bulls of its condemnation. The whole Catholic world declared their act improper, and their position untenable, as they refused to conform to the judgment of the Catholic church, declaring that this book contained erroneous doctrine. They became schismatics, having been separated by their obstinacy from the unity of the church. They were known by the name of Jansenists. The Bishops of Utrecht have continued the ordination of clergy, and always consecrated another bishop, so as to preserve the succession. They claim to belong to the church, and always send letters of communion to the Pope as its head, but have never condemned the work of Jansenius-and the Pope always answers by excommunication, until they shall admit the proper principle, and do as all the other churches have done. The King of the Netherlands, who swore to preserve the rights of his Catholic subjects, attempted several usurpations of their rights, and especially in the appointment of bishops-and finding that he was resisted by Rome, and by the Catholic people, he has been liberal enough to place in Catholic sees a number of Jansenists, who have been consecrated: one of them, William Vet, was consecrated for the see of Deventer. Thus under the private influence of others, and of his own good will-the king of the Netherlands is liberally proceeding to observe his oath, very liberally construed. "The brief of his present holiness, which has appeared against the Bishop of Deventer, and which has so highly offended the editors of the French liberal journals, is as follows: "Leo XII., Pope. Health and apostolic benediction. The Catholic church has, for a long time past, been troubled by the schism of Utrecht. What have not our predecessors, the Sovereign Pointiffs, done to remedy this pernicious evil? But by an impenetrable judgment of God, they have been able, neither by their salutary advice, nor by their affectionate exhortations, nor in fine, by their threats, and the application of canonical censure, to bring back the blind to the bosom of their mother, the holy church. "William Vet, who dares to call himself the bishop of Deventer, and has not blushed to inform us of his election, and of his consecration, in a letter which he wrote to us on the 13th of last June, has recently given new proof of his great obstinacy. "His letter, it is true, is filled with honey, and announces a respect and obedience toward us; but this very letter teaches us in what light we ought to hold his pretended and worn-out flatteries; for William there shows himself engaged in the same errors, opposed with the same obstinacy to the holy canons, and in a word suìlied with all the filth, which his fellows, from the very beginning of the Schismatics of Utrecht, have covered themselves. William, nevertheless, fears not to represent them, as full of innocence and free from all blame, and even to extol them highly. Since then, William differs in nothing from those whom our predecessors thought necessary to treat with severity, after exhausting the resources of their paternal tenderness; we, walking in their esteemed footsteps, have determined to make him feel the same censures; for we would not, dearest children, that any one of you, in the midst of whom the schism of Utrecht insinuates itself, and grievously devours souls, deceived by the delusion of these cheats, should follow, as good shepherds, and permit yourselves to be taken by the deceitful voice of wolves, who cover themselves with the skins of sheep, to desolate, destroy, and massacre, more easily the flock. Therefore, we decry, in virtue of the apostolic authority with which we are clothed; and we declare that the election of William Vet to the bishopric of Deventer is illegal, vain, null, and his consecration illegitimate, and sacrilegious. We excommunicate and anathematize the above-named William, and all those who took any part in his culpable election, and who have concurred by their power, their endeavours, and their consent and advice, either to his election or his consecration. We decide, decree, and declare, that they are separated from the communion of the Church as schismatics, and that they ought to be avoided. And moreover the said William is suspended from the exercise of the rights and functions belonging to the jurisdiction or to the order of bishops, and we interdict him under pain of incurring excommunication by the deed itself, and without any declaration, from making the holy chrism, from conferring the sacrament of confirmation, from giving orders, or from doing any of the acts reserved to the order of bishops, declaring them moreover vain, useless, of no value, and of no importance, all, and each of the acts which he shall have the boldness to perform. "Let those who have received ecclesiastical order from him know that they are bound by this suspension, and that they will become irregular, if they shall have exercised the functions of the orders which they have received. ""Tis with regret and with great grief that we impose these censures upon the guilty. Oh! if they were stricken and plagued in we know, and so justly praise the invincible faith, and the indestructible union with the Holy See, the centre of orthodox unity. "To assist you to satisfy more willingly, more fully, and with more joy this duty of evangelic charity, we give you affectionately the apostolic benediction. grief by our decree; if they should weep "Given at Rome, at the Church of St. Peter, under the Fishermen's Seal, on the nineteenth day of August, 1825, second year REMARKS ON A COLLISION BETWEEN MR. WARD, THE BRITISH CHARGÉ D'AFFAIRES IN MEXICO, AND THE HON. J. POINSETT, AT A PUBLIC DINNER ON ST. PATRICK'S DAY IN THE CITY OF MEXICO. 