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do not finally and fully condemn for every trivial error: it is only the man who disputes the most material of the "Five Points" that we all of us give over to Satan. If a man believes the holy trinity, original sin, vicarious sacrifices, and eternal punishment-if he holds the imputed righteousness of Christthe final perseverance of the saints-the extraordinary influence of the Holy Spirit, and has taken the oath of abjuration, and that also against transubstantiation, we all admit that such an one is, at least, in a salvable state. But how different this from the creed of the Roman Catholics, which calls all men heretics, except the invincibly ignorant, who do not believe all the arti cles of the Christian faith?

I should not do justice to the religious opinions of the pres ent race of Roman Catholics were I to omit the insertion of the following address, issued a few years ago, expressive of the general sentiments of this body of Christians on some of those points on which they have been so grossly misunderstood. I extract it from my work, the "Portraiture of the Roman Catholic Religion," not having the original paper before me :

"An address of several of his majesty's Roman Catholic subjects, to their Protestant fellow-subjects. His majesty's Roman Catholic subjects flattered themselves that the declarations they had already made of the integrity of their religious and civil tenets-the oaths they had taken to his majesty's person, family, and government, the heroic exertions of a considerable proportion of them in his majesty's fleets and armies,-the repeated instances in which they have come forward in their country's cause, their irreproachable demeanour in the general relations of life, and above all, the several acts of parliament passed for their relief, avowedly in consequence of, and explicitly recog nizing, their meritorious conduct, would have been a bond, to secure to them for ever, the affection and confidence of all their fellow-subjects, and to make any further declaration of their principles wholly unnecessary:

"But with astonishment and concern, they observe, that this is not altogether the case :-they are again publicly traduced; and attempts are again made to prejudice the public mind against them:

We, therefore, English Roman Catholics, whose names are here under-written, beg leave again to solicit the attention of our countrymen, and to lay before them the following unansweréd and unaswerable document, of the purity and integrity of the religious and civil principles of ALL his majesty's Roman Catholic subjects, in respect to their king and their country.

"We entreat you to peruse them; and when you have perused them to declare,-Whether his majesty's Roman Catholic subjects maintain a single tenet inconsistent with the purest loyalty; or interfering, in the slightest degree, with any one duty which an Englishman owes his God, his king, or his country?

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"1. The first document we present to you, is the oath and

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declaration prescribed by the British Parliament, of the 31st of his present, majesty, and which is taken by all English Catholics.

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"I, A. B., do hereby declare, that I do profess the Roman Catholic religion.

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“I, A. B., do sincerely promise and swear, that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to his majesty King George the Third, and him will defend to the utmost of my power, against all conspiracies and attempts whatsoever that shall be made against his person, crown, or dignity and I will do my utmost endeavour to disclose and make known to his majesty, his heirs, and successors, all treasons and traitorous conspiracies, which may be formed against him or them: And I do faithfully promise to maintain, support, and defend, to the utmost of my power, the succession of the crown; which succession, by an act, entitled, An act for the further limitation of the crown, and better securing the rights and liberties of the subject,' is, and stands limited to the Princess Sophia, Electress and Dutchess Dowager of Hanover, and the heirs of her body, being protestants; bereby utterly renouncing and abjuring any obedience or allegiance unto any other person claiming or pretending a right to the crown of these realms. And I do swear, that I do reject and detest, as an unchristian and impious position, that it is lawful to murder or destroy any person or persons whatsoever, for, or under pretence of their being heretics or infidels; and also that unchristian and impious principle, that faith is not to be kept with hereticts or infidels: And I further declare, that it is not an article of my faith; and that I do renounce, reject, and abjure the opinion, that princes excommunicated by the pope and council, or any authority of the see of Rome, or by any authority whatsoever, may be deposed or murdered by their subjects, or any person whatsoever: And I do promise, that I will not hold, maintain, or abet any such opinion, or any other opinions contrary to what is expressed in this declaration and I do declare that I do not believe that the pope of Rome, or any other foreign prince, prelate, state or potentate, hath or ought to have, any temporal or civil jurisdiction, power, superiority, or pre-eminence, directly or indirectly, within this realm: And I do solemnly, in the presence of God, profess, testify, and declare, that I do make this declaration, and every part thereof, in the plain and ordinary sense of the words of this oath, without any evasion, equivocation; or mental reservation whatever, and without any dispensation already granted by the pope, or any authority of the see of Rome, or any person whatever, and without thinking that I am or can be, acquitted before God or man, or absolved of this declaration, or any part thereof, although the pope, or any other person or authority whatsoever, shall dispense with or annul he same, or declare that it was null or void.

