metamorphosed into a Bookseller; and he has acted with more hardened audacity, than the person whom he has succeeded.

In the Actumn of 1807, he printed and published 2000 copies of "Ward's Errata of the Protestant Bible," in order as is stated in its Preface," to serve as a shield to the Roman Catholics, against the numerous publications, which daily appear, to deceive the ignorant, and misrepresent religion." This inflammatory work was considered in England, where it was published in 1658, as so gross and virulent a libel on the established church, that Thomas Ward its author would have been prosecuted, had he not fled to the Continent; and now Mr. Coyne, its supposed editor, reprints it for the purpose, as he says, " of exposing the miserable shifting of the first pretended reformers, who, to support the novelty of their doctrines, and their noxious innovations, were reduced to the wretched necessity of falsifying the word of God." He states, also, "that those translations of the Bible, which the English Protestant clergy have made, and presented to the people, for their rule of faith, are, in many places, not only partial, but false, and disfigured with many corruptions, abuses, and fabrications, in derogation of the most material points of Catholic doctrine, in favour of their own erroneous opinions; for it has been the custom of Heretics, in all ages, to pretend to scripture alone for their rule, and to reject the authority of God's Holy Church; so it has ever been their practice to falsify, corrupt, and abuse, the same in divers manners."

In this work, Protestantism itself is declared to be " nothing else but a mere imposture, begun in England, maintained and upheld by the wicked policy of self-interested statesmen, and still continued by misrepresenting and ridiculing the Catholic religion, and by misinterpreting the Holy Scripture."

This work was reprinted by subscription, and in the list of subscribers prefixed to it, there are above 100 Popish priests, among whom, are some members of Maynooth College, and some of its professors, the Rev. Dr. Betagh, Romish Vicar General of Dublin, and one titular bishop. * This work has been fully and satisfactorily exposed and refuted by the Rev. Dr. Ryan, author of the History of the Effects of Religion on Mankind.

(To be continued)

* It has gone through three editions,

To the Editor of the Protestant Advocate.

SIR,-The following remarks were communicated to me, by an intelligent Conformist Priest, who had received his education at the College of Maynooth. Should they meet your approbation, and insertion in the next number of the Protestant Advocate, they shall be followed by others, please God, from

Ireland, Nov. 2, 1812.

Your well wisher,

INSPECTOR.

RESTRICTION OF THE PAPAL JURISDICTION IN IRELAND.

The Jurisdiction of the Pope as supreme head of the Church of Rome, may be distinguished,

1. With regard to the principles of faith and morals.

2. With regard to ecclesiastical discipline.

1. His jurisdiction with regard to the principles of faith and morals is more properly a primacy of honour than of real power. His decision. in such cases is not final; and the usual mode is to refer them to a Coun sil, where the Bishops themselves are judges of the controversy: or, to issue a Bull declarative of the decision given at Rome, in which Bull, if the Bishops do not protest against it, they are supposed to acquiesce. And this acquiescence has the force of a decree of a General Council.

This is the sum of the Pope's jurisdiction with regard to faith and morals a jurisdiction, which, as I conceive, confers no real actual power, and only constitutes him the first Bishop among the Bishops, or the first among his peers.

2. It is through his Jurisdiction over Ecclesiastical discipline that he acquires real power, real influence, and that he becomes formidable. Through this, he dispenses with Ecclesiastical laws; he nominates the Bishops; and strange as it may appear, he acquires a right to nominate per se ipsum every parish priest in Ireland.* Through this, the Court of

* The titular Bishops in Ireland, under the plea of poverty, are allowed to hold parishes in commendam. To these they are nominated by the See of Rome, and to these the See of Rome acquires ever after, the right of presentation. The titular Bishop in Dublin holds Liffey Street Chapel under this title; in the County of Carlow, the parish of Tullow is subject to this mode of presentation; in the County of Wexford, there are two parishes by this means in the gift of Rome; in Kilkenny, two or more; and in almost every County of Ireland, one, two, or more, particularly in the South. Thus, may the See of Rome, provided the titular Bishop consents, acquire the title to present to every parish in the district over which he presides, by previously giving them over in commendam.

Rome becomes the Supreme Court of Jurisdiction in Ecclesiastical affairs; through this, she is constituted the Executive power of the Church. To sum up all the privileges she derives through this, would require a perfect acquaintance with the Canon law. And if ever the affairs of the Irish Roman Catholics should come before a Committee of the House of Commons, they should insist on this, because if the Irish Roman Catholics are seriously disposed to an accommodation, they may grant this, without changing or giving up one iota of their faith.

They would not be required, in this case, to change their faith, bat only to alter their Ecclesiastical discipline, or their mode of Church government. That this is possible, even on their own principles, they cannot deny. Their historians and theologists confess that many changes have succeeded in their discipline; and that it is eventually liable to change, as circumstances may require.

3. Until the Council of Nice, A. D. 325, no such thing as a Code of general discipline had been heard of. Here was the foundation laid, for reducing all Churches to the observance of one Code of Ecclesiastical law. Previously, and for a long time after, every nation, nay, every province had its own peculiar mode of Church government, and in this, the Court of Rome had no share whatever. But when General Councils began to frame Canonical laws for the whole Church, the Bishop of Rome was appointed to dispense with them, whenever it was necessary; and thus, through the adoption of a Code of general discipline, his power increased.

