these are the reformers "as they call themselves, who spread themselves into all parts of the church." He observes, "that these locusts (the heretics) are like scorpions, and have the power of stinging." After mentioning the different states which embraced the Reformation, he says, p. 207, "But among the reformed nations, none drank more deeply of the cup of errors than England." In page 230, he defends and justifies the massacre which took place in France on St. Bartholomew's day, and that of the Irish Protestants in 1641. In p. 251, he tells us that the locusts, or the people of the Reformation, have a king over them, who is an angel of the bottomless pit, that is, an angel of hell, or the devil; but who would envy them such a king? or who would wish to be the subject of such a sovereign? The name of the infernal spirit is given; he is called, Abaddon, or Destroyer." "One cannot but lament the misfortune of the Protestants, in voluntarily admitting over them such a king, and enlisting under his banners, A second misfortune is, they have been too faithful in their allegiance." The worst and most exceptionable part of this abominable work, is that where he endeavours to prove, by a false and tortuous exposition of the Apocalypse, that all the Protestants are to be extirpated in the year 1825 i which he does in pages 249, 261, and 517. After warning them of their fate, he observes," the Saviour of Mankind waits with patience for the return of his strayed sheep, but their obstinacy at last forces his hand to strike. The heads of the Popish clergy, at whose instance the first edition of this work was published in the year 1771, would not allow any printer to put his name to it; for at that time all the penal laws were in force, and they made the Irish Papists obedient to the laws and respectful to the government. But on the repeal of the bulk of those laws, in the year 1782, assuming an extraordinary degree of boldness and hardihood, they had another edition of it published by J. Mehain, in Dublin, with a long long list of subscribers. Sir Richard Musgrave, in his History of the Rebellion, has given a catalogue of books, which the Irish priests are constantly circulating, in order to inflame their flocks against the government and the Protestants; and among them, he mentions the edition of this work, printed in 1790, with the severity which it deserves, and says, "it was originally written at Rome, by a sanguinary bigot of the name of Pastorini, and was translated into English." This opinion prevailed universally; but Doctor Milner has completely unmasked its author. In the 83d page of his Tour in Ireland, already quoted, he condemns Sir Richard Musgrave's observations on this work, in the following paragraphs: I have quoted this passage (from Sir Richard

M.'s History) to shew the care and confidence, with which Sir R. M. who professes to make truth his polar star," and to be so anxious to investigate it in every matter, is capable of palming on his readers a whole string of falsehoods; for this History of the Church is not a translation, but the original text ;-it was not originally written at Rome but in England; the author was not a sanguinary bigot, but a most mild and enlightened Christian, as the whole tenor of his life and writing prove; his name was not Pastorini, this being a mere allusion to his ministry, but the Rev. Charles Walmsley, D.D. F.R.S., having been one of the scientific men who were employed in correcting the old style;— it consists neither of folly nor blasphemy, but of a most learned exposition of the Book of Revelation, and was published " to excite all Christians to lead a holy life, and to prepare for the coming of that awful, judge, before whom Sir Richard Musgrave will be arraigned, for his unprecedented malice and calumny." The reader may judge of the tendency of this work, from the few extracts which I have given of it. It cannot be a matter of surprize, that Doctor Milner should praise it, as the principles which it contains are congenial with his own. In pages 93 and 97, of his Ecclesiastical Democracy, he says, that not only the General Councils of the Romish Church, but the ecclesiastical mandates of the Pope are infallible; and in this respect he quotes the Fourth Lateran Council, the Councils of Constance, Basil, Florence, Trent, and the second Council of Lyons. Of the first, he says, that, by way of distinction, it is called the Great Council.

In his "Reply to the Report published by the Cisalpine Club on the authenticity of the Protestation at the British Museum; by the Rev. John Milner, printed for Coghlan, Duke-street, Grosvenor-square, 1795." He expresses his fears, that the Protestants should think that the ancient. spirit of his church is abated; for he says, "Thus to my judgment, am I, and the whole Catholic body, without consenting to it, pledged in the face of the Legislature, to condemn the wars of Charlemagne, and the crusade against the infamous Albigenses." Those religious butcheries, occasioned by the sanguinary spirit of the Romish Church, are well known. The author of the Pursuits of Literature, observes, in a note on Milner, in the fourth dialogue, "He exhibits at once the extremes of fierceness and impotence. What opinion, or what comment shall we form on this merciless priest, who, after the lapse of centuries, feels the same passion and the same thirst of blood, against the innocent victims of Popish aud arbitrary violence. This firebrand, composed by Doctor Walmsley, was a third time thrown among the Popish multituda 'in 1800; for, that year, another edition of it was printed by P. Wogan,

Dublin; to which the portrait of the author is prefixed, with the following inscription, "the portrait of the venerable and Right Rev. Charles Walmsley, Lord Bishop of Rama, Vicar Apostolic of the Western district. O.S.B.D.D. of Sorbonne, F.R.S. of London and Berlin, Ob. November 25, 1797, etat 75, the 40th of his episcopacy." The same bookseller published another edition of this work in the year 1806. Dr. Walmsley was ashamed to acknowledge himself to be its author during his life; but the heads of the Popish clergy, after his death, announced it to be his, that it may be more valued and respected by the superstitious multitude, as composed by so eminent a person in the Romish church. It is univer-. sally read by the Irish Papists, who are taught to believe by' it, that Protestants of every description in Great Britain and Ireland, are under the frown of the Almighty in this life, that he has marked them for destruction in a few years, and doomed them to eternal damnation hereafter.

