6

thought (says the article) that Lord Castlereagh would introduce a Bill for the relief of the Catholics, and several friends to the measure have for the last two days strongly urged him to undertake it. We regret to add, that the expectation has failed. The final answer of the noble Lord is, that he cordially wishes success to the measure; aud that, whenever brought forward, it shall have his warm support; but as he cannot anticipate a majority in the Cabinet along with him, nor any prospect of immediate success in Parliament, al. though time he hoped would do a great deal, he must beg to decline it." -Poor souls! what doomed to meet with fresh disappointments! So then, notwithstanding the repeated professions of loyalty-notwithstanding their unlimitted and over-energetic abhorrence of persecution-notwithstanding their desire to obtain religious freedom for their dissenting brethren as well as for themselves-notwithstanding my Lord Castlereagh, and his colleagues in the Government are likely to be inspired by the liberal and benevolent sentiments of our en

lightened Catholics,-the poor slaves are still doomed to languish in their chains. Really these gentlemen have placed themselves in a situation which few of us need envy. To be bandied about by Whig and Tory like a football; to be neglected by the Opposition, and rejected by the Ministry; and this too after having paid the most courtly deference to be guided by each party, must be mortifying enough to their feelings, if they have any sense of shame left.

To keep the English Board in countenance, the Seceders in Ireland have at length ventured to come forward, and, admiring the privacy of the proceedings of their loving compeers, have established a Vetoistical Lodge at the house of Lord Trimbletown, in Dublin.-From this secret cabal has been issued for signatures the following sublime Petition in favour of Veto Securities, the presentation of which

is to be entrusted to the Whig Mr. Grattan, who so stormed and railed against the Catholic people because they were not disposed to yield up their prelates to be bound under penal restraints in the exercise of their spiritual functions, as a means of conciliating their Protestant friends :-

The Humble Petition of the undersign ed Roman Catholics of Ireland,

SHEWETH, That whilst your Petitioners acknowledge, with gratitude, the many important relaxations of the. Penal Laws, which have taken place during his Majesty's auspicious Reign, they of many severe disqualifications, and still have to regret the continuance humbly submit, that the repeal of the Laws by which they are inflicted, would eminently tend to give stability to the existing form of Government and Constitution, by at once removing every ground for alienation or apathy.

That in approaching this Honourable they pray, your Petitioners rest their House, with a view to the relief for which claim to that relief, on the fact of their Religious Principles not being in their nature dangerous to the State, or to the continuance of the present form of Government, whether Civil or Ecclesiasti cal; and rely on the wisdom and equity which they desire to obtain a Repeal of of the Legislature, as the source from the Laws which now affect them.

That it is their anxious wish, that the great measure of Catholic Emancipation shall be carried into effect, under such circumstances as will render it satisfactory Majesty's subjects; inasmuch as, in and unobjectionable to all classes of his your Petitioners' estimation, the chief benefit to be derived from it is, the union of persons of different religious de scriptious in the bonds of concord and amity, and the removal of all jealousies and apprehensions; which being accomplished, all will be naturally led to cooperate in zealous and uniform endea vours to promote the general welfare.

That, actuated with this impression, your Petitioners feel themselves in duty bound to state their readiness to submit and conform themselves to any regula tions, not incompatible with the principles of their religion, as they respect its danger to the purity and permanence of faith and discipline, and not threatening its exercise; and whilst your Petitioners feel happy in stating, that they fully

Catholic Religion, with a view to the repeal of all of them which do not relate to the succession to the Crown, or to the continuance of the Protestant Church establishment.

rely on the liberality and justice of the Legislature, as a pledge of its not entertaining a wish to impose any arrangements thus incompatible, they feel equal satisfaction in the conviction that conciliatory adjustments may be settled fully satisfactory to the minds of his Majesty's In consequence of the adoption of Protestant subjects, and yet perfectly the above petition by the Seceders, an consistent with your Petitioners princi-aggregate meeting of the Catholics of ples, both of faith and discipline.

That your Petitioners do not seek for any alteration in the principles of the British Constitution, as now settled, for neither with regard to the maintenance of the succession to the Crown (as limited by Act of Parliament) in his Majesty's family, being Protestants, nor with regard to a sincere support of the Protestant establishment in its Temporal Rights, as fixed by law, do the principles of the Roman Catholic Religion interpose any obstacle or impediment!

.

And your Petitioners will pray.

Ireland was to be held on the last day of this month.

