/ 9 kli e j,4 l2 (zi 4 7 c );/ (7att gaationat rattan*. / Our ittg, Confititution anb tilaHL No. 519.—V0L. XI. MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 1818. PRICE 944 POLITICAL DISQUISITION. ON THE LATE MELTING TO CELEBRATE THE REFORMATION, WITH REMARKS ON THE CLAIMS OF THE " ROMAN CATHOLICS." "The Protestants in Prance bear office in the State, be " cause, though their religion be different, yet they ac " knowledge no other King but the King of France. The ss Papists m England. they moist have a King of their own, " a Pope, that must do something in our Kingdom, therefore " there is no reason they should enjoy the adlllt privileges. " Amsterdam admit,. of all religions hut Papists, and 'tic upon " the same account. The Pa pints where er they live, have " another Rive Homo ; all other religions are subject to the " Fest:lit State, and have no Prince else% here." Ss LIMN'S " Table Talk." IN our last number we made some observations, arising out of two Meetings lately held in the metropolis hiving for their object the relief of poor distressed Sai lors, and others : we come now to notice a little, ano ther Meeting of a very different description, held at the City of London Tavern, on the last day of the Old Year. On that day a numerous assembly of highly reputable persons met together at the above place, in pursuance of public, advertisement, for the purpose of celebrating the Tri-centenary of the Great Reforma tion from the errors of Popery, which begun in Ger many, under the preaching of Martin Luther, just three hundred years ago, and was effected in this coun try nearly about the same perisd. To the liberal mind it must be a pleasing source of reflection, that we live in a day when religious professors of various denomi nations, with their Clergy at their head, are found meeting and uniting with their brethren of the Esta blished Church, to commemorate an event, fraught with the most valuable blessings to the Christian com munity at large, and from which they derive not only the enjoyment of religious liberty, but all those rights and privileges wlich are founded upon a just know ledge of the doctrines of the Bible ; which, as a learned Judge has observed, firm a part of our laws, and which sacred treasure the Reformation first laid open to man kind. By the wise and salutary measures which have since been adopted from time to time, the Scriptures arc now to be found in the hands of almost every per son cai,able of reading their contents ; and such is the improved state of society, resulting from that light which ha:: beamed upon the human mind iu consequence of the Reformative, that an ur.ivcrsal system of educa tion prevails, and not on.y children, but persons ad vanced in years, are provided with teachers to enable thc:a to participate in that divine effulgence, which has ten.:cd so much to the advantage and improvement of nianiind in every Protestant country. The Episcopa lian, the Anabaptist, the Presbyterian, the Quaker, may all, with the greatest cordiality, join in an Asso ciation of this kind ; for, whatever may he their minor and unimportant distinctions, they alike value the pei *alleges they derive from the above grand epoch, and such a Meeting as this, must have the effect of promot ing that harmony and brotherly love, which ought to be found pervading the breasts of Christians of every denomination. On this occasion, the Chair was filled by the Duke of Sussex, and it must have been a pleasing reflection to his Royal Highness, that in the act in which he wa s engaged, he was patronizing a subject which ever lay near the heart of his Royal Parent—the Religious Liberties of his People ;—a consideration which ever induced hbn to resist any attempted innovation bearing upon so importers', a point, either in Church or State.—lt is well known that his Majesty uni formly set his fan: against those pretended claims 'which have from time to time been set up by the Pa pists, * and to which the Legislature has hitherto beer, and we have no doubt ever will be orpet. ,, , patible not only with ILligious In . .t our civil rights, and the li,n;llincs and well-beirer of secicty at large.—lt is a truth, as is observed by " the learned Sehlen" whose words we have quoted, that " wherever the Papists live, they have another King at Rome."— We certainly can have no objection to their obtaining all the privileges and immunities which that King can bestow, but the Members of our legislature will, we trust, ever bear in mind the many woeful examples which our history affords, of the consequences result ing front a power lodged in such hands, before they proceed to make any alteration in the law as it now stands with reaped to the adherents and followers of the Romish Church. The subject of the " Catholic Claims," as they arc called, bears a peculiar relevancy to a consideration of the meeting now under our notice. That freedom of opinion in Religion, which we inherit from the Reformation, and a toleration of the Papists to the extent they demand, are perfect ly incompatible. The followers of the Church of Rome, do not in any Coun try where their Religion prevails, allow this toleration to an Englishman, or to a Protestant of any nation.