though, to remark here, that personal mo-) the separation between the monarch and tives had an additional sway, in creating the holy see; for in enacting those very exemptions from obedience, regular or ordinary, and from payment of tythes; and these statutes against the usurpation of the see of Rome, made in the time of Roman Catholic princes, with the express assent of the bishops and prelates of the realm, were continued in force ever since; so that the acts in Henry the 8th and queen Elizabeth, against appeals to Rome, and in confirmation of the regalia and supremacy of the crown, in matters ecclesiastical, were no more than an affirmance of the common law, as it had been used and practised in the time of their royal progenitors. By the 1st of Henry the 7th, the king alone, and none but the king, can grant to a place the privilege of a sanctuary. 9th Henry the 7th, the king alone, and none but the king, can found a spiritual corporation. And as the law adjudged them high offenders who brought in these bulls themselves, so when they were produced in any of the king's courts, they had no allowance or estimation at all. For though by the law an excommunicate person doth stand disabled, and is not to sent of the king, under pain of fine and imprisonment. No canons to be carried into execution which are repugnant to the King's prerogative, or laws of the realm. No appeals to Rome allowed. Persons appointed to review the canons. 25th of Henry the 8th, c. 20. Provides for the mode of electing and consecrating archbishops and bishops; and restrains from paying first-fruits to Rome. Chap. 21st, entitled, "An Act concerning Peter-pence dispensations." 1st Sect. recites, "Forasmuch as your Majesty is supreme head of the Church of England, as the prelates and clergy of your realm, representing the said Church in their synods and convocations, have recognized;" and proceeds to enact, that in future all pensions, censes, portions, and Peter-pence, such as used to be taken by, or on behalf of the bishop of Rome, shall surcease, and never more be levied. Section 2d. That neither his Majesty, his heirs or successors, nor any of his subjects, shall in future sue to the said bishop of Rome for licences, dispensations, fa be answered in any action till he be as-culties, or other grants of any kind what solved by the bishop who pronounce the sentence of excommunication against him; yet when the Pope's excommunications, under the leaden seals, were shewn forth in any of the king's courts, they were never allowed to disable such as were plaintiffs in any action, but were ever rejected as being of no validity in these kingdoms, as is reported every where in the ancient books of the years of Edward the 3rd, Richard the 2d, Henry the 4th, Henry the 6th, and Henry the 7th; whereof no student of the law is ignorant. By the ancient common law, a writ of prohibition was awarded against such as did sue any subject in the court of Rome; and such suits and appeals are likewise prohibited by particular statutes, enacted in this kingdom, in the time of Henry the 6th and Henry the 7th. 24th Henry the 8th, chap. 12. (1532). Appeals to Rome disallowed. Power and right of the king's courts, spiritual and temporal, in all matters belonging to their respective jurisdictions is provided for. 25th of Henry the 8th, cap. 19. (1533.) The clergy not to enact any canons, constitutions, or ordinances, without the con ever, for any cause or matter whatever, for which such licences, &c. have heretofore been obtained; but in future the archbishop of Canterbury is to grant such licences, &c. 5th Sect. The archbishop is not to grant licences, &c. for matters unwonted, or unaccustomary, without the consent of the king in council first obtained. 17th Sect. If the archbishop refuse or deny granting the dispensations or licences to persons reasonably entitled to have them, the lord chancellor shall, upon complaint being made to him, issue the king's writ, requiring of the archbishop the reason of his refusal, and if necessary shall issue his injunctions to the archbishop. 19th Sect. declares, That it is not intended to decline or vary from Christ's Church in any matter of the Catholic faith; but to make an ordinance by policies necessary to suppress vice, and to preserve the peace of the realm; not seeking for relief or remedy upon worldly and human laws elsewhere than in the king, who ought to have an imperial power and authority thereon. 22nd Sect. Inflicts the penalty of prelaws, it was positively decreed, that nothing as to the faith was to be altered.* cancelled the acts of Philip and Mary, and re-established the supremacy over the Church of England, was as much, if not more, actuated than her father, by mo. tives of personal security and the main Queen Mary,† who repealed Henry's statutes, prudently put this safeguard; that the pope's bulls and briefs were merely to be confined to spirituals, with-tenance of her crown; to which her atten. out interfering either with the independence of the kingdom, or the independence of her subjects. Queen Elizabeth, her successor, who munire on those who sue to the court at Rome, or obey processes from thence. * 26th Henry the Sth, c. 1. (1534.) The king is made supreme head of the Church. The oath of supremacy was enacted in the reign of this king (Henry the 8th), a furious Roman Catholic; and the oath was approved of and taken by the whole body of bishops and clergy of England in convocation, and by all ranks and orders of men throughout the kingdom, very few excepted; and was as universally received and taken in Ireland, several years before any reformation of religion was either made or attempted in either kingdom. † 1st of Edward the 6th, c. 12, Sect. 6th. (1547.) Enacts