much as they would no longer be bur-1 drawn forth a counter declaration thened with the payment of marriage money, christening money, and other dues, with which the priests overcharged or deceived them. Such were the outrageous deceptions practised by the Vetoists at the beforementioned place, to obtain signatures to their mischievous document; and can any clergyman sanction a measure which stands in need of such supporters and such arguments to assist its cause? It is impossible. Those who have lent their signatures in this country, to the abettors of the irreligious system, have been equally deceived-let them then avow the deception which has been exercised on them. -I have now lying before me an advertisement containing the names of upwards of forty individuals of Skibbereen, &c who therein declare "that in putting their signatures to a paper, commonly called "Lord Trimleston's Veto Petition," they were taken by surprise, and did not consider or perceive its insidious tendency to corrupt their Clergy and undermine their religion; that they therefore feel it their duty to retract their signatures and express regret for their error." These names were succeeded by se veral others, who followed their countrymen in this praise worthy repentance. Happy shall I be to announce a similar determination on the part of those individuals here, who have incautiously become the victims of a misplaced confidence, and more partiticularly of those clergymen who have been made the dupes of a wily policy. If they have inadvertently followed the unhappy steps of Judas, in betraying the mystical body of their heavenly Redeemer, let them dread the despair which seized the traitor on perceiving his error, and imitate the blessed example of St. Peter, in his contrition, before it be too late. BLOOMSBURY BIBLE SCHOOLS.-The admirable resolutions entered into by the Governors of St. Patrick's Catholic Charity Schools, Soho, have from the Committee of the misnamed miserable and destitute objects, who, otherwise, might have been brought up ignorant of the great truths of the Christian Religion. These praiseworthy endeavours, which every Catholic ought to be emulous to encourage, instead of envying or condemning, have (I blush to record it) experienced an unnatural and criminal contravention, of the most lamentable kind, as it comes from a quarter where it was of all others unexpected. Surely, when the enemies of true religion are straining every nerve to pervert the children of our impoverished and woe worn brethren from the faith of their forefathers, by withdrawing them from the means of obtaining religious instruction; surely, it is a duty incumbent on all Catholics to use every lawful means in their power to awaken the feelings of the opulent, to induce them to contribute their wealth to the fund of the orphan and helpless innocent. How criminal then must those individuals be, who from private pique or misplaced prejudice, throw obstacles in the way of these charitable endeavours? Is not every farthing withheld by their secret and paltry tricks, so much taken from the patrimony of the poor? Is not this, indirectly at least, an oppression of the poor, and consequently one of the sins crying to heaven for vengeance? Let those whom it may concern look to this. For my part, I consider every obstacle thrown in the way of a useful and well-conducted public charity, not only a public grievance but a scandal to religion; and such things must not be suffered to pass over with impunity. I trust however no further occasion will be given to revert to this much-to-be-deplored circumstance, but that a perfect reconciliation will immediately ensue between the parties, and the only contention in future be, to emulate each other in rendering the greatest service in their power, to promote the interests of one of the most excellent and beneficial Catholic institutions established in the metro polis. It now remains for me to add, from a gentleman who has taken pains to ascertain the fact, assures me the parents of those children who are now detained in the cages of delusion, are anxious that they should receive a religious Catholic education, but their distresses are so great that they cannot clothe their destitute offspring, who would be stripped naked were they to be withdrawn from the Bloomsbury schools.-The applica tion for admission to St. Patrick's have been numerous, while the funds have not been commensurate to the expenditure required to complete the wishes of the Committee, to "clothe the naked" as well as to "instruct the ignorant" of their indigent and forlorn fellow-Christians. If there is an Irishman, if there is a Catholic, then, who, feeling for the miseries and temptations to which the children of their countrymen are exposed in this modern Babylon, has a few superfluous pounds or shillings to spare, and will transmit the same to me for the benefit of the helpless innocents whose cause I plead, the receipt shall be acknowledged with gratitude, and the name of the benefactor, with permission, recorded with pleasure. At the same time I pledge myself the donations will be strictly appropriated according to the benevolent intentions of the donor, feeling confident that the Governors of the charity, to whom the benefactions will be punctually remitted, will not lose sight of the paramount DUTY imposed upon them, to strain every nerve to clothe the destitute children, by which means they will be effectually withdrawn from a dangerous establishment, to have the seeds of true religion and morality implanted in their tender and infantile breasts. WM. EUSEBIUS ANDREWS. London, April 23, 1816. For the Orthodox Journal. MR. EDITOR,-Being well convinced