enlightened cosmopolitans, who are | bonfires made, to let all Europe see desirous of seeing "religious liberty" extended all over the world. Such "liberty" I presume as we have enjoyed in this country for the last three centuries.-Well, in the time of James, the nation experienced an interval of peace for seventeen years, and then the good protestant people were discontented because he did not go to war with his neighbours; yet still the ground of their uneasiness was the same as that of their descendants, who complain of having had too much of it, namely, the power of the Pope, and the Jesuits, and the Inquisition. The patriots then thought that war was no less necessary than peace, for the welfare of the nation. There are those who think the same now, but they get abused by the patriots of these days, as well as the f' venerable institutions" of popery. The state of the continent at this period of James's reign presented a scene of bloodshed and religious contention between the catholic and protestant princes of the empire, among the latter of whom was the son-in-law of James, the elector palantine, who had accepted the disputed crown of Bohemia, and craved the assistance of the British monarch. A council was called on this important subject, and we are informed by Echard, that the arch bishop of Canterbury, Abbott, a puritan prelate, being unable to attend personally, sent a zealous and fervent letter to the secretary of state, to urge the king's utmost assistance at this critical juncture, which might turn highly to the advancement of the protestant religion all over Europe."-Rapin also states, that the archbishop further observed, "that it was his opinion the elector should accept the crown, and England openly support him. And therefore as soon as there should be certain news of his coronation, the bells ought to be rung, guns fired, and

the king countenanced him."-This was excellent advice from a minister of peace, and the primate of the first protestant kingdom in the world, and demonstrates in the clearest light imaginable what steps were deemed necessary to propagate true religion by the disciples of the reformation, who preferred the very oposite maxims adopted by the apostles of Christ and the missionaries of the catholic church, in their la bours to convert infidel nations to christianity.-The latter relied on the providence of God, and, armed only with the powers of reason and an ardent desire to extend the glory of their divine and crucified Redeemer, they encountered the greatest difficulties and perils, sometimes exposed to the risk of perishing by hunger and want, and at others of being sacrificed to the infuriate passions of prejudiced barbarians. The former depended on blackening the character of their adversaries, by misrepresenting their morals and practices, and calling to their assistance reviling, forgery, slander, sedition, rebellion, fire and the sword.. James, though he professed himself warmly attached to the protestant religion, was averse to having recourse to harsh or warlike measures for the cause of religion, and therefore he did not approve of the advice given by archbishop Abbott. "Is it reasonable," said he, “I should suffer myself to be drawn by a sonin-law's ambition and humour, into a war against the house of Austria, who have done me no wrong? Consistent with these sentiments, the monarch thought it most advisable to see what negociation would do in preference to a hasty war. This however did not please his besotted people, who complained that the king had deserted the cause of the protestant religion at a time when France, the emperor, the king of

Acting under this "infatuation," James entered into a negociation with the court of Spain, and made an overture of marriage between the infanta Maria and prince Charles. -From some cause or other the the treaty was never completed, although it was near seven years in agi-sations to such of our subjects, and tation; but the equitable disposition of the British monarch towards his catholic subjects, his desire to clear the kingdom from the charge of intolerance and cruelty, which the proceedings of the perfidious Elizabeth had affixed on it, and his wish to

they were not desirous of extending this blessing beyond their own dear selves. Accordingly, the commons house of parliament as, scarcely met, when the leading members began to assail the throne with alarming accounts of the increase of popery, and the dangers likely to ensue therefrom. These were followed up by a violent memorial, complaining of the king's

