moral instruction, which, while it appealed to the feelings, produced by early education, would correct the habits into which, from the want of pastoral care, they naturally fall, and would make them an ornament, instead of the reverse, to the religion which they profess, and to the country which gave them birth. No man who is in any way acquainted with the vicar apostolic of this district, doctor Poynter, either by personal knowledge or by reputation, can for a moment doubt the sincerity and purity of his intentions. At the same time many of the most excellent professors of the faith which he teaches think, and not without reason, that his anxiety to obtain for the catholic people an emancipation from their civil disabilities, sometimes renders him too subservient to the measures of the catholic aristocracy, and not sufficiently bold in the discharge of his episcopal functions, for fear of offending our rulers, and thereby protracting the event to which the catholics look as a deliverance from their temporal and spiritual bondage. It appears to me, that in reference to the poor Irish catholic resident in London, Dr. Poynter has been the unwilling instrument of that faction in the catholic body, which would repress what are called the lower orders in their advances to the attainment of an honourable and respectable character. The catholics have been taught to demand, or, perhaps, rather to supplicate, for the restitution of their civil rights, under the title of catholic emancipation—but it is well known, that that emancipation, as interpreted by the aristocracy, implied merely their eligibility to distinguished and profitable offices in the state, in return for which the catholic clergy were to acknowledge the influence and to receive the pay of a protestant administration. There is no privilege which the poor catholic is now denied-he is still permitted to pour out his blood in the defence of a constitution of which he is an outcast-he may still wander through the streets a wretched forlorn outcast, who, in the language of the unfeeling, is " a vagrant, and has no parish." Aye, and in that country too he has no parish which, perhaps, but for his valour, might herself been but as a parish" of some neighbouring state, which, when the catholics were cajoled and flattered, boldly threatened our country with invasion. If however the poor Irish people were to be treated with the attention to which they are entitled-were they visited by a minister who sympathised in their sufferings-felt for their distresses, lamented their ignorance, and laboured to remove it-the poor catholics would become thinking men-they would no longer be the packhorses of the Aristocratic Roman-they would begin to inquire for themselves into their civil as well as religious rightsthey would add knowledge to their generous disposition, and would no longer be a bugbear to the weak-minded zealot, who fancies he sees in every catholic something terrific, and they would no longer require special consta. bles to be sworn in (which your correspondent says is the case) to protect the peace of the neighbourhood in which they reside. I detest anonymous productions; I think that no man need use a mask in in a cause in which he is not ashamed or afraid to appear, and I therefore append my name to this letter, and respectfully request of Dr. Poynter to avail himself of the columns of your journal to state whether the poor Irish catholics receive that religious instruction and attention which their situation requires. It is not sufficient, I apprehend, that the public ordinances of religion_are administered among them; the offices peculiar to their faith render it necessary that they should have the benefit of the instruction of one in whom they can confide, as well in the confessional as in the chapel; and the explication of the moral duties in the pulpit are not more important than is their enforcement by personal visitation and pastoral attention. I would ask Dr. Poynter, whether the spiritual interests of these people are watched over by a clergyman of their own nation, whose early habits and associates, and habitual manners, assimilate him in feeling to the people committed to his care? I would ask whether the doctrines and discipline of their religion is regularly expounded and enforced by the efforts in the pulpit of some lively, zealous, and devout man, who feels interested in the honour of his countrymen and the welfare of their souls? I would Advertiser. journal of the 18th instant, signed by SIR, I have seen a letter in your ask, whether the confessional is sup- To the Editor of the Morning plied by men in whom the people can confide? Whether the poor have not only "the gospel preached to them," but whether they are waited upon and watched by their pastors with the care of a good shepherd? Whether in sickness they are visited-in poverty they are relieved? Whether their follies are censured, and their faults reproved, with the kindness of friendship, but yet with the solemnity of truth? If this is the case, I would ask Dr. Poynter to account, upon some rational principle, for the irregularities of his flock. If this is not the case, I would ask Dr. Poynter, why it is not? Is there no Irish Roman catholic cler gyman, who from education, from ha bit, and from inclination, would become a friend to the friendless, a teacher of the ignorant, a support to the weak and a preacher to the wicked? I would ask, whether there are not funds to minister to their necessities, and instruct their ignorance? and, if not, I would ask, what are the proofs he would give of the sincerity of the duke of Norfolk and the other wealthy catholic nobility, and the catholic gentry, in their application for catholic emancipation, if they will not contribute the superflux of their wealth to provide for their people suitable 'ministers, and by improving their moral habits, remove from many weak-minded but well-intentioned persons one great objection to the restitution to catholics of their political rights. Dr. Poynter is a good man, and will, I feel convinced, reply to these queries, which are written with a feeling of sincerity, and in the spirit of liberal inquiry. I should imagine that the projected use of the truncheon of the special consta bles, mentioned by "A Brother Irishman," must excite in that reverend gentleman's breast some feelings for the welfare of his flock, and the honour of his religion; for my part I should be very sorry to witness an attempt to control these poor creatures by the application of force, or endeavour to mend their morals by the use of the trun. cheon. I am sir, your most obedient servant, CHARLES PEARSON. 