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So help me God.' "II. The next documents we present to you are, the oaths

and declaratians prescribed by the acts of the Irish parliament to Irish Roman Catholics :

"The first is the oath of allegiance and declaration, prescribed by the Irish act of the 13th and 14th of his present majesty ; and is taken by all Irish Roman Catholics.

“I, A. B., do take Almighty God, and his only Son Jesus Christ, my Redeemer, to witness, that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to our most gracious sovereign Lord King George the Third, and him will defend to the utmost of my power against all conspiracies and attempts whatsoever, that shall be made against his person, crown, and dignity; and I will do my utmost endeavour to disclose and make known to his majesty and his heirs, all treasons and traitorous conspiracies which may be formed against him or them; and I do faithfully promise to maintain, support, and defend, to the utmost of my power, the succession of the crown in his mejesty's family, against any person or persons whatsoever, hereby utterly renouncing and abjuring any obedience or allegiance unto the person taking upon himself the style and title of Prince of Wales, in the life-time of his father, and who, since his death, is said to have assumed the style and title of King of Great Britain and Ireland, by the name of Charles the Third, and to any other person claiming, or pretending a right to the crown of these realms; and I do swear that I do reject and detest, as unchristian and impious to believe, that it is lawful to murder or destroy any person or persons whatsoever, for or under pretence of their being heritics, and also that unchristian and "impious principle that no faith is to be kept with heritics: I further declare, that it is no article of my faith, and that I do renounce, reject, and abjure, the opinion that princes excommunicated by the pope and council, or by any authority of the see of Rome, or by any authority whatsoever, may be deposed or murdered by their subjects, or by any person whatsoever; and I do promise, that I will not hold, maintain, or abet, any such opinion, or any other opinion, contrary to what is expressed in this declaration and I do declare, that I do not believe that the pope of Rome, or any other foreign prince, prelate, state, or potentate, hath, or ought to have, any temporal or civil jurisdiction, power, superiority, or pre-eminence, directly or indirectly, within this realm; and I do solemnly in the presence of God, and of his only Son Jesus Christ my Redeemer, profess, testify and declare, that I do make this declaration, and every part thereof, in the plain and ordinary sense of the words of this oath, without any evasion, equivocation, or mental reservation whatever, and without any dispensation already granted by the pope, or any authority of the see of Rome, or any person whatever, and without thinking that I am, or can be acquitted before God or man, or absolved of this declaration, or any part thereof, although the pope, or any other person or persons or authority whatsoever, shall dispense with or annul

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the same, or declare that it was null and void from the beginnig "So help me God.' The next is the oath and declaration prescribed by the Irish act of the 33d of his present majesty, and is taken by all Irish Roman Catholics, wishing to entitle themselves to the benefit of that act.

“'I, A. B., do hereby declare, that I do profess the Roman Catholic religion.