free exercise of her religion to the infanta and her household, with a proviso that the children should be committed to her care, till they attained the age of ten years. One might suppose that the justness of James's conduct in this instance would have obtained for him the approbation of his loving subjects, who are represented by their descendants as being strenuous advocates for "li-indulgence to the catholics, which, berty of conscience."-The monarch found a great part of his people were unjustly oppressed by penal statutes for conscience sake, and therefore as head of a church, which Sir John Jackson told the British and Foreign School society, 66 was mainly indebted for its existence to the principle of universal toleration," he gave alpartial toleration to them for a limited time; and wishing to form a matrimonial alliance with a neighbouring state, he agreed to allow his intended daughter-in-law the free exercise of her religion, together with her servants. In this policy he was supported by the conduct of one of our PAGAN ancestors, Ethelbert, who married a catholic princess, Berta, the daughter of Charibert king of Paris; as, by the marriage treaty, the princess had the free exercise of her religion guaranteed to her, with the care of the education of her children. Ethelbert also, after embracing christianity, gave every one of his people the freedom of conscience, and would not suffer his pagan subjects to be persecuted. Well, then, since the conduct of James was thus countenanced by the example of a pagan but afterwards christian king, we might imagine that it was hailed with rapture by those who preached up evangelical liberty, and were uobly struggling in the cause of religious freedom. But no such thing. Al-ligion through all the world at once: though the parents of our swaggering orators, were, as before observed, contending for the cause of religious liberty, like their hopeful children,

they said, added to the hopes enter-
tained from the Spanish match, en-
couraged their insolence and temerity,
and induced them to expect the com-
plete toleration, if not the final re-
establishment of their religion.-
These papists were sad saucy and ar-
rogant fellows, to be sure, and vastly
presumptuous in their expectations of
being permitted to enjoy unmolested
their undoubted right to liberty of
conscience, contrary to the benevo-
lent wishes of their protestant bre-
thren!-The memorial concluded, by
entreating that his majesty would
cause all the children of popish re
cusants to be taken from their pa-
rents, and committed to the care of
protestant teachers; and that the
penalties to which the catholics were
by law subjected might be levied
with the utmost severity!! Oh, what
kind hearted beings were our disci-
ples of liberty in those days! The
king however would not listen to
these tender and compassionate sug-
gestions of our liberty-of-conscience
champions, but he told them in re-
ply you may rest secure, that we
will never be weary to do all we can,
for the propagation of our religion,
and the repressing of popery.
the manner and form you must remit
to our care and providence; who can
best consider of times and seasons,
not by undertaking a public war of re

But

which, how hard and dangerous a task it may prove, you may judge. But this puts us in mind, how all the world complained, the last year, of plenty...

exercise the sword of persecution, for the purpose of indulging their own insaturable cruelty and oppresdispositions.

This inhuman tendency to harass and distress their catholic brethren was visible on every meeting of par liament. The last was dissolved in 1641, and at the expiration of two

of corn; and God has sent us a cooling card, this year, for that heat; and so we pray God that this desire among you, of kindling wars, (shew-sive ing your weariness of peace and plenty) may not make God permit us to fall into the miseries of both. But, as we already said, our care of religion must be such, as on the one part we must not, by the hot perse-years the king found it necessary to cution of our recusants at home, irritate foreign princes of contrary religion, and teach them the way to plague the protestants in their dominions, with whom we daily intercede and at this time principally, for ease to them of our profession, that live under them: yet on the other part, we never mean to spare, from due and severe punishment, any papist that will grow insolent, for living under so mild a government."-This fair declaration of James did not satisfy the commons; they therefore presented a fresh remonstrance asserting their right to give advice in all matters of government. The king, in a spirited reply denied their claim to interfere with his prerogatives; this the commons protested against; the king in his turn ordered the protestation to be torn from their journals, terminated the sitting of the parliament, and in six days after dissolve it. On this occasion, he committed Coke, Seldon, Pym, and other leading members of the commons to prison. Thus we see, it was not a desire to assert the liberty of conscience to every individual, of whatever sect or party he might be long, for which Napoleon and the ancient English reformers have been so much extolled by Mr. Cobbett, that animated the popular leaders of this reign to oppose the designs of their sovereign, but a groundless and sanguinary prejudice towards their own fellow subjects, who merely differ. ed from them on speculatixe points of doctrine, and against whom they were constantly urging the executive to

