1. Statement of facts presented [by sir J.C. Hippisley] to the sovereign pontiff p. Pius vii., 1818 [in reference to the Catholics of England and Ireland]. ii. A letter [from sir J.C. Hippisley] to cardinal Litta ... 1818 [in respect of the re-establishment of the Jesuits in England].

it too much for the English people to require,-that while the established religion gives, with liberality, the tolerated religion shall ask, with moderation,— and, while the Protestant abandons his prejudices,the Catholic shall retain his loyalty, with the conviction, that in a state, fundamentally Protestant, some shades of an exclusive character, may not unreasonably exist, as respects his own relative condition.-If it were otherwise, the constitution itself, must give way, in its essential character, inasmuch, as, by the express conditions of that constitution, at the instant the Sovereign ceases to be Protestant, the crown falls from his head, and the subject is discharged of his allegiance.

At the very moment of concluding the preceding notes, and when Sir J. H. is most anxious to avoid a further intrusion upon the patience, and valuable time of His Holiness, another paper, is transmitted to Rome, under the signature of " Richard Hayes," -styling himself, "late Delegate of the Roman

"Catholics of Ireland," - dated 25th December, 1817.

This paper contains the " Report of his proceedings in his mission to Rome," avowing himself, also, to be the author of a Parody, under the title of the "Antivetoistical Catechism :"-in other respects, the narrative is of the same description of calumnious representation, which characterises the whole of his correspondence. Whatever merit he may wish to derive from this new effort of his inventive genius, it is for the immediate constituents of the suspended Friar to determine, whether the charge of £800 sterling, made upon them for his expenditure, will be adequately compensated by his avowal of this additional service, combined with the tortuous labours, and disgraceful result of his original mission.

Sir J. H. deemed it incumbent upon him, to transmit the "Reports" of the Friar Hayes, to the Cardinal Secretary of State, and, in presenting this recapitulation to His Holiness, in person, he feels it also his duty to say, that, though he has had no previous communication with the Cardinal Secretary of State, respecting it, he proposes to transmit copies to that Minister,-both in the Italian and English languages,-in the apprehension, of having, inadvertently, adopted, some expression of a language --not his own-which may not have been the best suited to his object.-The facts, nevertheless, he trusts, are clearly stated, and it is to facts, alone,

that Sir J. H. has presumed to solicit the attention, and candid consideration of His Holiness-to facts, indeed, which are incontrovertible.

Before Bishop Milner's aberration from a course, which was, at once, creditable to his character, and understanding, that Prelate, justly conscious of the influence which attaches to the Episcopal characterin his "Letter to a Parish Priest," thus expresses himself: It is wise to anticipate mischief of every "kind, in order to guard against it. If the Prelates "should abide by what they have solemnly resolved "upon*,-they will have nothing more to do, than "what is perfectly within their sphere, namely,—to

enlighten their people, and shew them how grossly they have been imposed upon, both as to facts "and reasoning."-In deploring the uninformed state of that grossly misled people, Bishop Milner might, in the spirit of his own observations, have, opportunely, concurred, with Sir J. H. who had before availed himself of the reflexions of a sagacious Spanish writer-Salzedo,-who, in his Commentaries -"ad legis," -so justly observes,-" Nulla pestis "gravior est regnis, rebusque publicis, quàm ignorantia; nam cum in populis hæc dominatur, animos hominum, furore sic interdùm exagitat,

* [In the Resolutions of the Irish Roman Catholic Prelates, 1799.]

"ut rationi penitus valdè contradicat. Nihil pacta, "conventiones, aut leges curat; suo tantum fertur arbritrio, benè gerendarum rerum tristis, utque ignara."

With the highest consideration and respect,

&c. &c. &c.

Palazzetto Albani, Rome,

1st Feb. 1818.

[SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENT.]

SINCE Sir J. Hippisley had the honour of presenting to His Holiness, in person, the original Statement contained in the preceding pages, a Convention-or

Concordatum," has taken place between His Holiness, and the King of the two Sicilies,-two articles of which-namely, the XXII. and XXIII.-may be construed as weakening the observations, made by Sir J. H. respecting the universality of the "Regium Placitum," or " Exequatur,”—and, in fact, amounting to a revocation of the before-mentioned Edict of his Sicilian Majesty, of the 2nd of September last.

The aborogation of the "Liceat scribere,"— in matters purely spiritual and ecclesiastical, nevertheless, has not been considered, by the ministers of his Sicilian Majesty, as any relinquishment of the principle of the " Regium Exequatur,"-but, as a

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1. Statement of facts presented [by sir J.C. Hippisley] to the sovereign ...