44 [The following piece, which appeared as an editorial article in the United States Catholic Miscellany," No. 2, of Vol. VI., for 1826, will have a special interest for the citizens of South Carolina, as preserving the memory of an incident in the public life of one of her greatest statesmen ; a man who has shown himself a hero in action, as well as in words, and who, like all really brave men, has never been ashamed to avow his sympathy for the injured and oppressed.] THE Patriot, which is published in this city, contained the following article, on the evening of Friday, the 21st inst.: therefore, say that on every subject they are well informed, and think correctly? No indeed, we cannot! but this is no reproach to them, it is but the evidence that they are human beings, and not gifted with the perfection of the Deity; there is no place whose inhabitants know everything, and are free from all delusion, and exempt from every bias. "We have seen a letter from Mexico, under date of the 25th of May, which states that there is every probability of Mr. Poinsett soon being successful in concluding a commercial treaty be tween Mexico and this country, favourable to our interests. We have been informed also, that at a public dinner, given on St. Patrick's day, in the city of Mexico, on Mr. Poinsett's expressing The people of South Carolina know very a wish for the emancipation of the Catholics of little of the true state of Ireland, and are Ireland, he was warmly replied to by Mr. Ward, only acquiring the rudiments of knowledge, the British Chargé des Affaires, who defended respecting the actual state of oppression, the policy of his government, to which Mr. Poin- under which the unfortunate Irish Catholic sett replied with calmness and courtesy, and was labours in the land of his birth. Gentlemen in heartily cheered both by the natives and the the city of Charleston, whose acquirements British subjects present. We are beside given to understand that the Executive Council of are very great, whose reading is very extenMexico was strongly inclined to fit out an expe- sive, and whose dispositions are excellent, dition against Cuba, which had met with the still know absolutely nothing of the thraldom concurrence of the Senate, but the proposition and degradation in which the British governwas rejected by the popular branch of the Legis-ment keeps the Irish Catholic, and yet, his present degradation is lenity-is mercycompared to what his ancestors have endured. Greece meets, at least, with sympathy, even some little aid is extended to her. lature.' So far as MR. POINSETT is concerned, he has acted as we should expect, as well from our knowledge of him as a friend to public liberty; as particularly, from the very just notions which we know he entertains on Irish affairs. We not only are attached by many ties to South Carolina, and love Charleston, but we respect the talent, the virtue, and the chivalrous honour of those who move in the van of our fellow-citizens. Shall we, But though New York and Baltimore and Washington have transmitted their sighs and aspirations and blessings upon the western breeze, and Ireland has been refreshed and consoled by the soothing zephyr, still no soul appears amongst us to be touched by the melancholy sound of the dishonoured harp. 'Tis true our excellent attorney-general, Mr. PETTIGRU, has, on the 4th of July, 1825, poured the history of Ireland's wo into the ears of a Charleston assembly. 'Tis true, the passing glow of indignation mantled upon the cheek of the one sex, and made the darkened brow lower over the fixed eye of the other, whilst hands unconsciously sought for some warrior's weapon. This gave evidence that virtuous sympathy existed in the South; and that if the public mind had been correctly informed, the public feeling would have been appropriately manifested, and the public energies successfully directed. But we repeat, the public mind is not sufficiently informed, and here is to be found the true cause of Southern apathy. Why it is not informed, is easily answered. Because to admire Ireland is not fashionable. Greece !-why the very word is magic-classic recollections are associated with the very sound-the names of her early warriors of her venerable sagesall, all are repeated almost by every person who can lisp. They are, like the Greek sentence of Mr. Jenkinson in the Vicar of Wakefield, a talismanic expression, which astounds the vulgar, confers dignity on the utterer, makes the unlearned humbly dumb, teaches caution to the half instructed, and makes those who are truly erudite silent for a different reason; thus leaving him who has the courage to fling forth such amalgamated, stupendous, polysyllabic phraseology, sole possessor of the admiration of his audience. But alas for poor Ireland! how adverse has been her destiny? We shall not now advert to the cause-another time may be more appropriate. She has been made a byword of reproach. That she ever had sages! that she ever had warriors! that any of her sons were philosophers! that the name of an Irishman was not barbarous. Ridiculous!!! Who could listen to such assertions? The whole testimony of English historians, the frequent rebellions of the turbulent, wild Irish, and the acknowledged ignorance of their illiterate clergy who prevent the people from learning,-all establish the fact of Irish barbarity. The stage, the press, the pulpit, and the senate, proclaim their degradation. Thus, while every scrap regarding Greece interests the fashionable world, it would be evidence of bad taste to take any interest in what concerns Ireland, and especially Irish Catholics. The cause of that ignorance of which we complain is, in the first place, that it has been made unfashionable to be interested for Ireland. We shall, before we conclude this article, exhibit another cause, far worse in its nature, but not more injurious in its results. Mr. Poinsett is one of the very few with whom we have conversed, who has had the manliness to disengage himself from the trammels of this debasing fashion. We call that debasing which perpetuates ignorance. We have found