STATE PAPERS. 



543 



nounce, reject, and abjure the opi- 

 nion, that Princes excommunicated 

 by the Pope and Council, or by any 

 authority whatsoever, may be de- 

 posed or murdered by their sub- 

 jects, or by any person whatsoever 

 — That we do not belie\e that the 

 Pope of Rome, or any other foreign 

 prince, prelate, state, or potentate 

 hath, or ought to have, any tempo- 

 ral or civil jurisdiction, power, su- 

 periority, or pre-eminence, within 

 this realm — That we firmly believe, 

 that no act, in itself unjust, immo- 

 ral, or wicked, can ever bejustified 

 or excused by, or under pretence 

 or colour that it was done for the 

 good of the church, or in obedience 

 to any ecclesiastical power whatso- 

 ever — And that it is not an article 

 of the Catholic Faith, neither are 

 we thereby required to believe or 

 profess, that the Pope is infallible, 

 or that we are bound to any order, 

 in its own nature immoral, though 

 the Pope, or any ecclesiastical pow- 

 er, should issue or directsuchorder, 

 but that on the contrary we hold, 

 that it would be sinful in us to pay 

 any respect or obedience thereto — 

 That we do not believe that any sin 

 whatsoever, committed by us, can 

 be forgiven at the mere will of any 

 Pope, or of any priest, or of any 

 person or persons whatsoever ; but 

 that any person who receives abso- 

 lution, without a sincere sorrow for 

 ■uch sin, and a firm and sincere re- 

 solution to avoid future guilt, and 

 to atone to God, so far from obtain- 

 ing thereby any remission of his sin, 

 incurs the additional guiltof violat- 

 ing a sacrament — And, by the most 

 solemn obli stations, we are bound 

 and firmly pledged to defend, to 

 the utmost of our power, the settle- 

 ment and arrangement of property 

 in Ireland, as established by the 



laws now in being. That we have 

 declared, disavowed, and solemnly- 

 abjured, any intention to subvert 

 the present Church establishment, 

 for the purpose of substituting a 

 Catholic establishment in its stead. 



And we have solemnly sworn 

 that we will not exercise any privi- 

 lege, to which we are or may be- 

 come entitled, todisturb and weak- 

 en the Protestant religion, or Pro- 

 testant government in Ireland. 



We can with perfect truth assure 

 your Royal Highness, that the po- 

 litical and moral principles, assert- 

 ed by these solemn and special 

 tests, are not merely in unison with 

 our fixed principles, but expressly 

 inculcated by the religion which 

 we profess. 



And we do most humbly trust, 

 that, as professors of doctrines 

 which permit such tests to be 

 taken, we shall appear to your 

 Royal Highness to be entitled to 

 the full enjoyment of religious free- 

 dom, under the happy constitution 

 of these realms. 



Frequently has the legislature of 

 Ireland borne testimony to the uni- 

 forni peaceable demeanour of the 

 Irish Roman Catholics — to their 

 acknowledged merits as good and 

 loyal subjects — to the wisdom and 

 sound policy of admitting them to 

 all the blessings of a free constitu- 

 tion, and of thus binding together 

 all classes of the people by mutual 

 interest and mutual affection. 



Yet may we humbly represent 

 to your Royal Highness — and we 

 do so at this perilous crisis with 

 sincere regret and deep solicitude — 

 that the RomanCatholics of Ireland 

 still remain subject to severe and 

 humiliating laws, rigidly enforced, 

 universally felt, and inflicting upon 

 them divers injurious and vexatious 



disabilities. 