heavy penalties on those who affirm by words or preaching, that the king is not supreme head of the Church, or that any other is; or to compass to depose him; or to affirm that he ought not to be king. Sect. 7th. High treason to assert and preach, that the bishop of Rome is the supreme head of the Church; or by writing, word, overt act or deed, to teach or enforce that any other than the king ought to be sovereign or supreme of this country. Ist and 2nd of Philip and Mary, chap. 8th, declares the Crown, Lords, and Commons, repentant for the schism and disobedience committed in this realm, and being again received into the Church of Rome; it repeals the several acts of Henry the 8th, and also the 1st of Edward the 6th, chap. 12, in part, as to the Pope's supremacy. Sect. 42, enacts, That although the title of supreme head of the Church of England could never be justly attributed to, or claimed by any king of the realm, yet the use of such titles should not vitiate any deed or record in which such title is used. Sect. 53, enacts, That the ancient rights of the crown, existing before the statutes of Henry the 8th, are not to be considered as derogated from; and the Pope's holiness, and the apostolic see, are restored to and are to enjoy the tion had been particularly called by Clement the Seventh's refusal to acknowledge king Henry the Eighth's divorce from Catharine of Arragon, prior to his marriage with her mother, and by an act the parliament had passed, declaring her illegitimate, although afterwards revoked.* Still the Catholics, after Elizabeth had declared herself Protestant queen and governess of the Church, joined their sovereign in resisting the forces which Sixtus the fifth had influenced Catholic princes to employ against her; so much so, that the Spanish admiral observed, that on landing he would make no distinction be authority and jurisdiction they had prior to those acts of Henry the 8th, by virtue of the Pope's supremacy, without diminution or enlargement. This act is entitled, "An Act for repealing the articles and provisions made against the apostolic see of Rome, since the 20th year of king Henry the 8th; and for the establishment of all spiritual and ecclesiastical possessions and hereditaments conveyed to the laity." * 1st Elizabeth, chap. 1st, entitled, "An act to restore to the crown the ancient jurisdiction over the state ecclesiastical and spiritual, and abolishing all foreign powers repugnant to the same ;" revokes and repeals Ist and 2nd Philip and Mary, and revives statutes of Henry the 8th. Sect. 16th, enacts, That no foreign prince, person, prelate, state or potentate, spiritual or temporal, shall have or enjoy any power, authority, jurisdiction, preeminence or privilege, spiritual or ecclesiastical, within the realm, but from henceforth the same shall be utterly abolished. Sect. 19th, Directs the oath as to the supremacy. 5th Elizabeth, chap. Ist, entitled, " An act for the assurance of the Queen's royal power over all estates and subjects within her dominions." Sect. 2. Penalty of premunire against those who extol, set forth, maintain, or defend the authority, power, or jurisdiction of the see of Rome, heretofore claimed, used, or usurped within this realm, or the King's dominions. tween a Catholic and a Protestant, save what the point of a sword would have made between their flesh. As to the Papal infallibility, it is a doctrine as absurd in itself, as pernicious in its consequences; -the spurious child of arrogance, fostered by credulity, and nurtured by servile adulation. The best informed Catholic divines do not acknowledge this principle as to the person of the Pope, but merely in the sense of the general Church; and as, by their tenets, the Church can never make a new article of faith, nor command any thing against the laws of God, so it can only declare what has been revealed. With regard to the spiritual rights of the Pope, the landmarks are erected, which cannot therefore be permitted to be removed: subordination in every society requires pre-eminence in its rulers; but his will is not their creed. Any deviation from the laws of God, the rights of nature, or the faith of the fathers of the Church, would be a fatal rock, upon which the pontiff himself would split. These are the opinions of some Popes themselves; and history records the imprisonment and excommunication of more than one, which must act as an extinguisher on these extravagant and dangerous assumptions, which have originated in the cowardly, ignorant, and interested views of sovereigns themselves, and have afterwards been abused, and, from custom, claimed as a right by the worldly and crafty arts of ambitious and designing pontiffs. The only other serious political objection, which has ever been violently urged against the Catholics, is the supposition of their not considering themselves obliged to keep faith with heretics. Their own especial refutation given to this charge, in the most positive terms by the oath of allegiance, which they take, is a sufficient contradiction to a stigma that has been thrown upon their character in times of religious controversies, when both parties seemed emulous which of the two should blacken the other the most*. * I. Is the Oath and Declaration prescribed by the British parliament of the 31st of his present Majesty, and which is taken by all English Catholics. "I, A. B. do hereby declare, that I do profess the Roman Catholic religion." "I, A. B. do sincerely promise and swear, that I will be faithful, and bear However, some opinions of Catholic divines and jurists, as to this very point, will true allegiance to his majesty king George the third, and him will defend to the utmost of my power against all conspiracies and attempts whatsoever