that his travels have been turned to much better account than those of other gentlemen, whose opportunities were equally good and extensive. They viewed novelties with prejudice, and either sought no explanation, or sought it from an enemy of what they saw; and thus the original prejudice became almost incurably fixed, and far more deeply tinged. We have frequently lamented the ruin of fine minds, and of good dispositions, from this cause. Mr. Poinsett appeared to us to have sought to understand what he saw, and to have had recourse to those means of information which were best calculated to give him correct knowledge, and hence it seemed to us that he had very accurate notions upon many subjects not generally canvassed here. Amongst those subjects was the state of Ireland, and of its state the case of the Catholic population was a peculiar feature. Hence we were fully convinced, that if he was ever called upon to speak upon that subject, he would have done so with effect: and we feel satisfied that whoever Mr. Ward may be, he must deeply regret having provoked the retort that it seems he has earned and received. We now come to another part of our subject. Though we are about to use a very severe term, we do it with full deliberation, believing that the term is too mild for the crime. The conduct of the British government towards the Irish Catholic is so execrable, that no person could for one instant attempt to vindicate or even to palliate it, unless by showing that its victims were so criminal that their depravity required this extraordinary infliction: that they were so dangerous to society, that its well-being demanded their political incarceration. Hence, of necessity, it became part of the duty of British policy to criminate the Irish Catholics. A crimination of mere Irishmen would not, at present, be sufficient, as it would formerly have been. Before the change in religion made by Henry VIII., the English colony in Ireland oppressed the mere Irish. Then it became necessary to destroy the Irish character, that English oppression might be justified. Every Irishman then was said to have had every bad quality. But when Henry and Elizabeth and James procured some few of these bad Irish to be 1826. THE BRITISH PRESS Is not ashamed of the persecution of the Catholics, but is ashamed and angry that the misdeeds of its persecuting government should be known. That government has too long been successful in deceiving foreign nations; but the delusion is about to be destroyed. The "National Gazette" of the 19th contains the following article concerning which we had made some previous remarks. May God bless Mr. POINSETT! The Irish and the sons of the Irish, the Catholics and the sons of the Catholics, will recollect his manly conduct. They are not ungrateful. They have clear vision and good memory, as well as warm hearts. From the National Gazette. We find the following article in the London Courier of the 12th ult.: "We copied a few days since, from an American paper, the following paragraph: come of the new religion, the depravity of From the Catholic Miscellany of October 28, the Irish character was purged away by the merits of the adopted creed. All the rebellious remnant who obstinately followed in the way of their fathers, were now the outcasts, possessing the quality of Irishmen in common with their regenerated brethren. To attribute to that quality of mere Irishmen the inherent corruption, would be to discredit those mere Irish who had been received into the society of the reformed. But, as the quality of Catholicism was peculiar to the outcasts, it at the same time saved the credit of those who had changed, and it left the blot upon those whom they had [deserted] to attribute now to religion, what was before attributed to soil. Thus, the faults were now charged to Catholics. But still, as the majority of the people remained attached to their ancient faith, Ireland was with the multitude, and not with the exception. Thus, every English writer was bound to prove that Irish Catholics deserved the punishments under which they groaned, and of the two qualities, that of Catholicism, which was peculiar to the oppressed, was vilified the most. A dreadful remnant of the barbarous code yet exists, and it is the duty of every British servant to attempt the justification of the government by which he is paid. To justify that government, he must vilify the Irish Catholic. It was very natural for Mr. Ward to feel mortified when Mr. Poinsett expressed a wish that justice should be done to a people whom the king, Mr. Ward's master, persecuted. But it was equally natural that Mr. Poinsett, with the principles and feelings which he possesses, should express the wish of emancipation, a wish perfectly congenial to the principles of the nation which he has the honour to represent. Mr. Ward might have expressed his regret, as Mr. Canning would, or as many others would, that his government had not found it as yet expedient to do justice to the people of Ireland, together with a hope that this expedient time would arrive some day, before the wreck of his empire would alone remain. But, no; this would not satisfy his ardent zeal, and when he sought to justify what is unjustifiable in the presence of our minister, he reckoned without his host. We feel that we have extended this article too far. We shall for this day conclude with returning our thanks to Mr. Poinsett, and expressing our conviction that the Irish Catholic citizens of America unite with us in the expression. "At a public dinner given on St. Patrick's day in the city of Mexico, on Mr. Poinsett, our minister, expressing a wish for the emancipation of the Catholics of Ireland, he was warmly replied to by Mr. Ward, the British Chargé d'Affaires, who defended the policy of his government; to which Mr. Poinsett replied with calmness and courtesy, and was heartily cheered by the natives and the