call another, but no sooner was it assembled than a petition was presented to the monarch by both houses, containing the following propositions:-That all jesuits and seminary priests may be commanded forthwith to depart out of the realm, and not to return or come hither again, upon peril of the severest penalty of the laws now in force against them.-That his majesty would be pleased to give charge to the justices of the peace, that they take from all popish recusants all such armour, gunpowder, and munition of any kind, as any of them have.-That all popish recusants be commanded forthwith to retire themselves from London, to their dwellings, or places by law appointed, and there to remain confined within five miles of their dwelling-places: And for that purpose to discharge all by-past licences granted unto them; and that they presume not any time thereafter to repair to London, or within ten miles of London,' or to the king's court, or to the prince's court, wheresoever.That his majesty would forbid and restrain the great resort of his own subjects, for the hearing of mass, to the houses of foreign ambassadors.→ That his majesty would be pleased to discharge popish recusants from those places of trust (as lord lieutenants, justices of the peace &c.) by which they have that power in the country where they live as is not fit to put into the hands of persons so affected. That his majesty would be pleased generally to put the laws

in due execution against popish re-size than four hundred and seventy

cusauts, and that all his judges, justices, &c. may be commanded to do their duty therein.—With this choice specimen of the noble struggles made by the fathers of our modern patriots in the cause of religious LIBERTY, I shall close my remarks on the reign of James; that of his successor, which must be postponed till the succeeding month, will afford stronger and more convining proofs, if any are necessary, that faction and revenge, not patriotism and justice, were the stimulating motives which prompted the democratic leaders of the parliamentarians to overthrow the constitution, under the banners of " No-Popery."-I must, however, notice, in conclusion, that in spite of the mild disposition of James, and his declared aversion to spill the blood of his subjects for religion sake, he found himself compelled to sign the death warrants of twentyfive priests and laymen, hesides sending above one hundred into banishment. Reader, with these facts before you, do uot blush at the unyou feeling and shameless turpitude of those men, who accuse catholics of cruelty and, bloodthirstiness when the deeds of their own ancestors exhibit one continued scene of barbarous outrages on the rights of humanity, unparalleled in the history

three pages, containing various documents from all the countries on the continent, &c. both catholic and protestant, where any could be obtained, respecting "the leading points of contention between the ecclesiastical and secular powers, in the ex ternal government of the church.”. For this multifarious mass of curious papers, we are indebted to our "old friend," Sir John Hippisley, who appears to have acted on this occasion, as the minister" de culte," under the sanction of the foreign secretary of state, Lord Castlereagh, and his locum tenens, during his attendance A letat congress, Lord Bathurst. ter from the first noble lord, to the foreign ministers, dated 12th August, 1812, requests them to pay every possible attention to the points, upon which Sir John Hippisley asks for information, on the subject of the exact state of the roman catholic religion in which they reside, and to transmit the result of their inquiries to him through the foreign office. The letter of Lord Bathurst is dated Sept. 5th, 1815, and informs the foreign ministers that "Sir John Cox Hippisley being engaged in obtaining information respecting the laws of foreign countries, as they effect the roman catholics, with the hnowledge and approbation of his majesty's government, he desires that they will shew every possible atPARLIAMENTARY REPORT ON tention to the communications they CATHOLIC AFFAIRS.-The report may receive from that gentlemanfrom the select committee appointed upon this important subject, and that to 16 report the nature and substance they will transmit to the foreign of the laws and ordinances existing in office the result of their inquiries foreign states, respecting the regula- upon the different points submitted tion of their roman catholic subjects, to their investigation by Sir John Cox in ecclesiastical matters, and their Hippisley."-Such is the authority intercourse with the see of Rome, under which the hon. baronet com.. or any other foreign ecclesiastical meuced his present labours, and when jurisdiction," has at length made its we couple the same with the declared appearance. The report itself oc- intentions of Castlereagh and Cancupies fifty-four pages, but an ap-ning, there can be little doubt but pendix is attached to it of no less an attempt will be made to pass ano

of the world?