that Mr. Blair, the great pro moter of the use of Bibles, for the in- | the part of Messrs. Blair and Co. a struction of Catholics in their religion, is a constant reader of your Journal, I beg leave to propose through it, certain questions to that gentleman, being of great importance to the object of his zeal. gainst Messrs. Butler and Co. is fairly made out, the former gentlemen have no reason to be dissatisfied with the latter's stereotype Testament, for the very reasons why we are dissatisfied with it still it seems they are dissatisfied, and we are informed that they are actually printing a Bible, to be distributed among the Catholics of England and Ireland, without any notes whatsoever, under the pretext that such an edition alone preserves the purity of the word of God. I proceed now to propose my questions to Mr. Blair, or, if he be very busy, to Mr. Lefroy, or any other member of the Protestant Catholic Bible Society, requesting that yl, Mr. Editor, will insert the answers which may be returned to them.-Pray, Mr. Blair, what copy do you intend to follow in your new and purified edition of the Bible, for enlightening us poor ignorant Roman Catholics?—I presume your answer will be, that, by the general rule of all the Bible Societies, you are bound to follow the established version of the Church of England.What, Sir, do you then mean to adopt not only the chapters, verses and stops of the common Bible, but also the titles of the chapters which are seen there? Why, Sir, ignorant as you suppose me to be, in quality of a Roman Catholic, in Bibical learning, I know that the chap ters, as they stand now in your Bi I grant that Mr. Blair and his Protestant Catholic Bible Society, have made out a strong case of deception against Mr. Charles Butler and his Catholico-Catholic Bible Society, in the meeting which the former held March 1, 1813, at the New London Tavern, Sir Digby Mackworth in the chair, and likewise in the book, entitled, Correspondence on the formation of the Roman Catholic Bible Society. I grant also that the medical Theologian has gained a complete victory over the conveyancing Theologian, respecting the use of Bibles among Catholics in the modern languages. All that Mr. Butler can say for himself, and in defence of the late stereotype Testament, is, that, if he and his fellow labourers have admitted certain notes into the work in question, they have taken special care, conformably to their advertisement in the newspapers, that these shall be perfectly harmless to Protestants, either by exposing their corruptions of the text and distortion of its meaning, or by pointing out the proofs it contains of the Catholic doctrines. Mr. Butler may also add, in proof of his own co-operation with the ultimate object of the Protestant-bles, were invented as late as the 14th Catholic Bible Society, the two gui- century, by a papistical Cardinal, and neas which he subscribed, and his most of the verses, as they stand, by call upon the public in newspapers, a Jew in the following century; and to induce them to subscribe money I am prepared, Sir, to show you that for the formation of a school, (since the sense of Scripture, in some of its established in St. Giles's) for the in- most important passages, depends on struction of Roman Catholic children, the very punctuation of them. the fundamental law of which is, that what excuse will you and your fellow no book shall be admitted into it but Biblemen make for introducing huthe Bible, without notes, and a spell-man-invented titles into your Bibles, ing book, to the exclusion of all Catechisms and articles of faith whatsoever.- We, Roman Catholics of the old-fashioned School, think that though the charge of deception, on But and placing them at the beginning of the several chapters? These are notes of the very worst description. They forestall the sense of Scripture, and tell the reader beforehand, what meaning he is to affix to each chapter | the whole church of England acknow before he reads it. I will instance the Canticle or Song of Solomon, as you call it, in which neither God nor Christ neither the Church nor Religion, are once mentioned; now, by what right do you, protesting as you do, against all comments, and maintaining, as you do, the necessity of the text being left to speak for itself, preface the chapters as follows: The Church's love for Christ; she confesseth her deformity &c.-The Church's fight and victory, &c. You'observe, Mr. Editor, that the question here is not which, among scores of different explanations of the Canticles, is the best; but whether Messrs. Blair and Co. can, consistently with their principles, adopt any explanation of them at all, either at the beginning or the end of the chapters. Hitherto my enquiries have regarded additions to the Bible; I will now ask Mr. Blair, or any of his co-operators, a question relating to the curtailing of it. Does the ProtestantCatholic Bible Society mean to publish, for our use, the 14th Psalm with all its complement of eleven verses, as it stands in the Common Prayer Book, or will he give us only the seven verses which are found in the ledges, to be a portion of the word of God. But what is infinitely stronger for my purpose of proving that the common Protestant Bible has sup-. pressed three whole verses together of the inspired book of Psalms, (to say nothing of other numberless alterations) is, that these very verses are quoted at full length by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, iii. 13 14. 