pens, that under parts, though essential to the catastrophe, are given with great effect by able, though anonymous performers. I also observed in my first letter to you, that * << upon the presumption (very groundless) that the Irish would « swallow any absurdity, and practice any inconsistency, provided they retained the name and profession of the religion of their forefathers, Columbanus had Carte-blanche to attempt any deception or illusion, however gross, upon his «< countrymen. And I must allow, he has not «stinted the discretion allowed him.» With full reflection, have I repeatedly remarked, that the would-be Protesting Catholic Dissenters had been working more than twenty years under cover, to bring about those consequences, which were originally meant to be concealed from its advocates and supporters. For I acknowledge, that many respectable orthodox Catholics have been induced specie recti, to countenance and support premises, of which they did not perceive, and much less suspect the necessary consequences, which inevitably led to the formation of such an episcopacy, as the Jansenian party, has for nearly two centuries been constantly endeavouring to establish in Holland, in successive and systematic defiance of the anathema of the Holy See (1). It has been the artful study of the party, particularly within the last century, to treat the idea of Jansenism as a phantom, existing no where, but in the bigotted mind of the enthusiast, and to feed, cherish, and support its * Hist. Let. to Sir J. C. Hippisley, p. 117.. (1) The reader will be pleased to throw his eye once more over the breve of his present Holiness in the Appendix No. III. from which he will see the grounds of the reprobation of that sort of national episcopacy, which is so substantially, though covertly enforced by the party. spirit and substance with unrelenting perseverence. From vanity, apathy, or some other inducement, Columbanus has lent his name to the whole system undisguised. *« Neither, says he, the election of Bishops by the Pope, nor their confirmation by him after election, nor their nomination to any vacant see, nor the Pope's consent, nor even his knowledge of the appointment, is a necessary requisite to establish the validity of any of these acts (1). I do most distinctly profess my full and << deliberate conviction, that no appointment to an Irish Bishopric can be legitimate, in the present << state of Europe, without the free election of the « diocesan clergy, etc. (2) All require a regular « mission, which is limitted by the church, and << may in some cases be limitted by the State (3). "I feel the necessity of recurring to the protection « of the law (4).» Is the responsibility of the law << never to be known in that church? (5)» The « Castabala principles are hostile to the safety of «< our religion, which cannot exist or keep pace << with the rapid encrease of our population, unless << it is supported by that canonical discipline, with«< out which we may transmit a vile, intriguing <«< ultramontane, but we cannot transmit a legal « national church to posterity (6). » <<< There are English statesmen, friends to Ireland, and to the << national liberties of mankind, who without touching a single article of our faith, will endeavour to hold the aegis of the law between the « abuse of spiritual power, and the liberties of the *Without entering into the controversy, Columbanus' decided opinions, 1 Col. 80. I merely refer to · (1) 3 Col. 13. (4) 1 Col. 24 (2) 4 Col. 59. (3) Col. 14. « « Irish people (1). The Pope's supremacy by divine right consists only in a power of inspecting the conduct of all the orders of the Hierarchy, « etc. (2)«The election of the clergy, with the approbation of the gentry, and the confirmation « of the civil power, is the only prudent, the only << wise, the only constitutional, and the only catho«lic plan, that in the present circumstances, can << be adopted by the Irish people.»> (3) The Irish << nation can and ought, in the present state of Eu<«< rope, to remove the greatest obstacle in the way «< of emancipation, by the establishment of a legal <«< national church; by resuming in a national « council of clergy, gentry, and nobility, their an<<< cient right of electing heir Bishops by Dean and <«< Chapter, and allowing to the State a negative of << two out of three persons, etc.» Here, Sir John, you will allow, there is a vast batch of matter, for a Vice-Prefect of the Propaganda to exercise his extraordinary powers upon; quo non pervenit Episcoporum facultas. Confidence is half the battle. The most learned Doctor gives manfully his name. Not so with others. Perhaps not always so with himself. I find the columns of the Morning Chronicle, which were so inexorably shut in my face, open to the anonymous effusions of the abettors of these Columbanian doctrines (4). A new plan of unanimity is suggested in a series of letters, signed «Conciliator, and published No. 5, in the Pam«phleteer. Conciliator demonstrates from Catholic Historians, that the interference of the Pope was << not tolerated in the appointment of the ministers (2) 1 Col. 79. (1) 1 Col. 87. (3) 5 Col. 39. (4) Morning Chronicle newspaper for 4th of May, 1814. ་ of religion in the first days of the Irish Church. «It is to be lamented, if Conciliator's arguments << do not have due weight with the Irish Catholic Bishops; since by getting them to concede the « supremacy, the question of foreign influence « would be set for ever at rest.» Mr. Scully was perfectly correct in saying, on the 26th of May, 1813---In England there existed a faction, whose great object it was to disparage Ireland, the Catholics, and the Board. I hesitate not to say, that the rescript of Monsignor Quarantotti, which at your motion, Sir John, now graces the table of the House of Commons, is the complete developement of the system of that faction, and was (I doubt not) conceived, brought forth, nurtured, and modelled in the British metropolis. The whole of the English Journalists were punctiliously responsive to the views, wishes, and feelings of the party. The Morning Chronicle* speaks with the conscious ease and familiarity of a privy and director: «< We per«<ceive by the Dublin Papers, which arrived yesterday, that the letter of Quarantotti from Rome was received.» It closes some extravagant quotations from them with these remarkable words :-<< As long as the shamrock so green shall adorn our island, so long shall the faith delivered to us by «St. Patrick prevail in spite of Kings, Parliaments, Orangemen, and Quarantottis." Within five days another paper observed (1), «< that some per<< sons seemed surprised at the manner, in which Quarantotti's rescript relative to the Veto, and << the late Catholic Bill has been received by the Catholic agitators. Now we are not in the least << surprised. Can any one think, after the experi « * Morning Chronicle newspaper for 12th of May, 1814. (1) Courier newspaper for 7th of May, 1814 " «<ence we have had, that the Catholic Claims were << the real objects? No, No. They were put forth « as the stalking-horse: but the real object of the « violent demagogues was of a very different na«<ture. To enflame, not to heal: to separate, not to << unite.» Such has been the industry of the party, that it is notorious, that these calumnious imputations upon the Irish Catholics, have been bruited in Rome with aggravated malignity. As the preface to your motion for printing this rescript was interlarded with remarks, that Mr. F. Plowden « valued himself upon being considered the Historian of Ireland, but whose historic pages were more <«< known for their bulk, than their accuracy,» You cannot wonder, that I am anxious, as I am entitled to disprove your assertions, and to expose your attempts to mislead the public and injure an individual. You have connected me with your motion for printing the rescript; I will not detach myself from the rights and interests of the people, whose history I have written. It becomes then an imperious duty in me, to apprize the present and future generations of the base and malignant concert of the party, to feed the newspapers and other periodical publications with inflammatory and calumnious invectives against the Catholic Clergy and Laity of Ireland, for not considering that rescript as mandatory, which the devisers, framers, or (at least) procurers of, had fondly anticipated as obligatory and irrevocable. It would be endless to attempt to specify the diversified attacks of an anonymous host. I select one for an instance of the rest. They all breathe one spirit: all tend to one end: all speak the same language, though in varied dialects. There is no misunderstanding them. «< *In short *Star newspaper for 2d of May, 1814. |