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"I, A. B., do swear that I do abjure, condem, and detest, as unchristian and impious, the principle that it is lawful to murder, destroy, or any ways injure any persons whatsoever, for or under the pretence of being a heritic: And I do declare solemnly before God, that I believe that no act in itself unjust,' iminoral or wicked, can ever be justified or excused, by or under pretence or colour that it was done either for the good of the church, or in obedience to any ecclesiastical power whatsoever I also declare, that it is not an article of the Catholic faith, neither am I thereby required to believe or profess that the pope is infallible, or that I am bound to obey any order, in its own nature immoral, though the pope or any ecclesiastical power, should issue or direct such order; but on the contrary, I hold that it would be sinful in me to pay any respect or obedience thereto : I further declare that I do not believe that any sin whatever committed by me, can be forgiven, at the mere will of any pope, or of any priest, or of any person or persons whatsoever, but that sincere sorrow for past sins, a firm and sincere resolution to avoid future guilt, and to atone to God, are previous and indispensible requisites to establish a wellfounded expectation of forgiveness, and that any person who receives absolution without these previous requisites, so far from obtaining thereby any remission of his sins, incurs the additional guilt of violating a sacrament: And I do swear that I will defend, to the utmost of my power, the settlement and arrangement of property in this country, as established by the laws now in being: I do hereby disclaim, disavow, and solemnly abjure, any intention to subvert the present church establishment, for the purpose of substituting a catholic establishment in its stead: And I do solemnly swear, that I will not exercise any privilege to which I am or may become entitled, to disturb and weaken the protestant religion and protestant government in this kingdom. So help me God.'

"Such are the principles which his majesty's Roman Catholic subjects have publicly and solemnly declared and professed on oath. There is not, in any of them, a single principle which every Roman Catholic subject of his majesty does not profess; or which, if his king and country required it, he would not think it his duty to seal with his blood.

"IHI.In the year 1788, a committee of the English catholics waited on Mr. Pitt, respecting their application for a repeal of the penal laws. He requested to be furnished with authentic evidence of the opinions of the Roman Catholic clergy and the

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Roman Catholic universities abroad, on the existence and extent of the pope's dispensing power.' Three questoins were accordingly framed, and sent to the universities of Paris, Louvain, Alcala, Doway,, Salamanca, and Valladolid, for their opinions. The questions proposed to them were, 1. Has the pope or cardinals, or any body of men, or any individual of the church of Rome, any civil authority, power, jursidiction, or preeminence whatsoever, within the realm of England? 2. Can the pope or cardinals, or any body of men, or any individual of the Church of Rome, absolve or dispense with his majesty's subjects from their oath of allegiance, upon any pretext whatsoever? 3. Is there any principle in the tenets of the catholic faith, by which catholics are justified in not keeping faith with heretics, or other persons, differing from them in religious opinions, in any transaction, either of a public or a private nature ?

The universities answered unanimously :— -1. That the pope or cardinals, or any body of men, or any individual of the Church of Rome, has not any civil authority, power, jurisdiction or pre-eminence whatsoever, within the realm of England. 2. That the pope or cardinals, or any body of men, or any individual of the church of Rome, CANNOT absolve or dispense with his majesty's subjects from their oath of allegiance, upon any pretext whatsoever. 3. That there is no principle in the tenets of the catholic faith, by which catholics are justified in not keeping faith with heritics, or other persons differing from them in religious opinions, in any-transactions either of a public or a private nature. As soon as the opinions of the foreign universities were received, they were transmitted to Mr. Pitt; but we earnestly beg of you to observe, that it was for his satisfaction, not ours, that these opinions were taken: assuredly, his majesty's Roman Catholic subjects did not want the wisdom of foreign universities to inform them, that his majesty is the lawful sovereign of all his Roman Catholic subjects; and that, by every divine and human law, his Roman Catholic subjects owe him true, dutiful, active, and unreserved allegiance.

"Such then, fellow-countrymen and fellow-subjects, such being our religious and civil principles, in respect to our king and our country,-let us now again ask you,—is there in them a single tenet which is incompatible with the purest loyalty; or which in the slightest degree, interferes with the duty we owe to God, our King, or our country?

"But, are these principles really instilled into us? Do our actions correspond with them? In reply we ask,-Are there not at this very moment, thousands of his majesty's Roman Catholic subjects, who daily and hourly make the most heroic exertions and sacrifices in those fleets and armies, to whose patient and adventurous courage it is owing that we are still blessed with a king and country.

Now then, fellow-countrymen and fellow subjects, be assured, that among these heroic and inestimable defenders and

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