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" RUTH IS POWERFUL,
AND WILL PREVAIL.
“VOL. I.
NEW-YORK, SATURDAY, JUNE 24, 1826.
NO. 25.
‘ caTrHonze EMANCIPATION,
The following speech was delivered by R. W. Beverly, Esq.
ata late meeting of the Corporation of the town of Beverly, in
Yorkshire, for the purpose of agreeing to a petition against the
Catholic Claims, &c. We recommend it to the perusal of our
readers. It is scarcely necessary to add, that his motion, beiag
in favour of the Catholics, was of eourse negatived :—
' “Mr. Mayor,—I have had but a very short notice of this day’s
meeting, and all that time that I, might have employed in ar-
vanging arguments for. this important discussion, | have una-
voidably been compelled to throw away in a visit to the coun+
‘ try; I therefore rise almost unprepared to oppose the petition
which the honourable committee of the corporation has drawn
up for our consideration, and beg. you to consider that avy ar-
gumeats I may offer in this very short speech, arise, as the,
Suggest themselves to my mind ,in reading over this petition,
and not according to that order which [ should wish to have
given them, had I had time to. prepare myse'
It is the usual practice and the standing order of the corpo-
ration not to decide on any question without a month’s previous
notice, that all the members of the corporation may ‘have well
considered the subject to be discussed. At our last meeting,
(at which I was not present) this order was set aside, so that
Without any notice, you agreed to name a committee to draw
«up this petition, and kaye now met to agree, as a matter of
course, to this document, every word of which might have been
predicted with a moral certainty before-hand, and which I there-
fore much wonder was not instantly accepted on the day when
she standing rules of this chamber were set aside for ihe better
and more effectual display of your Protestant zeal! Mr. Mayor,
this petition is a-very old friend ; it is kept in a closet, and
brought forward as a squib against the Pope, whenever we very
good Protestants presume the Pope wants a squib to keep him
in remembrance of our intolerance and persecution. This pe-
tition is ten or twelve years old ; it is a venerable relic, and so
great is its antiquity, that I do not wonder the committee have
not altered a word of it, or transposed a single sy!lable—but sa-
cred as it is, I must attack it—I deny its propositions—I deny
its conclusions—I deny, its arguments. and its principles; it
shows a lamentable ignorance of our history, and yet ‘it seems
» to triumph in its ignorance. The constitution of which it speaks
so much, alas! owes its very foundation to these Roman Catho-
"Hes, against whom we are mét to petition.” The Magna Charta,
the constitutions of Clarendon, the Charta de Foresta, all the
old venerable bulwarks of the constitution were given to us by
“the Catholies, and by them only; the old writers on the laws of
the land, Bracton and Fortescue, whose works are quoted every
day with such respect, were themselves Catholics, and if it had
not been for those Catholics who had the courage to extort our
liberties from tyrants and oppressors, we should have been ina
Jamentable state at this present day; nor do [ think“that we
should have been able to meet here and-show our zeal for the
constitution, which certainly would never’ have existed but for
these people, whom we foolishly - and ignorantly consider our
enemies. - Certainly the town of Beverly owes no small portion
of its best things to these terrible fellows; look at the Minster
«and St. Mary’s; who built them ?—Look at, Westwood; who
‘gave it to the freemen of Beverley ?—a Roman Catholic Bishop.
Look at all our public pastures; read our charters, consider our
immunities—reflect on our. local liberties; these were all, Mr,
Mayor, given to us by Catholics, and as bigotted to their. reli-
, gion, as we are to ours.’ Whatever sort of. men these Catho-
‘ hics might have been, the existence of Beverley, is entirely ow-
ing to them; they were the funnders, the builders, the enrich
ers, the beautifiers, the patrons, and the defenders of this town;
many splendid buildings now sunk {nto the dust, by the effects
of Protestant economy, once adorned this town; we had churches,
convents, hospitals, and places of public charity, which arenow
‘inerely recorded as a matter of history, but which once were
the ornament and boast of our native place; nor do I find that
» the buildings which remain, have been loo much improved by
, the Protestant gentlemen to whose talents they are committed.