PROTESTANT PROSELYTISM.-When the Bible-mania was at its highest rage, some over-heated zealots entertained an idea of converting Pa pistical Ireland from the ways of darkbut ignorant sons into the paths of ness, and conducting her generous light and salvation, by a profuse and indiscriminate circulation of the ScripThat with regard to the other leading tures among them, without note or features of the British Constitution, it is comment. For this purpose these too well known to need being now insist-religious lunatics proposed to raise a ed on, that their origin is to be found at a period when Roman Catholic Princes, and Roman Catholic Parliaments were entrusted with the guardianship of the public interest of a Roman Catholic people.

sum of

money

The Catholic Fund," expressly to under the title of print a number of copies of the New Testament, in order to further their pious and charitable intentions. Soon That your Petitioners, in the prose- after the announcement of this immacution of an object which so materially culate scheme, the mania infected a excites all their feelings, earnestly desire few of the Catholic body, and the neither in act or expression, to leave room for jealousy on the part of their proselyters proposed a coalition be Protestant fellow subjects; on the con- tween the parties to promote the godfrary, firmly attached to the principles of ly work; but, after a long corresthe Constitution, and to British connec- pondence and many hard words, the fion, your Petitioners shew that they wish proposition fell to the ground, and the to evince, by every part of their conduct, sublime projections of the scripture whilst they are solicitous to attain that filled missioners were rendered aborstation in the Constitution, to which they feel it would be culpable not to aspire, they tive. Finding themselves incompe reject and reprobate any idea of party tent to the task of subduing the araggrandizement, and aspire solely to the dent attachment of the Irish peasant common participation of personal privi- to his holy religion in his native land, leges, which will identify their interests and knowing that a similar attempt and feelings with those of their Protestwould be as fruitless in this country, ant countrymen, and thus unite the enthese haters of Popery adopted a plan tire body of his Majesty's subjects in constant and cordial co-operation, for the to seduce the children of the poor Irish Catholic, from the faith of their parents, under the specious appearance of liberality and benevolence. Accordingly a subscription was entered into, and a school was opened in the center of St. Giles's, in this metropolis, where the greater number of Irish poor resides, for the purpose of teaching and instructing the children

common benefits.

Your petitioners, therefore, contem. plating the attainment of this general co-operation, universal harmony, extinction of jealousy, and consequent benefit and improvement of the entire British empire, humbly solicit this Honourable House, to take into its consideration the state of the Laws now affecting his Majesty's subjects professing the Roman

of the honest but impoverished Irish- | salvation, and of the well-being of socie

man, whose innate love of knowledge naturally inspires him to embrace the opportunity of obtaining the benefit of education for his child. But knowing the aversion of the Irish Catholic to Protestant schools, they engaged a native of Ireland, who professes to be a Catholic, to act as Schoolmaster, but at the same time they restricted him from introducing any Catholic

book of instruction whatever.

ty, to provide, to the best of his power, a Christian Catholic Education for his children; who without efficacious helps dy for their errors, would be exposed to to guide their conduct, and without remethe evident risk of growing up in a criminal and dangerous indifference.

That the schools in George-Street, Bloomsbury, entitled St. Giles's Irish Catholic Schools, being founded on principles notoriously opposed to the Holy Roman Catholic Religion, and positively excluding every kind of Catholic instruction, are not Catholic, but an insidious delusion to entrap the simple and unwary.

That, as in fact by the lure held out to parents and children labouring under the heavy pressure of indigence, the former rising abandonment of their religious are tempted to hypocrisy and a tempoduties, and the latter are exposed to apostacy from the faith of their ancestors, we cannot contemplate an institution so replete with moral evil, without deprecating its continuance as a public calamity. informed, by their own report, of a deThat it is with much concern we are sign to extend this their anti-catholic system; convinced as we are that such interference can only be intended to root out the Catholic Religion, and is a palpable violation of their own professed principle of Religious Liberty."

Thus provided with a willing instrument to lure his unwary conntrymen into their trap, they then adopted the title of CATOHLIC as a farther means of deceit; and the master was ordered to take the children to chapel on Sundays for the purpose of keeping up the plan of deception. The dangerous tendency of this establishment, and the hypocritical motives of its supporters were pointed out in the Orthodox Journal for April and May, 1814, and the Clergy exerted themselves to undeceive their flocks, by cautioning them against sending their children to be protestantized by such an invidious institution. Notwithstanding, however, the schools are still supported; and the Committee having declared their intention of extending the plan, should the public lend them the necessary assistance, the following Resolutions were adopt ed by the Governors of St. Patrick's Charity Schools and Asylum for Or-of bibles unauthorised by our spiritual su phans (established in the same parish) | far the purpose of undeceiving the Protestant public, and exposing the nefarious conduct of a few illiberal bigots:

That as Catholics firmly attached to our religion, and grateful to God for its invaluable blessings, we are thoroughly convinced that Christian education essentially comprises the early and assiduous inculcating of the principles of the holy Roman Catholic Religion, both as to articles of faith and the practical duties proposed to us in our catechism.

for the sacred Scriptures, and receiving That entertaining the highest respect them together with their interpretation from our lawful pastors, as becomes du tiful children of our holy Mother, the Roman Catholic Church, whose commission it is to teach, and whom it behoves us to hear and obey; we cannot approve periors being put into the hands of children, to form a part of their education.

