THE PROTESTANT MAGAZINE. MARCH, 1846. THE MORTMAIN LAWS, ETC.: POPERY OPPOSED TO NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE AND SOCIAL HAPPINESS. We have at present before us three different Bills which have been brought into Parliament, for the purpose of removing Roman Catholic disabilities; or taking away, in other words, the securities once given to Protestants for their protection against Rome's intrigue and perfidy. Our ancestors enacted laws for the preservation of themselves and their posterity. They were wise men. Their wisdom was bought dearly. It was the result of experience. They were good, as well as wise; nor less brave than good. Piety towards God, loyalty towards their sovereign, and sincerity towards one another, were their great characteristicscharacteristics which form the essential elements of every truly noble mind. The Bills referred to, are respectively as follows: I. An Act to relieve Her Majesty's subjects from certain penalties and disabilities in regard to religious opinions. This Bill was presented to the House of Lords by the Lord Chancellor, and ordered to be printed, Feb. 3, 1846. Its It is not exclusively applicable to Roman Catholics. provisions extend to other Dissenters also, and to the removal of certain Jewish disabilities. II. A Bill prepared and brought in by Lord John Manners, and ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, the 2d of February, on the subject of the Mortmain laws, intended to favour bequests for pious and charitable purposes. It is styled, "A Bill to alter and amend the Laws relating to the Disposition of Property for pious and charitable purposes." III. The Bill introduced by Mr. Watson on the 5th of H notice of some of the enactments of these Bills, observing, before we further proceed, that the penalties imposed by the laws now sought to be repealed, were not inflicted merely on account of the religion of Roman Catholics, but because, under the cloak of religion, they introduced principles and practices, opposed not only to true religion, but subversive of good order, the peace of the country, and the throne itself. These were the real motives which led to many enactments. It was to protect the country from those who, in the language of one of the services of our Church, were such workers of iniquity that they turned "religion into rebellion, and faith into faction." The first Bill referred to is, for the repeal of certain provisions affecting persons professing the Jewish religion, and Dissenters, as well as Roman Catholics; and is intended to repeal the Act of Supremacy itself. King Henry the Eighth was the first sovereign who shook off the yoke of slavery imposed by Papal Rome on this country ;* and by 1 Eliz. c. 1, all ecclesiastical jurisdiction was annexed to the crown, and it was ordained that no foreign potentate should exercise any power or authority in this kingdom. By these laws, the power of Rome was greatly broken, and the ancient jurisdiction ecclesiastical was restored to the crown, to which it had belonged before the usurping grasp of Rome had laid hold of it. In the reign of King William and Mary the then existing oaths of allegiance and supremacy were abrogated, and others were appointed to be taken and enforced under pain of disability, 1 W. & M. c. 8. The oath of supremacy is principally calculated as a renunciation of the Pope's pretended authority; and no one can tell in what difficulties and perplexities the affairs of the nation, whether in civil or ecclesiastical matters, may be involved by the repeal or modification of the law upon this subject. The Bill introduced by Mr. Watson, besides repealing the whole of some preceding Acts, and parts of others, repeals also several provisions of the Act of 1829, "An Act for the Relief of His Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects.” It repeals, for instance, those sections whereby it is enacted, "That if any person, after the commencement of this Act, other than the person thereunto authorized by law, shall assume or use the name, style, or title of Archbishop of any province, Bishop of any bishopric, or Dean of any deanery in England or Ireland, he shall for every such offence forfeit and pay the sum of one hundred pounds." By this, the assumption of the titles of Archbishop, Bishop, or Dean of any province, bishopric, or deanery, in England or Ireland, will henceforth be lawful; and a twelvemonth may not pass by, after the passing of this Bill, * Stat. 25 H. VIII. c. 12, s. 20. before we hear in England of a Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, a Roman Catholic Archbishop of York, and Roman Catholic Bishops and Deans for every bishopric and deanery in England as well as in Ireland.* 66 Also, so much of the said last-mentioned Act, whereby it is enacted, that if any Roman Catholic ecclesiastic, or any member of any of the orders, communities, or societies, hereinafter mentioned, shall, after the commencement of this Act, exercise any of the rites or ceremonies of the Roman Catholic religion, or wear the habits of his order, save within the usual places of worship, of the Roman Catholic religion, or in private houses, such ecclesiastic or other person shall, being thereof convicted by due course of law, forfeit for every such offence the sum of fifty pounds." This provision contemplates public processions in all our streets, the elevation of the host, and all the abominations of Popery. "Also, so much of the said last-mentioned Act as imposes penalties upon any person holding any judicial, civil, or corporate office, who shall resort or be present at any place of worship in England or Ireland, other than that of the United Church of England and Ireland, or in Scotland, other than that of the Church of Scotland as by law established, in the robe, gown, or other peculiar habit of his office, or attend thereat with the ensign or insignia, or any part thereof, of or belonging to such his office." This seems adapted for gaining over liberal, and latitudinarian statesmen, judicial, civil, and corporate officers, to attend Popish chapels, in the insignia of their office. Thus in future we may behold in various borough towns the mayor, aldermen, or burgesses, &c., lending all their weight and influence to advance and restore the power of Rome, marching as victims whilst they think themselves independent, and preparing, one by one, the links of that chain which shall hereafter rivet slavery and misery upon themselves and their posterity. "And also, so much of the said last-mentioned Act as relates to the gradual suppression and final prohibition of Jesuits and members of other