N. Rigby

“ Inhabitants, in conclusion, I confidently appeal to you, if you ever knew me do an ungenteel act to any Protestant in point of religion. I have always wished equal rights and equal justice for all, both for Protestants and Dissenters; I have always wished to live in peace and charity with all; in short, I have always endeavoured to observe, as far as my human weakness would allow, that heavenly precept of our divine Saviour, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love for one another;" ”

“ Our lives, as this pagan, but aged and venerable Thane justly observes, are beautifully pictured by the short flight of a sparrow, flying through the narrow space of a hall, with a door open at each end. But after this short passage of life, there is something most awful, and mysterious awaiting us, and the true religion of God, only can unfold to us, how we may best prepare ourselves for the revelation of those awful moments, when time shall end, and eternity begin. ”

“ To have touched even a single hair of their heads, or to have offered the least insult to these noble, and generous creatures, would have instantly brought down on the base offender, the indignation and fury of the people. There the noble Marquis, without any detriment to his political dignity, walked without guards, surrounded by the hearts of the people, an honour to England, a just representative of our most gracious, liberal, and well-beloved Queen, the idol of the people, and the saviour of Ireland. ”

“ Oh, Ireland, how thou remindest me of the sufferings of my Saviour! "a man of sorrow, and the outcast of the people." Had not his divine example been continually before thy eyes, thou never couldst have endured thy load of miseries, of sorrows, and of persecution, and so nobly have proved thy loyal allegiance to thy sovereign, even amidst a deluge of insults, and of wrongs, and of injustices, that would have maddened any other nation, into a whirlwind of fury, and revenge, and rebellion ”

“ Really, most Reverend Gentlemen, I think every one, will conclude, that this is a most extraordinary and presumptuous movement, of you and your reverend body, on your good, and kind mother the Church. May they not justly apply to you, the words of the old proverb, "Physicians, cure yourselves?" Most Reverend Gentlemen, to those clergymen, who have adopted the above inconsistent conduct, I can only say, I may applaud their intentions, but I must condemn their bigotry. They may indeed, be friends to their Church in their hearts, but their mouths, and pens, are her most dangerous enemies. ”

“ But this, Reverend Gentlemen, I must say, that if the Catholic Church, had no better foundation than declamation against the Protestant Church, I would not be either a minister, or a member of it for a single day. But mind, the Catholic Church has both a good foundation, and can also show the flimsy texture of the Protestant Church, when Protestant ministers are so imprudent as to attack her. ”

“ If Lord John, wishes to intimate, that Catholics teach works of penance, to be of themselves a sufficient compensation for sin, Lord John has yet, to learn, the first rudiments of the Catholic creed; but if he means, that Catholics consider the works of penance, as one of the conditions, on which our Saviour, is willing to communicate the merits of His death and passion, to the soul of the sinner, Lord John's meaning is just. But does Lord John, seriously condemn this doctrine, founded, as it is, on the plainest evidence of scripture, and confirmed by the practice of the earliest ages? ”

“ She can present you a long catalogue of learned and polite nations, of scholars, philosophers, and divines, of generals, statesmen, and princes, of saints, martyrs, and confessors, who looked upon her faith as their best inheritance, a treasure which they held more dear than life itself. In short, she can prove, that she is now that Church, which our Saviour first founded on a rock, against which, He promised, that the gates of hell should never prevail, and that He, and His Holy Spirit, should remain with it, teaching it all truth, until the end of the world. ”

“ The man, who embraces a religious opinion from conviction, has undoubtedly the right to maintain it by argument. But truth will be his first and principal object, and the champion of truth, will disdain the petty artifices of substituting assertion for truth, and misrepresentation for fact. He will never condescend to swell the crowd of idle disputants, whose ingenuity first, frames a creed for the Church of Rome, and then, after combatting a phantom of its own creation, exults in an easy and a decisive victory. ”

“ Have you not read books, that gave you the most horrible account of the Catholic religion, have you not heard people, tell the most infamous things against this religion, and have you not, even in places of worship, heard this religion, most cruelly called, and abused? ”

“ But if the muttering of the Liturgy, &c., by the Clergy, be a great crime, is it not a far greater crime, for the Protestant Bishops, and clergymen, so to mutter the tenets of their creed, as to disguise the language, and the meaning of them, by their perpetual disunions, and contradictions? Is it not a notorious fact, that in one Protestant Church, you are taught to believe in ecclesiastical infallibility, in another, in the all-sufficiency of the Scriptures; in one Protestant parish, you have a sacrificial, mediatorial priest, in another, one of an opposite, and contrary opinion ”

“ You glory in liberty of conscience, and are the bound slaves of a fallible Church, as if she were infallible. The Bible, and the Bible alone, is your rule of faith, and yet, you are remorselessly compelled, to subscribe to the thirty-nine Articles, which have been added to the Scriptures, and which are in part self-contradictory, and in part, impossible to be understood. ”

“ Before the Catholics can aid the Pope to extend his temporal or spiritual power over you Protestants, they will have to surmount all the above obstacles. But by what human power can they ever surmount the above obstacles? Really, gentlemen, is it not childish to talk either about Catholics forcing you to become Catholics, or their wishing to aid the Pope, to extend his spiritual or temporal domination over you Protestants, with all the above obstacles staring you in the face. ”

“ Now, gentlemen, if the Catholics of Ireland, and the Catholics of our English Colonies, are thus allowed by Government, to enjoy the spiritual benefits of the Hierarchy, do you not think it unreasonable, that the Catholics of England, should be refused the same spiritual blessings? Do not the Dissenters also, enjoy in England, the free exercise of their spiritual powers? ”