15. &c. Hence it is clear that Mr. Blair and the other Editors of the Protestant Bible are guilty of the very fault they accuse the Catholic Church of, that of withdrawing the Sacred Text from the people: for it is evident that they have just as much power over the whole Bible as they have over the 14th Psalm. But besides all that is mentioned above, I find, at the end of the Bibles which the Societies profess to follow, the Psalms of David in Metre: now do Messrs. Blair and Co. intend to raise the minds of us poor ignorant Papists to the dignity of God's word, by such sublime stanzas as the following, which I there see? And he shall wound the head of all His enemies; also The hairy scalps of such as on In wickedness still go. Ps. lxviii. 22. common Bible. I presume he will But to be serious, I wish to ask Mr. answer as above, that he is bound by Blair and the other Bible gentlemen, the laws of his Society, to follow the who entertain such a horrible deteslatter. To this 1 reply, by anticipa- tation of notes, as a corruption of the tion-Then, Sir, you take away from word of God, whether they would the words of the Revelation, by which not act consistently with their prinyou incur as heavy a curse, as by add- ciples in following the example set ing to them. Rev. xxii. 18, 19. To by certain zealous Presbyterians at prove my assertion, I have no occa- Edinburgh, near the end of the reign sion to recur to the original Hebrew, of Charles II. "We, undersubscribers, or to the Septuagint, or any other ver- now prisoners for the truth in the sion, it is sufficient for my purpose," Cannon-gate, Tolbooth, though vile, that every Clergyman of the esta-" yet it pleased the Holy Ghost to blished Church, when he obtains a liv-work on our Spirits. Yesterday, ing or a promotion, testifies, upon "being the 26th of the 5th moon, it oath, his consent, and assent to "seemed good to the Holy Ghost whatever is contained in the Common" and to us, to take out of our Bibles Prayer Book, and of course to the "the Psalms in Metre, for several verses of the 14th Psalm, rejected by causes mentioned afterwards: for the common Bible, which verses he" the Revelations say, if any man thereby acknowledges, that is to say, "shall add unto these things, God ઠંડ house, and sweep away the ashes. "Likewise in the Holy Scriptures we renounce chapters and verses and "contents; because it is only done "by human wisdom and the chang"ing of the books, after the Holy "Ghost had placed them. We, being pressed to the work by the "Holy Ghost, do renounce the Im"pression and Translation of the "Old and New Testament, and that "for the additions put unto them by admit any Roman Catholic within their society, as if he were disquali "shall add unto him the plagues that are mentioned in this book. And we did burn them in our prison-fied by his religion from joining "in support of the Constitution." Accordly, in their own publication of the Orange oath, the initiated person swears that "he is neither a Papist nor a Rebel, nor ever was a Papist or a Rebel." The Catholics are marked by this exclusion (as far as the Orangemen can mark them) as essentially a disaffected people; an idea is encouraged, that secret plans and unheard-of devices are necessary to support the State; some danger menacing the Constitution is perpetually supposed, from which danger it cannot be preserved but by a small party in the community! men. "Walter Ker, David Jamison, "John Gibbs, John Young." "Compared and collated with the principal copy by me, Wm. Paterson Cl. Sti. Concilu." (See Bevil Higgon's remarks on B. Burnet's Hist. of his own time, p. 219.) I am, Mr. Editor, your obedient To the Editor of the Orthodox Journal. BY THE [PRINCIPLE OF THE ORANGE SOCIETIES SUPPORTED PLAN OF THE YEOMANRY CORPS.] Unfortunately the Orangeman's claim to an exclusive loyalty must appear to him to receive confirmation from the circumstance, that few, or none, of the Catholics have been admitted into the local Yeomanry Corps. This is the case even in those parts of the North of Ireland, where the Catholics are equally and more numerous; and SIR, IN considering the grievances of Ireland, the evils of the Orange System, as affecting the country in general, and forming the prominent griev-I believe there is not a single Roman ance of one entire province in particular, seem to demand attention. Catholic gentleman holding a commission in the Ulster yeomanry. The Protestant, seeing himself trusted by the Government with arms for the defence of the country, (while his Roman [CHARACTER OF THE SYSTEM.] The Orangemen profess that the object of their association is, to maintain and support the Constitution.-Catholic neighbours, with scarcely an For this purpose they deem it necessary to bind themselves to one another by an oath of secrecy; they administer and take private oaths of allegiance, to which an express condition is annexed "as long as the King maintains the Protestant Acendancy," of which condition, and consequently of the obligation of fidelity to the Sovereign, the Orangeman is left sole judge. That an Orangeman's idea of "Protestant ascendancy" is Catholic exclusion and depression, is not only collected from the well-known conduct and sentiments of individuals, but is evident from their refusing to exception, are deemed unworthy of this confidence) naturally imbibes some prejudice against their principles. The Catholic, on the other hand, thinks he can discover in this uniform course of policy, a jealous and distrustful spirit in the local authorities. In vain for him, that he is by law admissible to bear arms (as he does bear them in the foreign field!) if, through the operation of a suspicious and exclusive policy, he is debarred in effect from arming with his fellow citizens, in support of his family and his home. But he stands a marked and suspected man; and the armed corps with which |