That knowing unity to be essential to truth, and beholding men of inature age and judgment, and of the greatest talents, tion on the Sacred Scriptures, daily sepaby putting their own individual construccontaining the prolific principle of new rating into innumerable sects, each sect selves totally unable to comprehend how and endless division; we confess ourthe infant mind is to unravel the myste

ries of that sacred volume.

That on examining the list of subscriThat it is the strict obligation, and one Schools in George Street, we are convincbers to the St. Giles's Irish Catholic of the most important duties of every Caed, by the names, that many of them tholic parent, from the various considerations of his own and his offsprings' they were promoting the welfare and hapwere under the confident persuasion that

piness of the Irish poor in that neigh-faith of his Church, and that honour and bourhood, by instructing them in those justice require that others should not inreligious principles to which they are so terfere to the embarrassing of the coninviolably attached, and which therefore, sciences of the distressed and afflicted can only render them good and useful parents. members of the community.

That printed copies of these Resolutions be sent to those subscribers, together with an address soliciting their and the public benevolence in aid of the St. Patrick's Charity Schools, and Asylum | for Orphans, situate in Denmark Street, St. Giles, and Dean Street, Soho, under the sanction and patronage of the Right Rev. Dr. POYNTER. Jan. 26, 1816.

Appeal to the benevolent Public in
Behalf, of the CATHOLIC Poor |
CHILDREN of St. Giles.
"Suffer the little children to come to me, and
"forbid them not: for of such is the king-
dom of God.... And embracing them,
، and laying his hands upon them, he
"blessed them." Mark, x. 14. 16.

To these principles, it is confidently hoped that no man will object, who pretends to the least degree of honour, candour, or charity, whatever may be his religious profession. That no sort of violence, or other undue influence, should be exercised over the consciences of men, is a principle of the sacred law of nature; and whosoever should induce a person, be he Turk or Jew, to act against even an erroneous conscience, would be criminal before God, and dishonourable in the sight of men.

Now it is a fact well known from multiplied instances, and may be satisfactorily proved, that many of the parents of the poor children in St. Giles's have been urged by pecuniary or similar considerations to keep their children at the schools in George Street against their consciences.

THE peculiar situation of the children It is a fact that this motive of seduction of the poor Catholics in St. Giles's has a strong claim to the compassion of the has been actively employed in opposition public, but more especially of the Catho-to the Pastors of the Catholic Church, fic public, on two accounts: first, on account of their temporal distress; and secondly, on account of the spiritual evils to which they are exposed.

Of their temporal distress, but very little is necessary to be said. To remind the benevolent and charitable Christian that their distress is extreme in the strictest sense, is quite enough to draw his prompt and efficacious assistance; and the recital of the tale of woe must call forth at least a barren tear from indifference itself. Numbers of these poor children, destitute of decent covering, are prevented from attending the Schools. By their poverty, therefore, these unhappy little ones are, on the one hand, debarred from availing themselves of that Christian education, which is offered to the poor of the Catholic communion in the laudable and excellent schools established for their benefit,inDenmark-street, St. Giles's, and Dean-street, Soho; and, on the other hand, they become, as experience has too clearly evinced, an easy prey to a system, imposing indeed and specious, but fatal to their religious in

struction.

That the trite and odious charge of illiberality may not possibly be put on this observation, let it be recollected that our holy religion enjoins that the Catholic be brought up from his infancy in the

who, as honest men, are bound to teach a love of sincerity and a horror of duplicity to their poor brethren in Jesus Christ, and are bound as loyal subjects to instruct gion by which alone they are to be secuthem in those sublime precepts of relired against every temptation to vice or

error.

It is also a fact, that the above-mentioned schools are not Catholic either in principle or practice. Of this point, only Catholics can be admitted as proper judges: and on this Catholics are unanimous; from the beginning of the system, we have lamented its existence.

This much is more than sufficient to convince every individual of our own communion; nor can there be a liberal Protestant, but will candidly declare that enough has been advanced to shew, that the institution in George-street is neither honourable in itself, nor useful to the community.

It cannot be honourable or useful, to make parents act against their consciences; and it cannot be honourable or useful, to compel the poor children to be brought up in ignorance of their holy religion.

But how, it may be asked, are these children compelled to be brought up in ignorance of their religion?

Because it is generally impossible to instruct the children of the poor in their