that shall be made against his person, crown, or dignity; and I will do my utmost endeavour to disclose and make known to his Majesty, his heirs and successors, all treasons and traitorous conspiracies which may be formed against him or them: and I do faithfully promise to maintain, support and defend, to the utmost of my power, the succession of the crown; which succession, by an act entitled, An Act for the further limitation of the crown, and better securing the rights and liberties of the subject, is, and stands limited to the princess Sophia, electress and duchess dowager of Hanover, and the heirs of her body, being Protestants; hereby utterly renouncing and abjuring any obedience or allegiance unto any other person claiming or pretending a right to the crown of these realms. And I do swear, that I do reject and detest as an unchristian and impious position, that it is lawful to murder or destroy any person or persons whatsoever, for or under pretence of their being heretics or infidels; and also that unchristian and impious principle, that faith is not to be kept with heretics or infidels: and I further declare, that it is not an article of my faith; and that I do renounce, reject, and abjure the opinion, that princes, excommunicated by the Pope and council, or any authority of the see of Rome, or by any authority whatsoever, may be deposed or murdered by their subjects, or any person whatsoever; and I do promise, that I will not hold, maintain, or abet any such opinion, or any other opinions contrary to what is expressed in this declaration: and I do declare, that I do not believe that the Pope of Rome, or any other foreign prince, prelate, state, or potentate, hath, or ought to have, any temporal or civil jurisdiction, power, superiority, or preeminence, directly, or indirectly, within this realm: 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 of this oath, without any evasion, equivocation, or mental reservation whatever, and without any dispensation already granted by the Pope, or any authority of the see of Rome, add, if necessary, additional weight to their assertions. or any person whatever, and without thinking that I am, or can be, acquitted before God or man, or absolved of this declaration, or any part thereof, although the Pope, or any other person or authority whatsoever, shall dispense with, or annul the same, or declare that it was null or void. So help me God." Justinian declares, that he acts contrary to the law, who, confining himself to their subjects, or by any person whatsoever; and I do promise, that I will not hold, maintain, or abet, any such opinion, or any other opinion, contrary to what is expressed in this declaration: and I do declare, that I do not believe that the Pope of Rome, or any other foreign prince, prelate, state, or potentate hath, or ought to have, any temporal or civil jurisdiction, power, supe II. The Oaths and Declarations pre- riority, or pre-eminence, directly or indi scribed by the Acts of the Irish Parliament to Irish Roman Catholics. The first is the oath of allegiance and declaration, prescribed by the Irish act of the 13th and 14th of his present Majesty; and is taken by all Irish Roman Catholics. "I, A. B. do take Almighty God, and his only son Jesus Christ, my Redeemer, to witness, that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to our most gracious sovereign lord king George the third, and him will defend to the utmost of my power against all conspiracies and attempts whatsoever that shall be made against his person, crown, and dignity; and I will do my utmost endeavour to disclose and make known to his Majesty, and his heirs, all treasons and traitorous conspiracies, which may be formed against him or them; and I do faithfully promise to maintain, support, and defend, to the utmost of my power, the succession of the crown in his Majesty's family, against any person or persons whatsoever, hereby utterly renouncing and abjuring any obedience or allegiance unto the person taking upon himself the style and title of Prince of Wales, in the life-time of his father, and who since his death is said to have assumed the style and title of king of Great Britain and Ireland, by the name of Charles the third, and to any other person claiming, or pretending a right to the crown of these realms; and I do swear that I do reject and detest, as unchristian and im rectly, within this realm; and I do solemnly in the presence of God, and of his only Son Jesus Christ, my Redeemer, profess, testify, and declare, that I do make this declaration, and every part thereof, in the plain and ordinary sense of the words of this oath, without any evasion, equivocation, or mental reservation whatever, and without any dispensation already granted by the Pope, or any authority of the see of Rome, or any person whatever, and without thinking that I am, or can be acquitted before God or man, or absolved of this declaration, or any part thereof, although the Pope, or any other person or persons or authority whatsoever, shall dispense with or annul the same, or declare that it was null and void from the beginning. So help me God." The next is the oath and declaration prescribed by the Irish act of the 33d of his present Majesty, and is taken by all Irish Roman Catholics, wishing to entitle themselves to the benefit of that act. "I, A. B. do hereby declare, that I do profess the Roman Catholic religion." "I, A. B. do swear that I do abjure, condemn, and detest, as unchristian and impious, the principle that it is lawful to murder, destroy, or any ways injure any persons whatsoever, for or under the pre. tence of being a heretic: and I do declare solemnly before God, that I believe that no act in itself unjust, immoral, or