“ But what shall I say of those dissenters, who have joined with the Protestant Church, in the late fury and tirade against us Catholics? Can I call them consistent men? Consistent men indeed! Do not all the dissenters, the Presbyterians, Methodists, Independents, Baptists, Unitarians, and Quakers, do not all [Pg 71] these dissenters deny, as well as we Catholics, the spiritual supremacy of the Queen? Nay, do not all these dissenters, claim their spiritual rights and authority, independent of the Queen? ”

“ O Englishmen, if you would only seriously, and conscientiously examine the real merits of the Catholic Church, you would soon find that she is built upon the pillar of truth, and that she is the admirable work of that wise builder, Jesus Christ, who built His house upon a firm foundation. ”

“ Gentlemen, if the Catholic Faith, be an invention of human counsel, and a work of human policy, rest assured, it will of itself crumble into nought, but if it be of God, and if it be the will of God, that England should return to her ancient faith, you cannot overthrow it, and you cannot fight against God, for as the wise man says, "there is no wisdom, there is no prudence, there is no counsel against the Lord." ”

“ Paul did the incestuous Corinthian, cut them off from her communion, and showed them, when her faith was at stake, she feared neither the frowns of individuals, nor the strength of nations. Every article of her faith is so holy in itself, and so conducive to true holiness, that she challenges her greatest adversaries, to show the smallest stain in any part of what she really teaches, and the most convincing proof of their being unable to do so, is, that not daring to attack her true doctrine, they, by calumny and misrepresentation, lay things to her charge which she even detests and condemns. ”

“ Some of you gentlemen certainly appear, to be worthy descendents of your Protestant ancestors, for they took from us our church possessions, you are now enjoying these church possessions, but not content with our possessions, you wish to deprive us, even of our very name; for you are endeavouring, by every artifice, to deceive the people, and make them believe—you and not we are the real Catholics. ”

“ Sensible Englishmen, when these Reverends, would uncharitably excite you against your long much injured, and unjustly abused Catholic fellow creatures, just say to them, "Reverend gentlemen, you tell us that the Scripture (the book of eternal life and of truth) , teaches Charity to all Men! why, therefore, should you wish us to exclude the Catholics from a share of that universal Charity?" ”

“ But, gentlemen, I have another reason for not attending. Each nation, like each individual, has a certain character, and temperament. Now, whoever will deliberately consider the character, and temperament of Englishmen, will find, that when they are once roused, and excited, they are then unwilling to listen, either to reason or argumentation, but let the heat of excitement pass away, and let the cooler moments of reflection return, and then, you may appeal to them with propriety, and advantage. ”

“ For the English Protestant Church, is a modern church, [Pg 62] its language, therefore, should be modern, that its liturgy, may announce to posterity the period, in which it was formed. But the Church of Rome, is an ancient Church, and therefore, she preserves her ancient liturgy, the language of which, remounts to the origin of Christianity. I do not believe, that history, can furnish an instance of a people, who ever changed the language of their liturgy, and who did not, at the same time, change their religion. ”

“ But at last, the Almighty was pleased to send His only Son from heaven to earth, to supply the deficiency of this natural law, and to teach mankind, in the most perfect manner, their duty to God, to their neighbour, and to themselves. Hence our Saviour beautifully says, "He came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it," that is, He came to supply the imperfections of the natural law, caused by Adam's fall, and to teach us, in the most perfect manner, our duty to our God, to our neighbour, and to ourselves. Hence, for this purpose He became man, and united our humanity to His divinity. ”

“ You cannot be ignorant of the many Protestant clergyman, who, are either returning in many respects to the Catholic faith, or who have already, publicly renounced the Protestant, and embraced the Catholic faith. Now, with all these venerable examples before you, ought not you laity, to begin to think, that you also, have a right, nay, that it is your duty, to examine how religious affairs, stand in England? ”

“ Now, your first Reformers said, indeed, that the Catholic Church once fell, but most unfortunately, they forgot to prove when, where, and how. As, therefore, these first Reformers, forgot to prove these most essential circumstances, you must excuse us Catholics, if we prefer God's infallible word, to the mere ipse dixit of these first celestial lights of the Reformation. You know God says, heaven and earth, shall pass away, but His word shall not pass away. ”

“ Paul, I judge no man; but charity for you, and the poor, induce me to entreat of you, and to ask of God to give you His grace, to commence a real reform in your church property, for the sake of the poor, and to restore to the poor, what your Protestant ancestors so unjustly took from them. ”

“ If therefore, God, and Jesus Christ, in their infinite mercy, gave this power of forgiving sins, to the Apostles, for the good of mankind then, and if there are, as many sinners now, as there were then, in the name of common sense, why was not this power of God, given to the Apostles for the benefit of mankind then, why was it not, to extend also to all future ages, for the benefit of mankind afterwards? ”

“ Now, please tell me, Most Reverend Gentlemen, of what is your new spiritual Church to be built? Surely not of brick and mortar! but of course, it is to be erected, on the testimony of man, or of some body of men. But your article says, men may err, and have erred, even in things pertaining to God. Therefore, your council, or councils, of your new Church may err, and therefore, how will you build upon these fallible men an infallible foundation? ”

“ Whoever will take the pains to examine carefully, the strange mixture of good, and of evil, which is to be found in your Protestant Prayer-book, and in your Protestant religion, will, at first, stand astonished, but his astonishment will soon cease, when he finds that the little good which is in them, flows from the Church of Jesus Christ, which you formerly left, and that the evils with which they abound, flow from the inventions and the ingenuity of man. ”

“ Surely, it is enough to make a Christian's blood run cold, to think of the sacrilegious presumption of a Society, which dares thus to tamper, and trifle with the revelation of the Almighty, and dares publish to the heathen, and attempt to pawn upon its credulous supporters, these schoolboy exercises of its agents, as the Sacred Word of God! ”