To The Editor Of The Time...
oLr,--ttitnougn you treat me and my cause rather ccurvily, I can- not help feeling some respect for vou, and therefore wish to give you the opportunity ofcorrecting any misstatement made by you. Now, Sir, in your paper of this morning, you ask, hew long has toleration existed in France ? antd you yourself give the answer- frorn the period ot the French revolution. You afterwards state, that " the free exercise of the Catholic religion was allowed in Eng. land agcs b-fore thig new-born tolerance of France." Pray, Sir, how nmany years, in your opinion, constitute an age? For. upon refer- ring tn history, i ffnd that the very first step towyar(ls tolerating Catholics in England, only took place in the vear 1780, while the revolution in France took place in the year 1789: previous to which veyr (1780) it was felony far a priest to celebrate mass, or a layman to t3e present at it. Xou afterwards state, that the Catholics are denied civil power in England, *' because they bonst that a power dwelling out of the kingdom directs their principles and consciences ;" and yet you must certainly he aware, that the existence of any foreign authority whatever, derogatory to their dluty to their king and their country, has been repeatedly deniedI by them upon oath, and that they have sworn that they would resist the Pope himself, were lie to coine in the rharacterot au invader, or in any character whatever that infringed upont their obligation of civil allegiance. In admitting that the Protestant clergy live upon the spoils of the ancient cliurch, you ask-upon wbose spoils did the ancient church live'? To tils I answer, upon the spoils of no one; for, with the exception of a few ruinatedi temples, I cannot find any species of propeTty existing among our Pagan ancestors, for those that suc- ceeded them to inherit. The property wrhich the Catholic Church possessed previous to the Reformation was- principally what had been bequeathed to her at various time^ by her own children, tor charitable and pious purposes.* I am sorry the French edi or has forgot to give this country the rmerit due to that truly charitable and generous acr, the prolectisit and support of the French refugee clergy. It certainly was an act which deserves to be recorded by history ii all ages; und will, I trust, be always remembered with gratitude by the Gallican Church. Hoping you will excuse me for again troitoling you, I remain, Sir. vour ver- nh-Ai-,,A A Uarl HOLIC. October 8, 1824. v yuery-%vas It applied according to thils intention ? TO TIE EDITOR OF TIIB TIMEES.