10, St. Helen's Place, Sept. 19, 1820, Mr. Charles Pearson, who profess to catholic emancipation. He laments the be a sincere and ardent advocate for ignorant condition and unruly conduct of the "low Irish" residing in the me tropolis, who profess the Roman cathelic faith. He fears that their conduct tends to excite a feeling prejudicial to the cause of catholic emancipation, and He declares that he entertains no doubt attributes it to a want of pastoral care. of the vicar apostolic of the London of the sincerity and purity of intention district, but is of opinion that he sacrifices the care of his fluck, and is not sufficiently bold in the discharge of his functions "for fear of offending our rulers, and thereby protracting the event from their temporal and spiritual bondage." How Mr. Pearson can enter tain this opinion, and consistently be lieve in the purity of intention of the catholic bishop, I profess not to judge, but the letter is an unjust, an unmerited calumny on the right rev. bishop, which is little attoned by the petty compliments which are interspersed. to which catholics look as a deliverance If Mr. Pearson's letter is, as he says, written with a feeling of sincerity, and in the spirit of liberal inquiry, his interrogatories are simply and easily resolved. If he feels the interest which he professes for the spiritual welfare of these poor people (and he must be supposed to have their interest much at heart, when he canvasses the conresolve his own queries by personal duct of their worthy bishop), he may visitation. paper, snd openly to account for the turbulence of his flock, if it proceed from any other cause than the neglect of religious instruction. It is no part of the duty of a catholic bishop to assign a cause for the unruly conduct which may exist in the metropolis, and probably his time may be more useful. ly employed than in discussing the causes of public disorders, and answering questions which Mr. Pearson or any other individual may choose to propose for the gratification of curiosity or any other motive. It is an unquestionable fact, that there does not exist a class of men more peaceful and loyal than the Roman catholics. They have given proofs of their loyalty and fidelity in times when they have been suffering perse cution for their religious opinions, and have ever stood forward when their country required their service. which the ignorance of the vulgar assails their opinions and dialect, hurry them into company, where their morals become depraved; and the impetuosity of their national character renders them teu times more turbulent han their infamous associates. Still the exertions of their pastors are unremitted in bringing them to a sense of their duty-they cease not to impress upon their minds the necessity of subordina tion to lawful anthorities; and at a time when the country is divided by factions, they are not to be found among the seditious. I am, Sir, your obedient MR. ANDREWS,-As I find by the exposure which you have given in If Mr. Pearson would trace the true your late Journal of VENATOR's letcauses of the tumults which occasionally ter from Liverpool, that a violent Occur among the poor Irish in the neighbourhood of St. Giles's, I will outcry has been raised there, not refer him to the most probable means only against yourself for reprobating of discovering them. The natural dis- what you deemed to be the Janse position of the people is high spirited nistical spirit of the Stonebuildings and generous, their feelings are warm club, but against a particular clerand impetuous. This renders them gyman, who some years ago thought always open to impressions of kindness, aud often makes them the dupes of it a conscientious duty to lay open the designing and depraved. After After to his congregation, and warn them spending the early part of their lives against certain religious mistakes, in the retirement of their native fields, which he conceived to be contained they arrive in Londou friendless and in the language of a public mandate unknown, exposed to the taunts of in- sent to him by his bishop. Whesolence and the derision which ignother you can make good your own rance invariably attaches to their Hibernian manners and dialect. Driven thus from the intercourse of society which is open to all others, they gladly seek the company of their countrymen, whose manners are probably corrupted, enter into scenes of vice and dissipation unknown in their native land, and in their riots and excesses furnish a theme to their enemies for upbraiding them. Who has resided in Ireland and has witnessed the poor natives zealous in the practice of their religion, and docile in the execution of their duty, and does not view with abhorence the change which a few short months effects in their character. To what shall we attribute this change? Shall we hesitate to assert, that their feelings, irritated by the scorn with ORTHODOX JOUR. VOL, VIII. charges against your antagonists or not, I must insist upon your allowing me a place in your impartial and Orthodox Journal for some observations which occur to me on the conduct of the fore-mentioned clergyman, as the very essence and preservation of our religion in this country seem to me to depend thereon. In reality, whatever may be the opinion of the Liverpool and other real or reputed catholics in this kingdom, if the gentleman in question, in his whole conduct, only supported and upheld the purity and soundness of catholic doctrine, as he appears to me to have done, it must 3 B be to the credit and honour of all parties to have his cause cleared up; and even his lordship himself, should any errors have been detected by him in the expressions he made use of to the people, must rejoice to find them pointed out, as it cannot be supposed that a catholic bishop is ambitious of any other honour than to profess and humbly submit to the catholic faith, when duly made known to him, by