Itherefore beg my brothers. of the chamber not to think too
fiercely of these same Catholics—not to censider them as non,
sters, regicideg, and assassins, bent upon robbing us of the co:
stitution, and of our own paiicular privileges and immunities;
depend upon it, they are not so very bad; and if we could clear
eur eyes from the mist of prejudices and bigotry, we should not
.find any rational cause for bating them more than any other
dissenters.—Nay, L am sure, that they deserve our good will
jand approbation more than any other dissenters, for the practi-
cal good they have done to this country ; and when we take in-
to consideration all the splendid works of charity performed by
‘them in the day of their power, the church of England herself
will miserably sink in the comparison.—Jhe Catholics gave us
»@athedrals, churches, hospitals, universities, colloges, halls,
: grammar-schools, public libraries, alins-bouses, and every insti-
‘tien for learning, religion, and churity, gratis. ‘The priests
used not in their days to beg subscriptions; go to Parliament
jor churches, as they do now, but every thing was given, en-
were then no poor rates: the clergy supported the poor. But
now, Mr. Mayor! we build nothing but jails, mad-houses, aud
edifices for gas; and we build them by taxation and the rod of
the law. The county is taxed, the town is taxed, and every
thing is taxed.—New assessments are as common aga shower
of tain, for we have no Catholics to give us these things gratis,
or to prevent our wanting them ; but we have constables, attor-
neys, bailiffs, a writ and a post chaise to take us to jail because
we afe not rich enough to build it. I hate jails, mad-houses,
and gas, I cannot bear this perpetual taxation to please the
philosophers, J had rather see a procession of Catholic priests
marching through the market-place with wax tapers in their
bands, than a bailiff and bis myrmidons hovering round the
doors of the poor, who hate these nuisances for which they are
compelled to pay ; and J amsure the poor would prefer a chaunt-
ing priest to a sharp-eyed attorney, and the light of wax tapers
to the light of gas, ‘
et me now draw your attention to the abstract notion of a
Roman Catholic. What is there in it so detestable, so incom-
patible with toleration, so unfit to be treated with common jus-
tice and humanity 7 can you not bear to entertain the
idea of a Catholic sitting in the House. of Commons? Is it
from your amazing, devouring, overwhelming zeal for your re-
ligion, your violent and uncootrolable affection for, the thirty-
nine articles? J think not, Mr.. Mayor—you view with coi-
placency Jews and Unitarians in the House of Commons; you
think many of them very useful, very ministerial, very com-
plying representatives of the people, and yet the Jews crucified
your Saviour, and put to death his ministers and apostles, and
would do so again if they were able; and the Unitarians deny
your Deity, and laugh at your orthodoxy Both these sects
are your bitter enemies; they hate, despise, and ridicule you;
and yet these same men, you would think it scandalous shame
to deprive of their rights as Englishmen; and I am sure that
no Jew, Unitarian Ranter, or Southcotian, would find a’ want
of most numerous supporters in this town, in the eyent of a ge-
neral election, provided his religion brought with it the one
thing needful. Religion then is out of the question; the cor-
poration is most exceedingly orthodox and particularly pious;
but it does not mix religion with politics. What then is the
real bugbear ? what the gause of this famiug petition? I sup-
pose I shall be told it ie:ivided allegiance, &c. &c. Now let
me observe, that as a matter of history, this is most ridiculously
untrue, thet Catholics did not. give divided allegiance to the
Kings of England, and that they did not do so, and will not do
so, inany other country. . J could quote instances without end
of Acts of Parliament passed against the papal authority by
the Catholic Honses of Commons and the Catholic Houses of
Lords; and we should remember that the bishops and the ab-
bots, used then to outnumber the peers, and yet these Catholic
priests passed laws, making it felony or high treason to do such
and such acts derogatory to the royal dignity when compared
with the papal. , These Catholic lords, priests, and commons,
proposed laws against the |Pope, and the Catholic kings of
course consented to the laws—there-is no fear of the Pope
when the people havea Parliament: without that safeguard I
cannot answer for the Pope, nor for any other Prelate; the
Archbishop of York might turn tyrant, if the people were not
all powerful in England ; but neither the Pope nor the Arch-
bishop are to be cared for, more than for the man in the moon,
whenever aud wherever a Parliament can keep them in check.
What is the case at the present day in America? Are there
not there Roman Catholic States regularly sending their repre-
sentatives to Congress? and yet no lunatic ever started up in
America with the ludicrous and childish notion that you ought
to thrust the Catholics out of Congress for fear of the Pope: it
is only in EngJand where such things ‘are dove: it is only
such Goshens as the fizAt litte island, and such light little towns
as Beverley, where we hear these exploded and. nonsensical
doctrines of persecution and bigotry—all the rest of the world
laughs at us, and. loves to see how this envy of surrounding
nations” is in the mist and obgcurity of the dark. ages.—
Why then, Mr. Mayor, since all the world has learnt that al-
phabet of common sense, toleration, should we be hugging the
chains of our ignorance, and showing our folly by approving
of such idle productions as this peiitidn ?. It. does not become
our dignity, our gravity, our Tedenincy our eloquence, eur wit,
or onr wisdom, to send this petition to the Speaker's water
closet; no body will look at it, and our old friend, this Decen-
nial Archon, will be sleeping in the mud and slime of Wapping
cs
or the Isle of Dog:
The last refuge of the admirers of this petition will be in the
“ disturbances of Ireland, the Catholic Association, &e. &e.—
and I acknowledge it is very easy for us, sitting. comforta-
bly here by a warm fire, in easy acm chairs, slumbering on a
Crimson ‘cussion before ovr eyes, to throw out our. splendid
sentences about disturbances, rebellion, associations, secret
societies, and treasons; but we should remember, Mr. Mayor,
that men will feel and act Fike men all over the world, and if
they are persecuted and insulted tor many-centuries, they will
naturally enter into associations of all sorts, to’set themselves
at liberty; and as: long as the world lasts, this ever has been
and ever will be the case. Let me put the case more home to
dowed, and supported by the free liberality of the clergy j lbeve
.
