tle: I shall not add to, or take from his words by any comment of my own, nor detain you further with a refutution of silly objections-objections much more silly than those of Spinoza against the attributes of the Deity, but remain, Dear Sir, Your obedient, humble Servant, J. K. L. LETTER VIII. ON CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION, AND ON THE OATH AND DECLARATION PRESCRIBED BY LAW TO BE TAKEN AND MADE BY PROTESTANTS. DEAR SIR, WHEN Burnett, in 1686, was admitted to the councils of the Prince and Princess of Orange at the Hague, and undertook to assist the revolution, which was then in progress, he fulfilled his engagement chiefly by those writings wherein he represented popery and tyranny as inseparably blended together. From that period till the present, those who are opposed to the Catholics have frequently shifted their attacks, but they have never ceased to employ such men as Burnett, for the purpose of coupling our reli gion with something odious, that they might thereby render the people of England hostile to our claims. At one time they represent us as the advocates and supporters of arbitrary power; at another, as the abettors of Paine's principles, hostile to every kingly government. Sometimes they introduce us as the worst description of idolators; and again, as persons who violate our oaths, and keep no faith with heretics. For upwards of a century they held us forth as the adherents of an exiled family; and when that family ceased to exist, they transferred our allegiance from the Stuarts to the popes. Besides these inherent and constitutional faults in the system of popery, they always hang about it shreds and patches, to excite contempt or ridicule. They bring our beads and our incense, our vestments and holy waterpots, our saints and our pilgrimages, our prayers and our crosses, and they place them in such attitudes as that they necessarily create laughter or disgust. By such means as these they feed the passions of the vulgar, and keep alive the prejudices of the best informed. They are so wealthy, and they have such an interest in our depression, that they do not hesitate to expend large sums annually in keeping such men as Burnett employed, to vilify and defame us; whilst Anniversary Sermons, Bishops' Charges, new editions of Fox's Martyrs, and a cloud of tracts and pamphlets, intercept every effort that we can make to dispel the public illusion. England, since I have known her by history, has been always governed by a party, and that party always kept the nation hoodwinked. Whether it was a council, or a parliament, or a convention, or Whigs or Tories, who possessed themselves of supreme power, they always contrived to rule by the same principles. They have had many conflicts with each other, but the body of the people have always been their victims or their dupes. Since the time of Elizabeth the Catholics have dwindled away, and not being able, as a party, to establish themselves in power, they have been uniformly oppressed and persecuted by those who governed, and who enriched themselves at their expense. Did they profess their loyalty, they |