SOMERS.*

ADDRESS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC PRELATES.

WE have just received the following document from a most respectable quarter, and hasten to submit it to our readers. have also subjoined such reflections (or rather a few only of the most important) as the reading of the address immediately suggested to our minds; and we earnestly intreat the attention of our readers to them as well as to the document itself. They will there see the plainest marks of that arbitrary, usurping, and domineering spirit which is the true characteristic of Popery, and to which alone is to be ascribed the necessity which exists of keeping the Roman Catholics of these kingdoms on a different footing from the rest of their fellow subjects.

The Address of the Roman Catholic Prelates, assembled in Dublin, on the: 18th of November, 1812, to the Clergy and Laity of the Roman Catho lic Churches in Ireland. Published by Authority.

Reverend Brothers, Beloved Children, peace be to you !-Recurring exigencies in the course of the last few years have repeatedly induced Us, as Guardians of the Roman Catholic Religion in Ireland, to declare our sentiments upon she subject of its concerns: and we have had the un

⚫ Our valuable Correspondent has shewn Mr. Canning and the world, that Popery is still the same in itself, that it ever was. In our next we intend to continue our Review of the Substance of Mr. Canning's Speech; from p. 143.

speakable satisfaction of witnessing that such declarations, on our part, were received by you with that unanimity, and that spirit, which proclaim to the world, that your inviolable attachment to the Creed of your ancestors hath not hitherto been, and, under the Divine Protection, never will be lessened, or impaired by privations, penalties, or hardships.

Of that conscientious loyalty which all good subjects owe to their king and to the state, and which the spirit of religion so emphatically inculcates, you have given unequivocal assurances, such unparalleled and satisfactory proofs, that the most distrustful ingenuity cannot possibly devise securities more binding.

We learn, notwithstanding, with the deepest regret, that in the opinion of many respectable individuals, your restoration to the full enjoyment of the blessings of the Constitution ought to be postponed, until, what we consider necessary to the integrity of our religion, shall have been first surrendered: a surrender, to which, with the assistance of God, we shall prefer that of our lives.

We are also concerned to observe, that various attempts have been made, and are still persisted in, to mislead the public mind. Periodical papers and pamphlets, replete with misrepresentation, are unceasingly employed to frustrate the exertions of our friends, and exasperate the prejudices of our opponents.

Amongst these publications, we find it necessary to particularize certain Tracts, which have lately appeared, under the title of Columbanus ad Hibernos, fraught with misrepresentation and calumny, and presuming to dictate, as Roman Catholic tenets, opinions contrary to the genuine doc trines, and subversive of the disclipine of the Roman Catholic Church.

To obviate, as far as in our power, these mischievous attempts, we deem it a duty to announce to you the subsequent Resolutions, which we have this day unanimously adopted.

I. That we do hereby confirm and declare our unaltered adherence to the * Resolutions unanimously entered into at our last General Meeting, onthe 26th of February 1810.

II. That we do hereby confirm our condemnation and censure of cer◄ tain propositions, extracted from a book, entitled, Abus sans Example, a. by Pierre Louis Blanchard, R. Juigne, London, 1808; aud specified in our Declaration of the 3d of July and 21st of August, 1809: And further, we in like manner declare, that we will not grant faculties of any kind to any clergyman, who may or shall assert, that our afflicted

By which it was determined not to accede to the Veto, and not to grant any further pledges of alliance or security to the Government. No one avowed his sentiments earlier or more undisguisedly on this subject than our Publisher. The Preface to his History of the Inquisitions, particularly that part of it in answer to Lord Grenville, will amply repay the time bestowed on its perasal.—Edit.

holy father is a Heretic, or a Schismatic, or the Author, or the Abellor of Heresy, or Schism.

III. That although the substance of the answers returned by six Roman Catholic Universities, relative to the duties of subjects, in the years 1788 and 1789, is manifestly contained in the Oath of Allegiance and Declaration which we have solemnly sworn; we think it. nevertheless fitting to declare, that we consider those answers as perfectly conformable to the doctrine and tenets of our religion, and that we adopt them as our

own.

IV. That admiring as we do, the determination of the Roman Catholics of Ireland, to persevere in their temperate, firm, and constitutional efforts for the removal of the disabilities, which still continue to affect them, we contemplate with peculiar satisfaction the zeal, which they have evinced in their readiness to forego the attainment of civil advantages, rather than purchase them at the expense of any sacrifice, which might compromise or endanger the safety and integrity of their religion.

V. That, as we are at present precluded from any intercourse with our supreme pastor, we feel ourselves utterly incompetent to propose or agree to any change, in the long established mode of appointing Irish Roman Catholic Bishops.

VI. That we are firmly convinced, that no pledges or securities of more efficient obligation can be devised than those which we have already given; most humbly conceiving that our long continued endurance under the pressure of the Penal Code, from which a sacrifice of conscience would have instantly relieved us, is proof incontrovertible, that the sacredness of an oath is no where more binding than on the consciences of Irish Roman Catholics.

VII. That our warmest thanks are justly due to JAMES BERNARD' CLINCH, Esq. for the ability, learning, and zeal, which he has successfully displayed in his Refutation of the errors and slanders published under the title of Columbanus ad Hibernos.

We conclude, Rev. Brothers, Beloved Children, by exhorting you to persevere in the Faith of your Forefathers in CHRIST; to rest your hope on HIM, whose promises cannot fail; and that your Faith and Hope be ever enlivened by Charity.

Once more, Rev. Brethren, Beloved Children, peace be with you!Amen.