— The establishment of a Church far the use of the Bri tish residents at Libon, has lately been noticed as a singular instance of tolerance in a " Catholic" Go vernment ;—a Government, by the bye, which holds its existence throug% the valour of British arms, and it was doubtless out of pure gratitude that the Re ligieux in Portugal, have, fur the first time, winked at a proceeding so directly in opposition to their general principles.—After this, we have no doubt that the Pa. pLsts in this country, will not fail to boast still more about the liberality of " the Catholics of the present day," who have even conikseentled to permit the English, in a Country which they have rescued from a foreign yoke, to worship their God in a way accordant to the dictates of their conscience. This is truly a wonderful conces sion on the part of the Romani' Catholics" of Portugal, and will not fail to be made the most of by their brethren of the same fold in this Country, whenever the question of their claims shall be again brought before l'arlia. men t. To the advocates of the claims urged by these pen. pie, we would put the following plain question :—Will your friends, the " Catholics," grant generally to all Protestants in Popish countries, the same toleration, the same privileges, which themselves already enjoy under the Protestant Government in England ? When they agree to this, their claims will, doubtless, find a greater number of advocates, and perhaps he entitled to further consideration than they have hitherto de served.—But, the cause of that Church is rapidly de clining, the eyes of the world have long been open to its juggling tricks, its hollow pretensions. Mankind in the present day are too enlightened to be led astray by the dark-lanthorn of Popish infidlibility. We, therefore, can have no doubt, that the saute spirit which led our early reilmmers to throw off the yoke of Papal tyranny, will induce their Jeseendants, in the present day, to oppose the least inroad or innovation which these peo ple may yet have in view ; ter were they once to ob tain that power in the State, which is evidently their aim and ol'ject (as they already possess religious free dom to the fullest extent), adieu to all those bless ings which we derive from the ltEronmAnox—fare well to the civil liberties of Englishmen, which would inevitably become absorbed in the darkest abyss of slavery and intolerance—that the vilest system of priestcraft could possibly imagine or devise. • The word Papist, will sound harsh to the ear* of some, the softer appellation Homan Cothoti being now generally in use; hat as the tinnier is the t rm by which these people are designated in our Statutes and Ilistorieal Records, and as we arc not willing to allow their pretoisions to Cathulkism, we trust we may be excused in a predilection for calling persons as will as things by their right Cot7vvr Mor NO.—SECOND CIIANGF.—Tbe :2(1. change of Con...t t ikes ' , lace this ilav ; and in another tlirtiiight Feb. I), tl:e Co.:ri, - :Oily to the notico alrea.ly .s out of Y,ourning; making its duratiou tiu.c tuontla. FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. FRANcE. PARIS, Jaa.o.—The Committee chosen from among the members of the French Academy to make a report to the Minister of the Interior respecting the re-organization of the French theatres, have finished their labour. It is said that they propose to establish a second Theatre Francois, a (*- coed Theatre d'Opera Comiite, and not to allow more than one theatre for vaudevilles, and two theatres for melodramas. 6 ` On the 30th of December, bet weeii 7 and 8 o'clock in this morning, was found dead in his chamber, 11w Count Witt genstein, Colonel of the Legion of Hubeuluhe, in garrison at Valence. 'This officer bit w out his brains with a pistol, charg ed with several Mills. A few moments before he executed his purpose, he gave some directions to his domestic with his customary calmness. The motive or t h is desperate act is not known. RUSSIA. The following is an extract of a letter of the 12th nit. front St. Petershurgh ;—" Advices from Georgia of the 13th state, that on the 21st of October, an immense avalanche fell from the mo u ntain of Kasbeck, anti covered an extent of three wertts iu length, to the height of 50 fathoms. It eu^npletely dammed up the rapid river of Tcrek ; which, kowevei, on the third 'lay, worked a passage for itself underneath the rasa of snow. This accident for some time intenupted the com ttttt nication with Georgia. Fortunately there were no travellers passing when it happened. Nine yea's haste elapsed since the last avalanche occurred ; though, according to the reports of the