Faith is founded on revelation: and the church can never make a new article of faith. She can only declare what has been revealed, to prevent the chaff of human opinions from mixing with the pure grain of the evangelical doctrine.

Supposing that faith is founded on revelation, and that, as the bishop of Meaux remarks, after Chrift there is no new revelation, for in him is the plenitude,-the Catholics reft fecure that it is out of the church's power, to declare that their oath is null and void: as it is out of her power to declare, that fraud, murder, and perjury are lawful. This fhall appear by analyzing the oath.

Firft: "Has God revealed that I am not to "bear true allegiance to George III. or to re"nounce any allegiance to the pretender? If " he has revealed it, pope Clement XIII. died "an heretic he banished an Irish fuperior for complimenting the pretender with the title of King of Great Britain.”

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Second: * Has God revealed, that I can lawfully and piously murder my fellow"creature, and break a juft promife, or refufe

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paying what I owe him, because he is of a "different religion ?"

Third:

Third: "Has God revealed that I am to believe that popes and foreign princes ought to "have any civil authority within this realm ?"

Fourth: "Has God revealed, that kings cari "be depofed and murdered by their subjects, "because they are excommunicated by the 06 pope and council ?"

There is the whole fubftance of the oath : and as God has not revealed any of those affertions, but commanded the reverfe, the church can never declare them as articles of faith. Did St. Paul mean to renounce the authority of Heaven, when he said, "Should an angel from Heaven preach another doctrine,

do not believe him?" Does a Catholic renounce the authority of the church, in not thinking that she can allow perjury? But if fuch be the cafe, you will ask me, "why fome people have written against this oath ?" or,

why the small number of Catholics have not "united with the great number who have "taken it ?"

I can affure you, fir, that the Catholics who have not taken the oath, look on the depofing power as a dream; the murder of heretics as an impious flander, calculated in times of turbulence, to murder the character of the innocent, and only adapted to thofe distant æras, G

when

when "Papifts attempted to blow up a river, with gun-powder, in order to drown a city."* In fine, they are ready to fwear allegiance to George the third, and renounce any allegiance to the Stuarts.

But the chief exception to the oath is-the manner in which it is worded. It must be taken in "the plain and ordinary sense of the "words." This cannot be reconciled with "authority whatfoever." A Catholic abjures upon oath a doctrine he never believed. Abjuration implies the belief of a previous error. "Foreign princes ought not have," &c. How can fubjećts know? or what is it to them?"Without any difpenfation already

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granted." You suppose then that we have a difpenfation to perjure ourselves; confequently it is nugatory to fwear, when you are enabled not to believe us. It is too dangerous to sport with the awful name of the Divinity: and if a freethinker reverenced the Supreme Being, his confcience would be fcrewed in taking an oath which minces a fyllable, and requires a long commentary. Further Every invader, every ufurper, would avail himself of a fimilar oath. In Ireland, he would find it framed to his hand, and make us fwear" that George the "third ought to have no authority within this "realm," though the lawful king would be at

*Walker, p. 349. Hume, Hift. of England, Vol. I.

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the fame time afferting his right in England. The alternative would be-death or perjury.

Such are the exceptions of the few who have not taken the oath: exceptions not to be dif regarded by thofe, with whom they may have. any weight. For an oath is dreadful in itself: and we can never act against the dictates of an erroneous confcience, till our fcruples are removed. "Quod non eft ex fide, peccatum eft."

Here below ἐσ we fee in a glass darkly," fays St. Paul. Providence has thrown a fable veil over the human intellect. The fcripture itfelf, this law of spirit and life, proposed as a rule to the learned and ignorant, is become the fubject of difputes and controverfies. All legal acts are liable to inconveniencies. It is impoffible for the legiflators who devife them, to read in the minds of other men, the doubts which may arise concerning the fense and force of fome expreffions. Hence, new acts to explain and amend former laws.

Should the wisdom of the legislative powers deign to reduce the oath to a few plain words, whereby we should fwear allegiance to his majesty,―renounce any to the Stuarts,—swear never to maintain nor abet any doctrine inconfiftent with the rights of fovereigns, the fecurity, of our fellow-fubjects, nor ever to accept of G 2

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any difpenfation to the contrary,-all the ends of government would be fully answered, and the few fcrupulous Catholics, who caval about words, would join the great numbers who have proceeded upon more enlarged and liberal principles.

Should our neighbours doubt the delicacy of our confciences, when we fwear, we have no argument to convince them, but the following.

We groan under the yoke of mifery and oppreffion, throughout the long and trying periods of fix fucceffive reigns. We fuffer for crimes we have never committed. The punishment, which according to all laws should finish with the delinquent, is entailed on the innocent pofterity to the fourth and fifth generation, by a rigorous feverity, similar to that of thofe Tuscan princes, who used to fasten living men to dead bodies. The laws which in other countries are the refource and protection of the errant pilgrim, are here the mortal enemies of the fettled natives. These abortives of the Stuart race reign uncontrouled a long time after the death of their inaufpicious progenitors. On every part they spread penal bitterneffes, with an unwearied hand; deal out transportation to the clergy; poverty and distress to the laity. They continually hang as fo many fwords, over our heads. The lenity of the magiftrates,

with