56 Catholic Emancipation. 



nerally unesteeraed, or unacceptable to those 

 whom we respect. 



Conciliation and mutual concession, in ages 

 past, would have spared mankind torrents of 

 tears, and oceans of blood ; independently of 

 their having in the mean time been deprived of 

 the full benefit of the Christian dispensation. 



The least alteration of the telescope from its 

 true focus, destroys all its powers ; distant ob- 

 jects, instead of becoming more perceptible, are 

 rendered obscure frequently diminished, and 

 often perverted. If the principle of human in- 

 telligence be likened to this instrument, shall 

 the focus of its perceptions be treated with less 

 respect ? or, shall the natural or acquired pre- 

 dispositions and biases of the human heart be 

 considered as less entitled to the care and at- 

 tention of those skilled in the optics of religion, 

 and in the best practices of morality ? 



. 

 On the greatquestion of catholic emancipation, 



J should glory ill conferring with a mind compe- 

 tent to its full investigation, dispassionate, and 

 free from all polemical prejudices and political 

 predeterminations. To such a person I should 

 not feel ashamed to acknowledge, that it is the 