wicked, can ever be justified or excused, by or pious to believe, that it is lawful to murder | under pretence or colour that it was done the letter, acts contrary to the spirit and interest of it; and whosoever, to excuse himself, endeavours fraudulently to illude the true sense of a law, by a rigorous attachment to the word of it, shall not escape its penalties by such prevarications*. S. Isidorus, apud Gratianum, states, whoever swears, must do it according to the intention of him to whom he swears, let the mode and form of the expression be what it willt. or destroy any person or persons whatsoever, for or under pretence of their being heretics, and also that unchristian and impious principle that no faith is to be kept with heretics: I further declare, that it is no article of my faith, and that I do renounce, reject, and abjure, the opinion that princes excommunicated by the Pope and council, or by any authority of the see of Rome, or by any authority whatsoever, may be deposed or murdered by either for the good of the Church, or in obedience to any ecclesiastical power whatsoever. I also declare, that it is not an article of the Catholic faith, neither am I thereby required to believe or profess that the Pope is infallible, or that I am bound to obey any order, in its own nature immoral, though the Pope, or any ecclesiastical power, should issue or direct such order; but on the contrary, I hold that it would be sinful in me to pay any respect In the general council of Constance, even where the conduct of that assembly towards Huss is cited by Protestants, in proof of the accusation, urged against Catholics, for breach of faith to Heretics, Pope Martin the fifth declared, that it is not lawful for a man to perjure himself on any account, even for the faith; it further adds, " let the persons suspected be asked, whether he, or she, does not think that all wilful perjury, committed upon any occasion whatsoever, for the preservation of one's life, or another man's, or even for the sake of faith, is a mortal sin." If any additional contradiction were requisite, the behaviour of the illustrious empress, Maria Theresa, towards her Protestant subjects in Hungary, must satisfy the most cavillingdisposition, as to the sincerity and strictness with which a Catholic princess fulfilled her promises, made to a body of men, commonly called Heretics, in the hour of distress. That magnanimous heroine, surrounded on all sides by numerous and powerful foes, ready to invade her dominions, and or obedience thereto: I further declare, that I do not believe that any sin whatever committed by me, can be forgiven, at the mere will of any Pope, or any priest, or of any person or persons whatsoever, but that sincere sorrow for past sins, a firm and sincere resolution to avoid future guilt and to atone to God, are previous and indispensable requisites to estab. to make her captive, -armed the softer lish a well-founded expectation of forgive- and more delicate feelings of her sex with ness, and that any person who receives a manly and martial firmness. She took absolution without these previous requisites, so far from obtaining thereby any remission of his sins, incurs the additional guilt of violating a sacrament: and I do swear that I will defend, to the uttermost of my power, the settlement and arrangement of property in this country, as established by the laws now in being: I do hereby disclaim, disavow, and solemnly abjure, any intention to subvert the present Church establishment, for the purpose of substituting a Catholic establishment in its stead: and I do solemnly swear, that I will not exercise any privilege to which I am or may become entitled, to disturb and weaken the Protestant religion and Protestant government in this kingdom. -So help me God." All our English Protestant colonies in America revolted and joined France, while Catholic Canada was the only place which preserved its fidelity, in which France could not get a footing, and the only peopled American colony which now belongs to us. * " Non dubium est in lege committere eum qui verba legis amplexus contra legis nititur voluntatem: nec pænas incertas legibus evitabit, qui se contra juris sententiam, sæva prerogativa verborum fraudulenter excusat." Justinian. †"Quacunque arte verborum quisque jurat Deus, tamen qui conscientiæ testis est, ita hoc accipit, sicut ille qui juratur intelligit." Isidorus apud Gratianum. in her arms her infant son, and shewing him to her subjects of every description, "Behold your prince," says she, " unable to guard you; defend his rights; and when he shall be able to sway the sceptre, the grateful remembrance of your services shall procure you his favour, love, and protection." Her Protestant subjects of Hungary flocked to her banners, and, as a reward of their loyalty, she repealed the restrictive laws which former sovereigns had enacted; she made it high treason to molest them in the exercise of their religion; this toleration Maria Theresa began in her hereditary kingdoms, and Joseph the second completed the emancipation all over his dominions, by restoring his Christian subjects, of every denomination, to the freedom and rights of citizens. How different the conduct observed by this great princess, contrasted with the policy of our Queen Anne towards her Irish subjects. She gave the death-blow to the Catholics, for having fought in her father's cause, before they could have any notion that she would wield the sceptre, which had dropped from his feeble and enervated hands, and even riveted the chains of the dissenters, who had procured her succession, by the previous exaltation of her brother-in-law to the throne*. * 1st of Anne, stat. 11, cap. 17. "An Act for enlarging the time for taking |