If the Irish Roman Catholics would ree to adopt that mode of Church government which they themselves must acknowledge prevailed during the three first centuries, and part of the fourth, they would thereby de prive the Pope of every thing formidable in his Ecclesiastical power; and this would not infringe in the least upon their faith. The mode of Church government, and the faith of a Church are quite different; the former may be changed without altering the latter. The Pope of Rome might be acknowledged the first among his peers, and yet have no power whatsoever over the internal government of each Church. The Emperor of Ger many, for example, was once the head of the Germanic body, yet his jurisdiction did not extend to the internal government of the States that acknowledged him.*

We call the attention of all dispassionate men to the distinctions taken in this paper. They surely do away every objection urgel by the Romanists against the exercise of a Royal Veto in the appointment of Roman Catholic Bishops.-Edit.

To the Editor of the Protestant Advocate.

SIR,-Sincerely concurring as I do with you in believing that the grant of more privileges to the Irish Roman Catholics would actually prove an injury to themselves, rather than a benefit, my opinion is not a little strengthened by one or two circumstances which occurred during the late elections, to which I wish to draw your attention, and that of your readers, and to offer a few observations upon them. The first point to which I would advert, is a letter which appeared in The Dublin Journal of Oct. the 24th, which plainly demonstrates, in such a manner as to bring it home to the feelings of every Protestant Landlord, the temporal power, derived from spiritual influence, which the Popish priests possess over his tenants. If, indeed, the Roman Catholic tenant feels any particular line of conduct to be dictated to him by duty, that under such circumstances he ought to act in the way prescribed by a sense of duty, I mean not to deny ; but Protestant Landlords and Protestants in general, would do well to consider, whether the sense of duty, if it influence the conduct of the Roman Catholic tenant, when his choice lies between two Protestant Candidates, would not act much more powerfully if the choice lay between a Protestant and a Roman Catholic candidate. That the influence of the Priests in this instance, at least, is encreased in secular concerns is most evident: indeed a stronger instance can hardly be adduced, to shew how the possession of spiritual power includes and increases secular influence. The favourers of the Roman Catholics would do well to apply this argument to the case of conflicting and opposite public duties, and consider the dan gers which must threaten allegiance to the King, when placed in competition with the supremacy of the Pope.

Another point to which I would advert, is the Resolutions of the Roman Catholics of the town and county of Carlow assembled on the 23d of October last. The Roman Catholic electors, especially the tenantry, are therein called upon by most pressing exhortations, and threats of being. counted apostates, to support two particular candidates, because they had proved themselves friends to the Roman Catholic cause ;-they are urged, further, to vote for those gentlemen if they would escape being considered apostates from their declared Resolutions adopted some time before; and lastly, they are here also, as in the other case relating to the electing of representatives, urged on the score of conscience. Supposing the case to have referred to establishing the Romish Church, I will admit fully the weight which conscience ought to have; and let the advocates of the Roman Catholics look forward to the time when such a question may be agitated; and consider how the tranquillity of Ireland will be promoted

by making the legal establishment of the Romish, in the room of a Protestant Church, the test of principle in an Irish candidate.

Another most important consideration is this,-that the Protestant Landlord is told he will be a persecutor for conscience' sake, if he do not quietly acquiesce in the seduction of his tenant to vote against the candidate whom he may choose to support. It is, forsooth, the imperative duty of the Roman Catholic elector, conscientiously to vote for the candidate approved of by his priest, and the landlord is to be esteemed nothing less than a persecutor if he do not tamely allow the influence of his own property to be used in favour of the candidate who is to support the Roman Catholic against the Protestant interest; and, perhaps, Mr. Editor, your correspondent may be called a bigot for thus pointing out how intimately secular power and spiritual domination are connected, and what a vast influence on property itself, is possessed by the priests of the Roman Catholic religion.I am, &c.-A FREEHOLDER.*

MOIRA CHAPEL.

MR. EDITOR;-You inserted my free translation of the MulJingar Resolutions in your number for November; I hope to read this letter in your next.-Whither will the overwhelming current of religious, moral and political absurdity carry us? Is there nothing fixed or stable among men? Is it become fashionable, or popular, to abandon truth, to expose it to peril, or to compromise with error? The age of Martyrdom is past! The sniveling era of pseudo-liberality has commenced. Latitudinarianism characterizes the conduct even of religionists themselves; and laxity of principle distinguishes the descendants of those whom the terrors of death could not appal.

MOIRA Chapel! I wonder whether the projectors of the Tower of Babel designed an oratory in it? MOIRA Chapel! Is it known whether the Soul of Honour lent his name to this edifice, built "with untempered mortar;" or whether the Marquis of Downshire gave the chapel this noble [but not holy] appellation without

*We have now lying before us some very strong facts concerning the interference of the Romish Priests in the late general election in Ireland. We wish not to mention names, for obvious reasons, but that of a certain priest, near Corke, has been handed to us, who told his congregation that to vote for Colthurst would be voting against God, and that he would suffer no man to kneel before him at confession who should do so, Let our readers reflect upon the persecution of Mr. Caulfield, who voted at Newry for Gen. Needham.-We are already in possession of many revolting facts, and through a channel pervious to nothing but truth, we expect many more.-Edit.