religious orders, communities or societies of the Church of Rome, bound by monastic or religious vows, and resident within the kingdom, and the coming and returning of Jesuits or members of any such religious orders, communities or societies into this realm, and the registration of Jesuits or members of any such orders, communities or societies, and the admittance of persons to become Jesuits or regular ecclesiastics or brothers or members of any such religious orders, communities or societies, and the administering or taking of any oaths, vows or engagements, purporting or intending to bind the persons taking the same to the rules, ordinances or ceremonies of any such religious orders, communities or societies, and the granting of licenses in writing, signed by any one of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries * See Protestant Magazine, March, 1845. of State, being a Protestant, and the several misdemeanors in the premises respectively created or enacted or declared by the said Act, and the fines or forfeitures of monies, pains and penalties of banishment and transportation beyond seas for term of life and all other the forfeitures, pains, penalties, punishments and disabilities thereby respectively in that behalf enacted against all persons respectively offending in the premises, or otherwise provided or enacted or ensuing for or in respect of or as incidental to the same." This is to legalize what is at present unlawful, viz., the establishment, coming and returning of the Jesuits, and members of other religious orders of the Church of Rome, bound by monastic vows. III. The Bill introduced by Lord John Manners on the subject of the Mortmain laws, deserves especial notice. Some of the enactments contained in it are most mischievous in their tendency and details, and such as ought to be opposed, not only by sound-hearted Protestants, but by enlightened Roman Catholics themselves. There are concentrated in them the essence and elements of many evils. By Section I., the whole of the 9th Geo. II. c. 36, is to be repealed, whilst the provisions substituted for it are comparatively useless, Section II. gives parties the power of disposing of any kind of property generally for religious and charitable purposes, by will, deed, or other suitable conveyance." What this "other suitable conveyance" may be, is left to conjecture. 66 Section III. provides that where more than half the donor's, testator's, or grantor's property is given for such purposes as those contemplated by the Act, every deed or will, &c., shall be executed by such testator, donor, or grantor, in the presence of, and be attested by, at least three credible witnesses, one being the "medical attendant of such testator, donor, or grantor, who shall then certify on the back of every such will, deed, or other instrument or conveyance, that such testator, donor, or grantor is, according to the best of their judgment and belief, of a sound disposing mind, and fully acquainted with the contents of such will, deed, or other instrument or conveyance, and that he has executed the same freely and deliberately, without any undue solicitation or influence made to or practised upon him in that behalf. This may at first appear a most safe and satisfactory precaution; but on closer investigation, the imaginary security, like a dissolving view, passes away, and presents to us a different picture. A Roman Catholic doctor, a Roman Catholic penitent, and a Roman Catholic priest would not find much difficulty in complying with or evading these requirements. But it is to be observed, further, that these precautions, impotent as they are, are only intended to apply where more than half of the donor's, testator's, or grantor's property is to be disposed of. So that one-half of the real and personal property of every person in the empire, not under civil or natural disability, may be henceforth given to Roman Catholic purposes without any such formality. The following may serve as an illustration: In a case which recently occurred in Dublin, John Caldbeck, the father of the testatrix, had entered a caveat against the will of his daughter, Anne Frances Caldbeck, who was a person of a religious turn of mind, and had made a will by which she directed her property, amounting to about 2,000l., to be expended by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, in the foundation of a branch of the religious community called "the Sisters of Charity." It provided also for every other property of the testator being applied to the same purpose. Dr. Meyler, Roman Catholic Dean of Dublin, was her confessor, and was consulted as to the disposition of her property; a will was accordingly drawn up, and executed in the house of Dr. Meyler, in Westland Row. The testatrix also expressed a wish that a sum should be set apart, to procure masses to be said for her soul after death. The testatrix had lived in the house of her brother for thirty years, and the most unbounded affection had long subsisted between them. It is remarkable, in this case, that no original instruction ever came from the testatrix at all, but everything was managed by Dr. Meyler, the confessor, who had been the spiritual adviser of the testatrix for twenty-five years; and the will was executed at his house in Westland-row, after attending morning prayers. But the spiritual adviser ought never to have been a party to the drawing up of a will like the one in question. In reply to a question asked by the learned Judge, as to whether it was an every day occurrence for a lady to go to her confessor, and arrange with him a plan for leaving every farthing of her property in charity? Dr. Wiley replied, that it had often occurred before, and that it was the commonest thing in the country for people to employ priests under similar circumstances.* See Case of the Very Rev. W. Meyler, R.C. Dean of Dublin, promovent, John Caldbeck, impugnant; Elisabeth Thunder, intervenient. This trial, which took place in the Prerogative Court, Dublin, is reported at length, in the "Statesman, and Dublin Christian Record," of February 10, 1846. The following epitome of some of the main features of it, is thus given in a number of that Journal, of February 17:-"A lady named Caldbeck, possessed of property amounting to 2,400l., died on the 1st of November, 1844, and by her will bequeathed her whole property to the Rev. Doctor Meyler, of Westlandrow Chapel, and to the Popish Archbishop of Dublin, in trust for the benefit of certain Roman Catholic charities. Miss Caldbeck, we may here remark, had been on the most affectionate terms with her brother, in whose house she |