whomsoever the discovery should be made. I must therefore beg leave to contrast the identic words of his lordship's mandate with the known and received decrees of the church, to which the fore-mentioned clergyman imagined them to be opposed. His lordship, after exhorting his people to do penance for their sins in the holy time of Lent, which was highly commendable, takes upon himself, in the second paragraph of his mandate, to settle and determine the conditions which are requisite for that purpose; and, in the first place, he expressly maintains, that for doing penance, and bringing forth fruits worthy of penance, of course, for obtaining pardon of mortal sins, two things are necessary: first, sorrow, which all catholics allow, and secondly, sacramental confession; which to the fore-mentioned clergyman appeared to be a mistake. In fact, as the church has condemned the following 32d proposition of the noted Michael de Baye, that charity, which is the fulfilling of the law, is not always accompanied with a remission of sins, she declares, of course, that its contradictory, charity ALWAYS is accompanied with a remission of sins, must be true. Now, seeing the Almighty can at all times bestow a grace of contrition upon the most hardened sinner existing, if he pleases, in case the said grace is complied with by the sinner in the instant A, whether there is an obliga tion of his actually confessing his sins to a priest in the following instant B, or not, his sin will be pardoned without the aid of a second thing in the instant A ; which proves his lordship's expression to be false, when he makes two things necessary for doing penance, where one alone will suffice. His lordship proceeds to enforce the same doctrine by saying, in the second place, that under the gospel· dispensation for obtaining the said effect, it is required to have recourse to the remedy of confession; which words evidently denote the actual receiving of the sacrament; as no one can be said to have recourse to a remedy whereof he does not make actual use, however earnestly he may desire it. But this identic condition is expressly condemned in the 71st proposition of Michael de Baye, as the necessity of two things was in the former. By contrition, said De Baye, even together with perfect charity, and joined to a desire of receiving the sacrament, a crime is not forgiven, barring a case of necessity, (viz. when the sacrament cannot be had) or martyrdom, wITH OUT THE ACTUAL RECEIPT OF THE SACRAMENT. 71st Prop. His lordship, however, was so strongly rivetted in the persuasion of actual confession being necessary for the forgiveness of mortal sin, that, in the third place, though our catechism does not oblige sinners to confess their sins oftener than once a year, and in the mean while declares to them, that if they prefer God, his will and law before all things, so as to be willing to lose all, rather than the love and grace of God by any mortal sin, their sins will be remitted, and spiritual life given to their souls,-nevertheless, in defiance of this doctrine, and of the opinions of all divines in the church, (some of whom allow a longer, others a shorter time for delaying confession) he takes upon himself to pronounce the penance of those sinners to be illusory and fruitless, who, having it in their power to confess, neglect to avail themselves of the opportunity that offers of confessing, though they should intend to comply with the precept afterwards. As these opinions appeared to the fore-mentioned clergyman erroneaus, on noticing them, he addressed his congregation and said, that, seeing it is incident to the best of men often to express themselves on delicate subjects in terms, the full import whereof they do not themselves understand, if his lordship, by the expressions above cited and underlined, meant no more than that they were obliged to confess their sins at Easter, and other times prescribed by the church, he was perfectly orthodox in his sentiments; but if the import of them was, that no pardon. of sin can be obtained without actual confession, it was an error condemned by the church, to which they must not assent. Now, Mr. Andrews, it appears to me a matter of the highest importance that this controversy between the Liverpool gentlemen and the fore-mentioned clergyman should be amicably settled. If the fault is on the side of the latter, the Liverpool gentlemen, after conferring with their own venerable bishop and the learned divines he has under him, will certainly be able to explain the true catholic doctrine to him and to the world; but if they decline giv ing a fair and open explication of their principles, the world, it is to be feared, will suspect that they themselves are tainted with error, and secretly wish to enlist under the standard of infidelity that is unfortunately erected among us. A LOVER OF ORTHODOXY AND PEACE. IN EPITOME OF INTELLIGENCE. themselves, by omitting to pray for her present majesty in the same man❤ ner as they prayed for the late queen, until the hand of justice and the law of the land shall decide to the contrary. These remarks, we are happy to say, were not wholly unproductive of the end intended, as the reader will see by the annexed extract of a letter we received a few days ago from a distant part of the island, written by a most respectable and worthy catholic priest, who is far from entering into the general line of politics we pursue: N our number for July last, we | both countries would not commit hinted at the difference of opinion which evidently existed at that time in the catholic body on the very important question at issue between her majesty queen Caroline and the present cabinet; and we expressed our hope that the catholics who usually take a lead in the affairs of that body, would abstain from involving the catholic name in acts of injustice and party spirit.We shewed that the conduct of the persecutors of this illustrious individual manifested so much of this spirit, that it was impossible for any man, divested of prejudice and possessing political integrity, to co-operate with them; and we indulged the expectation that the catholics of "In regard to our unfortunate queen I was in a misunderstanding, or was ra ther drawn into a prejudice against her; for I was made to believe that she ram |