To judge from the columns of the daily papers, we
might sup- pose that the example of Kent had become epidemic ; and that To judge from the columns of the daily papers, we might sup- pose that the example of Kent had become epidemic ; and that every county, city, town, and hamlet in England, would soon have a Brunswick Club. These Protestant demonstrations crowd upon us so fast as to render it impossible to notice them in detail,—even if the individual proceedings possessed greater interest than they do : our readers, we trust, will be satisfied with a temperate and impartial summary.
It has been proposed that the people of our good city of Westminster should meet and give a public manifestation of their zeal for the Con- stitution, by keeping the Catholics without its pale; but, alas they cannot meet in Westminster-Hall, nor in Palace-Yard, nor even in Co- vent-Garden, without committing a misdemeanor,—the representatives of Westminster having, it seems, allowed their constituents to be gra- dually excluded, by some statutory clause or other, from the places where they were wont to assemble.
The Honourable Thomas Kenyon has headed a meeting at Shrewsbury, for the formation of a Club for Shropshire; and in the town of Os- \vestry, the same gentleman has been promoting a similar institution. The gentry who compose the Leicestershire Pitt Club, have proposed to transform themselves into one of the prevailing associations of the day. The people of Bridgenorth have been summoned to petition Parliament to " maintain inviolate the exclusion of the Catholics from political power." Pains has been taken to stir up the inhabitants of Worcester and Exeter ; and even in Manchester, a meeting has been announced,— only, however, of such inhabitants as are opposed to further concessions to the Romanists. Many other meetings are mentioned, which we may have occasion to notice afterwards.
The only mercantile place of note where the Brunswickers have essayed a public trial of strength, has been Leeds. The invitation, indeed, was rather of a private nature, embracing only those who were friendly to exclusive principles ; and hence, perhaps, the attendance was not very numerous, though the zeal of the meeting was strong. The meeting voted " a declaration" of which the concluding paragraph bears-
" That to urge our Most Gracious Sovereign to sign any bill re-establishing legis- lative power in Roman Catholics, would bring his own regal title to the'succession into jeopardy—would tend to dissolve the compact between him and his people— would irritate and inflame the Protestant population of the united kingdom—and would, in all human probability, lead to a strife of bloodshed and misery, the bare anticipation of which, from past experience, it is horrible to contemplate."
Newton Abbot, in Devonshire, has also been the scene of a public meeting, where a slight opposition was the prelude to a considerable dis. play of party violence. Two military officers and one private gentleman spoke at length against the intolerant principles of the Catholics. The Reverend Mr. Jones warmly espoused their cause ; and ventured to pro- pose a petition calling upon the House of Commons to repeal, without qualification, every penal law affecting the Catholics—trusting alone to their observance of the oath of allegiance The Reverend Mr. Lyte con- fessed that the Protestant Church had persecuted ; but he made this excuse for it—that it " was a trick which she had caught from her mother."
The Clergy of the diocese of Rochester, to the number of one hundred and fifteen, " impressed with the danger which now threatens our civil and ecclesiastical establishments," have puplished a declaration of their sentiments on the pending crisis. Those of the Archdeaconry of Not- tingham are about to meet for the same purpose—combining with it a subscription for the King's College. Leaving these assemblages, we come to the opinion of individual noble- men. The Earl of Verulam, Lord-Lieutenant of the County of Hefts, was requested to call a meeting on the subject of Catholic Emancipation. His Lordship, a decided Anti-Catholic, declined to call the meeting; and gave the following reasons for his conduct.
" I think that the stirring of the coals of political strife, is at all times un- advisable, unless a paramount necessity prevails ; and I feel assured, that calling a public meeting, and establishing Brunswick Clubs, would, without adding one iota to the security of the Protestant interest, subject us to the animadversion of some of the wisest men in the country, and perhaps create amongst ourselves a feeling of political hostility, which has been for many years the endeavour—thank God, the successful endeavour—of the leading gentlemen in this county to stifle and eradicate. "I am as strongly attached to the Protestant cause as you can be; my votes in Parliament have constantly been adverse to what is called Catholic Emancipation ; but I wish that very important question to be left to the decision of Parliament, where only it can be fairly, fully, and dispassionately discussed. I do not think the Protestant cause is to be upheld by an ebullition of popular feeling at a public meeting, or by the formation of a club.."
Then there is Lord Bexley : it was suspected of late that his Protestant zeal had become lukewarm, but a long letter to the Freeholders of Kent justifies his principles, and proves his Lordship's attachment to the con- stitution in Church and State to be unabated. A gentleman called upon Lord Teynham to explain why he now supported the Catholics : Lord Teynham, as much attached to the Constitution as any other peer, found reasons for his change in the state of the country and of Europe—above all, in the immense expenditure for an army to keep the Irish quiet.
The British Catholic Association, at a meeting on Monday, agreed to petition for unconditional emancipation; but it is the expressedV. ish of
the Duke of Norfolk and other leaders, not to be understood as declining to lend a favourable ear to whatever propositions Government might make in the shape of securities.
There have been more Brunswick meetings in Ireland. The most re- markable is one in Dublin, of the graduates of the University who do not come under the prohibitory rules of the College. Another at Long- ford was attended by fifteen justices of the peace.
