the Brief of the reigning Sovereign Pontiff to the Bishop of Leon now in London, as are the Letters of the Congregation of the Propaganda to the Catholic Clergy of his Majesty's dominions lately printed (published by J. P. Coghlan, No. 37, Duke Street, Grosvenor Square). That of the 7th of February, 1795, after pathetically inculcating the principles of loyalty, obedience to magistrates, &c., has these pointed words : 66 Quod quidem maximè postulat, suoque quasi jure exigit optimi istius Regis Georgii III. beneficentia, sub cujus miti ac suavi imperio degentes, Catholici tam longé abest ut durum ac grave jugum perferre cogantur, ut potius a gravioribus quibus antea obstricti erant conditionibus liberati, priveligiis instructi, militaribus copiis adscripti, et Catholicæ juventutis instituendæ venia impetrata, omni beneficiorum genere cumulati sint."1 1 This is what is specially demanded and required, as it were, of right, by the beneficence of that most excellent King George III., under whose In addition to these documents, it is also highly interesting to advert to the Pastoral Instruction of the Catholic Archbishop Troy to the Archdiocese of Dublin, of which the following is an extract :— The Roman Catholic Archbishops of Ireland, at their last meeting in Dublin, addressed a Letter to the Pope, wherein they described the misrepresentations that had been recently published of their Consecration Oath, and the great injury to the Catholic body, arising from them: they expressed their fullest conviction that the oath obliging them only to canonical obedience to his Holiness, and communion with the centre of unity, was perfectly reconcileable with their loyalty as subjects and the allegiance they had sworn to their gracious Sovereign King George III. They professed a determination to observe both oaths, and to preserve their communion with the Holy See inviolate: reflecting, however, on the ignorance of most Protestants respecting the Oath, which they seemed only acquainted with from the calumnious publications against it, the prelates abovementioned suggested to the Pope that some declaration or explanation of the Oath, and particularly of the words Hareticos persequar et impugnabo, from himself, or by his authority, would probably remove the alarms of well-meaning Protestants, and confound the prejudiced who, by their misrepresentations of the Oath, endeavoured to blast the prospects and expectations of the Catholics to obtain an emancipation from the penal code; which they had reason to hope for, from the clemency of his Majesty and the wisdom of the Legislature. After due deliberation at Rome, the Congregation of Cardinals appointed to superintend the ecclesiastical affairs of mild and benign sway the Catholics, so far from being obliged to wear a galling and heavy yoke, have been liberated, on the contrary, from the more onerous conditions by which they were before restricted, endowed with privileges, admitted into the military service, permitted to instruct the Catholic youth, and loaded with all sorts of benefits. these kingdoms returned the following answer, by the authority and command of his Holiness ;-it is faithfully translated from the Latin original. Most Illustrious and most Reverend Lords and Brothers— We perceive, from your late letter, the great uneasiness you labour under since the publication of a pamphlet, entitled "The present state of the Church of Ireland," from which our detractors have taken occasion to renew the old calumny against the Catholic religion with increased acrimony, namely, that this religion is by no means compatible with the safety of Kings and Republics: because, as they say, the Roman Pontiff, being the father and master of all Catholics, and invested with such great authority that he can free the subjects of other kingdoms from their fidelity and oaths of allegiance to Kings and Princes, he has it in his power, they contend, to cause disturbances, and injure the public tranquillity of kingdoms with ease. We wonder that you could be uneasy at these complaints, especially after your most excellent brother and apostolic fellow-labourer, the Archbishop of Cashel, (the late truly excellent Dr. James Butler, who departed this life in July, 1791; a most zealous, pious prelate and loyal subject), and other strenuous defenders of the rights of the Holy See, had evidently refuted and explained away these slanderous reproaches, in their celebrated writings. What advantage then can result from any new declaration of this apostolical See, which you request, for the purpose of defending, explaining, and vindicating her rights from accusations? It would only tend to raise up fresh enemies against the Catholic faith itself; for it is the design and determination of evil-minded men in these times to combat the very faith, under the pretence of attacking the rights of the apostolical See; and to overturn and destroy the union with the apostolical chair of Peter, which Catholic churches all over the world stedfastly preserve. Be not then dismayed at these attempts; their calumnies have been already often refuted; so that all they can do now is to revive the old ones as new, to muster up their scattered forces, to weave over again the same flimsy cobwebs. That most holy bishop, not less celebrated for his wisdom than his piety, St. Francis of Sales, was perfectly convinced, that these reproaches were repeated and propagated amongst the vulgar, merely to raise tumult, and to render weak minds uneasy; of this he has recorded a clear testimony in his 764th Letter, vol. vi. edit. Paris, 1758; which we earnestly advise you not only to peruse, but likewise to consider it as a prudent regulation to direct your conduct. Do you also discover the treachery in like manner, and teach the people committed to your care what is right; that they may learn to avoid the snares that are laid for them, lest they should go astray. This, as being not only becoming your piety, but also deriving from your authority, will make a deeper impression on the minds of the faithful committed to your pastoral care, and will prove your vindication against the calumnies of slanderers. We judge from our opinion of your learning that the rights of the apostolical See cannot be unknown to you, and that you are not unacquainted with the arguments by which they can be supported. In this controversy, a most accurate discrimination should be made between the genuine rights of the apostolical See, and those that are imputed to it by innovators of this age, for the purpose of calumniating. The See of Rome never taught that Faith is not to be kept with the Heterodox: that an Oath to Kings separated from Catholic Communion can be violated: that it is lawful for the Bishop of Rome to invade their temporal rights and dominions. We do consider an attempt or design against the life of Kings and Princes, even under the pretext of Religion, as a horrid and detestable crime. His Holiness Pius VI. has not, however, disregarded your requests; and, therefore, in order effectually to remove every occasion of cavil and calumny, which, as you write, some borrow from the words in the form of the oath of obedience to the apostolical See, that bishops are required to take at their con VOL. III. K |