iithabitants, they generally take place onec in seven years, and in the summer season. The follow ing a rticle appears in Our Court calendar : Three hundred and fifty-five y ears have elapsed since all the Russian provn't re were united tinder one Government, during whichlllNlmil 11,14 Russian frontiers have been from time to time extended, without a single instanee in Russian history of a cession of territory. The acquisitions of territory made by Russia took • place us follows :—Siberia, in 1573 ; Little Russia, ill 1614 ; Livonia, and Esthonia, in 1710; White Russia, 1772; nit Crimea, in 1783 ; Lithuania and Cute land. iu 175 ; the re mainder of Poland, in 1795; Georgia, in 1801 ; Bialystoci in 1807 ; Findland, iu 1809 ; and the Duchy of Warsaw, iu 1815.! ,' _ _ PETF.RSBURMI, Dre.l6.—it is known that the great era. pire of Russia has laboured nude. a total want ot coal, hot hopes are now entertained of some having been found in this environs of Tonle, a manufacturing tosau , IVs utiles fr•an Moscow. The Emporor has, through the aeeney of hi. Am bassador in London, the Count de Liecen, engaged a Scotch man, M. Cepostki4K, with it great timber of workmen, fraut Whitehaven runt Newcastle. They et London on the October, and have already arrived at Nloseow, whet,. they will pass the winter, and Collinictivt: the wort ..£ ToUi.t in WO approaching spring. The Emperor, constantly occupied with whatever may tend to the encouragement ot letters in his vast empire, has ins tied front France two orientalists, in order to est:things and propa gate in Russia the knowledge of the oriental languages, which has been too much neglected among us. The ioilividu L ts are M. Demange, and M. Charmoy, both of them pupils belonging to the special school of oriental languages, at Paris. The first will teach Arabic and Armenian ; the other Persian and Turkish. M. Demange has likewise studied Sanserit, and can teach that branch, so important as Asiatic literature. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. BUFFALO, DEC. 2.—SOMETHING NOVEL.—l'eaterdar Nov. 9, seven young warriors of the Seneca nation of Indians, left this village in the stage, tinder the charge of Messrs. A. C. Fox of this village, and W. Itringhaw of thatanque, for New York, from whence, we understand, they arc to take pas•age for Liverpool, England. Their object is to exhibit thentsavrt in all the important towns in England, whence the:. will pro. cecd to Paris, and afterward probably complite the grand tour through Europe. The Indians are all tine looking act•r a young men, anti will undonbtvdly afford the Europeans a very novel and interesting exhibition. Mr. Miles Macdonald. G m/Nil o ! . of Lord c,dony at I linlson's_bity, at this place on t1ie2...v1 ult. recently from the Red River r 0110. try. Ile C.llll' . iu the big Union, Captain Beard, from Oven Bay, Vic, on his way to Montreal, to meet his ti ou the charges which have been preferred against him by the age:ita of the Not th West Company.—Nver ark I. :V1 EMENT WITII Ti!E is ANs . - • Copy of a letier from Major-General (tallies to the (;over. nor of Georgia, dated at Port :.eott, near the eolith:ll:er of the Flint awl l'hataltooellie rivers, 21st of Novemht e " Stn,—The firs" brigade of Unitod States troops atoned at this platse on the fish inst. I hail previously sent a runner t.l notify ti.e of my arrival, and to ascertain whether his hostile temper hail abated. and t.cittested him to visit me. lie rep:ted, that he h:til already said to the r rttii.;er hire all lie had to say, and that he a onld n o t e o i l l e . •• Ile had a....netl Major •l'ivirgs not to Cot , ', or rota stick Of wood i 'he east side of the Flint river: all( gii - a.l that the land wa, t •0 vas directed by tho rowers above and below to protr. t de' ••• and he should do s o. 'nil twing the ta'A his t. :teeing continued to be 'inside ever since the late having dartieipated, as the friendly Inducts assert, ni the war cat nett on for wow titre past Agtuo.4 the Georgian yesterday detached about 13:. uten, louifri , to,.3l to be ... .t r o l go, the towlit. Wait! the ioannand of Major Twiggs, orders to liring to line the chief:mil warriors, and in the eve sistanee, to treat them as er.dittes. • 11 . 1 a: detielito arri,eil at the town early this cnu'r were tiled oral. lint . Ili et. c tire was ay the iletaidoi,,nt. 'old the Indians ont• vt Hi: -• • a of tour isatrion- flaw, flit, :sP e'er, is reason to believe, more 'hounded. P "IA ithica 111 the hotl,c deity iewi a Il..itish unnorti, -cadet), with a ~f a certitfrate , signed bt Ilriosit l'ainan, of .‘iiirines, • „et. ut I he. Sifrlt'llee of Colow-1 N staling. that La had alwara bean • true and faithful thead to the British. al was Ida, mt• • t aid ca u., 1.11 ( 0 j •11% • ••q pretiato 1, fi•••tsu•r, Irt, tat - N about >li• wi • ent of .r ' yriM , .• a fr '‘r • •i• • ,• •t'• 1 • •i ; 14. re. m l' A .- v *•; : ' • • F the Cl' Ati'••••s. au 1' jt d - A. .