your feelings; let it be supposed, (and I trust it is true,) that
all we gentlemen of the corporation are members of the church
of England; that suck being the case, a strong body of Jewa
take possesion of the town of Beverly ; they pass sundry laws,
that unless we believe in circumcision, we shall be incapable of
aldermen, common councilmen, town-clerks, cryers, members
of Parliament, Chancellors, Peers, &c. &c. In consequence
of this we are all turned out of the corporation, we cannot vote
for members of Parliament, we may eat, drink, dance, sing,
ride, and shoot, but we are totally incapable of serving kiog”
or country in those situations which we before enjoyed; year
after year passs on, no relief, no hope of relief; the Jew cor~
poration meets here to petition against our being tolerated, an
all the Jew aldermen in the kingdom are in a ferment at the
notion of our being real Englishmen again. What, I ask you,
Mr. Mayor, would be eur conduct after such appropriation 1—
I put it to yourself, I put it to all the gentlemen of this corpo~
ration, te the honourable committee, and every individual
breathing fury here against the Pope, whether they would not -
in this case enter into all sorts of associations to regain their li~
berty! Nay, [thinkthat some who are now most loyal, most
obedient gentlemen, would warn violent opponents of governs
ment, and become O’Connells in every thing but eloquence.—~
But this is the case,of the Catholics, the Catholics are ourselves:
in my picture and we are the Jews, with this exception, that
every species of degradation is added to the Catholics in Ire~
land, every sting ef poverty, every insult that the basevess,
cowardice, cruelty and bigotry of the orangcmen can invent 5
every stigma that our own Protestant clergy can devise; all the
tricks & contrivances of a hireling press, a gang of plunderers,
sharpers, middle-men, absentees, rogues and swindlers can cos
gitate to ruin that wahappy. country, and to enrich themselves.
Irgland is under a system of devastation, carnags, suspicion,
hatred, violence and oppression, from one end of it to the other 5
and all this for the stupid pretense of religion, and because such”
statement as the majority of this chamber, will not listen to the
plainest. and most evident truths that can be uttered, and be~
cause they will stick to the ten times confuted nonsense that
has been bandied about for two centuries by these ignorant
fools that toss up their caps and shout “ no popery,.” We have:
the means, if we choose to make use of them, of immediatly .
conferring content and union on unhappy Ireland; we have;
no other rule to follow than doing to others as we would thaé
others should do untous; we have no other wisdom that need
be our guide than our conduct to all the other sectsin England
and Ireland, to the ten thousand religionists that bellow out
their dogmas to the amusement of some and the satisfaction ef
others, .
I hear, no expressions of fear and hatred against the Metho~
dists, that large and respectable body of men, who add a net
produce of ten thousand proselytes every year to their sect,
who are guided implicitly by their priests, who collect enor-
mous and incredible sums of money, of which no account ig giver
to the public, who have conferences and congresses und synods,
with closed doors, who drain off Jarge numbers every ye;
from the established church, and who in my opinion, bid fair
to become fair for successful rivals—there is no alarm about
them, we have no dread of seeing Methodists elected into this
chamber, we smile and nod to these powerful and daily increas;
ing sectarians: but for the sinking and languishing (rumpery
of Popery we have nothing but frowns, suspicion, and hatred.
—If, however, I wished the Methodists to everturn the consti-+
tution, the church and the King, 1 should immediately begin a
persecution against them; 1 would frame foolish oaths to exe
clude them from all the important offices in state, E would pass
laws making it felony for them to appear out of coors after sun-
set, (as is the case with the Irish Catholics) I would set spies,
informers, attorneys, and miuisterial tools to watch over their
proceedings—to dog thei at every turn—to draw up indict-
ments, to charge them with treason, riot, and sedition ; [would
beg the honourable committee of this csrporation to pen such
a petition as our old friend before us-I would ses all the alder-
men at work throughout the kingdom—I would iotreat the cler-
gy to write pamphlets against them, and the deuce is in it, if,”
at the end ofa few years, I could not turn them into dangerous
enemics, increase their nambers, sharpen their wits, and give
a stability, a union, a epirit of desperate determination which
they do not possess, There is nothing too foolish for mankind
not to think the perfection of wisdom and sound sense ; « what.
ever is, is best,” is the maxim of the world: however infamous
mad, drivelling, superstitious, or idectic the customs of the coun-
try, we adhere to them with a veucration and an affection that
nothing can shake; if it were the custom to burn every tenth
Qaaker every tenth year, we should think ita very dangerous
precedent to give up the custom, and no doubt we should see!
bishops and corporations in violent trepidation at the bare hint
of such a rash and thoughtless piece of likerality, It is from
this absurd principle of human nature that we at this day, ia”
the nincteenth centevy, in the midst of sucha blaze of light and
improved reason, such a gencral commotion cf the people, alk :
hastening to the fonntain of truth; still resolutely cling to the
idle superstition of thinking it a duty to God tind to man to he
iitiberal and unjust to the Catholics; aud thus it is, whilst alltbe
town of Beverley, all the clear-headed butchers and: bakers,
{ from the Beck ta the Bar, know Perfectly well their Policy oa :