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Untitled Article
cal good from these concessions . The old question only takes a new form ; and accordingly , from other hints in the same article , we are led to the conclusion , that , after all , what the writer means as the conditions on which the Catholic should be received into public life , are simply , that he should agree to forswear his church and its essential doctrines ; in other words , our Critic sees no obstacle whatever to the Catholics being eligible to public trust , when they have become Protestants .
We thank him , however , for the confession , that exclusion is an evil—an evil to all parties , —and for the consequent burthen and responsibility which he imposes upon himself and his friends of , at all times , proving the necessity of the continuance of the proscription , But we have still greater and more perplexing signs , all evidencing , however , the decline and impending fall of that cause which rests upon oppression of the community .
We have , for the few last years , seen the gradual progress of liberal thought and action among all our most distinguished statesmen . Mr . Canning saw the course which the current of the times pointed out to him . He was first led by it—he afterwards led it . All his talents , however , were necessary to keep down the strong opposition of prejudice and interest , and
unfortunately he died before he had matured his work . Though , however , no leader remained competent to keep the liberal party the dominant one , the opposing interest , on the other hand , was irremediably crippled . An anti-catholic cabinet could not be formed , and it required the Duke of Wellington ' s name to combine one even on the principle of neutrality . And
now we see what this strong man , after his short experience , finds , —namely , that without redress there is no peace for the present , and no hope for the future ; that the emergency is so imminent as to force him , for h \ s own reputation ' s sake , to own it , though he confesses his own shame in pleading his incapacity to do the work of prudence and justice . What more could be expected from him ? If he is any thing as a Minister , if he has any adherents capable of supporting his power , it is because he was the Church ' s ark in her days of trouble . He found it necessary to
do last session what she had always thought the cruellest enemy would hardly inflict upon her ; and shall he , can he , give the finishing blow to her prejudices and pride ? Even he is not strong enough for this . He has not assistants for such a work . His position rests on totally different grounds . — To achieve such a work as he sees necessary , he must begin his ministerial career afresh , and court those whom he has flung aside . —But he can at any rate tell his sorrows . Out of the fulness of the heart the mouth speaketh ; let us hear , then , the doleful confession of the great Minister to his friend Dr . Curtis , the Catholic Primate of Ireland .
" A long intimacy has subsisted between his Grace and the Catholic Archbishop . The latter was Rector of the University of Salamanca when the Duke fought the memorable battle at that place , and , it is understood , rendered very important services to the army , from his great influence in the city and its vicinity : — .
" 'My dear Sir , —I have received your letter of the 4 th instant , and I assure you that you do me justice in believing" that I am sincerely anxious to witness the settlement of the Iioman Catholic Question , which , by benefiting the State , would confer a benefit on every individual belonging to it . But I confess that I see no prospect of such a settlement . Party has been mixed up with the consideration of the question to such a degree , and such violence pervades every discussion of it , that it is impossible to expect to prevail upon
Untitled Article
Catholic Question . 109
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1829, page 109, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2569/page/37/
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