British subjects present.' "A gentleman who is now in this country, and who has distinguished himself both in the political and military affairs of Mexico, writes to us thus upon the above paragraph: "I was not only present, but almost close to Mr. Poinsett, at the time, and the real case was exactly the reverse of the statement. Mr. Poinsett committed himself most grossly, and Mr. Ward's conduct was most proper and gentlemanly. Such being the case, whether you will consider that any further notice of the subject ought to be taken or not, you alone can decide: but I really think the amende honorable is due to Mr. Ward, who merely resented a most improper interference on the part of an intriguing foreign envoy, in affairs exclusively British."" On the subject thus mentioned in the Courier, a communication from a very respectable American in Mexico has been in our hands for some months. The foregoing British statement seems to require its immediate publication, and we therefore annex it, in the belief that it will have all authority, in this country, at least, where Mr. Poinsett is too well known to be supposed to have "committed himself grossly," and been guilty of "an improper interference in affairs exclusively British." som of their native country, or in a foreign land, in Europe or in America, may enjoy the inestimable blessing of civil and religious liberty.' After "These sentiments were received with loud and long-continued applause. the lapse of fifteen or twenty minutes, Mr. "Mexico, March 31st, 1826. Ward, the British Chargé d'Affaires, when "DEAR SIR-An occurrence lately took he was about to retire, together with the place here, of which I deem it proper that ministers of this government, remarked, you should be in possession of the particu- that he regretted that the only subject upon lars, not that there is any necessity they which a difference of feeling and opinion should be published now, nor is it desira- could exist among the company had been ble, but as this matter has already made touched upon; and that he was much sursome noise here, and as misrepresentations prised at it, as it had been previously unmay find the way into our press, I am anx-derstood and agreed, that no allusion should ious you should have the means of correct- be made to that subject on the present occaing them, should they be made, and beg you to do so. "Mr. Poinsett and myself were invited by the Irish gentlemen in this city to partake of a dinner on the day before yesterday, given in celebration of St. Patrick's day. There were eighty or ninety persons at table, of which at least four-fifths were English. A toast was given highly complimentary to the United States, and was received with applause and enthusiasm. Mr. Poinsett feeling himself called upon to reply, immediately expressed himself as follows: "The generous sentiments which dietated this toast are neither new to me nor unexpected. The sons of St. Patrick have been long known to me. They are to be found in the land which has been emphatically and truly called "the land of the free," among our most useful and distinguished citizens. I have lived with many of them on terms of intimate friendship, and have learned to appreciate their worth. The interest with which the Irish nation has inspired me—an interest growing out of their frank, and generous, and manly character induces me to indulge a hope that the day is not far distant when the Irish Catholics will be placed in the full enjoyment of the same civil and religious rights which are enjoyed by all others of their fellow-subjects, and to which their many noble qualities so eminently entitle them. In uttering this wish, I do but echo the sentiments of the most liberal and enlightened statesmen of Great Britain, who have laboured to produce this important and desirable result. It is indeed a consummation devoutly to be wished. And while I return you my most sincere thanks for the sentiments contained in the toast just given, and for the cordial manner in which it was received, I beg leave to express a hope, that the sons of St. Patrick, whether they dwell in the bo sion. But that as the topic in question had been introduced, he felt himself bound, as the representative of the British government, to say that he heartily wished to the Irish people the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty, so far as might be consistent with the safety of the present dynasty of Great Britain.' These observations were made under the influence of a visible and rather violent excitement. "Mr. Poinsett, astonished that his remarks should have thus roused H. B. M.'s representative, disclaimed any intention of giving offence, and said, that if the agreement the gentleman mentioned had been made, with respect to the subject of the Irish Catholic emancipation, he had not been informed of it; but that as such was the case, he was sorry he had touched the subject: that, however, having done so, he could but repeat, that the sentiments he had expressed were sincerely felt by him, and he believed by the most enlightened and liberal of the statesmen and people of Great Britain. Mr. Ward then stated, that he felt not in the least degree offended at what had been stated; but that as the representative of H. B. M. he had deemed it his duty to express himself as he had done. He then withdrew, together with the ministers of this government, who witnessed this singular scene, and who can hardly, I should think, have derived impressions from it very favourable to his B. M.'s envoy or government. "Mr. Poinsett was about to take his leave also, when he was earnestly requested by the president of the day to remain. That officer then expressed to him, in the most cordial and handsome manner, his thanks and those of the company for the sentiments he had expressed, and declared his and their entire approbation of them,which declaration was ratified by loud ap |